Parentingaces - The Junior Tennis And College Tennis Podcast

Welcome to Season 11, Episode 6, of the ParentingAces Podcast, a proud member of the Tennis Channel Podcast Network. This week, Lisa chats with former touring pro, Jack Oswald, about his venture into entrepreneurship with Cancha Racquet Bag.After nearly a decade of traveling the world on the men’s pro tennis circuit, Jack Oswald grew tired of experiencing the downfalls of traditional tennis bags: broken zips, loose stitching, uncomfortable straps and a ‘one-size fits all’ mentality that let him and others down time and time again. With a creative idea and entrepreneurial spirit, Oswald set out to create a uniquely adaptable, highly durable and customizable tennis and sports bag that could be used not only for avid and competitive tennis players but also for the outdoor adventurer.The result of Jack’s labor of love, inspired by deep frustration? The Cancha Racquet Bag holds up to four racquets and was designed using a unique modular attachment system. Cancha, appropriately, means ‘court’ in Spanish but Jack ad

Welcome to Season 11, Episode 5, of the ParentingAces Podcast, a proud member of the Tennis Channel Podcast Network. This week, Lisa chats with Danielle McNamara, former Head Women's Tennis Coach at Yale and current ITA Director of Coach Education, about what it's going to take to attract and retain more children to our sport.Danielle McNamara was the women’s tennis head coach at Yale from 2006-14, and 2016-21. She was also the head coach at Texas from 2014-15. She guided Yale to four NCAA Tournament appearances, including the first in program history in 2008. McNamara coached 27 All-Ivy singles players, 12 All-Ivy doubles teams, two Ivy League Rookie of the Year players, and the first Yale women’s tennis Ivy League Player of the Year. She played college tennis at the University of Michigan, where she became the first player in program history to participate in all three national championships; ITA All-Americans, ITA National Indoors, and NCAA Championships. Danielle served as team captain, and was named Big

Welcome to Season 11, Episode 4, of the ParentingAces Podcast, a proud member of the Tennis Channel Podcast Network. This week we discuss helping your child become self-reliant which leads to becoming a better competitor with coaching experts Carlos and Josh Goffi.Carlos and Josh are a father-son duo who, between them, have played and coached tennis at very high levels. Carlos was John McEnroe's developmental coach starting around age 14 and also coached John and his brother Patrick on the ATP tour. Josh is the Head Men's Coach at the University of South Carolina who coached two of his players to the NCAA finals in the last two years - a first since 2004: back-to-back finalists by the same school. In this week's episode, Carlos and Josh discuss their own coaching philosophies in terms of developing top tennis players but, more importantly, developing top human beings. They have developed a virtual course for junior tennis players and parents called Tournament Tough Online. This 5-part interactive program prov

Welcome to Season 11, Episode 3, of the ParentingAces Podcast, a proud member of the Tennis Channel Podcast Network. This week we revisit the Progress Tour with its creator, Barry Fulcher. To listen to our previous podcast with Barry, click here.Barry 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. He quickly realized his skills didn't translate well to the pro tour, so Barry decided to try his hand at coaching while continuing to compete locally.The Progress Tour was born out of Barry's frustration at the lack of quality tournaments in and around the UK. He wanted to create a place for players of all levels to come together and satisfy their desire to compete. It has now been over 3 years, and the Progress Tour is growing by leaps and b

Welcome to Season 11, Episode 2, of the ParentingAces Podcast, a proud member of the Tennis Channel Podcast Network. This week we bring back coach JY Aubone to talk about why junior tennis player and their parents need to keep their eye on the process and not get sidelined by focusing only on results. To listen to our previous podcast with JY, click here.JY believes players can only be as good as their environment allows them to be, and too many players are being failed by the structure their academies are putting in place. His goal is to help parents put in place the proper developmental environment so their child has the best chance to maximize their potential. Whether their goal is to play Division I college tennis, pro, or high school tennis, there is only one type of environment that can help a player maximize their potential.Players need:• Personalized attention. • Their matches watched by their coach. • A personalized practice plan that includes practice matches and fitness. • Their tournament schedule

