USPTA Southern Standard November 2019

USPTA Southern Division: Where Excellence is STANDARD

The USPTA Southern Division

Volume 20 Issue 3: November 2019

Lots of Christmas Cheer with Awesome Tennis Gear INSIDE: 2020 Conventions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . pg 2 2021 Joint Convention with USPTA FL in Orlando . . . . . pg 2 World Conference Wrap Up, Awards, and Photos . . . pg 4-5 Stay Small to Grow Big . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . pg 7 Pro Plans by Jorge Capestany . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . pg 13

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Volume 20 Issue 3

President’s Message

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e are coming to the end of a three year education cycle for many pros.

This means USPTA pros need to have attained 6 credits (12 hours) of education by December 31, 2019 to maintain their membership in good standing. USPTA pros who don’t get their education in time will have to pay additional fees to continue their membership.

Pros often express their concerns that it is costly for them to take time away from their facilities to attend in-person workshops.

Further, few clubs allocate financial resources to pros to attend workshops, which makes the financial strain more challenging. Fortunately, there are additional ways to meet the USPTA educational requirements.

One way pros can attain credit is to provide

USPTA with evidence that they participated in education outside of USPTA. For example, USTA educational meetings (e.g., tournament directors’ workshop), AED/ CPR training, personal training certification, health classes, and countless other courses of study are eligible for educational credit. One just needs to visit USPTA.com, click “Education” and then “Submit Credits.” A second and more common way to get education is through online USPTA offerings. Through TennisResources.com USPTA pros are able to watch videos for FREE and earn educational credit at their convenience and

with no need to take time off of work and travel.

You are a USPTA pro and represent the very best this industry has to offer. By completing your education you demonstrate a commitment to self-improvement while you gain additional tools and insights to help your students and keep your lessons fresh and interesting. If you haven’t already done so, please take the time to attain your education before the end of the year.

As always, your Southern board and Executive Director are here to answer questions and help in any way.

In service, Kevin Theos

Save the Date - Upcoming Conventions - 2021

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he Southern Division continues to lead the way by offering multiple conventions during the year. This allows our members that are not close to the May convention to have alternative locations to network and participate in excellent seminars.

THE BIG ANNOUNCEMENT - Southern will join forces with Florida in 2021 at the Hyatt Grand Cypress in Orlando. What a great opportunity to attend a ‘mini world conference’, and then take the family to the top vacation spot in the country. We will be on the Florida schedule which will be the weekend after Memorial Day. While this does impact our summer camp schedules, with over a year to plan, this is a can’t miss opportunity.

11/1-2 Tennis Haus - Covington, LA 2/28/2020 Business Conference - Charlotte NC (site TBD) 5/14-16 2020 May Convention - Atlanta GA (site TBD) 9/21-25 2020 World Conference - New Orleans, LA 5/26-29 2021 Southern/FL Joint Convention- Orlando, FL Summer 2020 and Tennis Haus 2020 are TBD

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2020-21 Board Of Officers Announced T

he proposed 2020-2021 slate for Board of Officers for Southern and each state are confirmed as of October 5th. Thank you to all of our nominating committees for their work in putting together this year’s slate of officers.

Southern

Louisiana

Alabama

Mississippi

President - Kevin Theos 1st VP - Tom Parkes 2nd VP - Kaitlin Bisplinghoff Sec/Trea - Ken Andriano President - John Beaube 1st VP - Stephanie Ginsburg 2nd VP - JC Freeman

Arkansas

President - Pat Malone VP - Barry Brady Secretary - Gail Nankervis

Georgia

President - Bill Anderson 1st VP - Geoff Browne 2nd VP - Rick Willet Secretary - Marley Woods Treasurer - Danny Tarpley

Kentucky

President - Bill Bryan 1st VP - Lyndsey Kelly 2nd VP - Hassan Abbas Sec/Trea - John Wahlborg

Tennessee

President - Meg Bandy 1st VP - Rick Crutcher 2nd VP - David Poole Secretary - Travis Field Treasurer - Courtney Collins

President - Emillia Viljoen VP - Toby Fasth Secretary - Steve Pennington Treasurer - William Foreman

North Carolina

President - Fred Pfuhl 1st VP - Michelle Jones 2nd VP - Scott Handback Secretary - Lynn Vosloo Treasurer - Louis Vosloo

South Carolina

President - Mike Pollard 1st VP - Dean Mays 2nd VP - Craig Wells

President - Chuck Brown other officers to be appointed

The Written Word

By Mark Schminke, USPTA Elite Professional

Charlie Wants to Play, a Book Review

O

ver the past few years I’ve found myself reading (yes Mom, reading) more non-fiction books, majority of which are geared towards tennis. From biographies to instructional insights, all of which have been geared towards either the tennis professional or adult enthusiast. Not until recently have I noticed the lack of literature for the junior tennis player. Seeing firsthand the difficulties little kids face at school regarding tennis, we need media to encourage young players and inspire new ones. Alison Mays lets junior players know it’s cool to play tennis with her book, Charlie Wants to Play.

