uspta southern division: where excellence is...
TRANSCRIPT
The USPTA Southern DivisionUSPTA Southern Division: Where Excellence is STANDARD
Volume 14 Issue 3: June 2013
INSIDE:Up & Running with John Embree . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . pg 2
Convention Awards, highlights, & photos . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . pg 3-4
Outside the Lines – The Customer Rules . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . pg 5
Success Secrets with former All Star Javy Lopez . . . . . . . . . . . . . . pg 12
Our BestCasually Honoring
Page 2 Volume 14 Issue 2
I’m coming back from Houston where I had the opportunity to be part of the National Board meeting at the USPTA headquarters. As 1st VP for the Southern Division, it was my first time there. What I witnessed was no
short of a revolution. John Embree our new USPTA CEO delivered a “State of the Union” that was out of this world. Ladies and Gentlemen, get your cleats on, because this organization is on the move. The USPTA is reborn with a new direction at the speed of light, so be ready for the new energy and breath of fresh air.
The Board of Directors and representative of your division are all together working for our mission to “elevate the standards of tennis teach-
ing professionals and coaches”. The dynamism in the room was incredible. No short of 65 driven people were volunteering their time to serve you, to serve us, our organization, with pride and direction. The USPTA Staff showed dedication, focus and excitement.
Ideas were shared, opportunities discussed but what impressed me the most was the tangibility of the thought process. Indeed, each idea had a objective, each objective had a plan, each plan was researched and solu-tions offered for step by step action.
Goals and Action steps for our Organization:• Get our financial house in order• Increase our Memberships 5% per year over next three years• Strengthen our Education and Certification • Be more strongly aligned with our Allied organizations in the industry• Be much more diverse and inclusiveJohn Embree works for you, works for us. He is on the go. His passion is
evident, his energy contagious and his approach is a call to action. He will be travelling and personally meet our members so you can benefit from his leadership. The Board of Directors and Division Leaders are inspired.
So my dear colleagues, get involved, see what you can do for our organization, take a stand to better yourself and our profession through more involvement and better education. This train is moving. Get on board with your State organization, local workshops, Sectional Conven-tion, and World Conference in Orlando. Are you good with numbers? Can you write? Can you present? Are you a marketing guru? Whatever your strengths, start running with us, defy expectations, raise the standards for our profession.
I want to personally thank all of you who attended the Summer Conven-tion at Dunes West in Charleston, SC. The convention was billed as an All Star Conference and it definitely lived up to its name. Your conven-
tion chairperson, Sophie Woorons-Johnston, did a fabulous job in putting together this great lineup and even filled in (on 3 hours notice) for a 4 hour specialty course due to Ken Dehart’s airline delay. Great job Sophie. For those that attended, you were in front of some great speakers such as Ajay Pant, Tom Daglis, Ken DeHart, Sophie, Mark Kovacs, Larry Karageanes, Stan Oley, Paul Lubbers, PTR President Jorge Andrew, Dave Ramos, Mark McMa-hon and our CEO John Embree.
We also inducted two new members into the USPTA Southern Division Hall of Fame. Reedy Toney and Peter Howell. Their induction speeches were ones to remember and showed their love and appreciation for the USPTA and he sport of tennis. A big congratulations is also due to all of our award winners, thanks for all you do for tennis and the USPTA. I owe a special thank you to the Southern Board, state presidents and National Board member, Nancy Cox for being an integral part of the conven-tion. Your commitment of time and energy was greatly appreciated.
If you were unable to attend, I would encourage you to join us in Orlando this September for what is destined to be a memorable World Conference on Tennis. The USPTA is moving a positive and enthusiastic way to become more to all members and help you in new and innova-tion ways. If I or anyone on the board can be of assistance to you in your career, please do not hesitate to ask. See you on court.
By Sophie Woorons-Johnston, Ph.D.
Born to Run John Embree Leads the Way
President’s Message Todd Upchurch
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Award Winners Not Pictured
Charity EventAnsley Country Club
Player of the Year Mens OpenPiotr Banas
Mens 35sMatt Grayson
Womens 35sSophie Woorons-Johnston
A few months back, my boss Jack Miller, Director of Tennis at the Club at Dunes West, relayed to me that we would be hosting this big ten-nis convention. As he did, I noticed he was very excited and amped
up (even more so than usual). From his demeanor I gathered that this thing would be a pretty big deal.
Having never been to one of these conventions, my expectations were minimal. If I were to pick up a new drill or two, perhaps a tweak of an exist-ing drill I knew, I would have considered the week a success.
Being a tennis geek and having multiple box sets of instructional dvds (one bearing the name of Ken DeHart), being a member of a plethora of instructional websites featuring high-speed video, and having watched and saved on TIVO every “Tennis Channel Academy” and “On Court with the USPTA”, I felt pretty confident I was doing my due diligence and staying up to date with current tennis techniques and teaching methodologies.
After spending a week learning from some folks that have forgotten a lot more about tennis than I’ll ever know, I am forced to reevaluate some of the ways I go about teaching a private lesson or conduct-ing a clinic. Going in, my goal was to grab (steal) some new drills, something tangible for the toolbox. Reflecting now a month later, the most impactful info I gleaned relates to how I’m communicating with and disseminating information to my students. While much of the knowledge garnered was an affirmation that what we are doing at the club is good and on the right path, there were some tips and remind-ers that were personally helpful.
From Sophie Woorons-Johnston: I have 7 pages of notes on drills from her but my favorite nugget is focusing on the theme and not getting bogged down if other elements aren’t correct. From Stan Oley: Inspirational words regarding positive lifestyle habits and his fitness turnaround. Also, not being that guy yelling across the net to his students (sometimes guilty). Awesome use of the ball machine as teaching tool. From Ken DeHart: Not using the word “don’t”, use “do”. Asking questions rather than telling answers. Interesting technical detail on athletic footwork to the ball. From Ajay Pant: More live ball. Less feeding. Real tennis! From Joann Lee and Bryan Minton: “Yesses” and “No’s”. Kids giving their own feedback on shot production. From Karl Davies: Open, closed, then open drill construction. From Paul Lubbers & Kirk Anderson: 10 & Under kids feeding their own balls with coaches walk-ing around, dealing with students individually. Using multi-color balls more on the basis of level than age.
In conclusion, I now realize why my boss was so pumped up to be hosting this USPTA convention. It isn’t often that you are forced to look inward, to take an internal inventory on how you are conducting yourself on the court. Left to our own devices, most of us can be proficient teach-ers, putting in our 10,000 hours (Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell - check it out). But tennis and the teaching of tennis does not occur in a vacuum. It is a dynamic thing. Techniques change. Teaching philosophies change. It was a privilege to have the opportunity to absorb what some of the top coaches and teachers are doing right now. I know my students will have an improved instructor because of this experience.
