Parentingaces - The Junior Tennis And College Tennis Podcast

Welcome to Season 10, Episode 34, of the ParentingAces Podcast, a proud member of the Tennis Channel Podcast Network. In this week's episode, coaches Mark Merklein and Matt Daly explain the importance of using proper grips and share a new tool they developed - Grip MD - to help players find that sweet spot on their racquet.Grip MD is a revolutionary new unique training device developed by two former collegiate tennis stars with the goal to aid players of all levels to perfect the proper volley, serve, and slice grip.Grip MD is the creation of former ATP World Tour doubles No. 38 and NCAA Champion Mark Merklein (University of Florida) and former Notre Dame No. 1 Matt Daly. The device simply slips on to the handle of the racquet, allowing the player to feel the perfect Continental grip. The Continental grip is used for the slice, serve and volleys in tennis and is vital to a player’s development. “Having worked with players of all levels from beginners to pros, I have found that teaching the correct grip is the

Welcome to Season 10, Episode 33, of the ParentingAces Podcast, a proud member of the Tennis Channel Podcast Network.Kelly Johnson came to tennis pretty late by today's standards, but that didn't stop her from falling in love with it and committing herself completely. In this week's episode, you will hear Kelly's story playing for her high school team then heading to college and getting involved with the Tennis On Campus team.During college, Kelly realized she wanted to make a difference in the world so started a non-profit organization to give back to the sport she loved. In addition, she started teaching tennis, parlaying that effort into a Junior College Tennis coaching position. After graduation, Kelly was snatched up by Wilson Tennis and is now starting a new position with Adidas. As if all that weren't enough to keep her busy, Kelly also hosts the Daily Grind podcast where she recently had me on as a guest (click here to listen).Kelly's story is a clear illustration that you don't have to be a top-ranke

Welcome to Season 10, Episode 32, of the ParentingAces Podcast, a proud member of the Tennis Channel Podcast Network. In this week's episode, we take another look at Spec Tennis, a relatively new racquet sport being used to help new and existing players learn new skills that easily translate to a full-size tennis court and racquet. You can listen to last year's podcast with Nate here.Intrigued by the size of a pickleball court and recalling the paddle tennis he played as a youth in Southern California, tennis teaching professional Nate Gross had an idea. Spec Tennis was originally created by Gross as a fun social experience and an alternative use of pickleball courts. Since then, it has evolved into a bridge into tennis, giving players success, confidence, and fun a lot sooner than they would have with regular tennis. “Spec Tennis can dramatically improve your tennis game,” said Gross, currently the Director of Racquet Sports at Clear Creek Tahoe. “The paddle is less powerful than a tennis racquet, yet a simi

Welcome to Season 10, Episode 31, of the ParentingAces Podcast, a proud member of the Tennis Channel Podcast Network.This week's podcast is the first in a new series we'll be exploring here at ParentingAces, one that came at the suggestion of my son, Morgan. He had the brilliant idea to check in with some of the players he trained and competed with during his Junior Tennis years to see what they did once finishing high school and where they are now in their early to mid twenties.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.The first in our new series is an interview with my son's college roommate and teammate at Boise State University, Jack Heslin.Jack was born in Lond

Welcome to Season 10, Episode 30, of the ParentingAces Podcast, part of the Tennis Channel Podcast Network! Anxiety and mental strength are often diametrically opposed - lessen one and the other increases. In this week's episode, noted Sports Psychologist and founder of Mind of the Athlete, Dr. Jarrod Spencer, discusses how we can help our players deal with the anxiety that is inherent in competing at a high level while building their Mental Muscle.Dr. Spencer has extensive training and experience in the field of health and sports psychology. Before earning a Doctor of Psychology Degree from Argosy University, formerly known as The Illinois School of Professional Psychology, he earned his Master’s Degree in Clinical Psychology from West Chester University and his Bachelor’s Degree in Psychobiology from Lafayette College. Dr. Spencer professionally trained at The Jersey Shore Medical Center, Northwestern Neuropsychological Association, and The Diamond Headache Clinic. He is a licensed psychologist in New Jerse