Mays makes a great effort to gear Charlie Wants to Play towards USTA’s Quickstart

program, showing the progressions available to all junior players throughout the story. Mays is a Physical Therapist as well as a USPTA Tennis Professional and her knowledge of building after school programs provides a solid and consistent foundation that any child or parent reading the book can follow. And of course, what child isn’t enthused about ice cream after a match?

Charlie Wants to Play is a refreshing read for any child who already plays, or is looking to start tennis. Building confidence in our juniors in a world dominated by other sports is a great step in growing the game of tennis.

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Volume 20 Issue 3

World Conference Shines Again

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ack from another exciting World Conference, and the only thing missing was YOU. We had a nice turnout from Southern, but not the amount that was expected for the very popular Vegas convention. The setup was amazing, with the classroom across the hall from the indoor court, and check in along with the USTA Cafe just as close.

The agenda was a tremendous mix of topics, with some highly recognized coaches along with some that were not as well known but were stand outs. A few highlights were the Wilson sponsored speaker Roger Crawford who spoke on Change Your Mindset, Change Your Results. Not only was he a very gifted speaker, but Roger is missing fully developed arms and hands, and 1 leg, and he still made tennis a sport he could play, teach, and showcase how to work through any obstacle. Every day had moments like this. Check out the One Good Idea column for just a few of the gems.

Our Division party was held at Guy Fieri’s Kitchen & Bar at the Linq hotel. Since the monorail was in our hotel, it was a short ride away. The food was excellent, but the chance to socialize with 70 of our friends was the best.

Lastly, when in Vegas, you have plenty to see and experience away from the conference. Cirque du Soleil, various shows, the hotels, shopping, and much more. This is such a destination spot with an entire months worth of things to do. Start planning now to join us in 2021.

Evan Isaacs of Columbus, Ga., was named 2019 Steve Wilkinson College Coach of the Year. Isaacs has been the men’s and women’s tennis coach at Columbus State University for 18 years.

The Lady Cougars have qualified for the NCAA Tournament every year under Isaacs, and in 2018 they reached the national semifinal for the first time. The men, meanwhile, captured the program’s first national championship. Isaacs has coached 45

All-Americas, 96 All-Conference players, four Peach Belt Conference Players of the Year, and has won PBC Coach of the Year five times.

Allan Jensen of Alpharetta, Ga., was named 2019 USPTA Tester of the Year. Jensen is a tennis service representative at USTA

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Where Were You? Southern and also works with Hispanic outreach and Net Generation. In 2018, Jensen conducted nine tests for a total of 43 applicants. He was one of the first to be trained and implement the on-court testing app.

Jensen went above and beyond when he flew out of his region to assist with a test that had

an overflow of applicants.

Jason Hazley named Master Professional. Jason currently serves as the president of USPTA Louisiana and works as the Director of Tennis at the New Orleans Lawn Tennis Club, where he works

alongside general manager and fellow USPTA Master Professional Brett Schwartz. Hazley played collegiately at LSU and was a two-time Second-Team All SEC selection and a First-Team selection in 2003.Â

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Volume 20 Issue 3

Try It Out

By Mark Schminke, USPTA Elite Professional

Serve Rite Racket

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ontinental grip is one of the most difficult grips to teach a player when it comes to serving, slicing, and volleying. Strange since the first tennis lessons was with continental grip racket control. But it seems that by time we get to more advanced lessons our student has mastered the semi-western grip and forgotten all about continental. Yes, you can remind them that their backhand uses a continental grip, but that isn’t going to make them any more confident in using it for a slice. Teaching continental grip is like starting lessons all over again and the Serve Rite Racket is the perfect tool to make our player feel comfortable and confident holding the racket in the correct grip.

The Serve Rite Racket has a form fit grip, forcing the player to hold it in continental grip. While it’s not difficult to find or hold a continental grip on a regular racket, the ridges on the Serve Rite Racket provide a support that reaffirms the player that they’re using the correct grip while hitting. It has helped my junior players who switch their grip mid-serve keep the correct grip throughout. It has a whistle vibration dampener strategically placed at the tip of the head for audio ques on whether the player is swinging with strings facing forward, or the very common mistake of frame facing forward.

I highly recommend any tennis professional to pick up the Serve Rite Racket and let their junior players succeed quickly with the difficult continental grip swings.

While only available at the moment in a 23 inch righty racket, hopefully OncourtOffcourt will create a mold for both lefties and adults in the near future.

The Social List Think Outside of Tennis for Your Next Social

By Ken Andriano - Elite Professional

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or a smaller sized club in Atlanta (450 membership cap) our tennis program is active as most of our tennis players play multiple days a week. Atlanta Country Club is well known for its spectacular golf course and that is where most of our men spend their time so I wanted to find ways to get more people active at the tennis side of the club.

For my last social event I decided to incorporate multiple games other than tennis. Pickleball has taken off so I decided to use that and create a triathlon mixer.

