Tennis Rockers
41 episodes - English - Latest episode: about 3 years ago - ★★★★★ - 2 ratingsAre you ready to re-imagine and reconstruct the way you realize not just the game of tennis but all the other ways you compete in life? Tennis Rockers pull together beliefs, concepts, ideas, people, and values from a cross-section of multi-disciplinary fields for the purpose of doing things a little different. Tennis Rockers don't just want to change the game, they want to help people think about changing how they see and live their lives.
Coach Claude and coach Sully cordially invite you to put the pedal to the metal and join an unconventional conversation on tennis and life. Nothing good comes from standing still.
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Episodes
Do Tennis Clubs Need A Club Tennis Organization, Like The Parent Teacher Organization?
June 10, 2021 14:31 - 58 minutes - 67.3 MBEvery school has one - a PTA or parent teacher association but practically no tennis clubs have a CTO (club tennis association), a CPA (club pro association), or a PCA (player club organization. Why not? The PTA addresses collective concerns of the parents relative to that of the schools ongoing activities. The PTA connects parents and teachers to address their concerns and so could a CTO, CPA, or a PCA. The PTA requests additional teacher support or school support and so coul...
Are you suffering psychologically from a lack of group support?
May 04, 2021 16:46 - 1 hour - 95.3 MBIs it really just the mental game of tennis or is there an emotional game as well? When we make a mistake that costs points in a game or looks silly to our coaches and practice partners are we really just thinking a thought or are we feeling something as well? If we sing along to a rock song are we just thinking about the words that were said or are we caught up in the emotion of the beat, harmony, or melody and just going with the flow? In both playing tennis or singing along to...
Don’t All Junior Tennis Players Deserve An Answer To The Question Now What?
April 30, 2021 21:48 - 1 hour - 84.4 MBWhere’s the transition plan for all tennis players? A plan developed from a careful and considerate evaluation of each players emotional, mental, physical, and tactical abilities to play the game of tennis? A plan which provides a path forward for each individual tennis player to pursue based on their results. Without analysis and conclusion a path and a plan can’t be proposed and a player is left to guess and either overestimate or underestimate their potential in tennis. I...
Do You Really Need To Be A Protein Machine?
April 26, 2021 03:20 - 1 hour - 92.1 MBProtein is deified in our culture as THE key element to our diets that will affect our energy, health, and performance levels, but is it really or is it yet another “trend” to latch onto for those in search of a simple answer to complex nutritional needs we human beings and especially we human being tennis players? In this episode, we spark a nutritional conversation about protein in the hopes of providing a different perspective on the cultural protein push. Thanks for joining ...
Shouldn’t We Be Asking Questions of The People Who Play?
April 20, 2021 16:43 - 1 hour - 69 MBIt’s pretty obvious, tennis coaches and clubs stopped asking questions a long time ago. Questions about their membership demographics, members unspoken needs, the clubs current services approach, and the way all those issues work together to build meaning for the coaches, clientele, and the club. Meaning is the magnet which draws people in and makes them want to come back. But in today’s transactional and mechanistic approach we have favored getting it done and making money to ...
Proactive Communication That Acknowledges The Limits Of The Coach/Student Relationship
April 15, 2021 12:39 - 1 hour - 80.6 MBWhen was the last time you thought about the relationship with your coach or student? When was the last time you thought it through to make it better for the both of you? Maybe you don't want to - things are good. If you're the coach, hey, they come to lessons, seem happy or somewhat engaged and I get paid - done. If you're the student, they teach me, it's not always easy, but I learn something and sometimes it's really fun. Kept that way, it works - but on what basis? The rel...
Could We Avoid Burnout By Making Players Aware Of The Different Paths?
April 11, 2021 17:33 - 1 hour - 80.1 MBWhat leads to player burnout? Everyone talks about burnout in the general sense, but not a lot of people put specificity around it. Maybe, in part, burnout comes from not telling players the whole story - both at the beginning and during their individual journeys - of what it takes to learn the skills involved in the sport of tennis? If players were more informed, they might have time to “think” about their “feelings” about tennis and in turn work through this complex mix of huma...
