ParentingAces - The Junior Tennis and College Tennis Podcast
355 episodes - English - Latest episode: 8 days ago - ★★★★★ - 61 ratingsHost Lisa Stone discusses the various aspects of developing a tennis player from beginner through the juniors to college and beyond. Her weekly guests include experts in coaching, parenting, mental toughness, fitness & nutrition, technology & equipment, and college recruiting. Stone provides invaluable information for parents, players, and coaches.
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Episodes
A Better Way of Monitoring Player Development with Furqan Iqbal
September 11, 2018 15:00 - 55 minutesFor years I have been asking junior coaches to do a better job of communicating with families. Everything from which tournaments to play to whether the child is progressing to how a child compares to his/her peers are questions most Tennis Parents have. Furqan Iqbal, the CEO of Tennis Locker, is a Tennis Parent himself who had similar questions for his son's coach. That coupled with his software development background led Furqan to create an app that would allow coaches to plan for and monit...
College Coaches Panel led by ITA COO Erica Perkins Jasper
September 09, 2018 00:00 - 33 minutes - 33.4 MB VideoIt's not every day you get to sit in a room and hear 3 current (and 1 former) college coaches discuss recruiting and what they look for in a prospective student-athlete! Last week during the WTCA Conference, I had just such an opportunity. The COO of the ITA, Erica Perkins Jasper, led an incredible conversation with Mark Beyers (University of Mississippi), Lauren Embree (Pepperdine), and Lauren Spencer (Auburn) about coaching Women's College Tennis, how the landscape is changing, and what ...
How To Do Junior Tennis on a Limited Budget with Mike Belangia & Will Segraves
August 28, 2018 14:00 - 55 minutesA few weeks ago I received an email from a member of the ParentingAces community. It said, "We have a limited budget for tennis and you know personally how expensive it can be with all the costs adding up. I would love to hear a program on how to get the most bang for your buck. That is, ways to help your child become a great tennis player when you don't have a large income to draw on." Ask and ye shall receive! In this week's episode, we address the topic of developing a high-level junior te...
The Backdraw Flu with Marc Lucero
August 21, 2018 14:00 - 54 minutesWithdrawal from the backdraw of our biggest national tournaments has reached a ridiculous level. At last week's Kalamazoo Tournament (Boys 16s & 18s National Hardcourts), backdraw walkovers were at 16.89% up from 5.88% only fifteen years ago. Why are so many players pulling out once they lose in the main draw? What can coaches and parents do about it? What SHOULD coaches and parents do about it? That's the topic of this week's conversation with coach Marc Lucero. He feels very passionate...
Virtual School 3.0 with Kirk Spahn
August 14, 2018 15:00 - 1 hour - 83.1 MBTrying to decide which type of school is best for your child is a tricky proposition at best. If the child is an elite athlete striving to reach the highest levels of the sport, it becomes even more complicated. In this week's podcast, Lisa chats with Kirk Spahn, a former collegiate tennis player who is the mind behind Dwight Global Academy, an online extension of the prestigious Dwight School based in Manhattan. We think you'll find the conversation very (pardon the pun!) educational and ...
Reviving Tradition with Jeffrey Goodman
August 07, 2018 14:00 - 43 minutesImagine being outside on a summer day surrounded by people who all share a love of the same thing. The only sounds are of feet skidding on green "clay", the contact of ball and string, and the occasional outburst of applause. You are hot and sweaty, but it doesn't matter because you are in your Happy Place doing what you love. Ten years ago, a long-standing tennis tradition in my hometown of Shreveport, Louisiana, disappeared. Yes, this week's episode is personal. A few weeks ago, my brothe...
Tennis Takes with Ryan Lipman & his mom, Lisa
July 24, 2018 12:00 - 57 minutesWhat happens when 3 tennis-playing brothers get together and start a website? Get the answer in this week's episode (apologies for the poor sound quality in the intro - it gets way better after that!) with Vanderbilt Men's Tennis Assistant Coach, Ryan Lipman, and his mom, Lisa. Ryan and his brothers, Maxx and Marshall, all played college tennis and all still love the sport. They followed very different pathways in the junior, college, and even professional game, but have now come together to...