• 4 taped off Pickleball courts on two tennis courts (16 players)

• 2 sets of Ladder Ball (8 players) • 2 sets of Cornhole (8 players) We had 40 people for this event so it gave some people the chance to have a few drinks

and socialize as well as play. Tennis can tend to be difficult with levels, but all of these games are much more social so levels were not an issue. We rotated by time to allow everyone to learn if needed and play each game.

We charge each player $25.00 with $15.00 going towards food (light wraps, homemade chips, veggie and dips, fruit, and cookies), $5.00 towards beverages (Margaritas, water, and tea), and $5.00 towards raffle prizes.

Next time you are looking for new ideas to create more activity for your members/clients, think outside the box and you will be happy you did!

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USPTA Invited Guest

Stay Small to Grow Big Develop a Niche to Grow Your Tennis Business

By Chris Peck DAY 1.

Balls rolling under my feet in the car, quickly applying sunscreen at the red light, stressing as I would hustle across town to make it to my next lesson. I had just finished watching my ladies team hit the ball in the net for an hour an half and now I was driving my pro shop (jeep) 15 minutes away for my high level junior player. Normally, I wouldn’t be so concerned with time but today we were going to do video analysis and I needed extra time to setup my computer and tripod.

Whew! Made it! Now I’ve got 10 minutes to relax in the car as I head back to my home courts for another ladies team and then a private lesson before a late lunch. Time to start prepping for my afternoon.

DAY 2. Rinse and Repeat.

DAY 3…well you get it.

This cycle would continue to grow immensely over the next 6 years as I would grow in popularity and see my business start to take off.

Eventually, I became not a tennis pro but a high performance, ladies teams, cardio tennis, jr. clinics, group lesson, private lesson, video lesson, advanced tennis, beginner tennis, made-to-fit all tennis pro.

Eventually, the worst thing happened… mediocrity! I had become so spread thin with the menu of tennis services I would offer that I became just an “ok” coach.

My language and coaching style had to constantly change to adapt to the audience, the energy and vocabulary was getting muddled in the overlap from cardio tennis for adults to beginner tennis for 7 year olds.

In addition to a watered-down lesson I was mentally and physically exhausted trying to be everything for everyone.

If I was going to continue with this lifestyle I knew I was going to burn out and never look at a tennis court again. So I stopped, analyzed and asked myself “Where’s my passion?” For

me, I loved working with junior tennis players, especially the beginner players. I’ve always thought that tennis was the most fun when I was bad at it… remembering that feeling of learning how to hit a forehand and then a topspin forehand and so on. When I was learning the game I loved it the most. It was the “newness” of it. It was the thrill of activating my brain to learn a new skill. As much as I love tennis now, ( I play everyday), I will never love it as much as the first year I stepped on court to make this my sport.

So for me, to coach players in that same position I was in all those years, gives me the most joy as a coach. I enjoy my job as a tennis coach the most exposing young players to the game and to see the light in they’re eyes when they just had their first 3 ball rally.

So in a leap of faith I decided I would cut everything out except my junior program.

Specifically, I decided to focus on beginner players to intermediate players. I got rid of my cardio tennis program, ALL of my adult teams, video tennis lessons, and refused to travel outside of my facility. Now for most sane people this sounds like career suicide. Well as

it turns out this was without a doubt the best business decision I’ve ever made.

I was no longer the water-down coach to everyone, but instead the best in the industry for one audience. Imagine walking into a restaurant and the only thing they have on their menu is a hamburger, now if you don’t want a hamburger you’ll go somewhere else and we’ll tell you how to get there. But when you want the best, juiciest, mouth-watering, earth-shattering, slap yo mama hamburger you’ll now where to go and you’ll go there every time, because no other restaurant can compete with our special recipe. A recipe perfected over years, duplicated day in and day out without fault.

This is what my tennis business became.

“Hey, my kids want to learn tennis”…the reply is always go to Coach Chris. I don’t mean to brag, but it is the truth, I dominate the market for this area of the tennis business. No other club/business in my area can come close to generating the business that my company does. Even the clubs with more courts and more coaches don’t even come close to the business, and more importantly, the quality of coaching that we have chiseled out.

Decreasing my business actually increased my business! This sounds contradictory, but being the best at one thing has true value that customers will pay a premium for. The other great component of this is I can refer and pass business to my friends and colleagues. If you’re an adult player looking for cardio tennis, “sorry we don’t do that but I am happy to give you a number.” If you’re team wants coaching, “sorry I don’t do that but I’m happy to refer to one of my friends who is a great coach.”

I know this line of thinking might and strategy not be right for all tennis pros, but if your circumstances line up, my recommendation is let go of the territorial thinking and stop trying to be everything for everyone. Become the best at what you want to be the best at.

Stay small to grow big.

