Your Off days

What you do on your off days will determine how much progress you are able to make in your life and your game, the best thing to do is to read as much as you can. How many books have you read in this year? I can bet not nearly enough, it doesn’t have to be on tennis, it could relate to anything that will help you grow mentally and spiritually. I read all the time, I like to keep a book with me where ever I go, its helped me to make it through some stuff times in my life and can do the same for you, things have turn around for me and what kept me moving forward was reading positive books. Start there, read a positive book a week and implement the things you learn in your life, I hear people say I read that book, but it didn’t do anything from it, no the reality is you didn’t do anything for yourself ! Hint-like taking massive action to reach your goals. There is a wealth of knowlege out there, time to expose yourself to it.

 

US Junior Tennis

Hey guys, I wanted to get a post out on this subject because there was a lot of talk about it on Linkein  today in my discussion group. Look what I said was that, the coaches are a big problem with the state of junior tennis in the US today, its their job to be able to set up a environment where the players can reach their full potential and go beyond it. This is were they have  to be aware of whats  working and what is not, then keep tweaking it until you get the results that you want. And, we have to get these players to develop a strong self-belief system that can’t be shaken by anything or anyone, this is the one thing I can’t figure out why it is not focused on enough by US coaches, but I can imagine the reason, its all about the coaches EGO instead of the player, they want it to be about them and not about the players, which happens in all sports we know. See, too many coaches are in the game for the wrong reasons, it should be for the love of the game, not money or recognition. So, lets hope that the USTA and USPTA do a whole new make over with their program soon, to start seeing some better results. Thats the only thing that will turn US tennis around for the better.

 

Nishikori Get Title

Let me first congratulate Nishikori on his win in Memphis today and lets hope he can get on a roll for the rest of the year and make some moves up the ranking, all my japanese friends are stoked, the guy has the game, but I would loved to see him just decide that he wants to be the best and that he can reach the top 5 in the world, then just do it. Japanese tennis need to be transform in every area here if they really want to be taken serious by the international tennis community, we see how Nishikori had to leave the country to find his game and that comes for another other players over here that want to be a top player, after 15 years here, its sad to see the coaches not becoming students of the game or trying to change their approach to how they teach, anyway lets give credit where it is due in this post, to Nishikori, the jury is still out, but he is looking great.

 

Check In

Make sure after every point you play to check in to see where your mindset is, this will help you to be aware of your emotions and keep them in check better. Things can really snowball when you are playing a match, so we need to monitor our thoughts all the time on the court(also off it!). My advice is stop it before it starts, so you have to FEEL a sense of control when you are playing, this give you the confidents to handle your nerves on those big points! Because that will be the deciding factor weather you win or lose that tight match, it boils down to who can step up first and swing the bat, you wont be successful all the time, but  you will never succeed if you don’t swing my friend. Like everything else I teach, start working on this in practice to make it a habit, after every point, check in to see why you won or lost the last point, then LET GO of it emotionally, this letting go is vital folks  if you want to play the next point with a clear mind, this whole process take times, just go slow and stick with it,  then watch your ability to stay in your matches improve.

 

Lets talk Fed

Wanted to really get his post out there after hearing he lost the other day, is it me or does everyone else feel the same about Fed’s game , i mean for christ sake whats going on with this guy now! I have lost a lot of respect for him for two reasons, first off, as a ex pro who had to work his butt out to make it to where I did, here he is with a( Oh WeLL )attitude about the game, at least thats the vibe Im getting from him and the message he is sending to the world, I don’t see him leaving it all out there every match anymore. Do you? And he owes it to the game to either put up or get out now, the fact is Novak and Nadal( congras on the win) as well as a few others have raise their game in the last two years and left him in the dust. I can’t believe I’m writing this post but it needs to be said, if anyone out there has a beef with this post, I would loved to hear from you okay. My advice to him is, get to work on building  up your mental toughness, he has got the game, but who knows where his head is right now. I hope he can turn this around this year and I would loved to coach him back to the top, all I would do is get in his face and tell him to get off you all mighty horse and get serious about what it takes to get back to the top again, then have him commit to this. The thing he is missing now is the WARRIOR SPIRIT! Which is something only he can discover, man, I would love to kick this guys ass back in shape, Fed if you are reading this, give me a call!  Im waiting!