A USPTA Newbie’s Experience at the 2013 USPTA Southern Division Convention
Honoring the Best of 2012
By Dave Cavanaugh
2013 Hall Of Fame InducteesPeter Howell and
Charles “Reedy” Toney
Alan Henry Pro of the Year
Matt Grayson
Fred Burdick Pride of the South
Tommy Wade
Assistant Professional of the Year
Rusty Wilkes
Rookie of the YearBrian Taylor
10 & Under CoachJulio Godreau
Industry ExcellenceBill Phillips
Manager of the Year
Matt Wagner
College Coach of the Year
Thomas Simpson
High School Coach of the Year
Randy Stephens
Touring Coach of the Year
Devin Crotzer
Page 4 Volume 14 Issue 2
As I’m leaving the Southern Conven-tion held at the Dunes West Club near Charleston, SC this past May, I am
energized and thankful for the knowledge acquired as well as the connections made over the 4-day weekend.
With All-Star speakers and three National board members in attendance, you would have thought we were at a World Conference! If you were fortunate to be able to attend you share my enthusiasm. If not, you get another chance with the World Conference in Orlando coming up in September!
USPTA Southern Professionals broadened their knowledge on club management/leadership, problem solving at your club, drills and more drills for your daily clinics to your high performance juniors, how to maximize your ball machine, technical skills, training the eye, new ideas for your cardio tennis program, and fitness training with a purpose. We learned new tricks
for large group summer camps, how to prevent/treat injuries with KT tape, how to put money in your pocket through Courtside USA, and video analysis to quench your thirst for technical mastery (see attached picture with agenda and speakers listed).
The State of the Union revealed the brilliant, energetic and precise new direction of our organization under CEO John Embree (turn page to “Born to Run” article for details).
All USPTA Southern Pros had a chance to try every new Head racquet on the market from players frame such as the Sharapova Instinct Graphene to the Djokovic Speed G all the way to the Prestige Power which offers power and comfort for your club members. Relaxing by the pool for the welcome party, playing in the Pro-Am on Friday night, or during a diverse and all-encompassing tradeshow, the pros had plenty of opportunity to network, interact, form friendships, welcome old friends, and talk business. The specialty courses where a huge hit with 100% “Excellent” rating for both the Customer Service and the 10u course which offered information and resources that were both innovative and cutting edge.
The Southern Board is looking forward to welcoming all of you for the next Southern Convention which will be held in Atlanta in May 2014!
Fired Up, Refreshed, Enthusiastic and Ready to Take Action!By Sophie Woorons-Johnston
1-6:00 Registration open11:30-2:00 Southern Board meeting (closed)
2:30 - 6:30 Ken DeHart Specialty.Course. "Strategy and Tactics for Individual and Group Lessons"
Courtesy of Wilson5:00 to 6:30 Stan Oley "Fit By Tennis in 60 Days" Courtesy of Playmate Ball Machines
6:30 HEAD Penn Welcome Party7:00 Ladies Meeting
7:00 to 4:30 Registration desk open7:30 8:30 Cardio Tennis for attendees7:30 8:30 Private consultations8:40 to 9:40 Tom Daglis "Common problems and solutions with your membership/clientele"
Joann Lee and Byran Minton "Training the eye"
9:45 to 10:45 Sophie Woorons-Johnston "High performance Doubles drills for your club members"
10:50 to 11:50 Mark Kovacs "Developing Tennis Specific Movement On-Court"
Bo Gard “Effective Drills for High Performance Players”
11:30 to 2:30 Tradeshow and lunch12:00 to 1:30 Past Presidents lunch (closed)2:15 to 3:15 Larry Karageanes “FUN and Favorite Summer Camp Drills and Games”
Brenda Reagan “Stick to What Works” KT Taping for Tennis Injuries”
3:20 to 5:00 Ken DeHart "How to build drills for exciting lessons" Courtesy of Wilson
5:00 to 6:00 HEAD Demo court and HEAD Penn Fast Feed contest with Jim Demos
6:00 to 9:00 Pro Am and Dinner, Bill Riddle Tournament Director. Group pic of participants7:30 to 8:30 Cardio Tennis for attendees8:00 to 12:00 Ajay Pant Specialty Course. "Management: a learned skill"
8:20 - 8:50 Nancy Biggs Courtside USA - Its In Your Court Now
Cardio Tennis for your club Q&A8:55 to 9:55 Jorge Andrew "Drills for Action and Reaction"
Peter Freeman " Grow your business on-line"
10:00 to 10:55 John Embree, “Round Table with USPTA CEO, John Embree”
11:00 to 12:00 Mark McMahon "Answers to your TOUGH Questions"
Dave Ramos Video Analysis: Improving Techniques and Tactics
12:15 to 2:00 Awards Lunch/Hall of Fame2:15 to 3:30 Karl Davies “Development of Tactics for Advanced Players in a Group Format”
3:30 to 5 Ajay Pant "Play to Learn"
8:00 to 12:00 Paul Lubbers Specialty Course "10U Pathway"
• Open to players from the USA and worldwide• Ages 8-12• Singles | Doubles | Mixed doubles• Full court | Yellow ball
"Little Mo" Internationals
The West Side Tennis ClubForest Hills, New York
August 18-24
TO REGISTER: MCBTENNIS.ORG | 214.754.7065
In honor of the 60th anniversary ofMaureen "Little Mo" Connolly's Grand Slam win in 1953.
P L AY T H E
Historic Forest Hills
See more convention photos at facebook.com/usptasouthern.
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If you want your organization to thrive instead of just survive, you must serve your customer with such consistency, efficiency, creativity
and sincerity that they’ll never want to do busi-ness with anyone but you. Your customers will not be committed to your company if they are not sure you are committed to them.
When I began to write my new book, The Customer Rules…The 39 Essential Rules for Delivering Sensational Service, out of curiosity I asked my then twelve-year-old granddaughter Margot what she thought was the most impor-tant rules for great customer service. Without a moment’s hesitation she said, “Papi, the first rule is, Be nice!”
Out of the mouths of babes! I’ve spent my whole adult life thinking about service. Through-out these forty-plus years in the hospitality and entertainment business at Hilton, Marriott and Disney I never stopped searching for better ways to serve customers. Yet despite all the vital lessons I learned over those years from hard experience, brilliant colleagues and mentors alike, I never heard the basic truth about service expressed as succinctly or as accurately as in Margot’s two words.
Main ideas from Lee’s Book• Everything is becoming commoditized these
days so the new book contains 39 bite-sized rules that don’t cost anything to implement and that focus on the getting the basics right and helping business stand out from their competitors.
• The first rule is: Customer Service is not a Department... it’s a culture and it’s everyone’s responsibility
• Another rule is that great service follows the law of gravity and starts at the top. The top being the leaders in an organization, department or team.
• Rule 5: Ask yourself what would your Mum do? Lee believes that mothers are probably the best leaders in the world. They can always make the hard and right decisions as they take the long term view and are not focused on short term happiness.
• Rule 26: Serve to W.I.N. which stands for What’s Important Now – many people and busi-nesses get caught up with unimportant work and forget that the most important thing in any busi-ness is the customer and the work that needs to get done for them or to serve them. Other things can wait. Don’t make your customers wait.
• Rule 28: Know the difference between needs and wants – the differences can be subtle but paying attention to understand the difference can
make a huge difference to the service you deliver.• Rule 39: Don’t try too hard – don’t overpower
the customer, use finesses, be natural. Some people try to hard, with good intentions, but end up pushing the customer away. Service with no pressure.