Talk College To Me with Marisa Meddin
July 10, 2018 14:49 - 31 minutesIn our last episode, we talked to you about how you can manage your college recruiting in the palm of your hand with the newest feature on the Match!Tennis App. This week, we discuss college scholarships and how best to get them. Marisa Meddin worked in marketing after a very successful college career at the University of Michigan. She found her greatest satisfaction, however, in volunteering to help high school students navigate the college application process, so she quit her corporate job...
College Recruiting in an App? with Heath & Lindsey Waters
July 03, 2018 14:30 - 51 minutesLast year, we were all introduced to the Match!Tennis App, a one-stop-shop for all your junior tournament needs - a calendar, rankings, ratings, medical release, weather updates, doubles partner search, and more. When I used the app during the 2017 Sol Schwartz #SaveCollegeTennis All-In Tournaments, I was blown away by all it could do from the Tournament Director side, too. And now the app has gone one better. You can use it to manage your college recruiting process by searching schools by ...
Compete. Learn. Earn.
June 26, 2018 15:00 - 53 minutesBarry Fulcher grew up in a Tennis Family. His parents and his siblings were avid players, so it was only fitting that Barry start honing his racquet and court skills as a toddler in the UK. His love of the game and of competition led him to a very successful junior tennis career such that he decided to go the professional route rather than come to the US to try his hand in our college tennis system (much to his mother's chagrin, I might add!). After realizing he couldn't sustain a pro career...
Coach & Dad Talk Development Pathways with Todd Widom & George Opelka
June 19, 2018 15:00 - 1 hourHow lucky are we to have both Coach Todd Widom and Tennis Parent George Opelka together in one podcast?!?!?! These two gentleman offer their wisdom on everything from the different developmental pathways to college vs. pro tennis and everything in between. They have spent many hours talking to each other courtside while watching their respective player's practice and compete and share those conversations with us this week. You can find Todd Widom and his academy online at http://twtennis.co...
The DIII Life with Matt Brisotti
June 12, 2018 15:00 - 1 hourJune is prime recruiting season for many college coaches. That said, what better time to do a podcast about Division III and how it differs from DI? Coach Matt Brisotti leads both the men's and women's tennis teams at Hamilton College, a Division III school in New York that is part of the NESCAC, one of the stronger conferences in DIII. He played college tennis at Drew University (also DIII) and finished his collegiate career as one of the top players in Drew men's tennis history with 55 car...
The One with the Junior Tennis Official with Gary Link
June 05, 2018 15:00 - 1 hourA few weeks ago, I posted on our Facebook page that I would be doing an interview with a USTA official and asked you for questions to ask him. You did not disappoint! In this week's episode of the ParentingAces Podcast, recorded in person at Goldberg's Deli (!), I chat with Gary Link, an amazing official based in South Carolina who has committed the past 21 years to helping junior tennis players learn while playing. I have known him since my son's junior tennis years, and I can vouch for his...
How Do You Survive the Puberty Years? with Katie Malinski
May 29, 2018 15:00 - 1 hourI know. No one likes talking about periods and puberty. But, it's a reality of life and a topic that we need to discuss if we're going to help our young players maintain a healthy body image and feel comfortable asking for help whenever and wherever they may need it. In this week's episode, Katie Malinski and I get pretty candid and raw in our conversation about how to talk to our children about their bodily changes, what to do if our daughter or other female player gets her period while on ...
Using Nutrition to Maximize Performance with Jackie Slomin, RD
May 22, 2018 15:00 - 53 minutesJackie Slomin is a sports dietitian who helps high school athletes get recruited to top tier colleges on scholarship with her Fuel Your Full Ride program. Having previously worked with hundreds of division I and II athletes from all different sports and holding a master's degree in sports nutrition and exercise science, Jackie is an expert at helping athlete's discover how to improve their performance, energy and recovery time by up to 50% with advanced sports nutrition principles that can b...
Repurposing Tennis to Help People Grow Up with Jorge Capestany
May 15, 2018 15:00 - 56 minutesWouldn't it be awesome if you could find a teaching pro who actually had a college degree in Tennis? What if she had an in-depth knowledge not only of teaching forehands and backhands but also sport psychology, injury prevention, nutrition, and communication? Well, thanks to several hard-working and forward-thinking folks, the Professional Tennis Management (PTM) Certificate is now a reality! Coach Jorge Capestany, the Head Tennis Coach at Hope College, is leading the charge to create the PT...
