Dissecting High Performance In Tennis

Jose Antonio Fernandez played on the ATP Tour for 12 years reaching a career-high ranking of 202 in 1991. He represented Chile in Davis Cup from 1986-1992. He coached Steffi Graf & has been the coach of a winning German Bundesliga team. At last Jose was recently selected to act as Official Agent for the Rafa Nadal Academy by Movistar In this episode you’ll get to know: – How Jose became the coach of Steffi Graff – The core values of the Rafael Nadal Tennis Academy – Why it is essential to always develop potential before you start thinking about results Enjoy the show! Timestamps 01:30 How Jose became the coach of Steffi Graff 03:52 From Graff to playing on the ATP Tour 05:21 BASAF TC 08:35 Developing the spirit at the club team 10:46 Main Cultural differences 12:06 The Job of a Tennis Agent Going to tournaments Spreading the words & the values 13:23 The values of Rafael Nadal Tennis Academy 14:55 What made Jose write his first book 18:41 The reason Jose wrote his first book 20:03 Why you should build your identity around strenghts 21:30 The importance of awareness 25:51 The importance of belief 27:27 José’s advice to his younger self 31:25 The real objective in tennis 33:11 The most important characteristic in a tennis player 34:54 Why we as coaches needs to take a look in the mirror 36:22 Jose’s influencers 38:46 Pato Alvares 40:26 Cultural differences from South America to Europe 41:59 The balance between internal & external goals 43:40 Why you need always need a purpose 44:47 The tour picks you 45:55 Develop potential before you start thinking about results 46:24 Jose’s Advice 52:41 How to get in contact with Jose

In this episode you are going to listen to Simon Wheathley, Simon has been a Performance Coach for more than 10 years working in Great Britain. He has written 3 resources on mini tennis, authored the ‘Developing the serve resource for 10 & under’. Further more “The biomechanics of the serve” with age and gender guidelines for the LTA In this conversation you’ll get to know: – How the development pathway at the LTA works including the Tennis Passport – Common mistakes in the serve & how to correct them – How & why Simon often uses the phrase “Just find 10 percent more” Enjoy the show! Timestamps 01:30 The development pathway in the LTA 05:30 The need for a tennis passport 08:02 The passport 09:54 Why LTA seperates boys & girls 11:00 Why having more female coaches in tennis is important 13:06 Female Coaching Community 15:20 National Camps at LTA 17:03 The tennis serve 21:40 Common problems in the tennis serve 24:13 Developing the tennis serve 25:23 What to do before using video 29:03 Coaching Feedback 31:42 Why supervision is essential for every tennis coach 32:52 What players remember you for 34:12 What is a successful Tennis Coach 35:14 The opportunity of a tennis coach 36:23 Commitment more important than motivation 38:40 Difference on younger & older players 40:25 Coaching the performer & then the player 41:48 Raise your level with 10 percent 42:52 Planning & reviewing 45:46 Louis Cayer 46:38 The power of coaching 48:01 Engaging the parents 51:27 Parent’s must not feel like being on the outside 53:09 The mental part is not 80 % of tennis 57:01 Coaching foot work 58:07 Rally, attack & defence 60:28 Don’t settle for mediocrity

In this episode you are going to listen to Andi Brandy, Andi briefly played on the professional circuit himself before going on the tour as a coach for the WTA top 10 players Kathy Rinaldi & Carlin Basset. He then served as the Executive Director at the Bolletieri Tennis Academy. He has been the Head Coach at Florida University for 17 straight seasons then had a stint at the Evert Tennis Academy before eventually joining the USTA as a national Coach in 2010. In this conversation you’ll get to know: – Why Andy thinks that it is easier to coach female players – Why Andy thinks that every tennis player could learn a lot from doing martial arts – How tennis has developed & where he predicts that tennis will go in the future Enjoy the show! Timestamps 02:12 (42) University of Florida Head Coach 03:33 Working with professionals 05:23 Why it is easier to coach women players 06:49 Most influential persons for Andi 07:57 Hopman 08:49 Von Horn 10:36 Why Andi always takes the youngest age group at USTA 11:27 Most common adjustments in juniors 12:44 Good citizen & great champions 13:49 How USTA develop character 14:34 Most important tennis player characteristic 15:11Tennis is changing 16:14 How the game has developed the last 12 months 17:16 Where the game is going in the future 17:42 Martial Arts 19:43 What we as coaches tend to forget 21:21 High Intensity 24:46 You need to have a purpose 25:30 Speaking less 26:44 The best thing about being a coach 27:18 What is less/more important for Andy 27:58 Andi’s advice 29:43 Get to know more about Andy

In this episode you are going to listen to Jeff Coetzee, Jeff is a former professional player himself reaching a career high of #12 in doubles & #184 in singles. He represented South Africa in Davis Cup for 10 years & participated in the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Jeff has worked at the Schuetler-Waske Tennis University & has coached singles players like Andrea Petkovic, Cedric Marcel Stebe & Angelique Kerber. Jeff is currently the coach of the two doubles teams consisting of Cabal & Farah and Klaasen & Ram. In this conversation you’ll get to know: – The difference on a Good doubles player & a Great one – How players often neglect the basics of doubles & what the basics are – What makes the Bryan Brothers the best Doubles Team ever. Enjoy the show!

