USPTA Southern Newsletter July 2018

USPTA Southern Division: Where Excellence is STANDARD

The USPTA Southern Division

Volume 19 Issue 3: July 2018

Welcome to our

Newest Honorees

Farewell to this

Honored One INSIDE:

2 More Conventions + Wrap Up from May . . . . . . . pg 3-5 Spotlight 2 members with 3 digit USPTA numbers. . . . pg 6 Review of First RacquetFit Program. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . pg 9 Building Character as You Build Technique . . . . . . . . pg 10 Success Secrets with Lane Evans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . pg 13

Page 2

Volume 19 Issue 2

Farewell from President Lane Evans To My Dear USPTA Southern Friends, It is with great sadness that I bid you farewell.

I will be moving to the Missouri Valley Division to begin a new chapter in my professional career. Yes, you read that right, a new chapter as I have no intentions what so ever of slowing down. It is my hopes that I will be able to go to the already successful Missouri Valley Division and make an impact. I look forward to the challenge.

For those of you I leave behind, I am only an e-mail, phone call or Facebook message away. What all of you have brought to my life is immeasurable. Kevin Theos will do an outstanding job as your President. He is a solid leader in the industry and has served USPTA Southern with great enthusiasm and professionalism. I know he will keep this ship sailing forward. To Pat Whitworth, I will miss our 2 to 3 phone calls per day. Pat embodies

the textbook definition of what a division Executive Director should look like. USPTA Southern is extremely lucky to have a leader like Pat. The other 16 divisions look up to Pat and the skills he uses to run our division.

For the rest of you, please continue to drive our division forward.

Participate in workshops and conventions to further your tennis education. Contribute to the newsletters and support all that is USPTA Southern.

Finally, I would be remiss not to mention a few of the people who have shaped my time with USPTA Southern and showed me what

leadership is all about. I apologize if I miss anyone but my sincere thanks go to Todd Upchurch, Fred Burdick, Tom McGraw, Tommy Wade, Bill Phillips, Jeff Hawes, Peter Howell, Tom Daglis, Bo Gard, Reedy Toney, Jimbo Hobson and the one and only Bill Riddle. Also, I need to recognize the rest of the Southern Board in Kaitlin Flaherty, Tom Parkes and Ken Andriano. Special thanks to all the State Presidents as well for your great work leading our nine states.

Thanks again everyone for God’s speed to all! — ­ Lane Evans-

USPTA Invited Guest

Listen Before You Speak

By Bill Riddle

W

e have all heard the saying “Listen before you speak” right? Probably your parents or grandparents told you this when you were young and probably on several occasions like my parents did. So here is the thing, it applies to us now in several situations more then ever. What I want to touch on is how this simple principle applies to us as a coach and teaching pro.

As a coach, many of you probably walk out to the courts with your lesson plan either in hand or in your head. You know what you want to cover in that lesson, clinic or camp. You have decided what is important to get across and what you want the player or players to work on and learn. My question to you though is, when was the last time you asked your student or team what it is they want or feel like they need.

As a tester, clinician and all around traveling tennis coach for the last 30 years I have had the privilege to watch an enormous amount of other coaches teach group and private lessons.

The one thing I find to be true way to often is

that coaches tend to “lead” the on court sessions with what they say. In some cases I have noticed coaches talking non stop and when asked why, the responses overwhelmingly are that they feel they need to tell the student or player all the things they need to know. Downloading the info to your students or players is only one piece of the puzzle. Knowing what they are thinking, how they interpret the information and how they feel about it is also very important and can only be achieved by listening to them. Asking more questions and listening just might lead your student or player to the place you want them to be quicker.

In other cases many of you attend conferences and workshops and may have had the thought about getting out of your chair in the audience and become a speaker. If so, great!

I did the same thing many years ago. After years of speaking at a variety of conferences and workshops literally all over the world I can honestly say the most important thing I have learned is to listen. What do I mean? Well,

remember back to the most recent workshops or conferences you have attended. Did the person leading the presentation stand there and tell you everything you needed to know or what they thought you needed to know? How often do the speakers leading the presentation ask questions or ask for your feedback? No one likes to be talked to or talked at so if your looking to become an effective speaker then become a good listener first. Listen to what you hear and how it is presented while making notes not only on the topic but the overall presentation. Listening to the feedback and questions from the audience and participants is crucial.

Feedback and questions are good as it gives you vital information on how you are getting your message across.

As we all know, communication is key in this industry with our players, students, team or members and we know that communication is a two way street. Become a great active listener first because its not always about just what you say.

Standard

Page 3

USPTA Southern Summer Conference Tennis Haus Conference in partnership with USPTA Southern Aug. 3 - 4 Nov. 9 - 10 Richland Country Club Nashville, TN - indoor center Stone Creek Club & Spa, Covington LA The 2nd Annual Tennis Haus Conference will be held November 9-10th. As the only event of its kind in the area, the conference seeks to connect, educatate, and inspire professionals in the tennis world.

Tennis directors, teaching pros, coaches, and tennis club managers & owners. 8 education points available.

Up to 11 education credits with full attendance SCHEDULE Friday Aug. 3 9:00 - 1:00 Specialty Course – “On Court Strategies and Tactics” Craig Cignarelli 1:00 - 2:00 Check in and Registration on site at Richland Country Club Indoor Tennis

SCHEDULE Friday Nov. 9 2:30 - 6.30 Net Generation Specialty Course. Butch Staples & USTA Team 7:00 - 8:30 Dinner + Tennis App Launch Saturday Nov. 10 8am - 7.30pm Speakers (topics announced soon) Emilio Sanchez – owner Sanchez- Casal Academy, tour player

2:00 - 3:00 “Tennis Business Part 1” - Darryl Lewis

Eva Borras – Sports Psychologist, former tour player

3:00 - 4:00 “RED Court: The Lifeblood of your Program” Scott Mitchell

Claudio Pistolesi – Tailor Made Tennis Training - former coach Robin Soderling.