Is This the Solution for Short-Scoring in Tennis? with Mark Milne
May 08, 2018 15:00 - 54 minutesIf you're a Tennis Parent or Coach, you know how frustrating it is to travel to a tournament only to find out the Tournament Director has decided to use short scoring due to weather or other impediments to play. This week's podcast guest, Mark Milne, has a great solution to present. Thirty30 Tennis presents a format where players start each game at the score 30-all then play out the game from there, deuces and all. This is not about no-ad scoring. It is not about sets played to 4. The only c...
Are College & ITFs Really Pathways to the Pros with Todd Widom
May 01, 2018 15:00 - 1 hourAs of the taping of this week's podcast, there are 4 former college players in the Top 100 of the ATP and 2 former college players in the Top 100 of the WTA. It begs the question: is college tennis really a pathway to the pros? In this week's podcast, Todd Widom discusses how juniors should use college as a step in their overall development process. He also talks about the Junior ITF pathway and what a Junior ITF ranking may or may not mean in terms of college recruiting. As always, Todd t...
Documenting the Winningest College Tennis Program in History with Mark Young
April 24, 2018 15:00 - 54 minutes - 27.1 MBMark Young started playing tennis as a junior in Australia training under relatively strict conditions. When his dad came home one day and announced he was moving the family to the US, the captain of the local high school team took Mark under his wing and helped him develop into a very proficient college player at Oberlin College, a top D3 program in Ohio. Fast-forward many years where Mark and his wife joined the faculty of USC in Southern California as part of the accounting department....
How to Make Sure YOU Are Recruitable with Tarek Merchant
April 19, 2018 15:00 - 1 hourWith the new recruiting rules announced by the NCAA (click here), making sure your child is properly prepared for the process is crucial to his/her success. In this week's episode, we talk about how junior players can increase their exposure to college coaches, especially if they are not among the top-ranked players in their recruiting class. We also discuss several recruiting myths that seem to make the rounds among Prospective Student Athletes (PSAs) such as D1 has the best tennis and all...
An Inside Look at UTR with Mark Leschly, CEO
April 17, 2018 15:00Last week I published an article on the new partnerships between Universal Tennis Ratings and the two major coaching certification organizations, USPTA and PTR (click here to read the article). And this week UTR announced another new partnership with Chinese Tennis organization Love Sports. Now, you have the opportunity to hear from UTR's CEO, Mark Leschly, about how UTR works and what's in store for the future. Since there seem to be a lot of misconceptions around UTR and its algorithm, I th...
Learning from Those Who Came Before Us
April 10, 2018 15:00 - 1 hourSeveral months ago, Tennis Parent (and now, Podcaster!), Robert Garrett called and asked me if I would ever consider doing an episode where he could ask questions of a top junior player, parent, and coach. Of course, I said YES, and this week's episode is the outcome of that conversation. Coach Todd Widom, who y'all have heard from many times on ParentingAces, arranged for his young player, Ronnie Hohmann, and Ronnie's parents, Ron and Judy, to come on the podcast so that Robert could ask th...
The ParentingAces Brand
April 05, 2018 16:58 - 1 hour - 332 MB VideoYou never know where life will lead you! Several years ago, I started getting Facebook messages from a fellow Tennis Parent in the UK asking me questions about training abroad and college tennis opportunities in the US. As Sharon Gaskin and I began communicating more regularly, we realized we had a lot in common and now consider ourselves friends though we have never met in person. Sharon is a corporate trainer who, like me, decided to create a business wherein she advises and guides othe...
Sports Made Easy - Great New Tennis App!
April 03, 2018 15:00 - 38 minutesSports Made Easy, formerly known as My Game Solutions, is an online community that connects players, instructors, and facilities in real time. With the mobile app you can search for players using any preferred location and find a place to play. Participate in a friendly game or competition to help you improve your overall game. Parents and junior players can use the app to schedule practice matches which can be reported to UTR directly through the app IF both players agree. Sports Made Easy...