Welcome to Season 10, Episode 29, of the ParentingAces Podcast, a proud member of the Tennis Channel Podcast Network! This week we tackle a topic suggested by one of our long-time listeners: off-court training for Junior Tennis Players.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 the professional circuit.In this week's podcast, Dean shares some very specific information for all of you hoping to help your Junior Players develop to their utmost ability. I highly encourage you to watch the video version as Dean shares some great visuals in this episode. He also provides detailed answers to the questions you submitted via email and Facebook:1.      How much non-hitting training should juniors do?2.      Should juniors attend specific agility/speed facilities that are popping up all over?3.      What

Welcome to Season 10, Episode 28, of the ParentingAces Podcast, part of the Tennis Channel Podcast Network! Have you ever thought about what it might be like for your child to train with someone on the ATP or WTA tour? This week, Coach Todd Widom joins Lisa to talk about the opportunities his lucky players have to do just that!Some of you may remember from past podcasts with Todd that Daniel Yoo joined the Todd Widom Tennis coaching staff. Daniel has been working with Korea's top male player, Soonwoo Kwon for the past several months which means Soonwoo is on-site training and in need of hitting partners. Guess who fills that role? Todd's junior players!In this episode, Todd discusses the benefits to these juniors having the opportunity not just to watch a pro train but also to be on the other side of the net from him, feeling that pro-level spin and power, and seeing first-hand what goes into becoming a Professional Tennis Player.Even though the majority of Todd's players will not make a living on the Pro Ten

Welcome to Season 10, Episode 27, of the ParentingAces Podcast, a proud member of the Tennis Channel Podcast Network! Our guest this week is Coach Bill Patton.Bill Patton is a lifetime USTA member, senior contributor to SportEdTV, a part of the leadership group of The Winning Summit, and a Catalyst for the Evolutionary Sports Collective. He was formerly a long time certified tennis professional. He is the author of 12 books including How To End Cheating In Junior Tennis, Visual Training For Tennis 4th Edition, The Art Of Coaching High School Tennis, and his magnum opus The Athlete Centered Coach. All written since 2014. In this week's podcast, Bill starts by sharing a short rant on cheating in Junior Tennis followed by the five misconceptions about Vision Training. He then goes on to discuss best practices to develop better visual acuity on the tennis court and offers some at-home exercises and apps Junior Players can use to improve this aspect of their game.Finally, Bill has a special offer for those of you

Welcome to Season 10, Episode 26, of the ParentingAces Podcast, a proud member of the Tennis Channel Podcast Network. If you've been around Junior Tennis a while, you may have heard of the Little Mo series of tournaments. But have you heard about the Little Mo Club???My guests this week include Cindy Brinker - daughter of Little Mo herself, Maureen Connolly Brinker - Carol Weyman who runs the Little Mo tournaments, and Gerry, Gael, and Matias Moran who started the Little Mo Club during the COVID shutdown last year.You will hear both Cindy and Carol talk about the WHY behind Little Mo and the logistics of the tournaments. In addition, you'll hear from the Morans about the need to create a virtual community for young players to stay in touch during the pandemic and how they have teamed with Little Mo to make that happen. Matias is a former Little Mo participant himself, and, at age 14, knows the value these experiences have brought to his life both on and off the tennis court.As Matias mentions in the pod, he i

Welcome to this Bonus Episode of the ParentingAces Podcast, a proud member of the Tennis Channel Podcast Network!Lisa is joined by former US #1 men's player, James Blake, and Sora Schools parent, Chris Griffin, to discuss the choices Tennis Families have today over how to educate their children. James shares his junior tennis experiences, including his path to Harvard then to the ATP Tour, focusing on the academic choices his family made. Chris shares his son's experience moving from traditional public school to Sora, a 2-year-old NCAA-accredited virtual school.For more information on Sora, visit https://soraschools.com/. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to Season 10, Episode 25, of the ParentingAces Podcast, a proud member of the Tennis Channel Podcast Network. With all of the craziness with USTA so far this year, I thought it would be interesting to hear how Junior Tennis - specifically, for the 10-and-under set - is being managed elsewhere in the world. To that end, please welcome this week's podcast guests, Shayne Tabb and Jay Deacon.These two coaches live and work in Australia and have focused their efforts in recent years on growing the game of tennis and making sure new players have a positive experience from Day One. They created a system of competitive opportunities called the ROG Gold Coast Circuit which is being replicated around the country.Both Shayne and Jay felt the coaches in Australia should come together to develop an effective and fun way to introduce tennis to children. Because their system originated with the coaches then made its way to the governing body, Tennis Australia, there has been a very high level of buy-in from coaches

