Parentingaces - The Junior Tennis And College Tennis Podcast

Welcome to Season 9, Episode 38, of the ParentingAces Podcast. This week Lisa speaks with Coach Heath Waters and his son, Heath Paul, about their travels to Europe to train with coaches who developed Grand Slam Champions. To watch the video version: https://youtu.be/Kc_wObEWgG8 With junior tournaments on hold here in the US, Coach Heath Waters decided to take his 14 year old son, Heath Paul, to Europe to train and compete. This father-son duo join Lisa to talk about their experience and the lessons they brought home with them. They started their adventure in England where Heath Paul hit and trained with ATP player Kyle Edmund. They then made their way to Spain to work with Toni Nadal, Jofre Porta, and Luis Bruguera. Heath Paul gained valuable takeaways from each coach that he has incorporated into his training back home in the Atlanta area. Coach Heath Waters is also one of the creators of the Match!Tennis App and its Virtual Tournament Desk. He talks about the latest features of the app and what may be comin

Welcome to Season 9, Episode 37, of the ParentingAces Podcast. This week, Lisa speaks with former UCLA Men's Tennis standout, Karue Sell, about his recent gig as US Open Women's Singles Champion, Naomi Osaka's, hitting partner, and his move into the world of Tennis Technology. The impetus behind this week's pod was a tweet Karue posted recently: He went on to tweet about the personal growth afforded to players who choose the college route for their tennis which led me to reach out to him again and invite him on the show. Not only has Karue parlayed his college tennis career into a position as the hitting partner to the most recent Slam winner, but he has also partnered with other former college tennis players to form a new tennis website called MyTennisHQ. The site contains information for players of all levels, including technique lessons, equipment reviews, and interviews with current and former college players.  If you are interested in reaching out to Karue for more information on his company and/or for

Welcome to Season 9, Episode 36, of the ParentingAces Podcast! To watch the video version of this episode, go to the ParentingAces YouTube Channel. As you know by now, Dominic Thiem broke the long-standing string of Majors won by The Big 3 (Djokovic, Nadal, Federer) to win the 2020 US Open Men's Singles Title. Dominic's father, Wolfgang, joins Lisa Stone of ParentingAces to talk about his son's junior development process and how parents can help their young tennis players achieve their goals. Wolfgang shares his philosophies on Tennis Parenting, junior tennis development, and college vs. professional tennis, among other topics. He is very forthcoming about his two sons and their Tennis Journeys and how his role as Tennis Parent has evolved. In a new online course which launched earlier this week, Mr. Thiem goes into detail about the various stages of Dominic's development and the parent's role along the way. You can view a trailer of the course at  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JCcWsxUaCAQ. To purchase the

Welcome to Season 9, Episode 35, of the ParentingAces Podcast! This week's episode with Coach Zibu Ncube was recorded right before the end of the 2020 US Open. One of Zibu's players, Katrina Scott, had an incredible opportunity as a wildcard recipient into the US Open Main Draw for the first time . . . at age 16! Be sure to check out https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/02/sports/katrina-scott-usopen.html for more information on Katrina and her family. Zibu discusses what he looks for in a junior player to determine if college tennis is the best path to take or if professional tennis is in their future. He shares specific touchpoints that must be present in order for him to recommend one choice over the other as well as the differences between advising junior boys versus junior girls. If you are interested in speaking with Zibu, you can reach him by phone (he prefers text messages!) at 805-444-5430. Definitely give him a follow on Instagram at https://instagram.com/zodada57! As always, a big thank you to Morgan St

Welcome to Season 9, Episode 34, of the ParentingAces Podcast! Lisa's guest this week is Coach Jay Gooding of the Gooding Todero Academy in Orlando, Florida. To watch the video version of this week's episode, click here. Jay is currently in New York coaching players as part of the Tennis Australia Coaching Team during the US Open. In this week's episode, he discusses the unique nature of this year's Open as well as his own coaching philosophy when it comes to Junior Development. Jay is committed to open communication with Tennis Parents and understands why Parents are such an integral part of the overall journey. He grew up in an era in Australia where private tennis lessons were a rare privilege and getting together with peers to play practice matches and just have fun on a tennis court were the norm. Jay encourages his players to take initiative in order to develop into top competitors, not just top ball strikers. To reach Jay, email him at jaygooding@icloud.com. You can get more information on Jay's tennis