Tennis Parenting Across the Pond with Sharon Gaskin
March 27, 2018 15:00 - 1 hourWe rarely get to hear from Tennis Parents outside the US, so I was thrilled when UK Tennis Parent Sharon Gaskin agreed to come on the podcast! Sharon shares her son, Ryan's, entire tennis journey starting with his early junior years and moving to his training at Soto Tennis Academy in Spain, eventually landing in the US to play college tennis. She talks about the difficulty of working with the LTA (the UK equivalent of USTA), deciding to send her son abroad to train in his early teen years,...
Refusing to Lose with Tami Matheny
March 20, 2018 15:00 - 51 minutesTami Matheny became a Mental Game Coach in 2008 and started Refuse2LoseCoaching, LLC. She knows the role the intangibles play in career success and longevity and has had experience with working on the mental skills at the collegiate level with tennis, basketball, softball, baseball, volleyball, golf, field hockey, cross country and soccer student-athletes. Tami believes that while it’s important to work on the physical and technical aspects of sport, the mental side is just as important; me...
Coaching "Secrets" & the Future of Tennis Development with Craig Cignarelli
March 15, 2018 12:00 - 50 minutesI can't tell you how thrilled I was to run into my old friend, Craig Cignarelli, at the BNP Paribas Open last weekend! It's been quite a while since we've chatted, and I knew he had some incredible knowledge to share with all of us. Thankfully, he agreed to sit down with me and talk junior development pathways and how technology is impacting today's up and coming players (and their parents). He also shares some "secrets" that coaches don't necessarily want us Tennis Parents to know, so you do...
Training Like - and WITH! - the Pros with Todd Widom
March 13, 2018 15:00 - 1 hourSixteen-year-old Ronnie Hohmann, who won the 2017 Eddie Herr 16s, recently had the unique opportunity to train with several players on the ATP tour. Both Ronnie - and his coach, Todd Widom - learned so much from these training sessions beyond just hitting forehands and backhands. All junior players and their coaches can learn a lot from studying how the pros train. With so many pro tournaments across the world, there are typically at least one or two days before the main draw starts where th...
Doing the Work Right with Harsh Mankad
March 06, 2018 16:00 - 39 minutesIn order to further junior tennis development, it is crucial that coaches learn about and use the new technologies being developed. One of my favorites in terms of planning and communication is Tenicity. Harsh Mankad, the founder of Tenicity, is back with us to talk about the latest updates to his platform, including a new mobile app that parents, players, and coaches can use to track progress and keep the lines of communication open. Tenicity is all about organizing data, communicating the ...
Interview with ParentingAces Lisa Stone
March 03, 2018 14:00 - 58 minutesI recently had the opportunity to be interviewed by the amazing talents behind the Great Shot Podcast, Alex Gruskin and Max Rothman. We did the interview as I was driving back to Atlanta from the Blue Gray Tennis Classic in Alabama, and I had a blast chatting with these guys! From their website: Welcome toooooo…. Another special edition of Hey, Great Shot!! In today’s episode, co-hosts Alex Gruskin and Max Rothman sit down with Parenting Aces founder Lisa Stone to discuss the many rule chan...
Are We Killing the Dream? Part 2
February 27, 2018 16:30 - 27 minutesAs an adjunct to this week's podcast with Tim Russell, I also had the opportunity to chat with Dave Miley who has written a very detailed article about the ITF Transition Tour (https://www.facebook.com/davemileytennis/posts/987689468064829). Dave Miley was the Executive Director of Tennis Development for the International Tennis Federation from 1991 until 2015 and in this role he lead the biggest department of the ITF and was responsible for the non professional activities of the ITF includ...
Are We Killing the Dream? Part 1
February 27, 2018 16:00 - 57 minutesOn February 1, 2018, the International Tennis Federation (ITF) sent out a press release describing its effort to reduce the number of professional tennis players through the creation of a Transition Tour (see http://parentingaces.com/repost-zootennis-itf-junior-rule-changes-2018/ and http://www.itftennis.com/news/278962.aspx for more info). What's obviously missing from the ITF's announcement is a clear-cut pathway for those juniors who choose to go to college instead of turning pro straigh...