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Volume 20 Issue 3

State News Alabama News

I am so, so grateful to have had the opportunity to be a part of the USPTA Alabama board. The friendships I have made are lifelong. The knowledgeable coaches and experts in their various fields I have been able to learn from is a privilege. Thank you to the Southern board members for mentoring me and helping me whenever needed and then some. Thank you to my fellow Alabama board members for the help and support along the way. I’m pleased to introduce the new USPTA Alabama board: John Beaube, Stephanie Ginsburg, and JC Freeman. I am excited for what they will bring to Alabama!

Sincerely, Jenny Robb

Arkansas

It has been my pleasure to serve USPTA Arkansas the past few years. Arkansas will have a new USPTA president in the coming year. It is my plan to serve and support the board as past president. A new president means new ideas, inspiration and energy. Please support the new president in moving forward so that USPTA Arkansas continues to improve its role in developing tennis professionals and building tennis in Arkansas. Bob Wagstaff

Georgia

We are extremely excited about our Winter workshop Friday December 6th at the Atlanta Athletic Club. We have two world renown speakers. Louis Cayer and David Benzel.

Louis is internationally renowned for his expertise in doubles, having worked with 6 number 1 players and 24 top 50 ATP players. In 2016, Louis worked with Jamie Murray whilst he was on route to becoming the world number one in doubles. Louis has also been working with the Aegon GB Davis Cup and GB Fed Cup teams as well as the LTA Coach Development department since 2007. He is a tutor on the Master Performance Coach Qualification and an LTA consultant for high performance clubs/academies.

David Benzel is an author, athlete, sport-family coach, and sought-after speaker for organizations nationwide. He brings an athlete’s discipline, a coach’s inspiration, and a parent’s practical experience to teach parents and coaches skills for succeeding in the athletic arena.

David’s 15 years as a corporate leadership coach for companies like Nextel, Sprint, Allstate, Balfour Beatty and The Villages established him as an expert in the principles of influence and coaching. His 10 years as a commentator for ESPN and the Outdoor Life Network provide his audiences with vivid insights about the challenges of sport. He consults for USTA High Performance, USA Gymnastics, USA Swim, and US Youth Soccer National coaches.

Louisiana

The fall season is in full swing in Louisiana. This October we had several pros that tested for USPTA certification at City Park in New Orleans. Thanks to Bill Phillips, we’ve had more test dates in Louisiana helping pros get certified. November marks the month of the wildly popular Tennis Haus convention in Covington! Once again, Davor Dekaris did an incredible job of putting together this amazing lineup of speakers including Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario!

I’d like to thank the USPTA-LA board of Janusz Conradi, Lyndsey Kelly and Ronnie Walters over this extended term for all of your hard work! Also, please welcome the fresh faces of Bill Bryan, Hassan Abbas and Johnny Wahlborg in joining Lyndsey on our board for the next two years! As someone who knows these 4 people quite well, I have complete confidence they will do great things for us in the upcoming years! On a personal note, I have been honored to serve as State President the past three years and am excited to join the USPTA Southern Board for 2020-2021 as an At-Large Member. Thank you to the nominating committee for this privilege! Jason Hazley

Mississippi

I hope you all had a busy summer. Here are few highlights of what’s happening

in MS: MS had a relatively decent participation at the World Conference this year in Las Vegas. One thing worth mentioning is that our long time USPTA MS Elite Pro Macky Dominguez gathered a lot of racquets and donated them to unprivileged kids in the Philippines. His old Filipino Davis Cup partner accepted the gift. Hopefully those kids will keep playing the game and enjoy it.

Next educational event on our list is the Tennis Haus conference in Covington, LA. I encourage all MS Pros to attend this great event and experience the great line up Davor collects each year as well as the convenience to Covington.

I am happy to announce our USPTA MS incoming president: Emilia Viljoen.

She has many years in the tennis industry and she currently serves as the Mississippi Tennis Association TSR. She is a great asset in our community and we are happy to have her lead our State. Our 2020 MS workshop will be held in Jackson in the second or third weekend in January. If any of you are interested in speaking please let Emilia know. More info TBD. We had a tremendous interest for upgrades and new certifications this year. I am happy to report that the number of our USPTA certified pros has been growing in 2019.

Since we are approaching the Holiday Season, I’d like to wish you all Happy Holidays. Enjoy time with your family and your loved ones.

North Carolina

As the year draws to a close, some of us move our focus to platform tennis, some move indoors, and some bundle up and get ready for the winter. Whatever direction you are headed for the next few months, I hope you had a productive year, and are already planning for 2020. Please keep Friday, December 13th on your calendar for the USPTA North Carolina Winter Workshop which will be held at Olde Providence Racquet Club. Our speaker lineup is headlined by Mike Barrell and Bill Riddle, and is certain to provide you with countless ideas you can use at your club or facility immediately.

Congratulations to the new slate of officers for 2020 led by Fred Pfuhl. I thank them in advance, and hope that you will rally behind them and support their efforts. I appreciate the time I was able to give, and look forward to where we go in the future.