Welcome to Season 9, Episode 33, of the ParentingAces Podcast! To watch the video version of this week's episode, click here. Learn from Kayla Epperson, Physical Therapist and Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist, about a very specific and common tennis injury called "Backhand Wrist" and how it can be avoided. This is a similar injury to the one Cici Bellis sustained and is finally recovering from as she gets back to professional tennis competition. Kayla experienced the injury herself in college and wound up having surgery, a decision she now regrets. Hear more when she joins Lisa Stone, creator of ParentingAces, in a video conversation. For more information and to contact Kayla, go to theathleteconnectionpt.com. You can also email her at kayla@theathleteconnectionpt.com. As always, a big thank you to Morgan Stone, aka STØNE, for our intro and outro music this season. You can find more of his music at SoundCloud.com/stonemuzic. If you’re interested in House Music, please be sure to check out his so

Welcome to Season 9, Episode 32, of the ParentingAces Podcast! In this week's episode, Lisa speaks with Tim Cass, General Manager of the USTA National Campus in Lake Nona (Orlando), Florida. They discuss USTA's role in college tennis and what they are currently doing to preserve the College Tennis Pathway for US Junior Tennis Players. Tim talks about how USTA has developed 5 "buckets" around college tennis: Relevancy, Pathway, Education, Competition & Events, and Partnerships. He delves into each of the 5 areas throughout the podcast, explaining how USTA is creating opportunities for players, parents, coaches, and the universities themselves. In addition, Tim explains USTA's commitment to working with both the ITA and the NCAA to save college tennis even as over 60 programs have been cut so far in 2020. That commitment includes a grant program to assist college coaches in recruiting US players within their local region, hopefully creating more opportunities for American Juniors to find spots on college te

Welcome to Season 9, Episode 31, of the ParentingAces Podcast!Lisa Stone of ParentingAces speaks with Coach Todd Widom about what's happening in the world of Junior Tennis Development and Competition in Florida during the pandemic.Todd and I also dive into Junior Golf as well. Todd's oldest son, age 6, has been competing in Junior Golf events for about a year now, and Todd shares his insights on what Junior Tennis can learn from his son's sport of choice.As Todd shares, golf is a game in which the players have extreme respect both for the sport as well as for their fellow competitors. Maybe this recent quote by Rory McIlroy says it best: "At the end of the day, golf is a game of integrity and I never try to get away with anything out there. I'd rather be on the wrong end of the rules rather than on the right end because as golfers, that's just what we believe." A good lesson for Junior Tennis Players to learn!For more information on Todd and his training program, visit https://twtennis.com. You can reach him

Welcome to Season 9, Episode 30, of the ParentingAces Podcast!Lisa Stone, creator of ParentingAces, and Gabriella Hesse, part of the inaugural group of Tennis For America representatives, join in a discussion around the role of the college tennis and its players, especially as it relates to giving back to the community. As Gabby says, "We NEED to integrate our college tennis programs into their communities through volunteering, outreach, and fundraising and find ways to make them invaluable to the schools that believe the only way to make budget is to cut them." For more information on Tennis for America, visit https://parentingaces.com/new-ita-program-for-college-players/ and https://www.wearecollegetennis.com/2020/06/04/inaugural-tennis-for-america-class-begins-year-of-service-to-country/.To watch the video version of this interview, click here.As always, a big thank you to Morgan Stone, aka STØNE, for our intro and outro music this season. You can find more of his music at SoundCloud.com/stonemuzic. If yo

Welcome to Season 9, Episode 29, of the ParentingAces Podcast! This week's podcast is a little Tennis History Lesson focusing around an amazing woman who blazed new trails not only on the court but also in the areas of music, writing, politics, and civic action. She was a Renaissance Woman in every sense of the term! Who was Alice Marble? In her public life, she was the biggest tennis star of the pre-war era, a household name like Joe DiMaggio and Joe Louis. She was famous for overcoming serious illness to win the biggest tournaments, including Wimbledon. She was also a fashion designer and trendsetter, a contributor to a pioneering new comic called Wonder Woman—and friend to the biggest names in Hollywood and society, like Carole Lombard and Clark Gable, William Randolph Hearst and Marion Davies, and members of families named Bloomingdale, Loew, and du Pont. She helped integrate tennis with her support of Althea Gibson, and even coached two young women who became stars in their own right: Billie Jean King an