What Can Zero Gravity Thinking Teach Us About Reading On The Tennis Court?
April 03, 2021 14:51 - 1 hour - 73.7 MBA tennis expert (i.e. a commentator, a club owner, or a pro) wouldn't consider or recommend adding a reading session as part of your on court tennis class - likely because reading story or a work of non-fiction is something that's done in a library or classroom, not on a court. A tennis expert would question why and likely pose objections along the lines of: * Customers/students are paying for movement, not reading. * The court isn't setup like a library or classroom, how would th...
Can A Tennis Club Contribute To More Balanced Nutrition Messaging?
March 31, 2021 20:48 - 1 hour - 90 MBEvery day, food product companies inundate us with their products messages which bend and stretch the meanings of the very words they use. Words such as "healthy", "organic", "100% real _____ included", "__ servings of fruits and vegetables", and a "full serving of ______ in every package." They are the words consumers often rely on to decide whether or not to put it into their cart. Promotional words used to "assist" and "persuade" shoppers to purchase their product. Promotio...
Could A Tennis Club Nutrition Class Build Awareness Of Better Diet And Nutrition?
March 24, 2021 14:17 - 31 minutes - 36.6 MBWe often don’t think about diet or nutrition unless we face constant fatigue or are in a health crisis. And, our social and work cultures reinforce consumption of “food products” and “convenience foods” so we can “do more”, “keep going”, “make our deadlines”, and “cross things off our list”. We have all normalized these food products and convenience foods which are rife with chemicals, enriched flour, oils, preservatives, salts, and sugars but we are feeling and seeing the aft...
Sabotage or Simply Inserting Their Own Impression?
March 18, 2021 18:59 - 1 hour - 87 MBWe've all heard it from someone else - what another colleague said to someone else about you or your work - and it never feels good. In fact, it can often feel like ... sabotage. But is what another person said really sabotage or just an attempt to insert their own impression (find a seat at the social table) or even fill their roster and put food on their table? The tennis court can be a place of heated contention and in this episode, we deconstruct misinterpreting other peopl...
A Nutrition Class At A Tennis Club?
March 16, 2021 15:05 - 44 minutes - 50.6 MBCould a nutrition class compliment a tennis club's offerings and boost the bottom line? You know, a classroom style series of lectures and group discussions which discuss basic nutrition concepts and demonstrates the effect of food on energy levels, quality of life, and longevity? A nutrition class, hosted by a registered dietician who does it for free in order to get exposure to potential paying clients, could be a draw for non-tennis playing people and current customers. It say...
The 100 Year Effect From Diet And Nutrition
March 11, 2021 15:22 - 56 minutes - 64.9 MBTennis clubs have the perfect opportunity to talk about nutrition - it's the fuel that will either feed you or lead you to failure on the tennis court and in the afterworld of physical recovery - so why won't they make it a core mission? Maybe it's because the clients don't play enough to feel the effects of poor nutrition on their performance and recovery. So, if you play for only a couple hours a week, you probably won't feel the effects of eating a diet rich in flour, oils, pre...
What Can We Learn From A Master Racquet Technician?
March 08, 2021 15:57 - 1 hour - 88.1 MBMark Campanile has put his interest into his intention and dedicated a life to tennis both personally and professionally. In the last 40 years, Mark has taken a teenage passing interest and turned it into a lifelong love. Mark found the spark of tennis in Europe and carried it into college. He kept playing and started stringing, so much so that he got his certification and started a small stringing business. In the ensuing decades, Mark coached his own son from scratch to a D1 ...
Why Isn't Tennis Instituting A Self-Talk Coaching Program?
March 04, 2021 15:55 - 1 hour - 72.8 MBSelf-talk is pervasive in our sport, yet it is not something we learn to deal with in a tennis lesson or is talked through with coaches or other players. Self talk is part of the emotional journey of tennis yet it gets marginalized and trivialized in "blooper" style Youtube videos and talked about in hushed commentator tones. We know this needs to change. It seems to us that there are at least five types of self-talks that people put themselves through at any one point in a gam...
Are You Unnecessarily Misinterpreting Your Students Reactions and Cluttering Their Cognitive Runway?
