Dissecting High Performance In Tennis

In this episode you are going to listen to Christian Groh, Christian was an ATP ranked player himself & then went directly into coaching after pulling the plug as a player. Christian has worked with the likes of Michael Berrer & Bradley Klahn & was the Coach who guided Taylor Fritz to the US Open Junior title & the number 1 spot in the junior rankings. Christian is currently the coach of German Veteran Tommy Haas & has been so since 2012. In this episode you’ll get to know: – The steps Christian & Taylor Fritz worked on in order to successfully transition from a great junior into a professional senior player – How the coaching relation with Tommy Hass came about despite the fact that Haas is actually older than Christian. – The fine line between being self-confident & having to big of an ego Christian is based in San Diego, Rancho Santa Fe where it is possible to play outdoors all year. Make sure to say hi to Christian on Social & tell him what parts of the interview you liked! Enjoy the show! Timestamps 01:30 How Christian started working with Tommy Haas 03:05 How it works for a coach while a player is injuried 04:43 Christians considerations before starting to work with Tommy 06:06 Being younger than your player 07:15 What Haas would say about Christian 08:15 How to balance the on & off court life on tour 09:29 How Christian nurtures his mind when on the tour 10:09 The difference in working with Haas & Fritz 12:03 What made Fritz decide to fully focus on tennis 13:44 The steps that lead Fritz into the top 100 15:03 The off-court transiton steps for Fritz into the top 100 16:25 Taylor Fritz’s biggest room for improvement 17:18 How Fritz being married will affect his career 18:26 It’s really not that glamorous 20:37 The biggest challenges when traveling on tour 22:36 How to go about communicating with your boss who also happens to be the player you are working with 24:15 No regrets 25:37 Being surrounded by the best athletes in the world 26:27 Persistence 28:06 Stress tolerance 30:26 Integrity 33:27 How Christian gets better as a coach 36:02 The value of time 37:08 The way Haas practices 38:30 How to deal with fiery guys 38:23 How Christian would go about training Haas if he had been 14 years old 41:23 How the level has changed 42:11 Ego vs self confidence 44:58 Christian’s advice

In this episode you are going to listen to Karan Rastogi, Karan was a very promising Indian Junior player that was scouted & signed by IMG as a 14 year old, he was 4 in the ITF ranking & had a career high of 284 in singles & 221 in doubles. Karan has worked with top 100 ATP Doubles specialist Purav Raja & is currently the National Coach of Hong Coach which also includes being a coach for both the Davis Cup & the Fed Cup Team In this episode you’ll get to know: – How Karan helps the players he is working with avoiding the same mistakes as he did – The most valuable lesson he learned being at the IMG Tennis Academy for 11 years – How to gain trust from the parents of the players you are coaching Get to know more about Karan by going to his profile at either GPTCA or OrangeCoach. Enjoy the show! Timestamps 01:30 The steps that lead Karan to go from a professional player to a coach 03:17 What Karan learned at the GPTCA Courses 04:30 What Karan is doing in Hong Kong 06:03 Karan’s mistakes 11:36 What makes Nishikori so special 14:26 Karan’s first meeting with Maria Sharapova 16:25 Biggest lesson from the IMG Tennis Academy 19:10 How to educate tennis parents 20:21 How to handle unwanted parent behaviour as a coach 21:32 The steps of gaining trust of the parents 23:35 How to navigate in the jungle of technology 24:20 The very best about being a tennis coach 25:06 How to spot desire 26:19 Why you need adaptability & flexibility as a tennis coach 27:30 Karan’s book recommendation 29:45 Why you will learn how to persevere 31:46 The positives of getting seriously injured 37:48 How to do smart practices 40:43 Why you need to take care of yourself

In this episode you are going to listen to Federico Ricci, Federico was the director at the Evert Tennis Academy where he worked with the likes of Lauren Davis, Jesse Levine, Madison Keys & Ajla Tomljanovic. Since 2011 he has been the director of the Jarkko Nieminen Tennis Academy which is one of the few non-profit Tennis Academies in the world In this episode you’ll get to know: – The similarities & differences on the Jarko Nieminen & Evert Tennis Academy – How it’s possible to develop a players stress tolerance – The most important lesson he learned under the guidance of Andy Brandi Get to know more about Federico by going to the official Jarkko Nieminen Tennis Academy homepage. Enjoy the show! Timestamps 01:30 Non profit academy 4:20 The specific actions of commitment 06:12 The benefits of having a small environment 09:50 The collaboration with the finish tennis association 11:42 The story of the Estonian Tennis Federation 12:34 Similarities & differences on Jarko Nieminen & Evert Tennis Academy 16:45 How the quality of the facility influences the players 19:45 How some parents from Scandinavia perceive sport 22:58 The best thing about being an academy director 24:34 Something he has not talked about before 24:50 The stress level a player can sustain 26:42 Daily actions to develop stress tolerance 30:26 Resilience 32:49 Empathy 38:20 Most important lesson learned from Andy Brandi 40:14 Biggest myth 43:14 How tennis has become more complicated 45:30 The complexity of traveling The physical aspect while traveling has become more important 49:30 Federico’s advice

