USPTA Southern Division: Where Excellence is STANDARD

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Page 6 Volume 13 Issue 2 HEAD RACQUET AND PRO PENN TENNIS BALLS ARE THE OFFICIAL PRODUCTS OF THE USPTA! Their financial contribution to the USPTA helps with many of our programs. Please contact Linda Ryan, lryan@us.head.com for all the latest prices and don’t forget HEAD PENN has all the QST (10 UNDER) products you need for summer. The Wimbledon Experience: Official Tour company of The Championships, Wimbledon – complementary place on 2013 Tennis Club Tour programs for PTA Pro’s. Please contact me for full details. Jan Thwaites, 704-896-2224 The International Tennis Performance Association (iTPA) is the worldwide education & certification organization for tennis trainers, coaches and specialists who are passionate about tennis-specific performance enhancement and injury prevention. The iTPA offers three levels of tennis-specific certification: Tennis Performance Trainer (TPT), Certified Tennis Performance Specialist (CTPS) and Master Tennis Performance Specialist (MTPS). Visit the iTPA website today at www.itpa-tennis.org for more information or email contact@itpa-tennis.org. At NetKnacks Tennis Awards, our mission is to provide you with exemplary customer service and an array of unique prod- By Matt Grayson Specials from the vendors from our tradeshow at the Southern Convention. ucts that will promote your tennis events and programs, helping you reach your goal to grow the game of tennis. From now through August 15, 2012, we have great deals on summer camp items such as T-shirts, backpacks, jump ropes, and water bottles. Visit our web site at www.tennisawards.com or contact us at 800- 374-6153. Jobeasier – “We do the things you don’t always have the time, staff and resources to do”. Drills, Video Clips, Lesson Plans, Camp Formats, Programs, Handouts plus more and new information added each month! USPTA discount code: use s-uspta at www. jobeasier.com Esoteric Sports – YOU RECEIVE $400. 23 years of Concierge level service at world class sports events. Send your clients to the BNP at Indian Wells and earn $400/couple. Send 10 couples, earn $5000. Contact us at info@esotericsports.com or 800-321-8008 TopDrawer Cap & Apparel – Custom Made Caps for $6.85 each. The cap includes your logo in 3D Puff or straight embroidery, and a total of five logos on the cap. Even customize the interior sections, bill front, eyelet colors, and more. We also have apparel, i.e. moisture wicking polo and tee shirts, wind shirts, fleece and just about anything else you might need. 678-714-2525 Tech Corner By Eric Wammock, Hilton Head Island Tennis Get Your Head IN The Clouds Computer advancements have taken paradigm shifts throughout the existence of the machines, but one interesting shift of late has been the return to a somewhat centralized computing system (similar, but still different to the mainframes of years past) called “cloud computing”. Many companies such as Google and Apple offer free cloud services that allow users to store and, more importantly, share data online for collaboration. These files can be housed on a 3rd party server, instead of (or in addition to) being housed locally on your pc. The focus of this article is the file sharing advantage of cloud computing. Many of us are still using lesson/clinic books on paper to schedule activities. Problems often arise when a student wishes to sign up for an event and the sign up book is not available at the moment. Cloud computing lets multiple users view these sign ups at any time and changes are saved for all to see in real time. The customer service element is improved because students can sign up with any member of the staff with access to the internet and the file. In my business at a resort, the reservation staff, shop staff and tennis professionals all need to be able to view this information at all hours – having a single, paper based sign up proved less than ideal. The owner of these files can grant access to only those he specifically wants to view/edit the files and he can also limit files to view OR edit capabilities. In our case we created a spreadsheet for each month of each program. End each tab at the bottom of the page represents each day of the month. The spreadsheet is customized for the information needed for each class and is uploaded to Google Docs. An e-mail is sent out granting access to the users, and voila – they are ready to edit and make changes. In addition to improved efficiency, paper use is greatly reduced, which is healthy for both conservation and the wallet. Time spent notifying people of changes is contracted, as interested parties can view the information when needed. Get out of the hard drive and into the clouds.