4:00 - 5:00 “What is RacquetFit” – Dr Sean Drake 5:00 - 6:30 “Tennis Ins & Outs” – Taylor Dent 6:30 - 8:00 Dinner and Special Event Saturday Aug. 4 8:30 - 9:30 “Infusing your 10U Program with the 5 Play Situations” Scott Mitchell 9:30 - 10:30 “Top 10 Questions I’ve always wanted to ask” – Craig Cignarelli 10:30 - noon “Why RacquetFit?” – Dr Sean Drake Noon - 1:15 Lunch, Trade Show and USPTA Updates 1:15 - 2:30 “8 Week Practice Plans for Club Teams” – Tom Parks 2:30 - 3:30 The 6-Step Blueprint to Success for Tennis Entrepreneurship – Tim Bainton 3:30 - 4:30 “Tennis Business Part 2” – Darryl Lewis Sunday Aug. 5 USPTA Testing REGISTRATION ­— on Setteo • $79 USPTA/PTR members • $49 U30 USPTA (by 7/25) New USPTA Southern Members certified since Aug. 2017 $19.99 HOTELS Official conference hotel: • Baymont Inn and Suites $109 at Baymont of Brentwood 111 Penn Warren Drive, Brentwood, TN 37027 (615) 376-4666. Ask for the USPTA Tennis rate * Please note that Richland Country Club is located at One Club Drive in Nashville, TN but is less than 2 miles from Brentwood so if you find a better hotel option in Brentwood you will still be conveniently close to the club.

Hotel prices in the Nashville area are extremely high and limited. We do not have an official host hotel.

Steve/Mario Contardi – Founder Tennis Fantasies Stan Oley – Playmate Ball Machines Bruce Gullikson/Brian McCoy – USPTA Douglas Cordero – Team Fabio Fognini Fitness Butch Staples – USTA - former director for Midtown Athletic Club, Chicago Mark Kovacs – ITPA - Performance physiologist , researcher, professor, author, coach Andy Brandi – Current LSU Coach. Former Univ FL and touring coach arah Jane Stone – Tour coach, former tour player (Sam Stousr, S Alexa Glatch) Register on Setteo. Scroll to the November EVENTS. Every USPTA member has an account. Use your USPTA email, and request your password if you have not logged in before. PLEASE choose PAYPAL to pay with a credit card. You do not need a Paypal account.

Registration rate for USPTA members $149 through August 31st

Page 4

Volume 19 Issue 2

Convention 2018 – Wish You Were There

T

he Amazing Athletic Club served as the perfect host for our convention. All attendees received the welcome packet with logo umbrella, notebook, and luggage wrap (all from NetKnacks). We were treated to top notch service, facilities, and presentations throughout the event. The welcome party was held at the new outdoor pavilion, and the view, foods, and networking were a great start to the convention.

We enjoyed many new speakers. To date, the top-rated seminars were Gigi Fernandez, Tennis Ted Talks, Emilio Sanchez, and Jeff Chandley. Of course, many of the other presentations were well received and all had plenty of take aways.

The tradeshow presented by GEP Energy was a highlight with our largest vendor attendance ever. It was a blast as we had new products to review along with a raffle/auction to raise funds for the USPTA Foundation. The top item of the day was the Playmate Ball Mower. Special thanks

to all of the companies that exhibited and donated to the Foundation 10-S Tennis Supply BATT Water Broom Berry College PTM CoolSport Cute Tennis Stuff Caribbean Sol Dunlop GEP Energy

GiGi Fernandez Har Tru Head/Penn Joma More Than Apparel NetKnacks Playmate Ball Machine

Pro Kennex Sanchez/Casal Snauwaert Technifiber Unique Sports USTA Jr Team Tennis Wilson Yonex/Fila

Saturday included the Net Generation specialty course directed by Butch Staples. Stan Oley was also on court with a new program. The Awards Luncheon was another special day for our award winners. Special congratulations to all of them and a special nod to our newest Hall of Fame members Jeff Hawes and Brian Marcus.

Standard

Page 5

USPTA Southern Inducts 2018 Hall of Fame at Awards Luncheon At the recent Southern Convention held at Atlanta Athletic Club in Johns Creek GA, the following people were presented during the Awards and Hall of Fame luncheon.

The following awards were presented during the lunch

Professional of the Year: Chris Kader

Hall of Fame inductees: Jeff Hawes, Brian Marcus

U30 Pro of the Year: Max Desmars

Industry Excellence: Marie Zassoda

Manager of the Year: Tom Daglis

Pride of the South Award: Bill Riddle

Charity Event of the Year: Buddy Up OpenEdward Dwight Memorial Tennis Tournament

by Mark Troutman

Player of the Year: Marcus Rutsche

Asst. Pro of the Year: Rusty Wilkes

High School Coach of the Year: Reedy Toney​

Congratulations to all of our 2018 recipients!

The Social List

Summer Camp Greatest Hits

By Tom Parkes, USPTA Elite Professional

S

ummer camp for most of us are kids 6 to 14 years old. These are our beginner to intermediate level players, which means fun is the name of the game. Start by giving each kid a rubber wrist band when they are dropped off each day and take it back when the kids are picked up for the day. It helps keep track of our camp kids on club property. The kids get to keep their wrist bands on the last day of camp. We change color for each camp.

The number one thing you hear from younger students in summer camp is “I’m Hot”.

The first thing you need is a tent and mister

Try It Out

set up near the courts. Kids love this and it’s a cheap and easy way to cool them down quickly. Tent and mister cost me $90 on Amazon free shipping. Second, Popsicles. I don’t care how old you are everyone loves popsicles when it’s smoking hot outside. You can by 500 for under $15. Third, squirt guns and or water balloons, another way to cool down. Dollar Store is the best place to purchase these. At a $1 a pop great cost savings.

Forth, Games. We all know tones of game but try and to have 20 mins. of games time for every hour of instruction.

Last, make the last day of Camp a theme/ fun day. This is the day you give out awards certificates for most popsicles eaten, best dressed, the best helper, anything you can think of. The success of summer camp for the largest percentage of your students is going to be how much fun they have.

If you ever get a chance to catch one of Bill Riddles “Summer Camp” presentations you should. I borrowed all of the ideas from him.

For product you need to purchase Walmart, Amazon, and Dollar Store are my go to places.