Welcome to Season 9, Episode 28, of the ParentingAces Podcast! In this week's show, Lisa Stone chats with Coach Bill Patton about his new course for junior tennis players and their parents. It's vital for beginners to learn Visual Training so Tennis can retain more players. If you're interested in learning more about Visual Training, you can contact Bill Patton directly at 720degreecoaching@gmail.com. To purchase Bill's book on visual training, go to https://amazon.com/shop/ParentingAces. To watch the video version of this podcast, go to https://www.youtube.com/.  As always, a big thank you to Morgan Stone, aka STØNE, for our NEW intro and outro music this season. You can find more of his music at SoundCloud.com/stonemuzic. If you’re interested in House Music, please be sure to check out his social media channels on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram. If you’re so inclined, please share this – and all our episodes! – with your tennis community. You can subscribe to the podcast on iTunes or via the ParentingAces web

Welcome to Season 9, Episode 27, of the ParentingAces Podcast! This week's episode is all about high school tennis and technology. Our guest, Keanen McCarthy, has been working for several years to develop an app to help high school tennis coaches and players get organized and improve communication. The Mobile Match App is the perfect solution! Keanen shares his motivation behind the app and what he hopes to accomplish through its use. For more information, you can visit the NexGenTen website here and follow the company on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube. To download the app, click here. To watch the video version of this podcast, go to https://www.youtube.com/.  As always, a big thank you to Morgan Stone, aka STØNE, for our NEW intro and outro music this season. You can find more of his music at SoundCloud.com/stonemuzic. If you're interested in House Music, please be sure to check out his social media channels on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram. If you're so inclined, please share this – and all ou

Welcome to Season 9, Episode 26, of the ParentingAces Podcast! In this week's episode, we're talking about the mental side of tennis. But NOT for the juniors! For the Tennis Parents! Lisa Stone and Rob Polishook chat about the mental side of returning to junior competition, both from the player's and the parent's side of things. Rob is a mental training coach who works with tournament players, has written numerous article on parenting for LI/NY tennis and USTA parenting columns and talks, coached Zonals 16’s for 4 years, and has been quoted/featured in national publications like ESPN, NY Times, Sports Illustrated and others. To watch the video version of this podcast, go to https://www.youtube.com/ Rob can be reached at 973-723-0314, rob@insidethezone.com, www.insidethezone.com, Facebook and Instagram @InsideTheZone. As always, a big thank you to Morgan Stone, aka STØNE, for our NEW intro and outro music this season. You can find more of his music at SoundCloud.com/stonemuzic. If you're interested in House M

Welcome to Season 9, Episode 25, of the ParentingAces Podcast! Even though we're still in a recruiting "dead period" through the end of August 2020, that doesn't mean Prospective Student Athletes (PSAs) should put their recruiting efforts on hold. In fact, quite the opposite it true: this is a great time for PSAs to ramp up their efforts to reach out to college tennis coaches and market themselves to get on the coaches' radar. Colin McAtee, a former college soccer player at the University of Michigan, has created an app for that! Productive Recruit is a tool to help PSAs better organize and personalize the recruiting process. Incorporating college and coach search tools, contact forms, and task scheduling - all things Colin wishes he had for his own recruiting efforts - Productive Recruit is a better way to take charge of this stage of the Junior Tennis Journey. Click here to watch a short video demo of the app. Colin has set up two payment options for PSAs: you can pay a flat fee of $199 to use the app indef

Welcome to Season 9, Episode 24 of the ParentingAces Podcast! This week's episode features a new racquet sport that can be used as a training tool for - and a gateway to - junior tennis. It's called Spec Tennis and is the brainchild of Nate Gross. Using a perforated paddle and a orange dot or foam ball, Spec Tennis is played on a smaller court. Because the strokes used in Spec Tennis look the same as those used in tennis itself, Spec can be used by junior coaches to work on specific shots and tactics in a way that is much less frustrating than using a regular racquet and yellow ball.  For more information on how to play Spec or to order supplies, click here. To see Spec in action, click here. To reach Nate for more information, email him at nate.spec.tennis@gmail.com.  As always, a big thank you to Morgan Stone, aka STØNE, for our NEW intro and outro music this season. You can find more of his music at SoundCloud.com/stonemuzic. If you’re interested in House Music, please be sure to check out his social media