In this episode you are going to listen to Antonio Van Grichen, Antonio is a former player himself representing Portugal in Davis Cup. He then went to the Harry Hopmann Tennis Academy as a Coach & has worked his way up ever since. Antonio has been the coach of players such as Jarmila Wolfe former Gajdošová Tamira Paszek, Vera Zvonereva, Ana Ivanovic, Monica Puig, Marcos Baghdatis & was the Coach of Victoria Azarenka from when she was 15 & World Number 1 Junior all the way to Top 10 WTA singles & Doubles when she was 20. In this Episode you’ll get to know: – About the journey he had together with Azarenka – The dialogue going on in his head when he is considering to start working with a new player – Why you need to be a little bit crazy to succeed within tennis Enjoy the show! Timestamps 01:30 How Antonio got into coaching 03:38 How Antonio only picked up a racquet to coach from 16-19 04:46 Going to the Harry Hopman Tennis Academy 07:52 The Initiating a coaching relation with a player 10:13 Long term projects 11:04 Some coaches just want to go on the tour 12:05 Delusional players 20 she was 6 in singles (7 in doubles) 15:34 What correction that was made to Azarenka’s forehand 17:33 The changes Azarenka made on her forehand 19:03 Coaching Marcos Baghdatis 22:06 Why Antonio is not on the tour at the moment 23:20 Being selfish kept me sain 24:26 Ultimately it is about human beings 26:32 Willingness to suffer 27:48 Importance of being a great communicator 29:00 Common sense 30:21 Observation 31:40 The monk that sold his Ferrari 33:01 Most important values 34:00 The fine line bewteen succes & failure 35:18 You need to be little bit crazy to succed 37:27 Health & time 38:34 Every player is a different person 40:33 Get in contact with Antonio

In this episode you are going to listen to Jaime Fernandez-Fernandez. Jaime has been working as a S&C Coach since 2000. For the Spanish Tennis Federation as a consultant since 2006, he assisted in developing the test battery that the German Tennis Federation uses & is currently developing & implementing a Long Term Athlete Development system for the Norwegian Tennis Federation In this episode you’ll get to know: – How tennis is a professional sport filled with amateur coaches – How it is possible to close the gap between science & practice – How tennis is an individual sport, but how essential it is to have a good team Enjoy the show! Timestamps 01:30 The story of how Jaime got to work for the Spanish Tennis Federation 04:43 A professional sport full of amateurs 08:03 Unlicenced Tennis Coaches 10:22 What can be done to help coaches 14:47 Closing the gap between science & practice 24:01 Long term Player Development Norway 34:26 Lack of agreement across federations 40:19 How much influence does the coaches actually have 41:46 Training using names 45:00 Individual sport, but essential to have a good team 47:12 Traveling days are not restdays 48:38 Imbalances created by tennis 52:10 Jaime’s advice

In this episode you are going to listen to Mikael Tilström, Mikael was a professional player himself reaching a career high of #39 in singles & #15 in doubles. Mikael has been the Coach of Thomas Enqvist, Magnus Norman & Andreas Vinciguerra & in 2011 he co founded the Good To Great Tennis Academy with fellow Swedes Magnus Norman & Nicklas Kulti. Since then he has been the lead Coach of Grigor Dimitrov & is currently coaching Gael Monfils. In this episode you’ll get to know: – How Good To Great determine whether to accept a new player into their program or not – The difference on coaching an established professional player like Monfils & the up & coming junior players from Good To Great – The blessing & the curse of having Roger Federer at the top of tennis for so many years Enjoy the show! Timestamps 01:30 Story of Good To Great 04:10 What Nicklas learned outside of tennis 05:40 How Mikael came to work with Monfils 08:30 How Mikael keeps a good relation with his family while on tour 10:53 The acceptance process at Good To Great 14:05 Getting to know your players 15:46 Why you should not play tennis for money & fame 30-40 to put away money 19:39 Why tennis players need to be stubborn 20:36 The person before the player 21:53 Allistair Mccaw 22:38 Shared philosophy with Allistair 25:10 Why all Tour Tennis Coaches are a bit crazy 26:30 The blessing & course of Roger Federer 28:30 Why Monfils shook his head at Mikael 31:01 The best part about being a Tennis Coach 31:30 How Mikael gets better 33:20 What Mikael has changed his mind about 34:16 Mikael’s advice