Good Luck

By Mark Schminke, USPTA Elite Professional

Score At Hand

I

t’s easy for a beginning student to get lost in a sea of information. As teachers, we are trying to get beginners to play as quickly as possible, reducing the chance of quitting. Keeping score is just one of the many overly complicated pieces of information that beginners have difficulty understanding, let alone remembering during play. There are many score keeping tools available but Score At Hand is one of the quickest, and most effective score keeping devices I’ve used to date.

Score At Hand is the new tennis racket scorekeeper that goes right on your tennis racket. This lightweight device will be unnotice-

able to beginners as its sleek profile blends in well when placed inside the rackets neck. The simple device is capable of keeping game, and

set score with a simple slide up and down the notched track. Evident from the picture, Score At Hand is color coordinated to help decipher each players score regardless of the racket position.

No longer do my players have to travel to the net to use a score keeping device, slowing play, sticking out of the net, and constantly forgotten about. Owner Christine Watanabe has created a simple and extremely useful product in the Score At Hand and I highly recommend you use them for your students.

Find more information out on the website www.scoreathand.com.

Page 6

Volume 19 Issue 2

Southern Spotlight T

his issue, we feature to veteran professionals that were both attendees at the recent convention. Along with Bob Love, all have USPTA numbers in the 3 digits - one is the 400s, the other in the 700s. It is neat to see these stellar gentlemen still learning at this stage of their careers.

Arnold Bradshaw Montgomery, AL Give a brief description of your tennis career: I went to Geneva, OH after graduating from Edinboro College in PA to teach school in 1963. In 1966 I started the tennis team, in the snow belt (shoveling snow off the courts in April) and for 8 years we only had 2 asphalt courts at the football field. No country clubs ever. No indoor facility ever. Finally they put 4 asphalt courts in at the high school. That was great! Some Southern Pros that played on my high school tennis teams: Ben Bradshaw- 2017 Alabama Pro of the Year, Chris Kader -2017 Georgia Pro of the Year/2018 Southern Pro of the Year, Jeff Hawes 2018 USPTA Southern Hall of Fame. There have been over 10 USPTA pros that were on our tennis team and many others that have taught tennis over the years.

When did you start playing tennis? I started playing tennis in 1951.

What other sports did you play? I also played basketball.

What moved you to teach tennis?I chose tennis go give someone something they can enjoy for a lifetime.

What is something people will be surprised to learn about you? People would be surprised I like classical music.

What are your hobbies? Playing tennis Arnold Bradshaw and going on dates with my wife Kathy What is your favorite movie? Russell Madness (music supervisor - Abe Bradshaw) Are you reading anything right now? Right now I’m reading a book called “A Shephard Looks at the 23rd Psalms” What is your favorite sports team? Washington Kastles Who is your favorite player of all time? Ben Bradshaw What person would you most like to have lunch with? My wife Kathy Bradshaw What would you be doing if you were not in tennis? Sudoku Puzzles and watching the Tennis Channel If you had a “do over”, what one thing would you have done differently in your teaching career? I can’t think of one thing. It’s been an amazing and blessed life and we are so thankful.

Ramsey Earnhart Macon GA Give a brief description of your tennis career: I began playing tennis when I was about 10 years old in Oxnard California. I played all through high school and played USTA tournaments in California.

After graduation I received a tennis scholarship to The University of Southern California. While at USC we won three NCAA championships. After college I basically stopped playing. At that time there was no way to make a living playing tennis.

What other sports did you play?

The only other sport I played was Ramsey Earnhart basketball in high school.

What moved you to teach tennis? In my early days I swore I would never teach tennis. I had another job that involved traveling all the time , I was still playing and someone asked me if I had ever thought about teaching. That started it.

What is something people will be surprised to learn about you? Maybe a couple of things. Sherry, my wife is Roscoe Tanners sister. I got a great honor from Stan Smith, he named his first son after me.

What are your hobbies? I like to work around the yard and play golf (not very well but I really like being out on the beautiful courses) Are you reading anything right now? I’m not much of a reader but I do read the Bible almost every day. It gives me me direction, peace, correction and encouragement.

Who is your favorite player? My favorite player of all time would probably be Rod Laver my eras Roger Federer.

Who would you like to have lunch with? the apostle Peter. Ican identify with him.

If you had a “do over”, what one thing would you have done differently in your teaching career? I would find a more experienced pro to learn from, not start out my own knowledge but learn from someone who had done it. I would try to get good assistants to do more of the work so I would have more time for my family.

Standard

Page 7

OUTSIDE the LINES

You Get Out What You Put In

By Jason Hazley - USPTA Elite Professional

S

o many of us “Get it” but what is “It”? To me “It” is the overwhelming upside in attending professional conferences to learn and network with each other. It isn’t always known what pointers you’ll pickup or how this experience will be of benefit, but my first convention proved to be a catalyst in my career.

I became a certified USPTA Pro in 2009 and while I didn’t specifically know the upside of USPTA membership, I had a sense there was an importance to stay connected with fellow professionals on a level beyond my closeknit local community. As a new member, I could attend the Southern convention at a discounted rate, however the convention that year was in Atlanta which is a long-haul from Louisiana my home state. I paused and thought it over, “Do I really want to go all that way when I’ll be traveling on my own dime?”

“Is it truly worth going?” I quickly concluded to go and enjoy the trip and see what happens. At the convention I saw Brett Schwartz present “The Business of Tennis.” This was awesome as I knew Brett from my junior/college tennis ties and hadn’t had a chance to catch up with him in years. This chance encounter would payoff tenfold down the road.

Several years later I applied for a position at Brett’s club, New Orleans Lawn Tennis Club.

When discussing the candidates for the job with his GM, Lee Stall, my name came up. Lee has always put professional development as a priority for his staff. As you can imagine, when Brett told Lee how I traveled to a convention out of my own pocket on the other side of the Southern section, it made my stock value go way up. The topic came up when I went on my job interview and I shared with Lee the

developments as I am with you. Fortunately, I received the promotion and am still employed

by NOLTC today.

Had I not “Got it” I might have missed out on a phenomenal opportunity. I also might be looking around wondering when my next opportunity might come my way. The truth is you need to get out there and make your next opportunity happen and make yourself stick out from the pack. The fact you are currently reading this is a great indication you “Get it” and are on the right path! Please share this story with some of your non-certified friends or even your fellow USPTA pros who haven’t been very active in their association for years.