Welcome to Season 9, Episode 23 of the ParentingAces Podcast! This week's episode is the audio version of a Facebook Live chat (you can watch the video version here) I had with Coach Sandy Franz discussing his work in recruiting international players to US college tennis programs as well as his newly-founded Charleston Tennis Circuit.For the last 10 years college tennis recruiting has been Sandy Franz's biggest passion. He has worked with many top international players helping them find college placement in the US. Now living in Charleston, SC, he is organizing tennis tournaments as well. His latest is a junior UTR event with strict Covid-19 restrictions on June 19-21. Sandy will help us understand the landscape of international college recruiting and discuss his new tournament circuit.For more information on the Charleston Tennis Circuit, click here. To reach Sandy, you can email him at sandy@charlestontenniscircuit.com. As always, a big thank you to Morgan Stone, aka STØNE, for our NEW intro and outro music

Welcome to Season 9, Episode 22, of the ParentingAces Podcast!  Laura Vallverdu, sister to ATP coach Dani Vallverdu, found herself in the WTA top 450 before making the decision to play college tennis at the University of Miami. She was the top collegiate player in the US, making the NCAA singles final in 2009 and the semifinals in 2010. After graduating and getting her Master's Degree, Laura started coaching the Miami women's team where she was the Assistant  for 3 years and the Associate Head Coach for 3 more. In her role at Miami, she guided Estela Perez-Somarriba to the 2019 NCAA singles title. At the end of 2019, Laura made a choice to leave college tennis and return to coaching in a private academy setting while pursuing her passion to bring the various parties in tennis together. She is currently working on the launch of Tennis Between Lines, an online platform to collect tennis stories from "Tennis Lifers" around the world.  You can find Laura and Tennis Between Lines on Instagram (@tennisbetweenlines)

Welcome to Season 9, Episode 21, of the ParentingAces Podcast! My guest for this special Video Episode is my son, Morgan Stone. For those of you who follow the ParentingAces Facebook Page, you may have seen our conversation when it aired live last week. However, for those who missed it, this is a very raw, very honest – and, at times, very uncomfortable – account of Morgan’s junior tennis development, college tennis experience, and relationship with my husband and me. If you are the parent of a young player, you may want to watch first before letting your child view this one. As I said, Morgan gives an honest – and sometimes bitter – assessment of growing up as an elite tennis player and playing in college. He owns that experience and makes no assumption that others will or have had similar ones. I have struggled for a while about providing a place for Morgan to share his story with the ParentingAces community because it’s not all flowers and butterflies (as will be evident as you watch). However, I know from

Welcome to Season 9, Episode 20, of the ParentingAces Podcast! This week's episode is once again an audio replay of a Facebook Live interview I did last week, this time with Coach Andy Findlay of Erie, PA. As the Intense Tennis Camps' 26th-year director and with over 49 years of tennis experience, Andy Findlay brings confidence, determination, engagement, professionalism, imagination, intensity, resilience, respect, toughness to his coaching. From 1992-2003, Andy was the Head Coach at Edinboro University of PA where he was the men's PSAC Coach-of-the-Year in 2000 & '03. Also, Andy serves as co-Head Coach at the USTA Sectional Training Center (STC) in Pittsburgh and has attended 50 USTA national workshops. From 1997-2013, he coached the USTA MS Boys' 18s at national championship events in Champaign, IL and Kalamazoo, MI. Since 2012, Andy has performed National Coaching for the USTA at the L1 National Spring Team Championships in Mobile, AL and RTCs in NY, Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. During the COVID-19 Pa

Welcome to Season 9, Episode 19, of the ParentingAces Podcast. As with last week's episode, this week's podcast is a recording of a Facebook Live interview I did with Coach Ruben Herrera. If you'd prefer to see the video version, click here to go to our YouTube Channel. Ruben Herrera runs BaseTennis in Germany, the organization behind the Tennis-Point Exhibition series, the first live tennis event since COVID-19 shut everything down. Hear his thoughts on how we can restart tennis at the professional and junior levels - what worked in his event and what he needs to tweak for the next one. For more info on Ruben's events, visit https://exo-tennis.com/. As the COVID-19 pandemic is changing daily, please know that ParentingAces is committed to continuing to bring you information and support as it relates to junior tennis and college recruiting. We have created a page on our website specifically dedicated to sharing useful tennis-related resources. You can visit it here. As always, a big thank you to Morgan Stone,