USPTA North Carolina Winter Workshop Friday, December 13, 2019 Olde Providence Racquet Club Charlotte, NC 9:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.

Speakers: Mike Barrell, Bill Riddle, Teresa Boylan and Chris Hoshour.

South Carolina

USPTA SC is gearing up for our huge annual workshop. Get all of your required continuing education credits in just one day. Here are the details: When - Sunday, November 10th, 8am - 4:30pm Where - Cayce Tennis Center, Columbia SC How Much - $20 USPTA Members, $30 Non-members, $30 at the Door Credits - One day 6 credit event!

Who - Gregg Steinberg (Tennis Mental Workshop), Mike Pollard (Adding Value to your Adult Clinics), Alison Mays (Building Blocks for After School Tennis), Chris Hoshour (Junior Performance Training), Evgeny Slesarev (How to Build Your High Performance Program), Aaron Mullennix (The Importance and Implementation of Grass Roots Tennis), Bill Belser (Kick Serve Progression) Come hang for the day, get some good food, learn, and knock out all of those credits. Workshop flyer has been emailed out to all members for registration. If you have not received a registration email feel free to email USPTAsouthcarolina@gmail.com.

Tennessee

Earlier this year, the tennis community in Memphis was hit with news that two long standing clubs would be closing their doors. The Racquet Club of Memphis, which provided 26 tennis courts and Germantown Country Club, which provided 9 tennis courts. As the news spread, many were left wondering where they would be playing tennis with the upcoming tennis season approaching.

It didn’t take long for many of those concerns to be addressed.

The city of Memphis, the University of Memphis and Tennis Memphis announced that they would undertake a $19 million dollar expansion of the Leftwich Tennis Center in East Memphis. The new tennis center will include 12 new indoor hard courts and 20 new outdoor hard courts. The new facility will be home for the U of M men’s and women’s tennis teams, and will host many USTA adult and junior tournaments, along with local and regional league play.

In addition to Leftwich, several other facilities in Memphis announced plans to expand their tennis facilities as well. Ridgeway Country Club announced plans to expand its tennis a facility with the addition of 2 new indoor clay courts, 5 outdoor clay courts and 2 hard courts. St. George’s School has plans to add 4 or more new hard courts to their existing 6 hard courts. Southwind Country Club has plans to add additional indoor hard courts to their existing facility.

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OUTSIDE Byron Wien's 20 Rules of the LINES Investing & Life Lessons Learned in His First 80 Years

By Barry Ritholtz 1. Concentrate on finding a big idea that will make an impact on the people you want to influence. The Ten Surprises, which I started doing in 1986, has been a defining product.

People all over the world are aware of it and identify me with it. What they seem to like about it is that I put myself at risk by going on record with these events which I believe are probable and hold myself accountable at year-end. If you want to be successful and live a long, stimulating life, keep yourself at risk intellectually all the time.

2. Network intensely. Luck plays a big role in life, and there is no better way to increase your luck than by knowing as many people as possible.

Nurture your network by sending articles, books and emails to people to show you’re thinking about them. Write op-eds and thought pieces for major publications. Organize discussion groups to bring your thoughtful friends together.

3. When you meet someone new, treat that person as a friend. Assume he or she is a winner and will become a positive force in your life. Most people wait for others to prove their value. Give them the benefit of the doubt from the start. Occasionally you will be disappointed, but your network will broaden rapidly if you follow this path.

4. Read all the time. Don’t just do it because you’re curious about something, read actively.

Have a point of view before you start a book or article and see if what you think is confirmed or refuted by the author. If you do that, you will read faster and comprehend more.

5. Get enough sleep. Seven hours will do until you’re sixty, eight from sixty to seventy, nine thereafter, which might include eight hours at night and a one-hour afternoon nap.

6. Evolve. Try to think of your life in phases so you can avoid a burn-out. Do the numbers crunching in the early phase of your career.

Try developing concepts later on. Stay at risk throughout the process.

7. Travel extensively. Try to get everywhere before you wear out. Attempt to meet local interesting people where you travel and keep in contact with them throughout your life.

See them when you return to a place.

8. When meeting someone new, try to find out what formative experience occurred in their lives before they were seventeen. It is my belief that some important event in everyone’s youth has an influence on everything that occurs afterwards.

9. On philanthropy my approach is to try to relieve pain rather than spread joy. Music, theatre and art museums have many affluent supporters, give the best parties and can add to your social luster in a community.

They don’t need you. Social service, hospitals and educational institutions can make the world a better place and help the disadvantaged make their way toward the American dream.

10. Younger people are naturally insecure and tend to overplay their accomplishments.

Most people don’t become comfortable with who they are until they’re in their 40’s. By that time they can underplay their achievements and become a nicer, more likeable person.

Try to get to that point as soon as you can.

11. Take the time to give those who work for you a pat on the back when they do good work. Most people are so focused on the next challenge that they fail to thank the people who support them. It is important to do this.

It motivates and inspires people and encourages them to perform at a higher level.