The value of USPTA membership is more than can be seen on the surface, but when you put yourself out there its most meaningful benefits will come to light!

U30 EXPERIENCE

U30 Regional Education Days

By Dan Beedle - U30 Chairperson

D

on’t have time to travel far for a coaching conference? Can’t take a few days off of work? We want to make a push to grow the U30 group in the South. The southern section is the largest section in the USPTA and that can make it hard to get a lot of U30s together.

What if you didn’t have to travel very far or give up two or three days of teaching? This is where U30 Regional Education Days come into play. These events can be just a few hours and take place in your local area. The format for these education days can vary but we suggest 2-3 hours of education. The educational component

can be a drill exchange, 30 minute presentations

by U30s paired with a 30-60 minute presentation by a local Tennis Director or Head Pro who has advanced their career in the area. The event does not have to be limited only to U30s, any and all pros should be welcomed to these events. Have a theme to the education day such as How to work with ladies teams, Junior Programming, Directing Tournaments and so on.

After the education component there can be a 60-90 minute social such as a round robin or Fast 4 tournament with your local tennis pros. This is a great way to get to know other pros and expand your network.

The cost of these events can be very minimal. There are some Directors and Head Pros that would donate their time for a chance to help and learn from others. Potentially you could charge a small fee if you are renting a room or needing to cover court time.

Hosting one of these is a great resume builder. Scheduling and organizing an event like this shows passion and leadership qualities. It’s also a great way to get your name out there in your area. We need people to step up and If you would like to schedule a U30 Regional Education day please contact me at dan.beedle10s@gmail.com.

Page 8

s w e N e t a t S Alabama

We are so thankful to have so many great USPTA pros in Alabama. At this year’s USPTA Southern Convention Alabama’s own Arnold Bradshaw and Kevin Theos presented, and the USPTA Southern Assistant Pro of the Year was awarded to Rusty Wilkes of Pelham, AL and the USPTA Southern Industry Excellence Award was given to Marie Zassoda of Gardendale, AL. We’re excited about our state workshop on Saturday, August 18. Last year our workshop’s focused on themes of 10 & Under Tennis and Fitness for Tennis. This year’s theme is going to focus more on adult tennis and the business side of tennis. We look forward to another great workshop in Alabama. Many thanks to all the pros throughout our great state who attended the USPTA Southern Convention, and especially our USPTA Alabama Board members. ­— Jenny Robb

Arkansas

Yours Truly was 1 of the 2 Arkansas Pros to attend the May USPTA Southern Convention.

With everyone so busy, and the distance for Arkansas pros, a low turnout is understandable. Nevertheless, here are few highlights. Gigi Fernandez was outstanding. I personally enjoyed her excerpts about playing on tour as much as her doubles method. Got a taste of the Spanish system of training from Emilio Sanchez as he took us through some training drills for High Performance players. The Net Generation Coaches Workshop was great training for coaches helping young kids. A neat program were the TED talks, where USPTA members gave a TED style talk in their specific area of expertise. Perhaps TED talks are something we might try next time we get together.

An opportunity a bit closer to home to attend a convention and attain education credit is coming November 9 & 10. The Tennis Haus Convention in Covington Louisiana.— Bob Wagstaff

Kentucky

Hope everyone is surviving the heat and having a prosperous summer. We are still looking for 2 more people to serve on the state board. Please contact David White at d.white@topseedtennis.net if you’re interested. Congratulatations to USPTA certified Bill Carey on his new position as Head Women’s Tennis Coach at Bellarmine University. Bill will also be serving on the state board.

We are planning a USPTA hospitality tent at the Kentucky Bank Challenger pro tournament the first week in August in Lexington. This will give everyone a chance to connect with fellow Kentucky pros and watch some great tennis! We will be announcing the specific night for this event in the next week. A state workshop is also being planned for early fall. Please contact David with any subjects you would like to see addressed in the workshop.

We would like to have presentations that members would find beneficial and worth their time so all feedback is welcome.­— David White

Louisiana

It was a great honor and privilege to serve as your state representative at the recent Southern board meeting in Atlanta. The Atlanta Athletic Club did an amazing job hosting the USPTA Southern Convention and the welcome dinner on-site had the perfect setting with the most impressive lookout over the golf course. If you have not had the pleasure of attending a workshop at this venue, I encourage you to put it on your short list as this facility is one of the best around.

The event from start to finish ran smoothly and was well attended thanks to the careful planning and execution of the convention committee. A huge thank you goes out to Kevin Theos, Pat Whitworth and Tom Parkes for putting together this shindig! Their time spent on the lineup of speakers, trade show and other administrative duties all paid of tenfold.

I hope all Southern pros and especially my fellow LA pros save the date of November 9-10 for the second annual Tennis Haus conference at Stone Creek Club & Spa in Covington, LA. This event is sure to impress as the slate of speakers include Andy Brandi, Mark Kovacs, Emilio Sanchez and many more! See you there.­— Jason Hazley

Volume 19 Issue 2

Mississippi

Kids are out of school and all of our pros are busy running summer camps, junior team tennis and summer adult league. We have surpassed the half year mark and so far, we have seen some great growth numbers across our State. I am happy to report that our Net Generation Team Tennis (unique participants) has increased by 69% comparing to the year before. Also the Junior Team Tennis and the USTA league participation have both increased by 54% and respectively 59% from the previous year. I’d like to thank everyone involved in developing tennis in Mississippi. Keep up the good work.

The recent Southern Division Convention was a great success this year.

The speakers were top of the line and the venue (Atlanta Athletic Club) was incredible. Pat, Kevin and Lane, good job for putting this exclusive event together. As you may have found out, our Southern President, two time MS workshop speaker, and great friend, Lane Evans will leave our Division soon for a new opportunity in Oklahoma City. He will be missed and always will be a part of our Southern family. Good luck at your new club Lane.