March 02, 2021 17:39 - 1 hour - 80.7 MBWhat happens if we misinterpret our players emotional reactions and project our own impression on students? What happens if our players project their emotional impressions of what the coach "could" or "might" be thinking or feeling about a drill or tennis activity? We junk up their cognitive runway or a person's emotional and mental space they need to "takeoff" or "land" their "plane" (body) while playing tennis. In this episode, we discover the cognitive runway. What it is, how...
Are you an idol of indifference or a symbol of a tennis rock star?
February 27, 2021 18:07 - 1 hour - 115 MBEveryday, all across the world, tennis pros are teaching tennis to thousands of children, teenagers, and adults. Every time they walk onto that court, like a rock star walking on stage, they make a decision about how they want to "show up" and "represent" the face of tennis. Fans expect rock stars to show up and represent the face of their music and in the image they have established to the world - their brand. When the rock star shows up and represents their brand, their fans k...
Working With The Emotional Cloak Of Invincibility On The Tennis Court
February 23, 2021 18:53 - 50 minutes - 58.2 MBIf you learn somethings quickly, you tend to create an "emotional cloak of invincibility" or an emotional belief that you are the best (i.e. better than your friends or peers) at things in a certain activity in life. If you learn something in science or sports quickly, you tend to develop that belief or an emotional cloak of invincibility which is great for confidence and forging ahead in life but what happens when that new activity is agonizing? The emotional cloak of invincibili...
Recognizing Emotional Arousal States
February 21, 2021 17:15 - 1 hour - 95 MBWe need to do a better job of recognizing our own emotional arousal states and the emotional arousal states of others to get the best out of ourselves, each other, and what we're trying to do. What happens when a player or person is over-aroused? You're too jacked and you overhit causing it to go into the net or out of the park. What happens when a person or player is under-aroused? You can't bring your best of anything and you set a low standard for yourself. To play at yo...
What Would A Tennis Awareness Campaign Look Like?
February 17, 2021 18:50 - 1 hour - 103 MBIt's no secret the dropout rate for youth tennis players over the age of 15 is over 60%. And while a lot of people are trying to figure out how to keep people from leaving, we're not. It's ok for people to leave tennis. They've spent their time, taken lessons, and maybe even played a few tournaments. Let them move and in turn let's trust that some of them will want to come back! If we make peace with this perspective and prune the ranks of the tennis tree, we allow for new grow...
What's Behind Building Fluidity Of Movement?
February 15, 2021 19:00 - 1 hour - 94.1 MBIn this episode, we examine the "emotional chain" that players new to the sport can experience that will block them from obtaining the "physical fluidity" and deep sense of appreciation and satisfaction that a high level tennis player will experience. Someone new to the sport could experience blocks related to the emotional chain from: Walking into the tennis club - a place they either haven't visited or don't visit that often Wearing tennis shoes they don't normally wear Grip...
How To Get Little Kids Hooked On Tennis
February 12, 2021 17:49 - 48 minutes - 56.1 MBCoach Sully is a firm believer in building intrinsic motivation as a key to captivating a little child's interest in the sport of tennis. In this episode he shares his own recipe: Bring something to the court that your child is already interested in Integrate with item into some of the on-court activity Don't make the net the barrier or the goal Ask them what they want to do and go with it Suggest, but don't push the game onto them Apply lots of patience Repeat and hope...
Your Thinking Face? What Is A Thinking Face And Why Should We Care?
February 10, 2021 20:12 - 39 minutes - 45.3 MBHow many of your students are making the thinking face? What is a "thinking face"? What is happening with them when they make their thinking face? If you know what to look for, you can spot the thinking face and you'll be glad you did. The thinking face is all about Intrinsic motivation - self-motivation - and a key to the student falling in love with our sport and deciding to come back. The thinking face says professes interest and neural activity and an opportunity to take ...
Can Tennis Lead The Charge In Counter-messaging The Food Products Push?
