Tennis Rockers

When was the last time you thought about the relationship with your coach or student? When was the last time you thought it through to make it better for the both of you?

Maybe you don't want to - things are good. If you're the coach, hey, they come to lessons, seem happy or somewhat engaged and I get paid - done. If you're the student, they teach me, it's not always easy, but I learn something and sometimes it's really fun.

Kept that way, it works - but on what basis?

The relationship works at its most basic level, but ultimately, is that what either the coach or student want for their entire time together? And what happens when that relationship breaks down because we don't periodically revisit this relationship? What happens when we don't communicate?

A coach/student relationship can deteriorate and at some points be destructive and the relationship with teenagers can be one of the toughest relationship challenges.

So what should we consider around these challengers? We should start with our communication and in this episode we acknowledge and seek answers for coaches, students, and parents to a common situation - a lack of proactive communication.

Thanks for joining us on our journey!
www.tennisrockers.com

What leads to player burnout?

Everyone talks about burnout in the general sense, but not a lot of people put specificity around it.

Maybe, in part, burnout comes from not telling players the whole story - both at the beginning and during their individual journeys - of what it takes to learn the skills involved in the sport of tennis? If players were more informed, they might have time to “think” about their “feelings” about tennis and in turn work through this complex mix of human byproduct and in turn feel more confident and comfortable in the direction they want their tennis to take.

If a coach communicated the possible paths in tennis then maybe a player might be more informed and develop a more intelligent and in-depth interest. So what are some of these sample paths:

• Recreational
• Recreational -> tournaments -> tennis team
• Recreational -> high performance -> tournaments -> college
• Recreational -> high performance -> tournaments -> college -> professional tennis,
• Recreational -> tournaments -> high performance -> pro/am circuit (or futures) -> professional tennis

Could knowing and keeping these paths in mind make a difference and avoid burnout?

In this episode, we explore the concept of clearly communicating the paths available to players as they traverse along their own individual tennis trail.

Thanks for joining us on our journey!
www.tennisrockers.com

A tennis expert (i.e. a commentator, a club owner, or a pro) wouldn't consider or recommend adding a reading session as part of your on court tennis class - likely because reading story or a work of non-fiction is something that's done in a library or classroom, not on a court. A tennis expert would question why and likely pose objections along the lines of:

Customers/students are paying for movement, not reading.
* The court isn't setup like a library or classroom, how would this even happen?
* What's the connection to tennis or how is it relevant to the game?
* Nobody else is doing this, why should we

That's because a tennis expert is tethered to their experience, tennis convention (i.e. this is the way we've always done it and this is the way we'll continue to do it!), and the threat of embarrassment and questions, while a zero gravity thinker and contributor (i.e. a non-tennis expert) is not. Zero gravity thinkers don't have expertise in the area they're studying but they do have experience with creating and other aspects of life which they can bring to tennis. But only if tennis lets them in, listens, takes action, tries/fails, and keeps the good things which work.

But because tennis is struggling with attendance, commitment, and programs, we need to find some new solutions. We need to invite some zero gravity guys into the game of tennis to help build it back into something better.

In this episode, we consider the possibility of adding a reading exercise to the tennis lesson. A concept that zero gravity thinkers would consider and tennis experts might condemn.

Thanks for joining us on our journey!

www.tennisrockers.com
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Every day, food product companies inundate us with their products messages which bend and stretch the meanings of the very words they use. Words such as "healthy", "organic", "100% real _____ included", "__ servings of fruits and vegetables", and a "full serving of ______ in every package." They are the words consumers often rely on to decide whether or not to put it into their cart.

Promotional words used to "assist" and "persuade" shoppers to purchase their product. Promotional words which make their product "appear" to be a moderately healthy choice so consumers can justify purchasing and eating it and feel good about purchasing it again. They are words we see and hear everywhere from print media, to television, and online advertising.

They are words that build trust in a product that isn't really best for us. That trust in turn causes us to often overlook the ingredients label and discover something deeper and a bit duplicitous about these words of trust. We discover a long list of non-healthy ingredients such as: sugars, pseudo-sugars, oils, preservatives, colors, and conditioners call into questions the claims of health printed all over the rest of the package.

And while there are occasional public service announcements reminding us to read labels, eat right, and be careful about our calorie consumption, these are rare. But what if the tennis club could help the cause?

Every day, tons of people filter in and out of tennis clubs all across America to learn to play and play this great game. We have an opportunity to help the eating healthy cause and in this episode, we kick around what that could mean and look like. In this episode, we contemplate how the tennis club can help provide more balanced nutrition messaging to the people they serve.

Thanks for joining us on our journey!
www.tennisrockers.com

We often don’t think about diet or nutrition unless we face constant fatigue or are in a health crisis. And, our social and work cultures reinforce consumption of “food products” and “convenience foods” so we can “do more”, “keep going”, “make our deadlines”, and “cross things off our list”.

We have all normalized these food products and convenience foods which are rife with chemicals, enriched flour, oils, preservatives, salts, and sugars but we are feeling and seeing the after effects of such a life style.

But when we visit a tennis club or facility, we enter into a different world in which movement and health are the main part of the program. The social culture of the tennis club is a perfect fit for seducing club members into selecting a nutrition class that could benefit both their bellies and your bottom line.

In this episode, we use a food documentary film as a jumping off point for encouraging more clubs to include diet and nutrition classes.

Thanks for joining us on our journey!
www.tennisrockers.com