What We Can Learn from 14 Great Coaches with Chris Trieste
February 20, 2018 16:00 - 55 minutesJust because you're an experienced coach yourself doesn't mean you can't learn from the Great Coaches who came before you. Former college player Chris Trieste has learned that lesson first hand as he researched then wrote his book, 14 Great Coaches: Learn Their Lessons, Improve Your Coaching, Have A Lasting Impact. In this week's podcast, Chris discusses his book and the invaluable lessons he learned and now applies in his own coaching as well as in his life as a Sports Parent. I first learn...
Growth Spurt? Injury? Keeping Your Junior's Body Healthy with Dr. Erin Boynton
February 13, 2018 16:00 - 53 minutesBeing sidelined by injury is never a good thing. In the short journey that is Junior Tennis, taking even a few weeks away from training and playing can wreak havoc on development, so it becomes that much more important to keep the body healthy. In this week's podcast, Dr. Erin Boynton, an orthopaedic surgeon who is also a Tennis Parent as well as a competitive tennis player herself, talks about the specific steps juniors can - and should - take to keep their bodies performing at the highest ...
Fab Summer Tennis Opportunity: West Coast Tennis Tour with West Nott
February 06, 2018 16:00 - 1 hourWondering what your high school or college player should do this summer? USTA tournaments? ITA Summer Circuit? ITF Pro Circuit? Something else? Former USC Women's Assistant Coach West Nott has started a new summer tennis tour that takes male and female players who are currently in high school or college to a variety of tournaments along the Pacific Coast in California, Oregon, and Washington. What an incredible opportunity to travel with a former college coach, play some great matches, and l...
Everything You Need to Know About College Recruiting with Renee Lopez
January 30, 2018 16:00 - 57 minutesThe college recruiting process can be overwhelming and confusing. This week's guest, Renee Lopez, works with prospective student athletes (PSAs) and their families to help them find the right college programs then market themselves effectively to those programs. PSAs must find the right fit academically, athletically, and socially. The cost of the program has to come into play as well. Renee discusses the questions to ask the coaches, the admissions department, and yourself when choosing a c...
The Russian Tennis System with Aleksey Zharinov
January 23, 2018 16:00 - 57 minutesSiberia isn't really the first place I think of when I think "Tennis Hotbed." However, there have been some incredible players coming out of that ice-packed region of the world, including this week's guest, Aleksey Zharinov. Aleksey considers himself a product of the Russian System of tennis development, due in large part to the commitment of his father to ensure he had a solid base in "technika" before allowing him to enter any tournaments. After making his mark at the University of Minneso...
ParentingAces with guest Craig Cignarelli
January 22, 2018 15:46 - 1 hourThis podcast is from 2013 but warrants a listen even now! Craig is still one of the most influential coaches in my son's Tennis Journey, and his wisdom about junior development needs to be shared. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
NextGen Comes to New York
January 16, 2018 16:00 - 44 minutesWhat do you get when you cross a marketing whiz with a top-notch event planner/journalist? A new ATP tournament featuring black courts, a female-anchored exhibition, and a community event for players and fans of all ages! Memphis's loss is Long Island's gain as the long-standing Winter Indoor event makes its move and brings top-level professional tennis to hungry fans in the form of the New York Open and Tennis Expo. Tournament Director, Josh Ripple, and New York Open Expo creator, David Sick...
Eating for Maximum Performance & Growth with Dr. Charlotte Alabaster
January 09, 2018 16:00 - 1 hourFamily practicioner, Charlotte Alabaster, originally from the UK and now living and practicing in Calgary, Canada, grew up playing tennis only recreationally but fell in love with the sport. As a family practice physician, Charlotte has encountered several elite youth athletes who are suffering from nutritional deficits. In this week's episode, she shares with us the specific nutritional needs of young athletes both prior to puberty and after. It varies greatly between boys and girls, and i...
From Pro to Parent with Patricia Hy-Boulais
January 02, 2018 16:00 - 59 minutesHappy New Year and welcome to our first podcast episode of 2018 with Patricia Hy-Boulais! Music by: STØNE - You can find more of Morgan Stone's original music at SoundCloud.com/stonemuzic. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
What the Heck is Neuro Priming?