12. When someone extends a kindness to you write them a handwritten note, not an e-mail. Handwritten notes make an impact and are not quickly forgotten.

13. At the beginning of every year think of ways you can do your job better than you have ever done it before. Write them down

and look at what you have set out for yourself when the year is over.

14. The hard way is always the right way.

Never take shortcuts, except when driving home from the Hamptons. Short-cuts can be construed as sloppiness, a career killer.

15. Don’t try to be better than your competitors, try to be different. There is always going to be someone smarter than you, but there may not be someone who is more imaginative.

16. When seeking a career as you come out of school or making a job change, always take the job that looks like it will be the most enjoyable. If it pays the most, you’re lucky. If it doesn’t, take it anyway, I took a severe pay cut to take each of the two best jobs I’ve ever had, and they both turned out to be exceptionally rewarding financially.

17. There is a perfect job out there for everyone. Most people never find it. Keep looking. The goal of life is to be a happy person and the right job is essential to that.

18. When your children are grown or if you have no children, always find someone younger to mentor. It is very satisfying to help someone steer through life’s obstacles, and you’ll be surprised at how much you will learn in the process.

19. Every year try doing something you have never done before that is totally out of your comfort zone. It could be running a marathon, attending a conference that interests you on an off-beat subject that will be populated by people very different from your usual circle of associates and friends or traveling to an obscure destination alone. This will add to the essential process of self-discovery.

20. Never retire. If you work forever, you can live forever. I know there is an abundance of biological evidence against this theory, but I’m going with it anyway.

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Volume 20 Issue 3

Summer Convention Review

By Rick Willett - USPTA GA

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he Richland Country Club in Nashville was a great location. How nice to be in the newly renovated facility during the peak of summer’s heat. The following excerpts capture some highlights of the convention: Ken Dehart kicked off the convention with a specialty course on games and drills for strategy and tactics. Ken showed the importance for club players to get the ball in play and control the depth, direction, speed, spin and height of the ball. Players have a fear of hitting deep and fear of making errors.

Create a learning environment vs. a teaching environment. He demonstrated a series of drills for serves, overheads, volleys, lobs.

Play tiebreakers and allow players one serve only to work on mental ‘tuffness’. In a match, players spend 60% neutralizing the ball, 30% attacking the ball, and 10% defending the ball. If a player’s feet stop, their hands stop.

Ken focused on a player’s footwork. If a player only moves 6-8 steps between shots, it prohibits the player from recovering effectively or running down shots. Club tennis generally lasts only 3 shots.

Bill Riddle led a panel discussion with pros MJ Garnett, Bob Spillman, Daryl Lewis , and Jenny Robb. A lively discussion was how has the tennis business changed in the last 10 years. The top answer was more competition

which comes from other sports like lacrosse, soccer, pickle ball, field hockey, and track. Our culture has changed with less commitment to leagues, less committed to weekend tournaments, aging league players, and the rise of quicker workouts such as CrossFit, Orange Theory, and Pure Bar. Important to market yourself, create a brand, and promote programs on social media. Continuing education becomes more important to keep up with the latest trends and working ideas.

Geoff Browne’s presentation was on racquet customization to increase revenue. It is important to educate your clients on different racquets and strings, and find the right racquet fit for your customer. Increase revenue by generating more stringing frequency, selling new grips, communicating your expertise with different strings, and promote racquet matching.

Ken Andriano’s on court presentation covered quick stroke fixes for the club player.

It was interactive, encouraging pros to share ideas how to address stroke issues. The pros job in clinics or group lessons is to ensure students feel a sense of accomplishment. In a group setting, there is a limited amount of time with each student. Therefore, pros need to diagnose the issue and have a quick fix.

Quick fixes were demonstrated for serves, returns, volleys, and approach shots.

Todd Upchurch presented developing schools to build tennis programs. His Serve it Up Tennis provides professional tennis instruction to school age children bringing them the excitement of the game in before and after school programs. He is building for the future with children that will want to join the programs at the facilities he manages, playing league or tournaments.

Lane Evans gave an enlightening presentation on career development as he shared his experiences starting a new seniors program from ground zero at Champions Club, utilizing fitness with tennis. He also discussed different fitness programs one can become certified in, the work to be a Master Professional, and experience being a tester. The essence of his presentation was showing that there are many diverse tennis careers where a tennis professional can find a niche.

Darryl Lewis’s presentation was how to land a great job and keep it. He began with advising the pros on what NOT to do on resumes including being too informal, giving irrelevant data, typos, and misspelled words. In the interview, concentrate on contributions you can make to the club, what experiences that will separate you from the others, why should you be hired, and doing a SWOT analysis beforehand, listing your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats..

