USPTA ADDvantage August 2021 by RSPA

August 2021

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2021 USPTA HOF Inductee, Stan Smith

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From the CEO USPTA

The Nitty Gritty of WC21

ext month we will be gathering in Las Vegas for the 2021 USPTA World Conference (WC21), and I can’t wait! It’s the first time in two years that our annual event will be in person. No matter how good a virtual event is, there’s no comparison between networking face-toface versus via a computer screen. And, I hear the same sentiments from many of you. Based on the number of registrations we have received so far, we anticipate a large and enthusiastic WC21. The truth is that many elements comprise the World Conference. Below is a breakdown of the different segments of the WC that together make it the world’s largest gathering of tennis professionals, industry leaders, representatives, manufacturers, wholesalers, and media under one roof. The WC will kick off with USPTA leadership assembling a Board and Executive Committee meeting. While the board meeting is not open to the general membership, the EXCOMM is. Both are critically important to maintaining the governance and fiscal oversight of the association. The World Conference provides the ideal opportunity for USPTA leadership to convene and take care of association business before being available throughout the rest of the conference to seek comments and suggestions from the members they serve. Two specialty courses take place on the first day of WC21 are an additional registration fee for participation, but holding these courses in conjunction with the conference allows those interested to take a deeper dive into a relevant racquet sports topic in person. Conference

John R. Embree, USPTA CEO

registration is a requirement to participate in any of the specialty courses. If you want to increase your skill-set and enhance your career prospects, take advantage of one of the available certification courses in conjunction with the WC. Once again, there is an additional registration for these certifications which include pickleball, RacquetFit, and a TE-1 workshop. Details on both specialty courses and certification courses for WC21 are available on USPTA.com. Education is at the core of what the World Conference is all about. This year there will be 34 presentations during the event. Attendees will experience in-person learning with a combination of classroom learning sessions, on-court seminars, and panel discussions from an impressive lineup of speakers, including keynote speakers Dr. Jim Loehr, Allistair McCaw, Katrina Adams, Billie Jean King, and Stan Smith. WC21 attendees will undoubtedly get reinvigorated and excited about their profession while gaining new insights and ideas that they can put into use when they arrive back home! The USPTA World Conference also conducts the world’s only tennis industry trade show. This year, the trade show takes place on Monday, September 20 from 5 until 9 p.m. Attendees will experience what’s new in the industry with 70-plus booths with representatives from every imaginable tennis industry manufacturer and company. In addition, the USPTA will be hosting a dinner and a Monday Night Football party inside the exhibition hall! As one of our members told me after the show in 2019, “it was the best trade show I have ever attended.” High praise, indeed.

The USPTA annual Awards Luncheon is another essential aspect of WC21 and is set for Wednesday, Sept. 22 at noon. Each year, the USPTA recognizes deserving member professionals who are growing the game of tennis. There is no greater accolade than to be recognized by one’s peers. Award winners are inspiring individuals whose achievements provide real-life examples of what is possible. Besides awarding the Alex Gordon Professional of the Year and the George Bacso Lifetime Achievement Award, we will also induct three giants from our association into the USPTA Hall of Fame: the legendary Stan Smith, Trish Faulkner, and John Wilkerson. The WC offers endless opportunities for socializing and networking in the morning before sessions, between sessions, at lunch, during the trade show, or one of the many planned conference events. Building relationships is critical to a successful career, and there is simply no better place to do that than at the USPTA World Conference, If you have never been, now is a great time to come! As if all of that was not enough, this year, WC21 will take place at the Westgate Resort and Casino in exciting and glamorous Las Vegas, NV. Once our daily agenda has concluded, go out and explore all that Las Vegas has to offer. Again, I am genuinely excited about WC21 being held in person. I hope to see you in Vegas as we let the world know that the tennis industry is back and better than ever! *

August 2021

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President’s Message USPTA

Proud of My Time as President

t’s hard to believe that it’s already August! Next month is the World Conference, and soon after, we are into the busy holiday season. Then it’ll be January 2022 and the end of my term as USPTA President. I don’t mean to rush the year by, but mark my words, it will be January before we know it! With that in mind, I thought I would take this opportunity to provide a “President’s Message,” regarding my term, which started in January 2020. Together, we have accomplished a lot, even during an extraordinary time in world history mired in the COVID-19 global pandemic. When I began my term, I decided that my overall mission would be to facilitate avenues of change in our industry. More specifically, cultivating diversity and inclusion in our association was essential. The first step was to establish a USPTA Diversity & Inclusion (D&I) Committee whose primary purpose was to identify ways to implement a diversity and inclusion program into our organization. Several sub-committees were then created, comprised of individuals interested in representing a specific community. The sub-committees quickly established a D&I calendar, spotlighting the diversity of USPTA members each month with the longer-term goal of developing strategies for implementing D&I within the USPTA. In addition, we planned to host a D&I Symposium to allow members from all walks of life to learn from one another, network, and share experiences as tennis professionals. But the COVID pandemic made it impossible to hold this event in 2020. However, we are going full steam ahead