• Lee’s top three tips: One, get better at hir-ing and promoting people – find people with passion and enthusiasm; Two, up your training dramatically which will help people with their self-confidence and execution of service; Three, work on the culture of your company where people matter, their opinions and work matters and they know they matter….where they are proud and want to come to work and it’s not just for their pay-check.
• Don’t get bored by the basics. The basics in the airline business are safety, on time, cleanliness and friendliness, just like it is at Disney. British Airways customers are Disney customers as well.
• Implementing this sort of change may feel hard but everything is hard before it’s easy.
• As Disney, they focused on training so every-one knew what they were doing and could do it to the best of their ability.
• Disney customers tend to talk about the people not the rides. It’s all about the people.
• Don’t expect immediate results, everything that is worth it takes time to achieve or to imple-ment.
Excerpted from Shiwani SrivastavaBusiness on Main: Disney is known for its
magical customer service. Other big brands – from Zappos to Nordstrom – offer perks like free shipping and aggressive return policies. How can small businesses compete with these kinds of customer guarantees?
Lee Cockerell: One of the main competencies that every small-business owner should have is the ability to cultivate strong relationships. I’ve been taking my dry cleaning to the same place for 20 years because I trust the owner. You need
to offer such personal service that people don’t even think of going to anyone else. Treat every customer that walks through the door like a regular – live you’ve known them your whole life – even if it’s their first time there. Relationships are everything.
Many small-business owners don’t have the ability to hire a team. How can they offer a high level of service while balancing all the other aspects of running a business?
People are frustrated that companies (and customers) want more from them with fewer resources. At companies big and small, it’s more, more, and more. It’s the American way, that’s what productivity is all about. But the thing is, if you hire the right person and create the right culture, people are much more productive. They can give you 150% vs. 60% when they feel respected and included. People who hate their jobs simply aren’t productive.
You also have to train your employees to prioritize – to know when it’s important to stop whatever you’re doing and take care of the most important thing that’s right of you – your custom-ers. Remind your staff every day, service is king. Never quit on the basics – kindliness, friendliness, and speed. Remember, people don’t have a lot of patience today.
Nowadays, a brand’s reputation can take a hit in a matter of seconds. For smaller companies, this can come in the form of a bad online review. How do you recommend business owners deal with these kinds of posts?
Get out there and apologize right away – and thank the person for posting about it. Those are the managers who impress me the most – they’re online every day, monitoring and saying, “Sorry, here’s what happened, and here’s what we’re going to do about it.” It’s all about saying sorry – we don’t know how to do that anymore.
Don’t become defensive or blame someone else. That’s the beginning of the end. Today with social media, you have to be out there every day to make sure the same problem doesn’t happen again next week.
Lee Cockerell is the former Executive Vice President of Operations for the Walt Disney World® Resort. Prior to spending ten years with Disney, Lee spent 8 years at Hilton and 17 years at Marriott. His first book, Creating Magic, which focuses on essential leadership strategies, has been translated into 13 languages. Lee now spends his time consulting for large companies worldwide, conducting leadership workshops, and speaking publicly.
The Customer RulesDelivering Sensational ServiceBy Lee Cockerell
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Get the Most Bang from Your Facebook Posts
By Todd Upchurch
Tech Corner
Want the most eyes on your Facebook posts? The trick to getting as much exposure to your updates on tennis and facility updates is to post when the most eyeballs will be watching. As you know
fans/friends can always go back and scan previous posts but in the this fast moving tech world, you have to hit them in the first couple minutes or they will miss it.
First if you are not running a separate fan or business page for your tennis business, you should. It helps keep the right information in front of the right audience. Some of your Facebook friends may like your business page, but not all with be interested. Obviously if your posts are time sen-sitive (rainouts, match start times, etc) you need to send them out when necessary. When you can schedule in advance, below is when to post to be most effective.
Best Time To Post a Link on Facebook• Between 1-4 p.m. EST Monday-Thursday• Peak traffic on Wednesday at 3 p.m.Worst Time to Post a Link on Facebook• Friday after 3 p.m. & weekendsBelow is a picture of the post window on Facebook business
pages. Create your content, schedule your post and engage your fans.
Easy Member/Customer FeedbackIt is always a challenge to pick the kinds of clothes your members
want when the reps are showing you the new lines that are coming up in the future. This is particularly a problem for most male pros buy-ing ladies apparel. Any direct feedback you can get from your custom-ers is helpful. I have found that the following few tips can help you get some easy and usually very useful information about the clothing your vendor is showing.
1. Ask a few key members or best customers to sit in on the vendor/rep meeting and let them place an order directly through you on the future inventory they are viewing. I always offer them a discount on what they order that day and then I know what style the members at my facility are looking for. It also allows them to go out and talk up the new outfits they have coming to their friends.
2. Schedule the vendor meetings on a day when you have lots of
play at your facility. I like to do it during the lunch time hours on a league play match day. That way the ladies that are on site can see what the vendor is showing you and can give input as they are eating or walking by. I will write down items that they said they like and add those items to the order so when it arrives on the ship date of that particular collection they can purchase what they liked.
3. Allow the vendors to have a table or booth area at special events at your club. The members like the additional “benefit” of seeing upcoming merchandise at the event they are participating in and you can see if they have positive feedback for that brand before you ever have to commit to an order.
These few simple ideas can help you get a better pulse on the new fashion trends your customers are looking for and help you spend your shop money in a more productive manner.
By Matt Grayson
Initiation refers to the age at which someone begins play-ing a sport; specialization is the age when someone trains and competes at an advanced level in one sport throughout the year. Tennis is a late specialization sport, which means that play-ers do not peak until they are in their 20s.
In late specialization sports, general athleticism should be the foundation of the athlete, and specialization should not begin until after puberty. Forced early specialization is associated with burnout, injuries, and dropout from sport
In late specialization sports such as tennis, patience is required for any training and competition program. Training should be age and developmentally appropriate, and it should focus on essential athletic skills such as agility, balance, coordination, and speed as the foundation of all sport.
Competition in children can promote healthy play and development, but such competition must not be ‘adult style’ in for-mat and length. Instead, competition in children should provide short-format matches in which the goal is to play against many different people on different surfaces, to play team matches, and to avoid focusing on the win-loss record.
From ‘Positioning Youth Tennis For Success by Dr. Brian Hainline
Initiation and Specialization for 10 and Under Tennis
SouthernSpotlight
Jack Miller - The Club at Dunes West Mount Pleasant, SCGive a brief description of your tennis career:I picked up tennis at the age of 12 because I was bored one summer.
From the first time that I played tennis I was hooked. I remember hanging out at the courts for hours and I would play with anyone that would hit with me. My high school coach, Raymond Lloyd would drive 30 minutes each day during the summer to train me because he saw the passion that I still have to this day for the game. I played junior, college, and a few satellite tournaments.