I am already looking forward to our New York Tennis Teachers Conference in August. I hope I see everyone there; it’s going to be great.­— Bo Gard

North Carolina

So where did Spring go? Summer is definitely upon us in North Carolina. We have some outstanding educational opportunities coming up, and I hope you will make plans to attend one or more of them. The USPTA Southern Summer Convention will be held in Nashville on August 3-4, and has an outstanding line up of speakers. We will also host a Lunch and Learn Drill Exchange at the Winston Salem Open on Monday, August 20, 1:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m. where you can share your favorite drill and pick up countless others.

Lastly, we are planning our Winter Workshop which will once again be held in the first weeks of December. More details to follow on that. As always, please don’t hesitate to touch base at usptanc@gmail.com if you need help or have suggestions. Many thanks, Darryl Lewis. USPTA NC President — ­ Darryl Lewis

South Carolina

hope everyone is trying their best to stay cool here in SC! It has been an exciting start to our year with USPTA SC. Congratulations to Mike Pollard for winning our 2017 State Pro of the year award. I would like to apologize to our state for this taking so long to announce. We had lined up an independent committee to chair the awards, but our Executive Director of USTA South Carolina resigned and we had to find a new group. USPTA SC and USTA SC coaches committee are joining forces for our state educational workshop.

The date is Saturday September 29th in Hilton Head. We hope the change in venue will entice more of our state professionals to take a weekend vacation and come visit us! Speakers have been confirmed and will offer a fresh take on the tennis industry. Our newsletter is one of the best in the country, but let’s keep growin. If you would like to be published please email me with any possible content. The board loves getting different perspectives from around our state. Any content is great content. Please send us your favorite recipe, drills, games, or new ideas at Camdencctennis@gmail.com. Looking forward to seeing you in September for our State workshop.­— Kevin Jackson

Tennessee

I am Meg Bandy, and will be stepping into the PTA-TN presidents’ role for the remainder of the term. I am in Chattanooga and work at McCallie School for Boys.

I am the Assistant Varsity Coach and staff teaching professional.

I’m sure you all have jumped feet first into summer with camps, JTT, league playoffs, tournaments, etc. During this busy tennis time of year, I wanted to share some highlights.

The Davis Cup quarter final matches were hosted in Nashville in April. It was the first time in 45 years. The Nashville tennis community did a great job and It was well attended. One of the Southern Closed 10s events was recently hosted in Chattanooga earlier in June. And of course, Memphis has the national’s girls 18s clay courts. So many of our fellow PTA professionals have put countless hours into coaching, volunteering and just being available for these events. I’m sure many more of you deserve shout outs and would love to include what is going on in your areas in the future newsletters. I would love to hear from you with news, ideas, and how the USPTA TN can be beneficial to you. Have a wonderful summer. mbandy@mccallie.org On the education front, the summer conference will be in Nashville at Richland Country Club August 3-4.­— Meg Bandy

Standard

Page 9

Tech Corner Uptime App

By Kevin Jackson USPTA Elite

W

atch YouTube videos as a group with Uptime for iPhone. Watching videos on YouTube is becoming such an activity where you will spend lots of time in and discover many different things. If you are enjoying watching it yourself and linking the videos to friends for them to see, how about watching the videos together with Uptime?

This app is a platform where you can bring friends and binge watch YouTube videos right in your iPhone. You chat and interact while watching the videos, curate and share videos, get daily recommendations, see what videos are popular and more.

Right now, Uptime is only available for the iPhone as an invite-only app, but it looks like a fun experiment with quite a bit of promise.

Fit to Hit

Once you log in with your Google account, you’re greeted with a short introductory video that explains how it all works. You watch a video, and your profile picture travels along a progress bar that wraps around the screen. If there are other people watching, you’ll see their icons travel along with you. There are some neat ideas that the team has lifted from what Facebook has been doing with its live videos: you can react to what you’re seeing on the screen, either by typing in comments or by touching the screen in real time.

There are a few ways this app could be very innovative with the tennis industry. I

have a YouTube channel that I put tennis lessons, clinics, and camp videos during the year. A tennis pro could invite his/her student to watch their hitting lesson and discuss in a video conference setting. This could be a great way to become more productive and possible create a new revenue stream at your club. Imagine scheduling video conferences for rainy days, or after you are off court that you can discuss technically aspects with your student. Both the student and pro could watch points from a recorded match to discuss strategies for future matches.

RacquetFit Seminar in Orlando at the USPTA Headquarters

By Devor Dekaris – owner Tennis Haus

G

oing into the RacquetFit seminar I didn’t have any idea what exactly to expect. I heard about it and knew they partnered with USPTA, but I still couldn’t really put it in perspective. I was in contact with Dr. Sean Drake prior to the seminar and then spontaneously decided to fly to Orlando, which I’m so happy I did! Many important and passionate tennis professionals attended, as well as fitness trainers and medical professionals. Chuck Gill, Feisal Hassan, Bill Riddle, Craig Jones and so many more great minds of our sport made the whole weekend a huge success!

Jeff Salzenstein, Dr. Sean Drake and Dr. Greg Rose were in charge of the seminar and did a fantastic job delivering the content to the attendees. We started with connecting the dots between the physical skills and the basic technique skills. The goal over the weekend was to learn how to screen the athlete to make sure to understand physical limitations within your student and how to apply this knowledge to teach an appropriate technique to each individual player. Greg mentioned several times during his presentation that if you don’t test an

athlete, it is just a guess, which is very true. Just assuming your student has the physical skills to achieve key positions isn’t enough.

RacquetFit pointed the 13 most common serving characteristics out which they call the Big 13. Each of these phases can cause problems which might be the cause of physical limitations. For example, a “No Coil” during the serve can be caused by a limited spine and hip mobility, a limited spine disassociation, or either limitations. How do you find those causes quickly and efficient? The answer is easy, use the screening they taught us.

We learned 15 tests to screen all areas involved during a serve. If you fail any of those tests it automatically reflects on your serve, which is the key to the whole seminar. You screen an athlete and find limitations it will affect the actual stroke in their tennis game.

The screening of your player will reveal what the serve will look like, which is pretty amazing.

Saturday, we did a lot of exercises to learn how to improve in those physically limited areas. What I liked was that we had to do all exercises ourselves which is why I still remem-

ber them. After the seminar you have to pass an online exam to obtain your certification officially. Coming back to the seminar, I can highly recommend the RacquetFit seminars, it will change your perspective and mindset of teaching. The next seminar is August 10-11 in Chicago, IL. We have one in Atlanta this fall.