In this episode you are going to listen to Dusan Vemic, Dusan was on the tour as a player for nearly 20 years & represented Serbia in Davis Cup. He assisted Petar Popovic in guiding Andrea Petkovic to the top 10, He was a part of Novak Djokovic’s team for 1 & a half years & accompanied him by himself in 2012 when Novak won the World Tour Finals. Since 2013 he has been a part of the Serbian Davis Cup Coaching Staff & is currently the coach of Filip Krajinovic. In this episode you’ll get to know: – How it’s possible to create an environment that is too difficult for the opponent to handle – Why Dusan thinks that you are pretty much able to handle every job after a tennis playing career – Why Dusan puts more importance on the technical aspect of tennis than he did earlier, and YES I did say MORE IMPORTANCE Get to know more about Dusan by going to the official GPTCA homepage & check out his bio. Enjoy the show! Timestamps 01:30: How Dusan became part of the Serbian Davis cup team 03:32 The reason Dusan wanted to become a coach 04:22: What Petar Popovic would say about Dusan 05:40 Working with the mental aspect in tennis 08:10 How to be present in high pressure situations on the tennis court 09:40 The strategic part of tennis 11:46 The difference between males & female tennis players 13:49 Why presence is important 15:25 Every tennis player has the same challenges 18:42 The most important characteristic in a tennis player 20:30 What person or books has inspired you the most 23:41 Most valuable lesson learned from tennis 23:32 Different than others 29:18 Biggest waste of time 32:45 How tennis coaches can educate tennis parents 35:53 What made Dusan change his mind about the importance of technique 38:32 More important / less important 40:44 Dusan’s advice

In this episode you are going to listen to Roberto Brogin. Roberto was on the tour for more than 20 years as a coach & has coached several top 100 ATP & WTA players. He has been the coach of the Uzbekistan Davis Cup Team leading them into the World Group, In 2006 he worked for the Chinese Tennis Federation with players as Li Na & Zheng Jie & in 2009 he was specially assigned to work with Eugine Bouchard at the National Tennis Centre in Canada, In this episode you’ll get to know: – Why Brogan thinks that you should never judge the future of a tennis player at the age of 18 – Why he especially likes Australian & Spanish coaches – Why you should watch Rafael Nadal’s volley practices Get to know more about Roberto by going to the official GPTCA homepage & check out his bio. Enjoy the show!

In this episode you are going to listen to Claudio Pistolesi. Claudio (@cpistolesi) is a former Junior World Champion & top 100 singles player. He has brought 10 players from the outside of top 100 to the inside & worked with players like Söderling, Hantuchova & Bolleli In this episode you’ll get to know: The mentality of a professional tennis player When it’s time to move on from a coaching relation How Claudio keeps updated every year Get to know more about Claudio by visiting www.claudiopistolesienterprise.com, give a shout out on Twitter @cpistolesi or be one of more than a thousand people to follow Claudio Pistolesi Enterprise on Facebook. Enjoy the show!

In this episode you are going to listen to Bob Brett. Bob (@bobbretttennis) has been on the professional tour as a coach for more than 35 years, he has coached players like Becker, Ivanisevic, Cilic, Ancic & Sania Mirza In this episode you’ll get to know: What’s going on inside of Bob’s head when deciding to initiate a coaching realtion with a player or not The difference between top 20 & the rest Why the most valuable lesson Bob learned was getting fired And at last hang in there because Bob gives some very concrete and actionable advice for parents, players & coaches at the end of the interview. Get to know more about Bob by visiting Bob Brett School of tennis on facebook or follow @bobbretttennis on twitter Enjoy the show!

In this episode you are going to listen to Johan Hedsberg. Johan has tried pretty much everything as a tennis coach & is currently the main coach of Swedish junior Mikael Ymer. In this episode you’ll get to know: How to develop the player from the personality When to use point play vs basket drills What you need to do 1 day a month Get to know more about Johan by going to www.goodtogreatworld.com Enjoy the show!

In this episode you are going to listen to Merlin Van De Braam. Merlin is excellent at demystifying Sport Psychology. He is currenty working for the LTA, has earlier been traveling as a coach on the ITF International Touring Team & as he holds a Masters Degree in Sports & Exercise Psychology Merlin is not just guessing when he guides us through the mental part of tennis. In this episode you’ll get to know: Where you start as a coach when you want to work on a players mental toughness The Four C’s of Sportpsychology (control of emotions, confidence, commitment, concentration) Merlin’s opinion on doing outbursts Get to know more about Merlin by going to TennisIcoach where you can read the published articles he has made. Enjoy the show!

Hi guys. Decided to do a little mix of the stuff that is usually cut out from each & every episode. Stay tuned & listen to the edited version of Merlin Van De Braam demystifying Mental Toughness released on tuesday the 19th of January! Enjoy your weekend