Arthur Anastopoulo gave me my nickname “Jack the Ripper” (because it looked like I was ripping the cover off the ball when I hit) as well as my first opportunity to teach at his summer camps when I was 15. It wasn’t until I spent the summer of ‘90 at Notre Dame as an instructor working with coaches Bobby Bayliss and Jay Louderback, and later at The Frank Brennan Tennis Academy with Nick Saviano, that I truly discovered my passion for teach-ing. After that summer I knew what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. I have had the honor to teach this incredible game for the past 23 years now, eighteen of those years I have had the privilege of being the Director of Tennis at The Club at Dunes West. I truly believe it is my passion for the game and my desire to learn from the best in our industry by attending workshops and researching online that I have been able to keep things fresh and Dunes West moving forward. Every day, I thank my lord and savior Jesus Christ for the opportunities that I have been given.
What other sports did you play? Football, Baseball, and BasketballDo you enjoy working with certain age groups or ability levels more
than others? I enjoy working with all levels and agesWhat advice do you have for someone starting in the tennis profes-
sion? Go to workshops!!! If you can’t make it to a workshop then take advantage of all the great information on the web. You have to stay current and fresh
Which personality traits are most important for tennis professionals to master? Patience, integrity, passion, and enthusiasm
What are your hobbies? Riding ATVs and going fishing with my girlsWhat is your favorite book? Beautiful Outlaw by John EldredgeAre you reading anything right now? BibleWhat is your favorite sports team? Georgia Tech/Carolina GamecocksWho is your favorite player of all time? Ivan LendlWhich tennis player you would like to play a set with? NadalWhat is the first thing you would purchase if you won the lottery: I
would buy a vacation home in the Florida KeysWhat would you be doing if you were not in tennis? Not sure but it
would have to be outside
If you had a “do over”, what one thing would you have done differ-ently in your teaching career? I would get certified earlier in my career
What was your most inspirational moment? Seeing my daughter Danielle born
Reedy Toney - 2013 Hall of FameReedy Toney is a long time certified member of
the USPTA. He is well known in the Tri-Cities area having held teaching positions in Unicoi and Bris-tol Tennessee, and the Head Tennis Professional and Director of Tennis of Ridgefields Country Club in Kingsport for 20 years. He is now Head Boys and Girls Tennis Coach at Tennessee High School in Bristol.
Reedy was the driving force behind the Ridgefield Pro Tennis Classic a $20,000.00 professional tournament. Tennis stars like Mel Purcell and Rosco Tanner played in the tournament. His playing accolades are numerous includ-ing playing on the National Team Championship of the USPTA. Many of his students received a full tennis college scholarships and were highly nationally ranked juniors in the USTA.
Reedy has won many awards including USPTA Southern Division Professional of the Year, Tennessee Professional of the Year, USTA Ten-nessee Professional of the Year, USPTA National Professional of the Year nominee, and East Tennessee Tennis Hall of Fame.
His service to the USPTA and Southern Division include all board posi-tions and President. He joins a select list of dedicated tennis profession-als in the Hall of Fame. He commented, “I’m humbled and honored to be inducted into this Hall of Fame. Tennis has been and continues to be my life’s work. I love this game and will continue to try to help my students discover a sport for a lifetime.”
Peter Howell - 2013 Hall of FamePeter Howell is a 41 year member of the
USPTA. Peter is well known in the Atlanta, Georgia area having been the Director of Tennis of Bitsy Grant Tennis Center, Standard Club, Ansley Golf Club and Atlanta Athletic Club. He played collegiate tennis for Vanderbilt University and was selected captain and Most Valuable Player his junior year. Peter was the driving force as President of the Bitsy Grant Tennis Association raising a total of 3.2 million to renovate the historical center. He also served as Vice President in the USPTA Southern Division and was ranked #1 in doubles in Georgia in the 30’s, 35’s, and 40’s and #2 in the 45’s, 50’s and 55’s. He was the USTA Georgia Senior Player of the year in 1989 and 1991, the Georgia Profes-sional of the Year in 1978, 1984, and 1998 and the USTA Southern Section Professional of the Year in 1993. Ranked in the USTA nationally in doubles at #5 in the 35’s from 1988 to 1990 and again in the 40’s in 1991 and 1992.
In his acceptance speech, he acknowledged many mentors in the tennis business. He also thanked the coached he had growing up. Peter said, “I’ve had a long career but my proudest moment was helping to restore Bitsy Grant Tennis Center.” Today Peter is coaching at Oglethorpe University as the Head Men’s and Women’s Tennis Coach and has held that position since 2002.
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Jack Miller
Reedy Toney
Peter Howell
Alabama We had a great time at the Southern Conven-tion at Dunes West in Charleston in May. I
enjoyed spending time with fellow Alabama Pros, and hope to see more of our State pros make the journey next year. We had wonderful speakers such as AJ Pant, Ken DeHart, Sophie Woorons-Johnston, and of course our new Executive Director in Houston John Embree. Rusty Wilkes from Pelham was awarded Southern Assistant Pro of the year.
Our State newsletter will arrive end of June. Please check out all our details for the up-coming Alabama USPTA workshop at Hoover CC on August 24th.
See you on the court!
Arkansas What a great conference in Charleston. I am so excited about the direction that we are headed
in the USPTA. John Embree was a great choice for our E.D. He has made some incredible changes with our organization and we will become the dominant organization in tennis education. He is a listener which lends itself to improve-ment in our relationships with other organizations and companies involved in the game.
Congratulations to our new members Matt Brewer, Jeff Carpenter, Darin Phelan, Meagan Piroutek, and Matt Walters. They just took the test at Hen-drix College in May. Special thanks to Harold Henderson who has hosted a test for the last 15 years. Harold does a great job and Conway is lucky to have him. Karsyn Betts was just hired at Pinnacle CC. She comes here from Rockhurst College. She was also a former student of Manuel Cervantes, director of tennis at Pinnacle.
We just held our junior qualifier in North Little Rock. They had 252 entrants which is a good sign that junior tennis is alive and well in Arkansas. I walked around and watched some very good players and talked with some pros. We need to get together on some issues such as Jr. Team ten-nis. We need a voice in decisions that are being made.
Georgia The Southern convention in Charleston was a fantastic opportunity for Georgia Pros to learn all the
latest teachings and trends in the Industry. Most notably after the weekend we attendees were able to Georgia was well represented at the Southern conven-tion with many of our Georgia Pros recognized with Southern awards.35 and over Male player of the year- Matt Grayson. High School coach of the year- Randy Stephens. Rookie of the Year- Brian Taylor. Charity Event- Ansley Golf Club. Alan Henry Pro of the Year- Matt Grayson. Hall of Fame inductee- Peter Howell. Save the date The Georgia Chapter workshop will be held December 6th this year and look for some very exciting seminars and announcements at this well attended workshop. Please make sure you keep up to date and ‘like’ our new USPTA Georgia facebook page where you can keep up to date with all the latest news, competitions and educational opportunities in Georgia.
N. Carolina We want to thank the members of USPTA NC who made the trip to Charleston for the
USPTA Southern Convention. Members who attended were Frank Bures, Tom Daglis, Lane Evans, Bryan Dirk, Kaitlin Flaherty, Sean Smith, Mark Troutman, Todd Upchurch, Lisa Upchurch and Greg Whitmore.