Since I am the founder of Tennis Haus I will make sure to support and promote RacquetFit as much as possible because I believe it will enrich and improve our quality of teaching.

Speaking of Tennis Haus I would like to invite every professional to attend the Tennis Haus conference November 9-10 at Stone Creek Club & Spa in Covington, Louisiana. This year we partnered with USPTA Southern to make the conference as good as possible to deliver as much education to our Professionals as possible. I was able to get names like Emilio Sanchez, Claudio Pistolesi, Andy Brandi, Mark Kovacs, Duglas Cordero and Butch Staples to Covington, Louisiana!

Education matters and it is very important to raise our standard of teaching. I hope to see you all soon at a conference or workshop.

Page 10

Volume 19 Issue 2

USPTA Invited Guest

Why Character Building Matters

By Frank Giampaolo

J

enny’s a full-time student at the First Strike Tennis Academy in Southern California and has been for nine years. In her own words: “I’m stuck, I’m SCTA ranked in the upper 80’s and going nowhere fast.”

Her father says she’s a gifted player, but he’s frustrated because he’s shelling out an incredible amount of money each month and Jenny isn’t getting the results they believe she’s capable of achieving. The coaching staff at First Strike had convinced Jenny that she’s doing everything she is supposed to do and just to be patient and she’ll see results soon.

Jenny confided in me that her motivation is gone and she says she’s ready to hang up her rackets. She then broke down in tears as she revealed that although she’s good in practice, in competition her competitive grit, patience, and effort have abandoned her. She looked down and sobbed, “I’m just so tired of being average.” Jenny’s father interrupted and confessed, booking this session with you was our last resort.”

It didn’t take long to uncover the White Elephant on the court, which was the fact that Jenny has been training inefficiently for almost a decade. Our initial conversation began with me asking Jenny some fundamental tennis developmental questions. “Since you’re telling me you know all too well how to be average, let me ask you an opposing question: Can you tell me how not to be average?” Jenny said, “Um...to do more training than my peers?” I smiled and said, “What’s even more important than the quantity of training?” “I don’t know... the quality of the training?” she responded. I agreed wholeheartedly. I then asked Jenny what she thought the difference was between group drilling and a customized developmental plan. “Well,” she said. “I guess a customized developmental plan focuses on individual needs versus group activities. I said, “Right again sister!”

I asked Jenny, about her tennis goals. She perked up and said, “It used to be to play D-1 Tennis at Stanford but …” “Ok, great!” I

jumped in. “Now what is your customized weekly plan to make it a reality? What are you doing week-in and week -out that is setting you far apart from your peers?” … (Crickets) “Let me ask you another way, has your only training been in the academy format? …More silence. I gave it the dramatic one minute pause, which to her must have felt like an hour. I sat back and slowly explained, “I see the problem. Jenny, you don’t have a customized plan. A goal without a customized plan isn’t a goal at all …it’s simply a dream.” I explained to Jenny that everyone has dreams, but a dream isn’t going to come true without a specific weekly customized developmental plan. Jenny’s eye’s brightened, and I saw her beautiful smile for the first time. “I believe you owe it to yourself to attack your tennis development from a new perspective. Let’s hit a few balls so I can see your strokes and movement.”

So we hit a few baskets of balls as I identified her strengths and weaknesses in her primary and secondary strokes. We then sat down and went to work designing her customized weekly planner based on her efficiencies and deficiencies within her four main components: strokes, athleticism, mental and emotional. Our evaluation session was a mind-blowing revelation to Jenny and her Dad. No one had ever actually dissected Jenny’s game, let alone provide customized solutions for improvement. Our first day together went by quickly as we evaluated and improved her tennis IQ, her emotional aptitude, her organizational skills and we made adjustments in her deficient coaching entourage.

Jenny didn’t need to groove her stationary strokes or to run more laps around the high school track. She needed to apply life skills, positive character traits and a renewed belief in herself. Throughout our few days together, I identified the direction of training required and simply motivated her to be accountable for organizing her very own training regimen. She applied solid character traits such

as commitment and determination as she competently applied innovation to customize her brand new weekly blueprint. She was open-minded and humble throughout our sessions. Strong character traits are needed to champion tennis and life. Within six months of completely modifying her life skills and positive character traits. Jenny achieved a top 10 SCTA ranking and went on to play D-1 College ball. (The names have been changed to protect the guilty).

Building character in young athletes is essential to the success of the athlete on and off the court. Positive character not only assists the athletes on the court but guides them as they make the world a better place.

An excellent character is a secret precursor of winning. It drives performance which accelerates results. It’s the heartbeat of The Soft Science of Tennis. Sadly, in today’s generation, many parents assume that the coaches are teaching positive character traits and critical life skills, while coaches believe that it’s the parents who are educating these essential skills and sadly it’s a missing link in developing athletes.

“Excellent character is the secret precursor of winning. It drives consistent training which accelerates results.”

Character counts, so what is character?

It’s a combination of the athlete’s emotional qualities, beliefs, and values. Great character isn’t a genetic predisposition. Humans aren’t born with great character. Good character is a learned skill set with well nurtured emotional enhancements. One’s character, good or bad shines in all its glory when the athlete is in competition and under duress. Developing

Standard

Page 11

character molds the athlete’s inner dialog which either pumps them up or tears them down on a daily basis.

“The underlining effectiveness of a parent or coach lies in their ability to develop positive character skills.”

A modern term used in sports psychology is Posttraumatic Growth (PTG). Psychologists apply the term PTG to describe a positive psychological change that can result from a traumatic experience, such as athletic failure. Though losing may not seem like a tragic event to some, to others, competitive losses can be mentally and emotionally crippling. PTG methodologies help clients through difficult situations by encouraging them to take responsibility with the power of choice. The athlete can choose to fight or retreat. Tennis champions actually lose and lose often throughout their career. The athletes who choose to use their scar tissue as motivation to fight and endure the athletic pressure persevere and reach the top. Admirable character opens up the athlete to forge ahead instead of shutting down and giving up.

“You need to develop a thick skin” is a common mantra for strong character building.