TENNIS MAGAZINE 2019 EDITOR'S CHOICE AWARD FOR TENNIS MAGAZINE 2019 EDITOR'S CHOICE AWARD FOR

BEST NEW INNOVATION BEST NEW INNOVATION

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Volume 20 Issue 3

Southern Spotlight Allan Jensen – USTA Southern Tennis Service Representative for Hispanic Outreach, Peachtree Corners, GA Give a brief description of your tennis/other career: Played college tennis for BYU-Hawaii and was ranked #47 in the nation in NAIA. During the summers I would go to France and play the French tennis circuit.For the next 20 years I was an on court pro, head pro, and a director of tennis for multiple clubs in the Atlanta area When did you start playing tennis? I started playing tennis in the patio of my house. I will spend hours playing and my mom was tired of listening to that ball hit the wall so she took me to a club close to my house and let me take some lessons.

What other sports did you play? In Argentina Soccer is huge and we played that sport since we are born.

What moved you to teach tennis? I was in Argentina and my coach asked me to be a hitting partner after my practice and I started to

watch my coach teach and i started to like what he was doing. I got the tennis teachingdegree from the AAT before I went to college.

What is something people will be surprised to learn about you? I grow up dancing Danish Folkdance.

My parents are form Norway and Denmark so we grow up dancing DanishFolk dancewith my parents and my sisters. We traveled thru Argentina performing.

What are your hobbies? I like playing soccer with my sons and i try not to miss any of their games. I collect tennisracketsand tennis balls cans. Also I collect old tennis books.

What is your favorite movie? Rocky Are you reading anything right now? I like to read any tennis books that I can get my hands on. I collect them too.

What is your favorite sports team? My favorite team is Independiente. Its a soccer team

fromArgentina. Here in USA I follow Atlanta United.

Who is your favorite player of all time? Bjorn Borg. My game was very much like his. When I moved to USA to play college they kind of told me that I needed tochangemy game style to be moreaggressiveand finish the points at the net as I was only going to the net to shake hands.

What person would you most like to have lunch with? I would have loved to have one more lunch with my father before he passed away in April in Argentina.

What would you be doing if you were not in tennis? Most likely I would have been a dentist If you had a “do over”, what one thing would you have done differently in your teaching career?

I would have liked to have had a mentor in my early teachingcareerso I would have been able to learn from already successfuldirectors.

One Good Idea!

All from the World Conference, 2019 Las Vegas Mike Barrell - Motivating Young Players Drills for skills, or drills to set up learning. If they cannot do a drill, then you have them set up to learn a new skill.

Boys like to win – girls like to build relationships.

Kids today are conditioned to find information instead of always being told. They can use the internet to search. They want to explore The younger you are, the less you think about what is next.

Teaching tennis has not changed much, but the way kids learn has changed a lot.

Giving players choices tells you a lot about who you are teaching.

Some kids don’t handle failing while others are up to the challenge and will keep fighting.

GAMES 1. 10 balls past the service line with a hitting partner 2. First pair to make 10 3. Personal best by time – how many in a given time 4. Cross court point where you try to move your hitting partner past a wide marker 5. Move the cone down the ladder for doing a skill 6 times.

Greg Patton - Welcome to the Playground #1 best feeling in tennis is JOY. Joy is relationships, practices, etc.

This is not happiness. Happy is winning a match, but this it is gone. Joy will last past a win.

Greatest feeling is not to win, but to PLAY. 2nd greatest feeling is to serve others. 3rd is to do something well.

All practices start with music.

Greg uses triples to warmup. It is great for team building. He used this game with the Junior Davis Cup teams to get the kids playing together and to create a team atmosphere. Most of these kids were competitors usually, so this was a different feeling.

Create chaos in a practice. Greg would put 12 people on 1 court.

Scientist have determined that it takes 400 repetitions to create a synapse in the brain unless it is done with play. Then it only takes 10-20 reps.

Len Simard - What Employers Look for in the Director of Tennis Important to be seen and involved with the major programs at your club. Even if you are not the high-performance coach, at least be around to encourage and take a few reps with those players.

Make sure the club parents see you involved.

Interview questions that you should be prepared to answer • Give an example of a situation that happened with a member that you solved before it reach critical.

• Have you ever been over budget? How did you report it? How did you resolve it?

94% of clubs in America do not have a waitlist. For most clubs, membership is the #1 priority.

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PRO PLANS 2.5-4.0 - Lesson Plans: by Jorge Capestany

By Jorge Capestany, USPTA Master Professional

1) Warm-Up Routine:

Week 1

(Same for all Weeks)

We use this same 10-step warm-up for every week.

1) Half court, short court, slices only.

2) Mini tennis Ping-Pong style, slices only 2

4

3) Volley to Volley patterns (free, XC/DTL)

P

4) Volley to Groundstroke (player 1 at net) 5) Lob to Overhead (player 1 at net) 6) Volley to Groundstroke (player 2 at net) 7) Lob to Overhead (player 2 at net)

3

1

8) Baseline to Baseline (half court) 9) Baseline to Baseline (full court, Ping-Pong)

2.5-4.0 - Lesson Plans: by Jorge Capestany 10) Serve, Return, & Rally

1

2) Color Coding:

3

Week 5

Working on = Baseline Skills

P

This is an excellent drill for teaching players to make the correct decisions on their shots.