Welcome to Season 11, Episode 1, of the ParentingAces Podcast, a proud member of the Tennis Channel Podcast Network. We are thrilled you decided to join us for another year!It seems only fitting to kick off the year with another brilliant conversation with tennis fitness specialist, Dean Hollingworth, who was our most-downloaded podcast guest during Season 10. Dean is back this season to give you some very practical and actionable exercises to help your junior player(s) prepare for on-court play, recover between matches during competition, and keep the body healthy overall. If you're listening to this episode on your favorite podcast app, I encourage you to check out the video version on ParentingAces.com so you can see Dean and his players in action.Dean Hollingworth has more fitness and tennis certifications than pretty much anyone around. Although based in Montreal, Canada, Dean works with tennis players both in person and virtually and has helped so many of them on their journey to US College Tennis and t

Welcome to Season 10, Episode 48, of the ParentingAces Podcast, a proud member of the Tennis Channel Podcast Network. This is our final podcast of Season 10 - we hope you've enjoyed all our guests this year and will join us again in January 2022 for the kickoff of Season 11!Lisa's guest this week is Rishav Khanal, a best-selling author and founder of Compound Career. He helps college students and recent graduates develop the career readiness skills to break into competitive job and internship programs that have been rated extremely high for overall employee happiness. Rishav grew up in Nepal and moved to the US with his family in 2006. A graduate of Virginia Tech, Rishav now lives in the Chicago area where he plays a ton of tennis and drinks celery juice each morning!Rishav brings his experience working at Under Armour and LinkedIn to ParentingAces to help us understand the unique challenges involved in transitioning from Athlete to Working Professional. Rishav has compiled his own experiences as well as that

Welcome to Season 10, Episode 47, of the ParentingAces Podcast, a proud member of the Tennis Channel Podcast Network. In this week’s episode, Lisa talks with Dr. Michelle Cleere (click here to watch/listen to our previous podcast with Dr. Cleere) about a sensitive topic: body image and body shaming in young athletes.Several weeks ago, Lisa received a DM from a parent concerned about comments her 11-year-old daughter was getting about her height. Specifically, the little girl would hear parents and other junior players say things like, "Someone needs to check that girl's birth certificate - there's no way she should be playing in the 12s!" Can you imagine how hearing those types of comments on a regular basis would make a child feel?This week's podcast is all about raising awareness around how what we say to or around children impacts them and what we can do as the adults in the room to help our children manage that impact.Dr. Michelle helps professional, junior, and age group tennis players overcome their per

Welcome to Season 10, Episode 46, of the ParentingAces Podcast, a proud member of the Tennis Channel Podcast Network. In this week's episode, Lisa talks with former ATP professional player and current ATP/Junior coach, Daniel Yoo, about how he uses his tour experience to help today's players reach their potential.Daniel Yoo is a South Korean tennis player who made his way to the US to train and eventually coach. Yoo reached a career high ATP singles ranking of 326 and a career high ATP doubles ranking of 425 before retiring from the professional tour. He is now living and working in South Florida, currently training and traveling with South Korean up-and-coming pro Soonwoo Kwon as well as assisting with junior development with coaches Todd Widom and Pierre Arnold at Todd Widom Tennis.Daniel is a firm believer in building trust with his players and feels that is an absolute precursor to success on and off the tennis court. He shares how he builds that trust with his players and their families and what may be m

Welcome to Season 10, Episode 45, of the ParentingAces Podcast, a proud member of the Tennis Channel Podcast Network. In this week's episode, Lisa chats with speed and agility coach, Gary Cablayan, and tennis coach, Susan Nardi, about the importance of training the whole athlete first.If you've been listening to our podcast for a while, you know Lisa is a big fan of developing the athlete first, the tennis player next. Both Gary and Susan talk about why that philosophy of youth sports development is in the best interest of the child both short-term and long-term. You will hear them describe their approach to incorporating overall athletic development into teaching specific tennis skills and why that leads to fewer injuries and less burnout.For more information on Gary, visit his website at https://m.facebook.com/EVO-Sports-Training-240777302622634/. You can contact him directly through direct message on Facebook or Instagram or via email at garycablayon@yahoo.com.For more information on Susan, visit her websi