It’s an effective defense to the critics. Trust me, the most common way you know you’re rising above the crowd is when others begin to trash-talk and criticize you solely because of their petty jealousy. If athletes can’t be criticized, they should stay home, lay on the couch and stop improving immediately!”

In regards to character, actions speak louder than words. Parents and coaches need to remember that they are modeling character and that their actions have a more significant impact than their words. It is the role of parents and coaches to create a positive environment for ideal character building.

Build character and lead by example: • It’s cool to be kind so choose kindness.

• Vulnerability is a courageous character trait and not a weakness. So embrace vulnerability.

• Share successes and failures. Share your story as a learning tool.

• Laugh and joke as you apply humor to your daily training sessions.

• Give credit to others for your success.

• Compliment others daily on everything and anything.

• I nvest more time and energy in your positive character building, and you’ll witness your athletes modeling that behavior.

Character Traits Character and a solid moral compass are part of the athlete’s foundation which dictates behavior and facilitates success. As for coaches, these same character traits found in a champion are the foundation of a sustainable business.

So does the participation in sports build praiseworthy character traits? Yes, but it does not happen by chance. An athlete builds strong character through consistent and optimistic nurturing and reinforcement by parents and coaches. The essential character traits gained on-court are reflected off-court and that gained off-court are reflected oncourt creating distinguished young adults. Is your athlete being taught positive character traits?

Frank Giampaolo is an award-winning coach, popular international speaker, and sports researcher. He is an instructional writer for ITF (International Tennis Federation) Coaching & Sports Science Review, UK Tennis magazine, the USPTA, Tennis Magazine and Tennis View Magazine. Frank is both a USPTA and PTR educator, a Tennis Congress Factuality Member, and has been a featured speaker at the Australian Grand Slam Coaches Convention, the PTR GB Wimbledon Conference, and Wingate Sports Institute (Israel.)

20 ESSENTIAL CHARACTER TRAITS WORTH EDUCATING Print the following 20 Essential Character Traits and review with your athlete. Discuss how each trait affects their personal tennis development.

1. Motivational: The reason or reasons for attaining your goals.

2. Trustworthiness: The ability to be relied on as honest or truthful.

3. Gratitude: The appreciation of actions and benefits bestowed upon you.

4. Accountability: The condition of being responsible for your actions.

5. Commitment: The position of being dedicated to your cause.

6. Respectfulness: A curious regard for others feelings or situation.

7. Grit: Strength of character; courage and resolve.

8. Integrity: Having a strong moral compass and principles.

9. Innovative: Applying creative problem solving and advanced thinking.

10. Competency: The ability to perform efficiently and successfully.

11. Honesty: Acting with fairness and righteous conduct.

12. Loyalty: A strong feeling of support or allegiance to your supporters.

13. Ethics: The morals and principles that govern your behavior.

14. Patience: The capacity to tolerate delay or suffering without getting upset.

15. Desire: A deep feeling of acquiring something or wishing for it to happen.

16. Effort: The amount of energy put into an attempt.

17. Sincerity: The quality of being free from pretense and deceit.

18. Open-Mindedness: The willingness to consider new ideas without prejudice.

19. Unselfishness: The willingness to accept the needs of others before your own.

20. Humble: Showing a modest estimate of your importance.

ENGINEERED TO EXPAND LIMITS

Introducing the Wilson Ultra Ball, the official ball of the USPTA. This ball features a thicker felt for enhanced durability and high-vision felt for improved visibility.

WILSON.COM Š 2017 Wilson Sporting Goods Co. Trademarks advertised other than those of Wilson Sporting Goods Co. are properties of their respective owners. 17-0228

Standard

Page 13

“Success Secrets” Lane Evans

By Lane Evans

I

must admit it is a little weird doing a “Success Secrets” column on myself. Pat thought it might be a good idea for this issue and who am I to argue with Pat. Just to be clear, my tennis professional career is not ending. In fact, it is my hope that it will be reenergized and jumpstarted in a new division.

I have had a great deal of success in my career. My career has mimicked my tennis game in a way. I was never a very talented player. I was what my colleagues affectionately called a “grinder”. I just tried to wear players down. I may have lost the match, but they sure knew they had been there.

I enjoyed that role. Once in a great while I would sneak up on a good player and steal one. In fact, I played some of my best tennis as a senior as I was a 3-Time Northern California Grand Prix Player of the Year. Not an easy task with the great players in California.

Overcoming injuries also played a dominant role in my tennis career. Shoulder surgery, 2 replaced hips, a knee surgery and 2 complete Achilles tendon tear-n-two’s also presented challenges along the way. But such was my mania I stayed the course and came back from all of it.

My time as Director of Tennis & Wellness at Champion Hills Club was also a great success story. I wandered on the grounds 11 years ago. They had no tennis or fitness facilities to speak of. No programming as well. In my time there I went from less than a half-dozen player’s to over 100. We currently are sporting 12 USTA league teams. Did I mention we only

had 2 courts and our player’s average age was well over 60? We rebuilt our courts, put in new fences, new lights and a beautiful new viewing deck. We also rebuilt our players.

On the fitness side, I became educated in every facet I needed. Certified fitness trainer, senior fitness specialist, certified in exercise therapy, iTPA Master Tennis Performance Specialist, TPI Level I and II Certified and now headed to Orlando later this month for RacquetFit certification. I took our small dingy 1 small room under the golf shop where the carts are stored to one of the nicest small club fitness centers in the country. They just needed someone with the drive and determination to steer the ship forward while never giving up and staying focused on the success to come.

So, my “Success Secrets” message here is…

1. Do the work. There is no substitute. You want to be the professional that shows up early and stays late.

2. Set a standard of excellence and stick by your guns. You must set the standard.

Several years ago, one of my board members said to me one day, “Lane, this may be as good as we can get.” Of course, I ignored him.

3. Do what in your mind and heart are the right things to do. Good people know what this looks like.

4. Have a plan and stay the course. Don’t guess. Do the research and work need to make good solid decisions.

5. Be resilient. Rocky said, “It’s not how hard you can get hit but how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward.”

6. Stay focused on what you want to achieve. Dream big or small, just dream.

Goals are important. Have some.