The Winston-Salem Open, the last stop on the ATP tour before the U.S. Open, will be held this year during the week of August 18-24. Once again, USPTA NC will play an important part in the week’s activities. On Sunday, August 18th, Mark Troutman and Westwood Swim & Racquet Club will play host to our 1-Day state workshop. Speaker details are still in the works but be sure to mark your calendars. On Monday, August 19th, we will again help USTA NC and the Winston-Salem Open with their Chick-Filet Kids Day event. This is a huge undertaking and our help is very much needed to provide a fun day of tennis to many area youth. We hope you will make plans to help us. Look for details soon.
Finally, congrats go out to Tom Daglis and Lane Evans as they were recognized by the USPTA for achieving Level III Educational status for 2012. Members must accrue at least 36 hours of continuing education credits in a year to reach this status. There were only 16 nationally at this level! Way to go guys!
S. Carolina South Carolina’s state workshop has been set for Sunday, November 17th. The workshop
will be held at the Caycee Tennis Center in Caycee, SC (just outside of Colum-bia, SC). The board is diligently putting together a great panel of speakers, addressing a wide array of topics. It’s lining up to be another great state event. Our SC summer newsletter is also underway. We hope you enjoyed our first installment of the 2013 newsletters this spring, and hope to bring the same level of information to you each season.
Big thanks to USPTA Southern for putting on a great convention in Charles-ton last month. The weekend was filled with great speakers, delicious food, and fun entertainment. USPTA CEO John Embree was in attendance, informing members of the big changes we should expect in the years to come. We heard very exciting news about benefits, future conferences, and perks of being a USPTA Professional.
Kentucky Kentucky has lots of exciting tennis going on this summer. The Fifth Third Bank Challenger
Event takes place July 22-28 in Lexington, KY at the University of Kentucky. This is a great event as well as a wonderful venue to watch some up and coming stars. Recently Rita Gladstone held two 10 & Under Workshops in both Louisville and Lexington that were well attended. The Lexington Ten-nis Club is holding 10’s and 12’s mini tournaments weekly every Friday in June and July, to learn more contact Joanne Wallen at [email protected]. Louisville has lots of great options to get your kids started in tennis this summer, check out www.ustaky.com and look for the link to provide specific dates and times of these clinics. With tournaments in full swing for both juniors and adults, we are going to wait until the fall to have our annual workshop. More information will be coming soon regarding this workshop, so be on the look-out!
Louisiana As always, the southern convention was a great experience! Held at Dunes West in Charleston,
the convention was in a beautiful location with state of the art facilities. Sophie Woorons-Johnston organized a slate of speakers that covered topics ranging from on-court teaching strategy to managing successful tennis programs. The opportunity to gather with other pros refreshed and inspired me.
Congrats to our own Bill Phillips for receiving the much deserved Industry Excellence award for his tireless efforts in the tennis community. His work to promote tennis befits the work we all do, and we are grateful to partner with such dedicated members of the tennis community. We appreciate all of the work he is doing to grow tennis in our state!
Katherine Reigelman
Mississippi First of all I would like to thank all of you who participated in the Southern Conven-
tion in Charleston. It was a pleasure to listen to our new USPTA Leader, our new CEO, John Embree. It was an inspiring presentation and I have to say one thing: under the new leadership, USPTA is heading in the right direction and adding great value to our membership. A new modern look, vision and state of the art continuing education for the pros seems to be the main point for the years to come.
Through summer camps we are trying to keep the high school helpers involved. Our goal is to help those who show enthusiasm and interest in teaching and get them USPTA certified at the end of the summer. This way we maintain focus of those who come to the courts as seasonal pros.
The main attention for our pros is the 10 and Under USTA Initiative. Cur-rently we have 63 facilities (out of 95 total), that are using the 10 and under format. Mississippi is one of the States that has the most 60 ft court blended lines in the Southern Section and the numbers are still growing. The number 1 player in the Southern rankings in both U10 boys and girls are from MS. Good job to our pros! This spring we had a few Competitive Training Camps for 10 and under. Our State Competitive Camp was held at Parham Bridges. 45 kids participated having a blast for 4 hours.
State NewsPage 8 Volume 14 Issue 2
Standard Page 9
Court ShapesAs a teaching pro, I find it difficult to direct students of all ages on drill
formats without the help of court shapes. While basic circles can be enough to show where to start, the full set of court shapes from On Court Off Court can plunge deeper into court positioning, aiming, stance and movement. The full set of court shapes comes with a set of dots, donuts, lines and curves. The material used is thicker, more durable, and much more stain resistant then my previous multiple colored dot packages. After months of use, my old dots were dirty, dark, and all around gross. I was unable to wipe them clean, and even an attempt in the washing machine still couldn’t bring out their original colors. I can already tell that the court shapes will be easier to clean and maintain, leading to a longer life, and saving me money.
Let’s start with the dots and donuts. They come in three colors, yellow, green and red. Seemingly simplistic, these basic colors can be used to express motions like “GO”, “STOP”, or “SLOW DOWN”, when setting up drills that require moving around the court. Having more then three colors has only helped me when asking young students “what’s your favorite color?”, and then letting them stand on said color. What first seems like more options with six different colored dot packages, really handcuffs you to simplistic uses. Two of each green, red and yellow colors is all that’s needed. This is my first time using donuts, and I couldn’t be happier with their function. I use the donuts as foot positioning reminders. There is no material in the middle of the donut, so
they allow the student to stand inside without feeling like they’re stand-ing on uneven ground. When showing students who hit open stance forehands, how to hit a closed stance forehand, I use the dots to depict
where, and where not to step. For a right handed player, I use the yellow donut for them to place their right foot, then I place the green dot closer to the ball, making them swing their left foot around their body, and thus closing their stance. However, I don’t leave it at that. I set up the red donut to the left of the green donut, and use the color red to express “NO”, do NOT step away from the ball when hitting a closed stance forehand. Both the color and shape play an integral roll in my drill.
The court lines, corners and curves are great additions to the set of court shapes. I’ve used mine to mark off areas of the court to aim, directions in which I want the player moving, safety lines to stand behind when waiting for their
turn to hit, and lining my 36’ and 60’ quickstart courts. One useful feature of the curves is to outline where you want your student to shuffle behind, when learning a wrap around forehand. Setting the curves up to the left of a right-handed player shows them how to shuffle behind the curves and away from the ball, allowing them room to step back in to hit either cross court, or down the line.
On Court Off Court is offering 10% off the Court Shapes – Full Set, with coupon code: USPTA10. Buy now and enjoy the many uses of this great product. Offer expires 8/31/13.
By Mark Schminke SC PresidentTry It Out
Page 10 Volume 14 Issue 2
We all have players that could be better if they were in a little better condition physically. Players have
to train beyond the courts, especially when they begin to age. Here are some startling facts that come with aging. With the lungs, Vital Capacity (VC) is the maximum amount of air the lungs can move out in a single breath, following a maximal inspiration. Between the ages of 20 and 70, Vital capacity can decrease by as much as 40%. Oxygen uptake is also affected. Physical conditioning has a direct effect on this capacity and the body’s ability to move and utilize oxygen effectively and efficiently. With the heart, maximal oxygen consumption during exercise declines in men by 10% with each decade of adult life while women are at about 7.5%. Exercise can reduce and in some cases reverse this decline. With the brain, with age, the brain loses some cells (neurons) and others become damaged. However, it adapts by increasing the number
of connections (synapses) between cells and by re-growing the branch-like extensions (dendrites & axons) that carry messages in the brain. Physical exercise has shown to improve motor skills and cognitive skills. With the kidneys, they become less efficient with age at extracting waste from the blood. This decrease in efficiency is partially attributed to the general decrease in size of the kidneys that occurs with age, and also the decrease in blood or plasma flow to the kidneys. Blad-der capacity declines and tissues atrophy, sometimes resulting in urinary issues, which can often be managed with exercise and behavioral techniques. With Body Fat, we all should know by now that body fat increases with age, commonly from a combination of acquiring more storage fat from sedentary living and redistribution of existing stored fat. An unhealthy change in body composition has many risks associated with it, but these risks can be reduced with physical activity.