February 08, 2021 18:05 - 1 hour - 97.7 MBAs people and parents, we're up against a massive amount of food product messaging. Messaging that preaches "easy" and "fast". Messaging that champions duplicity in labeling - "healthy", and "contains real fruit/vegetables", and "provides a full serving of fruits, nuts, vegetables, or seeds". Messaging that leads us to chose food products and "food-like" products which contains additives (blending agents, colors, preservatives, salts, and sugars) that can significantly deplete an...
Can Boredom Motivate You To Mastery?
February 06, 2021 17:50 - 37 minutes - 43.5 MBWhat is it going to take to get you to do the tough stuff? Not disappointing yourself or your coach? The shame of others in your group or across the net on the other court weighing heavily on your heart or mind? How about the uncomfortable competition with others in your group or even the coach who is younger in age or the feeling of wasting your money and your time? Maybe an alternative to all that is boredom. What would happen if you took away all the choices and let bor...
Whaddya Want? A Co-Conspirator or A Drill Instructor?
February 03, 2021 03:33 - 1 hour - 94.4 MBThe dentist doesn't yell at you for moving the wrong way while working on your mouth, so why does the tennis pro yell at you for not moving the right way? Both mistakes can cause you pain and possible loss, yet they are treated very differently. No one wants a drill instructor for a dentist so why would they want one in a tennis pro? In this episode, we examine the energy these two types - their motivations (control?) and how they impact other co-teaching pros, students and the...
A Coaches Style Can Attract And Cover, But It Can Cause Request For A Change.
January 31, 2021 20:28 - 1 hour - 73.9 MBWhat type of coach do you want? The "personality", the "informational", or the "method" coach? Maybe someone in between? While all coaches are capable of bringing a bit of personality, information, and method to their on court approach, they typically have a prevailing style. In this episode, we take a look at each of these personality types, in the context of: How these personalities effect a students selection or avoidance of them How these personalities are interpreted by c...
Can Proactive Tennis Help Us Turn The Corner?
January 28, 2021 17:56 - 1 hour - 130 MBWe spend all of our time teaching and learning "reactive tennis" (how will I hit this ball) and no time learning "proactive tennis" (what will I do to set myself (and/or my doubles partner) up to hit effective shots or to force the opponent to hit return shots to me that lead to a setup or a winner. All that time spent practicing "reactive tennis" may be unknowingly leading us into the "fixed mindset" trap of responses: This isn't how we play tennis! Why do we need to learn this...
The Paper Notebook Should Be Required Tennis Court Equipment
January 26, 2021 17:43 - 47 minutes - 55 MBAn inexpensive paper notebook is a standard which all students use in class and to reinforce what they must study. Yet a notebook is never included or required on the tennis court for a tennis class. Why not? Wouldn't it aid a students acquisition and emotional and mental processing and retention of the concepts, movements, strategies, technique, and terms a tennis student is expected to acquire? In this episode, we leverage yet another series of struggles coach Sully has had wi...
On the Teetering Edge Of Transitioning Out Of Tennis?
January 23, 2021 20:41 - 1 hour - 101 MBBefore someone just looks at bailing on tennis, maybe we need to consider maladaptive ways of cognitive and emotional processing. You don't have to be a professional psychiatrist or psychologist - just apply a little common sense. Connect, ask questions, consider what is going on. Start a dialogue with your child or student. See if they'll acknowledge your observations and maybe even ask for help or work to setup their own strategies and solutions to overcoming their tennis chal...
What Is The Right Kind Of Parental Involvement?
January 20, 2021 21:04 - 1 hour - 95.1 MBParental involvement is really important to your child's game and the future of your familial relationship - tennis can be something that you always talk about as everyone ages. And tennis parents play a very important role in the development of their children. All emotional, financial, and mental support these parents provide as their child works their way through the game is very serious. These parents have the experience, perspective, resources, and tools that no one coach or...
Seeking Solutions To The Commentator Problem
January 17, 2021 04:16 - 47 minutes - 54.2 MBHow can you spot and work with the internal commentator that a student might have? How can you be more self-aware as the student and send the right signals to your coach so they can be better for you? In this episode, we continue to take apart the internal commentator to figure out how to work with it instead of against it. Here is what we have so far: Slow down your transfer of personal data - you, not your student is skilled in tennis techniques, movement, strategy - they pr...