Welcome to Season 10, Episode 24, of the ParentingAces Podcast, a proud member of the Tennis Channel Podcast Network. This week, we are joined by one of Tennis Channel's own on-air commentators and coach to some of the games top professional players, Paul Annacone.If you follow tennis at all, you probably know exactly who Paul Annacone is! However, for those of you new to the sport, Paul has coached the likes of Pete Sampras, Roger Federer, Sloane Stephens, Stan Wawrinka, Tim Henman, and, most recently, Taylor Fritz. Before his coaching career took off, Paul spent 14 years on tour as a player where he won three ATP titles and reached a career high ranking of No. 12 in singles. With long-time partner Christo van Rensburg, he won the 1985 Australian Open, and he finished his career with 14 doubles titles.Paul is now consulting with USTA SoCal's Player Development department alongside its Director of Junior Tennis, Trevor Kronemann, to help the next generation of players in the area reach their full potential on

Welcome to Season 10, Episode 23, of the ParentingAces Podcast, a proud member of the Tennis Channel Podcast Network. This week, we continue our previous discussions of Title IX and advocating for our kids throughout their academic years from kindergarten through college with attorney, Nancy Hogshead-Makar.Nancy is an Olympic champion, a civil rights lawyer, and the founder and CEO of Champion Women, a non-profit providing legal advocacy for girls and women in sports. Focus areas include equal play, such as traditional Title IX compliance in athletic departments, sexual harassment, abuse and assault, as well as employment, pregnancy and LGBT discrimination within sport.Hogshead-Makar is leading an effort turn the Olympic Movement back into a service-oriented, athlete-centric non-profit, one who’s corporate structure protects athletes from physical, emotional, financial and sexual abuse. She is the Co-Chair of the Committee to Restore Integrity to the USOPC and United States Olympians and Paralympians Unbroken

Welcome to Season 10, Episode 22, of the ParentingAces Podcast, a proud member of the Tennis Channel Podcast Network. This week you'll hear from former college tennis player and current tennis parent, Craig Pettigrove, about his son's Tennis Journey.Craig is originally from Melbourne, Australia where he grew up playing tennis. He made his way to the US to play college tennis for the University of Tennessee at Martin (1994-1996) and then transferred to the University of Oklahoma (1996-1999). Once his competitive playing days came to an end, Craig moved into coaching, predominantly within a country club setting, before changing career paths and moving into the Information Systems field. He is married with 2 boys (Cooper is 11 years old and Oliver is 13). Cooper plays basketball and Oliver plays tennis.Oliver is very into his tennis and plays 6-7 days per week, training and competing in USTA and UTR tournaments. Craig puts on his Coach Hat when on court with Oliver. However, he also seeks advice from fellow tenn

Welcome to Season 10, Episode 21, of the ParentingAces Podcast, part of the Tennis Channel Podcast Network. This week we are speaking with James Leath, founder of Unleash the Athlete.To watch the video version of this week's podcast: https://youtu.be/Dv7RfXx_SpMJames Leath is a mental performance coach and the founder of Unleash the Athlete (utathlete.com). With a bachelors in communication, a masters in Performance Psychology, and almost 20 years of coaching experience, James teaches leadership, character, and mental resiliency to elite performers in sport, theater, and business through keynotes, workshops, and online courses.James has worked for companies like IMG Academy, USA Swimming, Positive Coaching Alliance, American Heart Association, the Dallas Cowboys, and the Chicago Bulls. He currently lives in Dallas, TX and coaches high school football.Throughout James's sports experiences, he has always strived to create better relationships and better communication between coaches, parents, and young athletes