With Muscle, The average decline in muscle mass between the ages of 30-70 has been measured at 22% for women and 23% for men. Type II fibers, the fibers responsible for high levels of strength have been shown in some studies to decrease as much as 50% in men by the age of 80. Strength training is the way out. And finally, with personality, exercise makes us feel better which translates to our relationships with others. It makes us feel better about ourselves. As the delivery system for exercise, whether it is from fitness or tennis, it is our responsibility to get the most out of our students and clients. Make them work but make sure they have fun and see the value in their hard work. Exercise is the fountain of youth. There is no doubt about this. They call it torture and I call it liv-ing to play another day!
By Lane Evans, USPTA
Senior Sweetspot
All of these are from the convention in Mt. Pleasant SC
Sophie Woorons-Johnston:Put it all together
When coaching players, focus on their footwork, recovery , follow-through, and positioning. Recovery involves getting back in position before the opponent hits the next shot plus where to
• recover along the baseline based on the angle hit. A quicker recov-ery gives you more time to
• get in the right position for the next shot. Lose a racquet drill-Large group drill. Players divide up single file on
each baseline. It is similar to playing round the world. Pro feeding at net. Each player hits one shot and rotates to back of line. The person who makes an error loses their racquet. A racquet gets handed to another player in the rotation. Everyone stays in the game until one side loses all the racquets due to errors.
Larry KarageanesHis emphasis is keeping the kids moving and keeping them
engaged. These are two conditioning drills for summer camps.Alley Jumps- Players start with both feet on the doubles line. They
jump to the singles line with the opposite foot. As soon as they land, they jump back to the doubles line. Count the jumps for
30 seconds. Rest for 30 seconds and then do two more sequences. The goal is to maintain the same number of jumps in the second and third round equal to the first.
Bump Up-Two players are in each service box, and all balls must land in the service box. They must bump the ball waist high or higher get-ting the other player moving to miss a shot.
All balls have to bounce, and the players alternate hitting to 11.Ken Dehart:
Tennis Tips• Whenever introducing a new skill, use transition balls to increase
consistency.• Purpose of the volleyer is to distract, attack, and defend. Volley in
the valley to the open court. • Short volleys win points, but deep volleys cause rallies.• 70% of the points you win are from your opponent’s error. Only
30% are from your winners.• When coaching, don’t just say something general like good shot.
Give specific feedback.• Our brains do not hear the word don’t. If you say don’t hit in the
net, the player hears hit it in the net, or don’t double fault, player hears double fault.
• Proper execution with pace and penetration prohibits your opponent from changing direction of the ball. It also keeps them from making successful adjustments to your patterns. Consequently, errors will begin to creep into your opponent’s play.
• One of the biggest tennis fears is your opponent will hit a winner before you do.
Kirk AndersonLength of Activities: Use a large foam pair of dice to choose how long
or how many repetitions of an activity. Have the child roll the dice. This becomes a fun activity (just have something for each kid to roll for) and is an easy way to determine length of activities. It is also fun to hear the kids root for or against the big numbers.
One Good Idea!
Benefits of Exercise in Seniors-The “With the…” Factors
Standard Page 11
Handling the Situation is YOUR opportunity to share how you handle various situa-tions.
The Situation: You are at a tournament with some of your strongest junior players. While walking to a court to observe a match, you notice a pro talking with one of your juniors and her parents. This pro has a reputation for trying to get players to leave their current pro and come to him. What do you do?
Unfortunately, as the level of players increases this becomes more and more common practice at tournaments of coaches trying to ‘poach play-ers.’ These coaches feel that the main objective of their program is to work with the best players. By working with the best players their program is more marketable and will attract more players into their program. This obviously has financial and ego benefits. The common tactic used by the coach is to create doubt in the mind of the parents about the current coach they are using. Normally this has negative ramifications going forward as the parents are questioning if their current coach has the skills to develop their child’s game.
There are a few things to consider by the cur-rent coach. Firstly the coach should go to the tournaments to watch their players as this is the time coaches’ try to poach players. Secondly when observing this advance by another coach, the current coach could approach and in a diplomatic way ask if he/she would like to share what they were discussing to have insight on how to make the player better. This will also catch the poaching coach off guard, and could prevent further unethical tactics with the current coach’s players. Thirdly and probably the most impor-tant, is to have an open communication with the parents. This will create a better and stronger relationship between coach and parent. Thereby when another coach approaches them they know what the coach is working on and be able
to dispel any unnecessary advances. When the relationship is strong the parents would be more likely to discuss this with their current coach, and prevent any harm.
This occurrence is common place but always be prepared by creating and developing a positive working relationship with parents. Not only for this negative occurrence but in general. Commu-nication is key, and is a two way process between coach and parent/player. Karl Davies, Nashville, TN
This situation has happened to us all at some point or another!!! Before anything is done, make sure nothing is said to or in front of the juniors you are with. Kids tell everything they know. If you tell your kids that another Pro is bad to keep them from going, it starts a trail. How do we approach this: “Communication” With all my students and parents, as they continue to grow and advance with us that relationship is getting stronger, as it gets stronger I take the conversations with the parents to that situa-tion. (I.E.) You know there will come a time that someone thinks a change might need to happen, this can be for any number of reasons ( kids just like to go with other kids sometimes, parents think the grass is greener where someone beats their child but takes at other clubs). For whatever reasons: YOU must open the door for them that If they would like to go somewhere and you are confident that you are doing everything in your Instruction, that student will come back.Confidence in what we do is key. As a profes-sional, I would never ask another junior to join us, unless I am contacted by a parent. Our clients are very resourceful, If they want to join you they will find a way to contact you. Respect your other Pros: “ At a tournament I am there for my players, not looking for others.Tery Sherer – Birmingham, AL
It’s important not to jump to conclusions as to the content of the conversation – the pro
may be congratulating your player on how he played his prior match. However, If you think the conversation is about him approaching your student’s family about coaching, I would first bring your concern to the parents. If the parent confirms that the other professional was offering his/her services to your player, then it needs to be addressed. I would then go to the other professionals and let them know that you are aware of what happened and that you would appreciate it if he/she would not approach your students with the intent of them becoming his/her student. If it happens again, I would go to the USPTA and see what can be done. We have a Code of Ethics as USPTA Professionals and this professional is obviously not abiding by them. If this doesn’t work, I would hit them with my racquet Randy Stephens – Macon, GA
You walk away and continue your day? No hard feelings towards that family? You don’t even know how the conversation started. Players will come and go. Tournament juniors often “jump around”. There is nothing you can do about it. Continue to be ethical, professional and commit-ted to your professional philosophies. As a young professional, players leaving me used to bother me. Not anymore. Here is THE best perspective to have: when a player moves on (leaves your coaching, moves, graduates, etc…), this is now an opportunity for you to influence another young boy or girl. As for “that coach” with the reputation of getting players to switch…..people see through that. If a family wants to buy into his/her unprofessional tactics, then maybe that family was not the right one for you to be com-mitting yourself to?Kevin Brandlik – Charlotte, NC
Next Situation: An assistant pro asks you for advice on how to develop as a teaching pro and maybe eventually become a tennis director. What advice do you give him or her?