November 28, 2017 16:00 - 47 minutes - 33.1 MBWe all know what mental toughness is and have likely heard various ways in which to train tennis players to do better in this realm. There are many methods and many mental coaches out there, several of whom have been featured on the ParentingAces website and podcast over the years. In this week's episode, Frank Giampaolo introduces his new book, Neuro Priming for Peak Performance (click here for more information), and helps us understand what exactly neuro priming is all about. I'm very in...
The Business Behind the Coaching Business Pt. 3
November 21, 2017 16:00 - 59 minutesIn Part 3 of my series with Todd Widom, we discuss the importance of choosing a coach who has a long-term development plan for your child. Unfortunately for us parents, there are many coaches and academies out there who just want to keep giving your child - and charging you! - private lessons week after week, year after year regardless of how your child is developing as an overall player. These coaches may or may not have the knowledge or desire to create and implement a long-term developme...
Creating the Champion Tennis Parent
November 14, 2017 16:00 - 1 hourI had the opportunity to speak at the Middle States USPTA Conference in Philadelphia last weekend, presenting to a room full of coaches. What a treat! This week's podcast is a slightly edited recording of my presentation. You will hear questions from the audience (please forgive the sound quality as I was recording the whole thing on my iPhone) and my attempts at helping these coaches understand what parents want from them. We discuss communication, tournaments, rankings, college recruiting...
Steve Johnson Memorial Tournament with Dennis Claus
November 07, 2017 16:00 - 43 minutesWhen Tennis Parent Extraordinaire, Steve Johnson, passed away unexpectedly in May, the tennis world was in shock. Steve was a man who devoted his life to his family and his sport, coaching not only his own son to the highest level of the game but also committing himself to helping all young players who wanted to learn and succeed in tennis. Dennis Claus was a good friend of Steve's and decided to pull together a tournament to honor this dear man. The tournament included a Men's Open division...
Coaching John McEnroe with Carlos Goffi
October 31, 2017 15:00 - 1 hourCarlos Goffi has a very impressive coaching resume, listing John McEnroe and Mary Carillo among his successful charges. In this week's throw-back episode from 2013, Coach Goffi shares how he learned to coach, why he feels young athletes should play a variety of sports, and why it is so important for us as parents to learn how to control our emotions and body language as we watch our young players compete in the classroom, on the field, or on the court. This episode was recorded several years...
The Business Behind the Coaching Business Pt. 2
October 17, 2017 15:00 - 57 minutesIn this second in a series of episodes devoted to the business side of tennis, Coach Todd Widom discusses how to determine what coaches and academies have really accomplished with their players. Whether it's rankings or college placements and scholarships, sometimes you have to dig deeper to truly understand what an academy's claims truly mean. Todd offers up specific questions to ask and helps parents cut through the marketing hype as they search for the right training environment for their ...
When Tennis Players Give Back
October 10, 2017 15:00 - 1 hourY'all know how much I love to hear about tennis players giving back to their communities. And, when the various organizations within our sport take the initiative to sponsor community service opportunities . . . well, that is The Best! In this week's podcast, I chat with Mary Edman, Director of Community Programs for the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) and Rhiannon Potkey of TennisRecruiting.net about their respective community service programs. The ITA is sponsoring an actual Comm...
The Federer Effect
October 03, 2017 15:00 - 1 hourIn the last year, we saw something pretty remarkable in terms of Roger Federer's career. He took extensive time away from the game then came back to win 5 titles including 2 Majors and 2 Masters 1000s. Federer's time away had to do with his age (he's now 36!) and some recurring injuries that were impacting his ability to perform at his best. And his decision to decrease his playing schedule is starting to trickle down to others on the tour, including Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic, as well as...
The Business Behind the Coaching Business
September 26, 2017 15:00 - 1 hourWith the growth of the internet and the proliferation of online tennis sites, it's tough to separate the proverbial wheat from the chaff. Coach Todd Widom comes to the rescue! In this first in a series of episodes devoted to the business side of tennis, Todd discusses the best way for parents to see past the bells and whistles to determine whether or not a potential coach or academy is right for their family. Thank you for listening and sharing our podcast with your tennis community! Pleas...