Welcome to Season 10, Episode 20, of the ParentingAces Podcast, part of the Tennis Channel Podcast Network.Did you know there are college tennis opportunities outside the US? Neither did I until chatting with this week's guest, Alistair Higham!Alistair is the Lawn Tennis Association's (LTA) Universities Manager, heading up its national tennis program which partners with the leading British universities to give tennis players around the world the chance to further their education while competing on the court against their peers.Alistair also leads the Great Britain Team at the World University Games as Manager/Coach. His team has won Gold and Silver Medals in South Korea in 2015; Bronze medal in European Masters in 2016; Silver and Bronze medals in Taiwan in 2017; and Gold Medal in 2017 European Masters in France (Silver Medal 2018 and 2019).In addition to his work with the LTA, Alistair is also an international expert on Matchplay and Momentum in Sport. He has authored two best selling books on momentum and a

Welcome to Season 10, Episode 19, of the ParentingAces Podcast, part of the Tennis Channel Podcast Network. Coach Steve Adamson grew up playing ice hockey in Canada and didn't even consider switching to tennis until the age of 12. Though that is considered a late start by many, Steve parlayed his athletic skills gained from playing a multitude of sports into a tennis scholarship at San Diego State University from 1995-1998 under Coach John Nelson. He went on to a successful professional doubles career before moving into the coaching arena.Steve became the Manager and Director of Tennis at the Pacific Beach Tennis Club in 2003 before starting his own Steve Adamson Tennis Academy in 2011. Some of his most successful juniors include Timmy Sah (Stanford), Siem Woldeab (Texas), Zoe Scandalis (USC), Ryan Seggerman (Princeton), Greg Garcia (Brown), and Ivan Thamma (UC Davis).Last year, Steve moved his academy to the Barnes Tennis Center and became the Director of Tennis there. As a testament to his outstanding coach

Welcome to Season 10, Episode 18, of the ParentingAces Podcast, part of the Tennis Channel Podcast Network. In this week's pod, we chat with Kim Bastable, Director of the Professional Tennis Management program at the University of Florida.Kim Bastable is passionate about helping to mold future tennis coaches to be great leaders who think of tennis as more than just a game. She considers tennis to be a tool of good health and strong wellbeing. As part of her Tennis Philosophy, Kim believes Junior Tennis Players who decide to go to college should be able to create a career from tennis that goes beyond hitting fuzzy yellow balls.Through 50 years in tennis, Kim has mentored and led athletes and coaches both on the court and in the classroom. She had on-court success as a Division I All-America player at the University of Florida, and has coached at the high school, Division I college, and Club levels. She has been a mental toughness and performance coach for 10 years, as well.Kim holds a Masters of Education in P

Welcome to Season 10, Episode 17, of the ParentingAces Podcast, part of the Tennis Channel Podcast Network. In this week's pod, we chat with LTA Coach/Educator Simon Wheatley about the importance in finding that sweet spot in our relationships with Parents, Players, and Coaches.To watch the video version of this week's episode, go to https://youtu.be/cr1MucryALM.By now, you've likely heard of the Tennis Triangle in terms of junior tennis development. Simon Wheatley takes the triangle metaphor to a whole new level as he works with players, parents, and coaches to help them be the best version of themselves.Simon's approach marries coaching and psychology, as well as real-life experience. You will hear him talk about The Sweet Spot vs. The Sour Spot and what parents and coaches can do to avoid the inevitable drama that comes up along the way. I urge you to watch/listen then to reach out to Simon with any questions or concerns you may have as you go through the Junior Tennis Journey.Email Simon at simonwheatleyt

Welcome to Season 10, Episode 15, of the ParentingAces Podcast, part of the Tennis Channel Podcast Network. In this week's episode, we do a slight pivot. Lisa chats with Thomas Williams, a former member of the USC Trojan and Carolina Panthers football teams, not our usual guest here at ParentingAces!To watch the video version of this week's episode, click below:https://youtu.be/zwB2q7Xwzx8Thomas Williams is a former NFL player and 2x National Champion (USC). After a career ending neck injury, he was forced to find a new purpose for his life. Thomas had always been taught by his mother that life was about more than football, so he had faith that he would find his path.One of Thomas Williams’ main passions is coaching both college and professional athletes on the inevitable transition to life beyond the scoreboard. He is driven by his mantra, “Athletes are great people first, who just so happen to be great athletes. Greatness may have started with sports but it doesn’t end when you retire… GREATNESS is a lifest