Welcome to Season 10, Episode 44, of the ParentingAces Podcast, a proud member of the Tennis Channel Podcast Network. In this week's episode, Lisa chats with Coach Tom Downs who has recently relocated from Florida to the Dallas (TX) area and works with both junior and professional players alike. Tom's philosophy on Junior Tennis Development, based on his own life growing up playing tennis in Australia, is unique and refreshing.Tom ran his own coaching business in South Florida and was Director at the Harold Solomon Tennis Institute in Ft. Lauderdale before that. He's been coaching on the WTA Tour as well, working with rising player Storm Sanders most recently. In the last 6 months, Storm has gone from 280 to 122 in singles and from 70 to 40 in doubles, reaching the Wimbledon Women's Doubles semifinals and US Open quarterfinals. Tom has a long history in helping good juniors transition to successful WTA pro.Tom is married to former WTA professional, Nicole Pitts, who is the older sister of Tornado and Hurrican

Welcome to Season 10, Episode 43, of the ParentingAces Podcast, a proud member of the Tennis Channel Podcast Network. In this week's episode, we follow up on our recent podcast with Orlando and Zander Bravo (click here to watch/listen) and talk with Zander's coach, Todd Widom, about how Zander made such huge strides in such a short period of time.If you're a regular of our podcast, by now you have a pretty clear understanding of Coach Todd Widom's philosophy on coaching and developing junior tennis players. When he gets a player who is already in high school, wants to play high-level college tennis, but is missing some significant pieces of his/her game, that's where Todd really shines. In the case of Zander Bravo, not only did Todd have to commit to helping Zander reach his goal of playing at an Ivy, but Zander and his family also had to commit to putting in the work and support needed for Zander to reach his goal. When all is said and done, all parties involved honored their commitment, and Zander will be p

Welcome to Season 10, Episode 42, of the ParentingAces Podcast, a proud member of the Tennis Channel Podcast Network. In this week's episode, Lisa chats with University of Georgia Senior, Trent Bryde, about the recent Supreme Court ruling around Name, Image, Likeness (NIL) and how Trent is maximizing the opportunity to help Junior Tennis Players through his TennisMentors program.I've known Trent since he was about 12 years old, playing the Junior Tennis Circuit in and around Atlanta. I've watched him grow up into an extremely talented player who is having a very successful college tennis career and positioning himself for success at the professional level. Trent has never been one to sit back and wait for things to be handed to him. Instead, he creates opportunities. TennisMentors is one of his creations.In high school, Trent achieved a career-high of No. 8 in the junior world rankings, competing in all four junior Grand Slams around the world. He was also invited to participate in the prestigious ITF Junior

Welcome to Season 10, Episode 41, of the ParentingAces Podcast, a proud member of the Tennis Channel Podcast Network. In this week's episode, we'll be revisiting the Apeak App for training mental skills in tennis players. To watch/listen to our previous podcast with Apeak founder Brian Park, click here. I highly encourage you to watch the video version of this week's episode so you can see Apeak in action: parentingaces.com.Apeak uses Artificial Intelligence (AI) to help tennis players train the mental side of the game. Now partnering with noted performance psychologist, Dr. Jim Loehr, the app offers even more personally-tailored content and trainings.After playing ITF juniors, futures, and college tennis, Brian Park began his master’s program in Sports Psychology at California State University, Fullerton. He was fortunate enough to have Dr. Ken Ravizza, one of the most well-known sports psychologists, as a member of his graduate committee. While getting his master's degree, Brian was also coaching full-time.

Welcome to Season 10, Episode 40, of the ParentingAces Podcast, a proud member of the Tennis Channel Podcast Network. In this week's episode, we will be discussing mental health as it relates to Junior Tennis. Specifically, we will hear from the person behind the Matt Stevenson Junior Tennis Tournament Series, Gary Poon, as he shares Matt's tragic story and how he and others have turned it into an opportunity to create a positive lasting legacy.The Matt Stevenson Junior Tennis Tournament (MSJTT) Series is the first and only junior tennis tournament event in the country to promote the importance of mental health for adolescents. Inaugurated in 2019 in San Diego, the MJSTT has expanded to New York and Washington, D.C. for 2021. The series aims to address the national teen depression, anxiety, and suicide crisis by engaging adolescents through a sport they love and promoting dialogue and understanding of these issues.At ParentingAces, we feel it's very important to help educate both Tennis Parents and Junior Ten