HANDLING The Situation!
Earn a Roll of Cash$200 Cash Reward
League Growth Initiative for Tennis Professionals Bring in 6 new players to a new or existing team
(level 2.0 - 5.0) and receive a $200 reward.
Click the USTA logo for details and application form.
Page 12 Volume 14 Issue 2
We have a special treat for this issue of the USPTA Southern Standard as we stepped outside of our normal “tennis” box and did an interview with a very unique and interest-
ing guest. Javier “Javy” Lopez played catcher in the major leagues for almost 20 years, mostly with the Atlanta Braves. He finished his 15-year career with a batting average of .287, a slugging percentage of .491, had 1,527 hits and 260 home runs. In 2003, Javy Lopez won the coveted Silver Slugger award. This award is voted on by the Manager’s and coaches and is given to the best hitters in every position. He was also a 3-time All-Star. Lopez had very respectable numbers as a player but it is Javy Lopez, the man, we will focus on here.
Growing up in Puerto Rico, Javy Lopez started play-ing baseball when he was 9 years old.
“Until I was 14 years old, I wasn’t looking at baseball as a career for me”, he stated. “I was just looking at baseball as more of a pastime than anything. I loved the game, I loved being around my friends and I loved the competition. But once I turned 14, actually 15, I was approached by a scout for the San Diego Padres and that is when my life and the way I looked at baseball completely changed forever. I was no longer looking at baseball as a pastime but more as a career. I put myself at a different level and tried to become the best player I could be. “
Javy Lopez was not without mentors and inspirations along the way. “First of all, my dad was a big influence on my career,” he said. “The thing about my dad is he never pushed me to become a baseball player. He just gave me the opportunity to play little league but he also gave me the opportunity to play any sport I wanted to. He always kept me busy playing sports, which was a good thing because if he didn’t keep me busy in sports there is no telling how I would have ended up.”
“Once I picked baseball as a career, I looked up and studied the other players from Puerto Rico. One player I looked up to was Jose Cruz, formally of the Houston Astros. He and two of his brothers, whom also played in the majors, put on a clinic in my hometown. My dad took me there and it was one of the best experiences I had in my younger life. I listened to everything they had to say and it changed the way I looked at baseball. From that day forward, I wanted to be just like them, a famous athlete. I listened to them and did pretty much whatever they told me to do.”
Once Javy had the foundation laid for his baseball career, he knew there was a lot of work to do. “It’s like anything, you want to have good grades, and you have to study. If you want to be a great baseball player, you have to practice hard. I am sure tennis is the same way. The more you practice, the better you become. Practice is what makes the perfection. Not only doing that because you have to but because you love doing it. You have to love what you are doing. Definitely, it’s what makes you a very successful person.”
Javy Lopez did not play high school baseball and only went to college for one semester. “In Puerto Rico, we don’t have high school baseball. I played little league ball.”
In 1988, Javy was signed as a free agent after being viewed by scouts in and around a league called Youth AA. He signed with the Braves in 1988. Javy put in his time and paid his dues in the minor leagues. He spent 5 years in the minors, playing in such places as Burlington, Iowa, Bradenton, Fl., Durham, NC, Greenville, SC and Rich-
mond, Va. “Yeah, I have been around,” he said.Javy recently wrote a book which defined his life behind the plate as
a catcher. The book entitled, “Behind the Plate, A Catchers View of the Braves Dynasty”. The book chronicles his life as a catcher catching for some of the greatest pitchers to ever play the game in Greg Maddox, John Smoltz and Tom Glavin.
“I was motivated by a guy named Gary Caruso, who used to publicize the Shop Talk magazine here in Atlanta,” he explained. “Never in a mil-lion years did I think I would publish a book. I never think that people wanted to know about my life in the minor leagues or anything, period.
Gary said, you have no idea how many people would be totally interested in and curious about what you’ve been through to get where you are. The book is basically what I am trying to teach young kids. There is no controversy in this book. I am sick of controversy all the time. I wanted to teach kids what it takes to make it and how I went through a lot of hard times with my family, playing in the minor leagues and how hard it was to keep up in the major leagues. But I made it through and managed to stay in the big leagues for 15 years. “
“There is always, always, always someone behind you who is trying their best to take you out of there. There’s always somebody who’s trying to fight to get your position and it’s up to you to maintain that position for
as long as you can.” He continued. “The one thing I always did was to never be satisfied for just getting the job done. I had to be better.”
Javy has a life outside of baseball. He is married with three boys. Although parenthood seems to agree with Javy, baseball may not be in the long term vision of his kids. “My 17 year old and my 13 year old have both been playing baseball since they were 4,” he said. They both have talent. Unfortunately, they don’t have the love of the game. That’s OK. If you don’t have it, forget about it and move on. You will not be a professional baseball player. They have so many options than we had growing up. It is hard to keep them focused. I coach several high school players around the area and it is hard to keep them focused as well. The days of two and half hour practice sessions are gone. They want to practice for 45 minutes and then go play video games,” said Lopez. “I used to wear my practice uniform on top of my school uniform as to not waste any time going from one to the other,” he concluded.
These days, aside from raising his boys, Javy spends his time orga-nizing wood bat tournaments. “I started my own wood bat company and we sell wooden bats,” he said. “I’m also organizing and sponsor-ing wooden bat tournaments. We have one this weekend and one coming up in a few weeks. The first tournament we offered, we had 41 teams participate. We don’t have that many ballparks to use. The next tournament we have 62 teams participating.”
Lopez still finds a little time to follow his Braves. “The team is fun to watch,” he said. They’re doing really good. It’s fun to watch. “
Javy Lopez may or may not make it to Cooperstown but one thing is for certain, he loves the game of baseball and respects where he came from and how hard it was to get there. He paid his dues ten-fold. He spends time with not only his own kids but many others as well spreading his message that great things can come to those who endure and do the work. It’s nice to know that those ideals are not gone and are as strong as ever in Javy Lopez.