 

Purify Your Thoughts

I read everyday for 1hr. or more , I hope that you guys are doing the same, make sure that you read things that can help you purify your thoughts, to make you a more peaceful person on the inside. This will in return help you to be able to focus better on the court, this can be used for anything that you are doing, because you see lack of focus comes from your inability to clear your mind at will. If you want to be more productive I would get to work on this right now, there is no system out there to show you, you just have to let go and keep trying to until you find out how! Sorry, just a fact, everyone wants a method for curing yourself, but sometimes there isn’t one, One thing you can do is focus on the person you long to be when you think of yourself,also try  to turn your back on your failures forever, after that stop dwelling on your weaknesses, this only attracts more of the same. We all need to find a peace of mind to help us be more productive in our daily lives, so start with these two and go from there, tennis as is all sports, is mental, by purifying your thoughts, so will purify your tennis game.

 

Serena No. 1

I’m so happy for Serena being number one again and I hope she just crushes it for the rest of the year, also I want her and her big sister to enjoy the rest of their career’s. They have earn it and the message had been too strong at times, but their talent’s have made up for that, I know its easy for us to pass judgement on others, but I also feel they will get more from the game if they would just let go of the stuff image and not seems so uptight all the time, life is too short and a career can be even shorter, make the most of it while you can and you will feel that blissful state girls. Hope they are reading this! Honestly, we all have a message that we carry around with us and people identify you with it, they seems to feel the need to frown all the time or make angry faces, sorry, I don’t get it, and its not attractive to people okay, I don’t think its the way they really are anyway, that why I’m writing this, so just wanted to give them some advice and wish them the best of luck!

 

The Mind Game

The biggest game that you will have to win is the mind game, that means what is going on in between your ears! You have to control it or it will control you, start by making sure you get enough practice in, so your can relax and trust your game during the match,also practice with intensity to get a feel for how you will feel in real match play, you can’t just turn it on and off. Next, always play to win, focus on being consistent with your play for the whole match, try to stay even keel  with your emotion,  that is, don’t get too up or too down after a point,instead forget about the last point and get ready for the next point(the most important one). You have to stay in the moment, stop thinking about the last game, when you catch yourself thinking about the next set, brings yourself back to reality. he mind has to be train, do this by freeing yourself from though when you are playing, things are happening too fast okay, so the more you play on instincts, the better you will perform. One more thing, deny any thoughts that weaken you, this is the toughest part about the game, because we have so many thought in our heads, but with practice and willpower, you should be fine.

 

Start Listening

I think the best way to get better on the court and off is to start listening to people more, you never know what you can learn from other people, so instead of tuning that person or group out, see if there is anything to be gain from it first, its that old, accept what is useful or reject what is useless teaching. When you change the way you see things, a lot of things start to change in your life! Here are some good tips, next time you are in a group, don’t talk for the first 30 minutes, when someone is talking to you, stop whatever you are doing, to give that person your full attention , last, from now on,  stop prejudging people that you meet, who knows, that person may be the one to give you or helps lead you to a million $ idea! The best part about becoming a great listener is, people love to talk about themselves, so you will attract more business and advice, but the best one of all, MONEY!

 

Get Moving Early

Tomorrow wake up with a plan, that you can write the day beforehand of the the top 6 things that can bring you closer to your goals and don’t stop until you get everything on the list done, this is how you become more productive. Make sure too, that you do this everyday for 1 month, to make it a habit, the key again is being consistent with this, even those days when you don’t want to go at it,try to motivate yourself to! Thats the key to making things happen, most of us wait for something to happen and it never does, see, you have to get the day started early, with a plan of attack, then see the plan though to the end. All the great achievers have done things this way, now lets try to copy them, so you can become one too!