The Internal Commentator Takeover - When a Coach Projects Their Skill Level On Their Student
January 15, 2021 02:40 - 1 hour - 68.9 MBWe've kicked around the idea of the commentator in previous episodes - the idea that we all have this running dialogue going on inside that is a mix of emotions and thoughts about our lives and what we are engaged at in the moment. While the commentator can help us make decisions and steer us away from things that aren't good for us, it can become a bit of an invisible barrier to our growth and personal development both in the sport of tennis and in our outside lives. The inte...
Turn Off The Commentator?
January 11, 2021 20:58 - 45 minutes - 52.3 MBHow many people actually watch a tennis match or the replay of one with the sound off? Probably not enough. The sound - commentators and commercials alike - could be unknowingly preventing your brain from properly observing, analyzing, digesting, and coming up with a plan to propel the acquisition of your tennis forward. In this episode, we break into the subject of the good and bad of the external (broadcaster or tennis pro/coach!) and internal (ourselves) commentator and ...
What Do You Need To Be A Pro?
January 09, 2021 03:26 - 1 hour - 90.1 MBIn this episode we go in-depth to discover what a pro needs in order to love what they do and give their best to whoever they are teaching. It's not always what you think. Yes, for those who are just starting out, it can be the hardware (the racquets, cart, and cones) or the acknowledgement of their past achievements. But for those tennis pros in it for the long game, it's more about the software. In this episode we talk tennis pro software - what it takes for our resident ...
Court Etiquette Ain't Cutting It...
January 06, 2021 00:31 - 1 hour - 108 MBDo you ever walk onto a court at your assigned time only to find people still playing? Maybe cleaning up a ton of balls that will take 5 or more minutes of your time? How about a bunch of trash or the razor sharp lid from the ball container left behind on the court where your young child could accidentally pick it up? What about people walking onto your court 5 minutes early while you're still playing? It's like arriving in your hotel room only to find the previous guest packing...
Let's Take The Concept of Vision Deeper ~ We Add Nicknames and Personas
January 01, 2021 23:19 - 1 hour - 97.1 MBMusic students learning to play an instrument emulate the player (a persona) they want to be (a vision) all the time. It helps them ditch some, if not all, of their sense of self-consciousness to focus on the lesson and connect with the teacher and what they want to achieve. Music students come to their lessons with a will to know and the teacher (similar to the coach) must create an atmosphere that encourages students to struggle. With each new piece of music a student brings ...
Working With Vision: Balancing The Will To Conquer Against The Will To Know
December 30, 2020 21:26 - 1 hour - 83.2 MBIn our previous episode, we introduced the concept of vision to the tennis lesson. You know. You see the vision of yourself as having the one-handed backhand of a Justine Henin or Roger Federer. It's a mental picture that eggs you on to be better at your tennis than you were the day before. When you come to a tennis lesson with such a vision, what stands in the way of executing it and how will you work towards achieving it? In this episode, we address another invisible barrier ...
Tennis Needs Vision Classes
December 28, 2020 18:26 - 1 hour - 70.6 MBWhat are you doing to discover your vision for the type of person you want to play like? Does your tennis coach talk vision with you? Does your tennis facility offer classes in vision? You know, a vision of someone who is great at what they do (i.e. a pro tennis player) that you believe in your heart you could play like? To serve or return like them? To execute a play just like them? Maybe to just move as gracefully as them? Maybe more students need to come to their coaches (...
Fun Is Not Getting Good Quickly ~ Joy Lies In The Struggle
December 24, 2020 04:02 - 1 hour - 96.2 MBInstead of looking at the average tennis lesson as fun, maybe we should see it as a struggle. Seeing the joy in the struggle is likely to help perfectionist players take some pressure off their interaction in the sport. If you don't struggle a little with your lesson or your game, are you really having fun and enjoying yourself? Are you really building the grit or tenacity you need for the competition of life? In this episode we begin our emotional journey of tennis. We see t...
Time For Tennis To Take A New Turn
December 20, 2020 01:27 - 52 minutes - 60 MBJoin us on the start of our unconventional journey to change the way we think about the game of tennis. [email protected] www.tennisrockers.com