7. Continually educate. Learn as much as you can. Read books, watch webinars, attend workshops and conventions. “My goal is to be certified in everything”-Lane Evans 8. Be respectful. Honor those that brung ya. They paved your road. You keep it in good repair for the one’s coming behind you.

9. Be humble! I live by a “headlines today, fish wrapper tomorrow” mentality. One day you’re drinking the wine and the next day you’re picking the grapes.

10-A. Be a leader. The great Lou Holtz once said, “You can accomplish anything you want if enough people care.” You make them care.

10-B. Be grateful for everything. This one is for you Skip Johnson. I am so thankful for everything I have been through to this point in my life, both the good and the bad. My wife Lori is my rock, my best friend on earth and the ground I walk on. She always says, “things happen for a reason” but I always come right back with “but nothing happens without you.” P.S. I bought several of Skip’s book “Grateful for Everything” and I gave them all away to close friends.

I told them to read it and then give it away and then they could give it away and so on.

It has been an honor and a privilege to grace these pages one last time. Thanks for reading and all the best to my USPTA Southern family. Life is a circle. Perhaps we’ll come around again.

Standard

Page 15

Southern Officers The “Standard” is the official newsletter for the Southern Division of the United States Professional Tennis Association.

President Kevin Theos theos@sta.usta.com 205-790-7256 1st Vice President Kaitlin Flaherty-Bisplinghoff kflaherty07@gmail.com 832-656-4472 2nd Vice President Tom Parkes pvcctennis@gmail.com 910-233-4755 Secretary/Treasurer Bill Riddle tennisun@aol.com 615-243-6698 Past President/Regional VP Todd Upchurch tupchurch1@gmail.com 704-258-7220 Directors at Large Ken Andriano kandriano@theriverclub-ga.com 336-541-5876

Executive Director Pat Whitworth pat.whitworth@uspta.org 800-438-7782 (phone/fax) Head Tester Ron Gwyn rgwyn@haigpoint.com 843-341-8114 State Presidents ALABAMA Jenny Robb jennywrobb@gmail.com 205-902-1188 ARKANSAS Bob Wagstaff bwagstaff@hsvpoa.org 501-922-5054 GEORGIA Billy Uelze buelze@me.com KENTUCKY David White d.white@topseedtennis.net 859-361-1536

USPTA Welcomes Our New Members Adams, Andrew.....................Blythewood SC Bean, Bill...................................... Roswell GA Bedwell, Randall.....................Brentwood TN Buie, Scott..................................Charlotte NC Cardenas, Mario.............. Powder Springs GA Caster, Kurtis........................Myrtle Beach SC Clingan, Bob...............................Braselton GA Corbett, Patrick............................Nashville TN Fox, Thomas......................................Waco KY Harrison, Kirk............................. Lafayette LA Konnelly, Tracie....... Hot Springs National AR Lamadieu, Tabatha.................. Covington GA McDermott, Michael.................. Asheville NC Moore, David.............................Greenville NC Mosteller, Drew......................Chatsworth GA Singleton, Nathan.........................Atlanta GA Toro, Patricia...........................Wilmington NC Turcotte, Katherine.......................Atlanta GA Wingo, Kelly.............................Tuscaloosa AL

LOUISIANA Jason Hazley usptala@gmail.com 225-247-3028 MISSISSIPPI Bo Gard bogdangard@yahoo.com 228-243-3110 NORTH CAROLINA Darryl Lewis usptanc@gmail.com 828-964-8490 SOUTH CAROLINA Kevin Jackson camdencctennis@gmail.com 803-432-6711 TENNESSEE Meg Bandy mbandy@mccallie.org 423-593-5523

USPTA Certification Tests & Upgrades July 21 Camden Country Club Camden, SC

July 29 - Rome Tennis Center at Berry College Rome, GA

Aug 5 - Williamson County Parks & Recreation Brentwood, TN

Aug 11 - Medlock Bridge Tennis Club Atlanta, GA

Sep 15 - Rome Tennis Center at Berry College Rome, GA

Oct 7 - Haig Point Club Hilton Head, SC

Oct 13 - Medlock Bridge Tennis Club Atlanta, GA

Oct 14 - Henson Park Tennis Club Sherwood, AR

Oct 26 - Methodist University Fayetteville, NC

Oct 27 - Green Island Country Club Columbus, GA

FAST FACTS “Home of Wimbledon” The All England Club The All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, also known as the All England Club, based at Church Road, Wimbledon, London, England, is a private members’ club. It is best known as the venue for the Wimbledon Championships, the only Grand Slam tennis event still held on grass.

The All England Club has 375 full members, about 100 temporary playing members, and a number of honorary members, including past Wimbledon singles champions and people who have rendered distinguished service to the game.

The Club was founded by six gentlemen on July 23rd 1868 at the height of a croquet craze as the All England Croquet Club. Croquet was very popular there until the then-infant sport of lawn tennis (a game introduced by Major Walter Clopton Wingfield a year or so prior, and originally called Sphairistikè) was introduced in 1875. The first tennis Gentlemen’s Championship in Singles was held in July 1877, when the Club changed its name to The All England Croquet and Lawn Tennis Club.

The Club currently has 18 tournament grass courts, eight American clay courts, two acrylic courts and five indoor courts.

There are also 22 Aorangi Park grass courts, which serve as competitors’ practice courts before and during The Championships. The grass courts can be used from May until September.

The grass has been cut to 8 mm since 1995, and 100% perennial ryegrass has been used for its strength since 2001 (prior to that, it was 70% perennial rye and 30% creeping red fescue). The courts are renovated in September, using nine tons of grass seed annually.

USPTA SOUTHERN DIVISION

NEWSLETTER 337 Rhodes House Court SUWANEE, GA 30024

The Standard is published every 60 days by the Southern Division of the United States Professional Tennis Association.

The opinions expressed in The Standard are those of the authors and not necessarily those of The Standard, the USPTA or Southern Division.

CopyrightŠ The Standard/United States Professional Tennis Association, Inc. 2018. All rights reserved.

Reproduction of any portion of the newsletter is not permitted without the written permission from the USPTA Southern Division.

Advertising information: All ads must be camera ready and in color, if possible. Prices are per issue.

Full Page......... $400 Half Page........ $275 1/4 Page......... $140