“Success Secrets”Big League Baseball with Javy LopezBy Lane Evans-USPTA NC Board
Standard Page 13Standard Page 13
Tennis is one of the few sports that require the players to transition through differ-ent surfaces on a regular basis. Although
there are dozens of different surfaces around the world, for sake of discussion there are three major groups of surfaces that players typically compete on: hard-courts, clay-courts and grass-courts. These different court surfaces result in differ-ent movement requirements due to the speed, cushioning and friction of the court. The eminent University of Pennsylvania Physicist and Professor Emeritus (and tennis sport scientist) Dr. Howard Brody found that the horizontal frictional force greatly effects ball speed and is a determining factor in court speed. There can be as much as a 15% difference in ball speed after the bounce, depending on the court surface. Typically a clay-court is slower than a hard-court. This reduction in ball speed allows athletes more time to reach the ball, therefore lengthening the duration of points
played on clay-courts. A computerized notational analysis performed by Dr. O’Donoghue and colleagues, of 252 professional singles matches, found that rallies on clay courts at the professional level were significantly longer than any other surface. A study looking at the percentage of baseline rallies at the four Grand Slams found:
• French Open (claycourt) 51%• Australian Open (hardcourt) 46%• US Open (hardcourt) 35%• Wimbledon (grass) 19%Another interesting study, Dr. Weber and
research team found that the difference between surfaces was rather substantial. On hardcourts professional players are under increased time-pressure when making contact with the ball. 45% of time they are under this time pressure. In comparison, on claycourts players are under time pressure 29% of the time. Therefore, court surfaces do play a role in the movement require-
ments of tennis athletes, and training needs to be adapted based on these differences. It is impor-tant to train your players to be able to effectively move on the different surfaces. Using the correct movement parameters is very important espe-cially when transitioning from hard court to clay court or vice versa.
These studies just highlight the need for different focused training based on the type of surface that the athlete will be training and competing on. It is important to take into consideration the surface and the workloads that are involved in the different surfaces when focusing on tennis-specific movement training. Understanding movement mechanics and the write biomechanical movements helps the tennis coach effectively work with your players to make improvements that will transition into better strokes, faster recovery movements and more wins.
Fit to Hit
By Mark Kovacs, PhD, CTPS, USPTA-P1, CSCS*D
Tennis Court Surfaces and Movement
Page 14 Volume 14 Issue 2
Women’s tennis has taken quite a beating the past few years, including from me. Given the choice, I would have chosen watching the men’s matches.
But, the tide is turning ... It is nice to see the American women starting to make a push with 15 in the main draw of the French Open and four making it to the fourth round. Youngsters such as Sloane Stevens make it fresh and older players like Bethany Matteck-Sands, who always comes out with a grand fashion statement, make it interesting.
Serena Williams is also back again, winning the French Open after falling in the first round last year. Her story, in itself, is noteworthy. Her life seems as if it has been a roller coaster … stardom at an early age, her large entourage, an on-court rivalry with sister Venus, the death of her sister Yetunde Price, her on-court outbursts and press bashings of opponents, her own
health issues, and yet at the age of 31 she wins her 16th Grand Slam title. I think that, through it all, a passion for this wonder-ful sport carries her and inspires her. It is something that no one can deny Serena has. We, as coaches, need to pass that love of the game on to the kids we work with.
As women we also have to admire the ultimate professional that Sharapova is. I saw her grow up at NBTA, saw how hard her dad was with her but also saw how hard she worked at such a young age.
She has the exact same rituals and attitude whether it’s the first round or the finals. I believe all coaches should encourage the young women we teach to emulate Sharapova’s professionalism. She is a great role model.
Women’s tennis is starting to look up. Let’s see what Wimbledon will bring; maybe an English break-thru, like the Americans had in France!
Ladies Vantage By Joanne Moore Wallen
Page 14 Volume 14 Issue 2
Standard Page 15
USPTA Certification Tests & Upgrades7/6 Myrtle Beach, SC
The Dunes Golf & Beach Club
7/13 Jackson, MSBellhaven UniversityJ
7/27 Louisville, KYOwl Creek Country Club
8/3 Hilton Head, SCHaigh Point Club
8/17 . Atlanta, GADunwoody Country Club
8/17 Gastonia, NCCountry Club of the Carolinas
8/25. Baton Rouge, LABocage Racquet Club
8/25 Nashville, TNWilliamson County Tennis Complex
8/8 Birmingham, ALHighland Park Racquet Club
USPTA Welcomes Our New Members
Matt Brewer Maumelle, ARJeff Carpenter Jonesboro, ARGeorge Demmas New Orleans, LAChase Dority Greenville, SCLauren Evans Mobile, ALShanda Henrick Conover, NCGerald Henderson Birmingham, ALBilly Holland Statesville, NCJohn Karle Charleston, SCChristian Lampe Conover, NCMichael Luzader N Little Rock, ARChristopher Marks Birmingham, ALAl Montemayor Charlotte, NCSteven Myers Charleston, SCCourtney Nguyen Evans, GACarl Pack Jr. Birmingham, ALMeagan Piroutek Greenwood, ARPaul Smith Brewton, ALBrandon Stacey Louisville, KY
PresidentTodd Upchurch - 704-258-7220
1st Vice PresidentSophie Woorons-Johnston - 864-202-1917
2nd Vice PresidentMatt Grayson - 404-897-7707
Secretary/TreasurerKevin Theos - 205-790-7256
Past President/Regional VPBill Phillips - 337-849-5821
Executive DirectorPat Whitworth - 800-438-7782 (phone/fax)
Head TesterTommy Wade - 256-341-4948
State PresidentsAlabama
Johan Gedlitschka - 205-988-8165 (wk)[email protected]
ArkansasJimbo Hobson - 501-276-3938
GeorgiaMarcus Rutsche
KentuckyBrett Atcher - 859-272-4546
LouisianaEd Gaskell - [email protected]
MississippiBo Gard - 228-243-3110
North CarolinaLane Evans - 828-693-5743
South CarolinaMark Schminke - 443-622-8746
TennesseeJoey Hall - 865-531-5038
Southern OfficersThe “Standard” is the official newsletter for the
Southern Division of the United States Professional Tennis Association.
“Don’t let what you cannot do inter-fere with what you can do.”
-John Wooden
“Most games are lost, not won. “-Casey Stengel
“Our greatest weakness lies in giving
up. The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time.”
-Thomas Edison
Success isn’t the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you’re doing and you work hard you will be successful.
The difference between who you ARE and who you WANT TO BE is the work you put in.
C The elusive grand Slam continues to
haunt the men’s game with no man winning the first two legs of the Grand Slam since 1992 when Jim Courier won the Australian and the French to start the year before failing at Wimbledon
The tradition of bowing or curtsying to the Royal box ended in 1993, but you still must if the Queen or the Prince of Wales is in the box.
On July 1st 1967 Wimbledon was broadcast in color, marking the first color broadcast in the UK. The irony is that the players were in all white.
Since 1924 most of the centre court and show courts tickets are sold in a lottery type situation that occurs every Decem-ber. There are 4 entries to every ticket sold. If you are unable to go you can’t transfer them, you must return them to Wimbledon
The All England club issues Debentures every 5 years which insures you two tickets for that 5 years. They have been traded on the stock market for 27750 pounds per seat for the years 2011-2015.
Goran Ivanisevic was ranked 125 in the world when he won the 2001 Champi-onships as a wildcard.
Martina Hingis and Boris Becker were the youngest winners as 15 and 17 years old children.
Fast Facts
USPTA SOUTHERN DIVISION
N E W S L E T T E R337 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.
Copyright© The Standard/United States Professional Tennis Association, Inc. 2013. 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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