Welcome to Season 10, Episode 39, of the ParentingAces Podcast, a proud member of the Tennis Channel Podcast Network. This week's episode features Alex Gruskin, the man behind Cracked Racquets, and a fellow Tennis Channel Podcaster. Alex and Lisa discuss a variety of topics around junior, college, and pro tennis, including how Cracked Racquets is changing the landscape around how tennis is covered in the media.Alex Gruskin grew up playing Junior Tennis and always knew he wanted to continue his Tennis Journey in college. He also really wanted to go to the University of Michigan and found playing Club Tennis was the right choice for him. He had a fabulous experience there, captaining his team and taking them all the way to a National Championship.While still in college, Alex partnered with some Tennis Friends to create Cracked Racquets and the Great Shot podcast. Their dream of disrupting the conventional media coverage of the sport is coming true as they are now being engaged to commentate professional tournam

Welcome to Season 10, Episode 38, of the ParentingAces Podcast, a proud member of the Tennis Channel Podcast Network. This week, Lisa chats with Father-Son duo, Orlando and Alexander Bravo.Orlando grew up in Puerto Rico where he was first introduced to tennis. As his game developed and he maximized his competitive opportunities in and around his island home, Orlando realized he needed a more vigorous training environment and moved to the Bollettieri Academy as a teen. He was there during the heyday of American Tennis, living and training with Jim Courier, Andre Agassi, Michael Chang, and other US Tennis Stars. However, he discovered his game was better suited to the College Tennis arena rather than the professional tour, and Orlando pursued both tennis and academics as a member of the Brown University Men's Tennis Team.Orlando went on to further his academics at Stanford University where he earned both a business and a law degree before becoming Puerto Rico's youngest billionaire as the founder and managing p

Welcome to Season 10, Episode 37 of the ParentingAces Podcast, proud member of the Tennis Channel Podcast Network! In this week's episode, you get an inside look at what it means to coach a top professional player at one of the world's biggest tournaments.Jean-Yves Aubone, better known as JY, grew up in a Tennis Family. Both his parents were professional players, so it was inevitable that he would learn the sport, too. Starting at age 2, JY was a top-10 player in every age group throughout his Junior Tennis years. He went on to play college tennis at Florida State University where he was a 2-time All-American. All this to say, JY knows his stuff when it comes to tennis and top-level competition.After college, JY explored a traditional career path but quickly learned his heart was on the tennis court. He played professionally for a bit before turning his attention to coaching at both the Junior and Pro level. Now, in addition to running a successful coaching business in Atlanta, he is top-ranked American, Reil

Welcome to Season 10, Episode 36, of the ParentingAces Podcast, a proud member of the Tennis Channel Podcast Network. In this week's episode, we check back in with SwingTennis, the official partner of US College Tennis as well as 3 of the 4 Grand Slam nations! We last spoke with Swupnil Sahai back in November 2019 (click here to listen to that episode) and can't wait to share with you all the new developments Swupnil and his team have incorporated into this amazing app using AI technology.What is SwingTennis and what does it do? SwingTennis is Artificial Intelligence for your tennis. It uses automated shot tracking, video analysis, and line calling, all on your smartphone.If you watch the video version of this week's podcast, you will see Swupnil sharing his screen to show examples of many of the features of the app. In addition to recording matches and uploading them to the cloud, the app can be used to create highlight videos to send to college coaches during the recruiting process, pull out stats of a part

Welcome to Season 10, Episode 35, of the ParentingAces Podcast, a proud member of the Tennis Channel Podcast Network.This week's podcast is the second in a series we're exploring here at ParentingAces, one that came at the suggestion of my son, Morgan. There are many pathways in Junior Tennis but maybe even more once that journey is complete. Professional tennis, college tennis, club tennis, and no tennis at all are some of the options, and each has its pros and cons. I hope you find it valuable to hear from the players themselves about what role tennis played in their formative years and what role, if any, it plays in their adult lives.To say that Crews Enochs comes from a Tennis Family is an understatement. Both his parents, Stephen and Lisa, were All American standouts at the University of Georgia after having stellar junior tennis careers themselves. Of course their two children would take tennis lessons to gauge their interest in pursuing the sport at whatever level they chose.While Crews developed into