Mark My Words

I had an article published in the July/August 2015 issue of TennisPro, available for members at http://ptrtennis.org. It began: For a number of years, I assumed I had my arms around most everything I did as it related to teaching tennis. When I went out to teach a lesson, I knew exactly what I was going to do, and seldom taught without either a written or mental lesson plan to follow. I knew how…

Top 10 Reasons to Play Tennis on #WorldTennisDay via @PlayTennis!

Today is #WorldTennisDay and what better opportunity to hit the courts than on a day when players from around the globe celebrate this great sport! There are hundreds of great reasons to play tennis, but we’ve condensed all those great reasons into what we consider the “Top 10 Reasons to Play Tennis.” As the 2015 tennis season kicks into high gear we hope one of these Top 10 reasons will…

As I was at my desk working this morning, one of our patrons stopped by to chat with Michael (the youth pro at PTC). After concluding their conversation and on the way out the door she asked if I would consider writing an article about how to cope with nerves while playing important matches. She mentioned this would be an appropriate time since last week marked the beginning of the USTA league…

So, how did all of this grunting in tennis get started? I am not positive, but I believe it all began when we, as coaches, started encouraging our players to exhale as they hit, rather than holding their breath. In principal and theory it is a great idea. Holding your breath while hitting makes the stroke a bit more restricted and certainly less free flowing. When we first began advocating this…

Choose Your Words

A while back I offered up a bit of praise to one of our junior tennis players during our High Performance Clinic. What she had done wasn’t really an athletic feat, but she had managed to stack an unbelievably large amount of tennis balls on her racket while we were in the process of picking up. “Hey Mark, check this out”, she exclaimed. I responded with one of my pet expressions when someone…

You have all seen them, doing some choreographed routine in the end zone that looks like something from a Broadway play. Or the one I hate the most: strutting around behind the line of scrimmage with their arms outstretched wagging their helmet up and down like a bobble head doll. All the while, the quarterback is lying on his back having been sacked by “Mr. Look at Me.” I used football as an…

A number of years ago, and quite by chance, mind you, I received the best lesson ever on the art of communication. Two things about this lesson seem particularly appropriate to me. First, it happened here in my new home, Sumter, while I was playing in the Iris Festival Tennis Tournament some 30 years ago. And second, it occurred right smack in the middle of a doubles match. Here’s how the story…

How many of you have seen the movie Dead Poets Society? Yeah, it’s dated and the title is more than a little weak. It caused me to pass it up many times over for other choices with a better title. When I was finally bored and desperate enough for something new, I watched it and was pleasantly surprised. The movie is about a group of teenage boys growing up in an affluent boarding school in the…

Like most of you, I have enjoyed the game of tennis for a number of years. And like most of you, I eventually developed a style of play that was comfortable for me. Sometimes that style of play yielded good results, other times it did not. Even in defeat I could buffer my ego by telling myself that I had used my best skills, which gave me the best chance to do well. Made sense to me. I have long…

This month I would like to share a few thoughts on a subject that has interested me over the years. The subject involves the manner in which some junior tennis players interact with their parents at tournaments and other tennis related activities. On many occasions I have observed that these prepubescent and older players talk to their parents in a tone that ranges from blunt all the way to rude…

I read an article recently on “commitment” that I found particularly compelling. This article was not really about tennis or sports per say but did have some parallels that carry over into the tennis arena. The thrust behind the entire text was that one seldom achieves a level of success which gives any real personal satisfaction without a serious commitment to the desired endeavor. I am a firm…

I read a book some years ago that I found particularly compelling. The book is entitled Emotional Intelligence and is authored by Daniel Goleman. The premise deals primarily with what we do with what we have been given and why. When I say what we have been givenI mean our personal gifts, our actual IQ or Intelligence Quotient. Certainly, this article will only scratch the surface and will skirt…

I was recently considering how debilitating fear can be to a tennis player. I think I can say with reasonable certainty that fear rates the highest on the scale of things that can negatively impact a tennis player’s performance. Keep in mind that I am not making reference to the fear that exists because of lack of practice, poor conditioning or just plain absence of talent. I am talking about how…

This time we are going to take a little peek at two personalities we often see on the courts. One of them is the guy who cruises along for about a set or so and might be perceived as quite a competitor, but will often fold up the tent when things start to turn sour for him. The other is that player every coach loves, the one who won’t quit trying no matter what. The question I want us to consider…

About a week ago I was watching a very compelling tennis match during the Small College National Championships here at PTC. A few of the tournament level juniors from the Palmetto Tennis Center were sitting in close proximity and enjoying the match as well. I was particularly impressed with how poised one of the on court players was, especially after he missed a shot he should have made. I made…

After returning from tennis conferences each year I get amped up with some tidbit of info that one of the psychology wiz-kids bestows on us. Although there is much in terms of “between the ears” kind of information being doled out, in recent times a lot of it is based upon something much more concrete: being in better shape. (more…)

I recently attended an organizational meeting of the newly formed South Carolina Pros and Coaches Association. The thrust of what we are trying to accomplish is to band together for the good of tennis throughout our state. One of our concerns is that walk-in or casual play is down at every facility. The good news is that it is not a problem special to the Sumter area. Knowing that this is an…