In this episode you are going to listen to Alberto Castellani, Alberto has been on the Professional Circuit for more than 30 years coaching a bunch of top 100 players & to name a few he has coached: Janko Tipsarevic, Rainer Schuettler, Ivo Karlovic, Marc Rosset & Hicham Arazi. Alberto is recoqnized by the ATP as one of the only 50 coaches World Wide as an international Tennis Coach where the conditions to be accepted is to continously bring or work with players in the top 100 on the ATP-Tour. Further more Alberto is the president of the GPTCA (The Global Professional Tennis Coaches Association) which has the only ATP Certified Coaches Education in the world. In this episode you’ll get to know: – What the Tennis Paradox is – How Coaches & players often do not know what concentration is – Why training the Mental aspect of tennis is like training the Technical one. Enjoy the show! Timestamps 01:30 The tennis Paradox 04:14 Why a lot of players are mentally weak 05:56 What does concentration mean 07:58 How to train concentration 13:34 Bioenergetica 16:10 Level of activation 19:36 Mental aspect when coming back from injury 26:38 No guarantee for success 28:22 Human > tennis player 34:18 Autoritarian coaching 37:18 Empathy & intelligence 39:04 Learning 40:48 The story of a former top 30 ATP Player 43:39 Why Alberto doesn’t like the “Australian” 45:16 Lack of time spent on mental training 45:44 To rest well is as important as to practice well 47:14 Alberto’s advise

Today you are going to listen to Jaro Levinksy, Jaro was a professional player himself reaching a career high of #239 in singles & #24 in doubles. Immediately after retiring as a pro he went into coaching & has been at the Schuettler-Waske Tennis University & the private coach for Schuettler himself. He has had coaching stints with Sergiy Stakhovsky, Yen-Hsun Lu & the junior player Olga Fridman. Jaro has been a consultant for the Turkish Tennis Federation & is currently the coach of Anna Karolina Schmiedlova In this conversation you’ll get to know: – How Jaro goes about traveling full time on the tour while having a wife & a small child – The difference on coaching an established professional player & an up and coming junior – Why it’s essential to set limits as a coach & how to do it Enjoy the show! Timestamps 02:00 Own playing career – why coaching 03:11 The steps that took Jaro into professional Coaching 06:20 The most important lesson learned at Schuetler-Waske 08:05 Coaching Rainer Schuetler 11:45 Similarities & differences on coaching a young & an older guy on tour 13:03 Traveling as a tennis coach while having a kid 15:05 How to balance traveling that much away from your family 16:37 Difference in working with an established player & a junior player 19:08 Differences in working on ATP & WTA Tour 20:37 The Turkish Federation 24:31 How Hrbarty would describe Jaro’s look on tennis 26:38 How the players on tour have changed 28:17 Setting limits as a tennis coach 30:59 Why you need to push players outside of their comfort zone 32:15 How to get players outside of their comfort zone in practices 33:20 Nothing tastes better than winning 33:46 Most important characteristics in a tennis player 34:24 Decision making skills 36:17 Efficient practices 39:40 Playing Pokemon is biggest waste of time on tour

In this episode you are going to listen to Robert Davis, Robert has been on the ATP Tour for 24 years. He has served as either a Technical Director & National Coach for Peru, Panama, Thailand, Indonesia & the list goes on an on. Robert is further more a writer who regularly contributes to ATP’s DEUCE magazine, ITF publications, and TENNIS Magazine Australia. Currently he is the Technical Advisor of Strategic Operations of tennis for Sport Singapore & the coach of Matsui from Japan. In this episode you’ll get to know: – What Robert calls the “non-negotiables” in a coaching relation – How Larry Stefanki had different approaches with Gonzalez & Roddick – The difference between tennis coaches & tennis teachers Enjoy the show! Timestamps 01:30 Creating a long term coach-player relationship 02:52 The non negotiables 05:03 The difference on Technical Director & National Coach 08:20 Milos Ranonic example 09:56 Players from developing countries 11:03 Sock, Johnson, Fernando Gonzalez, Andy Roddick 13:53 What common trait the best coaches in the world share 17:45 Super Coaches 18:59 Who gets to call themselves Tour Coaches 21:18 Do apprenticeships if you are a young coach 23:15 The difference between tennis teachers & tennis coaches 26:10 What coaches deserves the credit? 28:10 The French Coaches System 29:42 How tennis coaches are left behind coaches from other sports 32:19 The chart system David Robert uses 33:30 Best part about being a touring coach 34:56 Why Robert finds the competitive nature of a player the most important 36:51 The care factor 38:17 Reading, talking, observing 40:46 Process over product 41:31 Why Robert could never coach Kyrgios 42:05 The old school fitness 43:55 Too much analytics 47:01 Specialty shots 50:02 Quality time 51:39 Robert’s advice