Players rally with each other on half a court. There are 2 separate games going on. Each time the ball is hit the players must call out green, yellow or red which represents the type of shot that they are sending back.

If a player gets a weak short ball, he would call out green, because he is going to be offensive. If he receives a hard deep shot, he calls out red.

The most common shot players receive is just a plain yellow shot which make up 70% of the shots in tennis.

This drill teaches players that to be great, they need to master the yellow ball not just the green balls.

2

4

Drills by

2.5-4.0 - Le

A NEW BALL IS BORN: ONE THAT’S GENTLER ON THE EARTH THROUGH LONGER LASTING, FRESH-BALL FEEL & 100% SUSTAINABLE PACKAGING. THAT BALL IS TRINITI.

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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 Tom Parkes pvcctennis@gmail.com 910-233-4755 2nd Vice President Kaitlin Flaherty-Bisplinghoff kflaherty07@gmail.com 832-656-4472 Secretary/Treasurer Ken Andriano kandriano@theriverclub-ga.com 336-541-5876 Past President/Regional VP Todd Upchurch tupchurch1@gmail

Directors at Large Bill Riddle tennisun@aol.com 615-243-6698 Jason Hazley usptala@gmail.com 225-247-3028 Executive Director Pat Whitworth pat.whitworth@uspta.org 800-438-7782 (phone/fax) Head Tester Ron Gwyn rgwyn@haigpoint.com 843-341-8114 ALABAMA John Beaube jbeaube@green2grocer.com ARKANSAS patmalone67@gmail.com

USPTA Welcomes Our New Members Ananth, Avinash . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Hoover AL Artus, Philip Blowing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Rock NC Barney, Patricia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Slidell LA Barringer, Duncan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Indian Land SC Benedict, Kristen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Apex NC Breag, Daniel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Saint Marys GA Buerer, Mason . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Batesville AR Compton, David . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Louisville KY Crim, Eddie . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Birmingham AL DeHeart, Ryler . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Tuscaloosa AL Ferreira, Marcelo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Marietta GA Hannen, Chas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Enterprise AL Jenkins, Jackie . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Atlanta GA Lewis, Ryan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Chapel Hill NC Limyadi, Kenneth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Johns Creek GA Limyadi, Matthew . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Duluth GA Luby, Eddie . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Riviera Beach FL Murphy, Elizabeth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Atlanta GA Pappas, Taki . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Decatur GA Quarles, Valerie . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Shreveport LA Rashad, Ali Stone . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Mountain GA Reeder, Keith . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Dallas GA Robinette, Reaves . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Hixson TN Schwartzberg, Meyer . . . . . . . . . . . Lake Charles LA Steele, Joseph . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Jonesboro AR Still, Charles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Hendersonville NC Wertz, Chris . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Charlotte NC

GEORGIA Bill Anderson banderson@capitalcityclub.org KENTUCKY Chuck Brown chuckb0489@msn.com LOUISIANA Bill Bryan billb1481@gmail.com MISSISSIPPI Emilia Viljoen stayplaytennis@gmail.com NORTH CAROLINA Fred Pfuhl hpfuhl@tollbrothers.com SOUTH CAROLINA Mike Pollard mpollard@wexfordplantation.com TENNESSEE Meg Bandy mbandy@mccallie.org

C From Gil Reyes at the 2019 World Conference Make sure your kids days reflect what they say is most important to them.

Coaching is not about what you know, it’s about what the student can learn.

Things slow down on this side of the court and speed up on that side of the court.

I don’t want to scale mediocrity Find your reason....for everything.

I don’t live in expectations I live in expectancy. No regrets.

FAST FACTS 100 millionballsare dumped intolandfillseveryyear; andeachtakes 450 years to decompose.

Limited options are currently available for recycledballs— they can be repressurized by using the “Green Machine or ground intoapowder that can be used intenniscourt subsurfaces.

Wilson andRecycleBallsare partnering to collect, recycle, and repurpose tennis balls across the United States.

The Wilson/RecycleBalls partnership aims to recycle 20 million tennis balls in the U.S. over the next three years.

Other uses for tennis balls are donations to schools where the balls are used for the bottoms of chairs. Retirement homes use them for the walkers, and your local humane society as play toys for the dogs and cats.

USPTA Certification Tests & Upgrades Oct. 25, City Park New Orleans, LA Oct. 26, Green Island Country Club Columbus, GA Oct. 26, Bayou Bluff Tennis Club Gulfport, MS Nov. 11, Atlanta Athletic Club Johns Creek, GA Nov. 16, Park Crossing Charlotte, NC Dec. 7, Atlanta Athletic Club Johns Creek, GA Dec. 8, Haig Point Tennis Center Hilton Head Island, SC Dec. 8, Williamson County Indoor Brentwood, TN

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. 2019. All rights reserved.

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

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