Bigger Better Tennis - Paul Dale

  You can't worry too much about the present... because yesterday took care of that already. 'Stay in the moment', y ou hear it all the time  whenever someone is trying to tell you why you're not succeeding at something . While it might be great advice for someone facing immediate danger, it's lousy advice for tennis coaches to develop future champions.  I can honestly say that I have spent my whole coaching career living in the future, days, weeks, and sometimes months ahead. Here's why... 1. DURING PRACTICES Tennis Coaches should be constantly projecting themselves mentally into the future, that's why aspiring tennis champions are coming to us! What all young players are wanting from us is a road map showing them how to reach their tennis dreams, which can include how to win tournaments, be the best they can be, and how to continually improve their game.  As coaches, we need to help them by  designing a pathway for them to reach those goals by setting o

THE NEW GENERATION The established trio of Djokovic, Nadal, and Federer are under threat. A talented group of Next Generation players are breathing down their necks each week, and the Next Gen players know that the big three can be beaten.  But just who are the best Next Generation players around today?  My picks for the best of these Next Gen players, and possible future world number 1s, include Dominic Thiem, Alexander Zverev, Stefanos Tsitsipas, and Denis Shapavolov.  Other Next Gen players right behind them include Felix Auger-Aliasimme (20), Borna Coric (23), and Alex Rublev (23). They're all knocking at the door as well. For me, Jannik Sinner, from Italy, at 19 years old, is also highly talented and is currently the youngest player in the top 100 (ranked 78). He has the game and temperament to go to #1 and stay there. WHO CAN BE THE NEXT WORLD NUMBER 1? My answer as to who will be the next world number 1 player from our list... none of them! Well, certainly not a long-term

SPORTSMANSHIP "The roughest thing I ever said to an umpire was  'are you sure? "     -  Rod Laver OUTSIDER   "I'm not wanting to be understood or liked, like me or not, I don't care. I am an outsider, that is the way I was brought up'.  -  Jimmy Connors  FOCUS "The ideal state is to be physically loose and mentally tight."        -  Arthur Ashe COMMITMENT  "The difference between involvement and commitment is like ham and eggs. The chicken was involved, but the pig was committed."   -  Martina Navratilova  STRATEGY "Never change a winning game, always change a losing one."  -  Bill Tilden  KILLER INSTINCT "When you've got your man down, rub him out."     - Rod Laver LOSING "You never really cancel the fear of losing, you keep challenging it."    -  Arthur Ashe  CONCENTRATION   "Concentration is born on the practice court... you must mentally treat your practice sessions as matches, concentrating

BECOME AN OUTLIER... I'm not a big fan of attending ITF coaches workshops anymore and here's why. Much of what is presented at these Workshops is standard stuff, and listening repeatedly to similar topics and similar points of view will, unfortunately, stifle your creativity.    Here's what I would suggest. Once you have attended several Workshops already, you should take yourself out of the workshop scene and begin to integrate your new ideas and methodologies from the workshops onto the court, with the long-term goal of developing some of your own philosophies for later. It's important to understand that workshops in themselves are a tool, and that to get the full value from them, the ideas you pick-up at workshops need to be implemented and tested on-court over time.  At the beginning of my coaching career, I joined a tennis company that staffed resorts, hotels, and tennis clubs all around the world. After training with that company for a short time I was dispatche