From the Gymnasium to the Court

Presenter:Sean Drake, D.C. by Cathy Thomas, USPTA Elite Professional

Dr Sean Drake addresses the issue of athletes returning back to the sport after the covid delay.

Items to look for is did your student who have covid or was around covid and not performing as well as they did before. Look at the difference between before covid and after covid and be aware of the ramifications of the disease.

As a high school coach, you have many hats you wear; a trainer, mental toughness advisor and tennis coach all in one. You need to ask questions of your students and players. Will you be aware of how their bodies were affected during this quarantining at home more and in front of the computer? The lack of cardio for some of your players may not be where they were last year before their season started. Be knowledgeable of what has just transpired over the last year with our mental and physical health.

Sean demonstrated an arm exercise to show your flexibility and lack of movement. In the tennis world there is no one way to swing a racquet. One has to consider the mobility joints and stable joints and their differences. He gave several examples of how your students move with the mobility and stable joints. From laying the racquet between your legs on the ground and having them try to tap their toe into the racquet handle. IF they can’t their pelvis is moving and needs to be stable.

Neurology, chemical, mechanical can all affect the bodies of the tennis players. From eating poorly to sitting too long while in the house. If you need to get the assistance from other areas of the medical professionals, trainers to help your students, teams.

Sean’s command of our attention on his session with very important information for all of us to get ourselves and our teams and students back to where they were. He gave us exercise to do at home and we chatted with him after his very informative session.

Presenter Whitney Moore, PhD, CSCS , Wayne State University and Karynn Glover, doctoral student by Nick Bennett, USPTA Elite Professional

Sport participation itself does not promote players’ personal growth and development of life skills; intentional, caring coaching does.

Dr. Moore and Karynn Glover gave many highlights that characterize a caring climate. They started by reminding coaches to have a positive attitude toward players and be happy when coaching. Other tips • Greet athletes by name and with eye contact upon arrival. • During your time, give feedback using player’s name. For your awareness make a grid of each athlete and mark your frequency of feedback to each category for the day. • Ask player about life off court – school items, projects, be aware of family changes, any health issues or injury, feel out the player’s mood • Players do not feel like a failure because they failed a drill, skill or match.

Opportunities for players to get to know each other as a person, with less emphasis on athlete • Mix up training partners • Prompt them in non-sport discussions, such as why a class is challenging, potential weekend activity, family pet, a place you’d like to visit

Teams also need group discussions of awareness and understanding of respect and encouragement. Have end of practice circles which can include stretching.

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Presenter Tim Cleland, Delta High School Coach, Muncie, Ind. by Nick Bennett, USPTA Elite Professional

Tim Cleland has been coaching at Delta High School for 57 seasons and has seen nearly everything during his time at DHS. This past year put every tennis coach, volunteer and professional on a course that no one has navigated in over 100 years, during a time in which tennis was a much different sport.

In this presentation, Tim showed how he was able to use his years of experience to make the best out of the hand that we are all dealt. He showed that we won’t always be perfect, but we must do our best to make sure that we are keeping ourselves and players as safe as possible.

Tim discussed three major areas in which tennis changed, including off-court routines, practice routines and match routines. Tim gave some simple, easy to follow guidelines that all coaches can implement into their daily lives. Such as having players carry extra masks in case they forget them, or separating players in to pods to decrease the chances of a “team” being exposed to COVID-19. He also talked about the success of his one-doubles team as they navigated their way to a runner-up finish at state.

This presentation was packed with information for coaches to help them provide an environment safe for both players and coaches. Presenter Len Simard, USPTA Master Professional by Chip Fazio, USPTA Elite Professional

This webinar was focused on preparing oneself for the application and interview process for a tennis director position. It can also be helpful for clubs who are interviewing applicants for a new tennis director position.

Tennis pros hoping to move up to a tennis director position should create a personal mission statement as well as a vision statement. They should also create a personal strategic plan, including objectives, action items and time frame.

Your resume should include metrics to show what goals you have accomplished. It should also include links to current and former jobs as well as your LinkedIn profile, and other online info about you. You should make it easy for the club to check you out online.

In addition to a resume, you should create an electronic portfolio or scrapbook. This should include newsletters, flyers, articles you have written, articles about you, staff training protocols, profit and loss statements, etc. Anyone considering moving up in the future should begin their portfolio now and keep it updated.

LinkedIn is an absolute must! It is the first thing the employer will look at when considering you. Get your posts, likes and contacts up. Post articles and a picture, no personal pictures. LinkedIn is not a resume. It is more about who you are and what is your expertise.

The first contact an applicant makes with a club seeking a tennis director is often a letter of interest. Len strongly emphasized the letter of interest should only contain one thing! Your letter of interest should explain in a couple of paragraphs, why at this stage in your career, this move makes sense for you and is a good fit for the club.

Before an interview, research the club and its history. You want to impress the committee with your work ethic and ability to prepare and inform yourself. Make sure you understand what the club is looking for in a director of racquet sports position.

During an interview, when asked a question, listen, pause, and then answer. Do not jump in and answer a question before someone finishes asking it. Prepare for and expect difficult questions. What is your greatest weakness? Discuss a failure/ success. You should come with prepared answers for questions like this. Make eye contact during your interview. Dress the part, white shirt, dark suit (not black), conservative tie. No tennis clothes.

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