Standard Page 7 Coach’s Coach Put the Feed in the Player’s Hands By Ben Hestley I think that one of the biggest downfalls in the history of our profession is the fallacy that “if you’re not feeding you’re not working.” A few years ago at the dawn of the QuickStart format, I ask a fellow pro to try this coaching style with me with adults and older juniors where the players feed the balls. To say the least, he was very resistant to getting away from his teaching cart during lessons. He said to me “the members pay me to feed them the ball.” I replied “well then they’re paying too much. They pay you to coach them.” Next I ask “do you think you’re doing the absolute best job you can as a tennis coach?” Of course he said yes. But take a real hard look. If you feed balls while standing next to your basket the simple answer is NO! This industry is filled with ball-feeders. We need COACHES!!! If you’re a legitimate tennis professional, you’ll mobilize yourself around the court to see what’s really going on out there with your players and give them feedback that is meaningful. Below, I’ve come up with the top ten reasons you should put the feed in the player’s hands. I’m sure you can come up with more, but these are the most notable to me and my staff that have incredibly improved our abilities as coaches and our players’ performances. 1. ALLOWS COACHES TO BE A MOBILE DEvICE By letting the players feed the ball into play, you’re not “tied down” by the basket. You’re able to move around the court and get a better view of what is happening with your players. By moving around the court you’ll see things from different (and better) angles and you’ll really stay engaged with your students. 2. COACHES CAN “TOUCH” EACH PLAyER WITHOUT COMPLETELy STOPPING THE DRILL If you don’t have to feed, you can walk behind a player and give a quick “2 minute private” while the other players remain occupied. Most players learn best through either visual or kinesthetic feedback. When you’re tied to the basket you can only give auditory feedback during play. Often times between points I will demonstrate the stroke or guide the player’s hand through a shadow swing. I will also step in for a few balls and “show ‘em how it’s done.” 3. EASIER TO SEE WHAT’S REALLy HAPPENING Putting the feeds in the players’ hands does wonders in shortening your job description on the court. Think about all the things you are responsible for while teaching a group lesson. Organizing the activity, keeping the players occupied, giving feedback, and you’re going to pile feeding the balls on top of that. . Why not delegate some of that work to the players so you can actually COACH them rather than being an over-qualified ball feeder? The best way to give proper stroke/game analysis is by getting as close to the player as possible and put yourself into their point of view 4. CAN ONLy COACH FROM UP CLOSE A teaching pro standing far away (on the other side of the net glued to the basket) can only give quick reminders and encouragement. Players respond best to congratulations from afar and constructive criticism from up close. Players will be far more “coachable” listening to a soft spoken, caring voice giving critical feedback close to their ear that appeal strictly to them 5. COACHES CAN RUN MULTIPLE DRILLS ON ONE COURT This commonly happens with juniors and beginner adults as they progress at different rates once a skill is introduced. Do you let some be bored while the others “catch up” or challenge each player individually to keep everyone interested? You split the court into thirds and have them all rallying at the same time with different objectives based on their skill level; each improving and enjoying a challenge that is suitable for their needs. 6. BETTER “PRIvATE LESSONS” INSIDE A GROUP SETTING You’ve probably heard for years as I have from pros “teach the group; don’t get caught giving a private lesson in a clinic.” But there’s nothing more meaningful to a player than personal attention within a group.. The only way to do USPTA Invited Guest this is let the players feed. You are free to move about the court and spend time individually with each player; it doesn’t matter for how long (very short is recommended then move onto the next player) what matters is that you’re giving them feedback that is specific to their game. 7. BAD FEEDS ARE GOOD! Too often as tennis pros, and people in the service business, we’re too concerned with our drills being pretty, smooth, and seamless. In wanting that, we underestimate our students. “No way a 3.0 lady could feed the ball to start a drill. I have to feed. I’m the PRO!” But feeds coming from a player your student would face in a match automatically makes practices more “game” like and teaches players how to “read and react” to different type shots before hitting the ball. Thus, the focus moves to the “whole” of receiving and sending a ball versus just the “part” of sending a ball, which is what often happens from a pro’s feed. 8. CAN’T PUT IT IN PLAy, yOU CAN’T PLAy Making your players feed the ball to start a drill or a game puts a certain level of “game-like” pressure on them. In a match, players have that pressure of putting the ball into play, so why not simulate that in practice? In a match if you don’t put the ball in play the other team gets a point. Trust me if they want to play (and they do) they’ll make it happen! 9. PLAyERS PROPERLy DEvELOP RACQUET SKILLS AND QUICKLy! Dead ball feeding drills teach players how to “hit” the ball but often lack skills in “feeling” the ball. By having the players feed the ball into play, they quickly learn how to “feel” the ball because you force their awareness of the correlation between racquet face and ball. 10. MAKES yOUR DRILLS/GAMES MORE REALISTIC With everything you do on the court with players, you must ask yourself “would this actually happen in a match?” If it wouldn’t actually happen in a match there is no use in teaching it. To get your players to perform better, you have to take their practices to the point it resembles a real match. When you start coaching using the players’ feed concept, your drills will automatically filter to more realistic match situations. Before developing this system, we had match players and drill players. The match players were terrible at the drills and the drill players could master any drill but were terrible in matches. Now, ALL our players find benefits in our practices because they are doing things that relate exactly to what they see in a match. If you don’t already put the feed in the players’ hands I hope I’ve shed some light on why it is a fantastic idea and highly necessary part of player development. Tthis philosophy stemmed from work with the QuickStart format. If you’re using a pro no feed policy with six to ten year olds and they are improving, why change the process when they turn 11? I encourage you strongly to take a true coaching approach to group sessions, get away from the basket, start circling the court and let your players feed. Ben Hestley is a USPTA P1 and is the Director of Tennis at Druid Hills Golf Club in Atlanta, GA. Ben is the current President of the Georgia Professional Tennis Association. He has won USPTA Southern Assistant Pro of the Year and GPTA Director of the Year. Over the past four years, he has been a speaker at the USPTA Southern Convention and USPTA Georgia, Tennessee and Mississippi Workshops.
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Page 13 and 14: Standard Page 13 “Success Secrets
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USPTA Southern Division: Where Excellence is STANDARD

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