Feisal Hassan, USPTA President

for late fall, 2021. Unknowingly, our D&I initiative coincided with unanticipated national events that reinforced the need for diversity and inclusion throughout our society. I genuinely feel this initiative is of the utmost importance to our association; therefore, I challenged each of us to make diversity and inclusion a daily part of our lives. We must all continue to pursue this goal for our association’s long-term viability because we will be better off by welcoming all. In response to the horrific global pandemic, the USPTA COVID-19 Task Force was created in hopes of supporting each other during a very challenging time. Our goal was to share our collective experiences to better care for ourselves, employees, and clubs — allowing for an outlet of self-expression and regularly updated information that I have personally been told was of great help. The Task Force did what they could to keep spirits high while producing webinars such as “Rebuilding Your Tennis Program from Scratch,” “PPP Loan Forgiveness,” and others. While many businesses and industries were negatively affected by lengthy layoffs — tennis, considered a distance sport by the CDC, recovered quickly and unexpectedly thrived. The sport now has 22 percent more players than it did in 2019. Additionally, the USPTA provided free access to the pay-for-view videos on TENNISRESOURCES.com during the coronavirus shutdown so that our members could take advantage of downtime and still earn education credits. Because of national social distancing protocols that were in place, USPTA

leadership decided that it was in the best interests of our members to abandon our traditional September in person World Conference. Instead, the USPTA World Headquarters staff shifted to construct, promote, and produce a first-ever and massively successful three-day virtual 2020 World Conference with over 1,000 attendees! The virtual event let the tennis industry know that the USPTA was still open for business and here to assist our tennis-teaching professionals no matter what. That assistance included offering a free 2021 dues opportunity to members in good standing who also completed their education and Safe Play requirements. Other notable accomplishments worthy of mention would be the successful launch of the new and improved Find-A-Pro, Post-A-Job, and Find-A-Job website, the introduction of USPTA DirectorSearch Powered by McMahon|10s, the Director of Racquet Sports certification delivered by the University of Florida, and the implementation of the new Professional Certification Pathway. As USPTA President, my time has been challenging, exciting, and, most of all, rewarding. Thank you for your support of me and, of course, the USPTA. Your efforts during an uncharacteristic 24-months have made our association a better, more inclusive organization. We certainly couldn’t have accomplished all that we did without every single one of you. I am looking forward to the final few months of my term as president and hope to see you all in Las Vegas in September! *

August 2021

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Member Feature USPTA

Best Practices for Engaging Non-Tennis Players Jeremy Carl, USPTA Elite Professional

Photo credit : Puhha/Shutterstock

hat is the main goal of our industry? If you took a survey of tennis professionals, I believe you would find that most pros would say growing the game is the primary objective. Therefore, are your daily actions working towards that target? Are we, as pros, figuring out new ways to get people into tennis who never before thought about stepping on a tennis court? Early in my coaching career, I should have thought more about that question. However, I am now continuously looking for ways to improve this area, especially as things open up with the global pandemic improving. As tennis professionals, we certainly wake up each day hoping to give the very best lessons to our students. But, how much do we focus on the promotional side of tennis? Is there a way to fill those lessons that we end up losing because of factors

out of our control — like students moving away or getting injured from a non-tennis activity? I admit that when I first started coaching, replacing those lessons was last on my list of priorities, when in actuality, it should have been first, or at least near the very top. After all, we are problem solvers, promoters, and entrepreneurs for our sport. Great businesses have survived through varying societal changes due to said company’s leadership that adapts and attracts new customers. If you grew your current tennis player participation in clinics each year by just a tiny percentage of non-tennis players, think about the potential ripple effect for your club and you as a coach. The trickledown includes being a more value-added employee to your team while creating ambassadors for the game. As a tennis professional who has worked at both

private and country clubs, I have found that this intentional effort to cultivate new players is essential for any tennis industry setting. Below are three fundamental ways you can attract non-tennis players into the game and your club.

Bring the WOW Factor: The wow factor is commonly used in business to depict what a company does to go above and beyond customer expectations when delivering a great product and service experience. Think about a wow factor from a movie, restaurant, or concert you have attended. There was probably something simple yet effective about the experience. In this day and age of competing athletic options, clubs need to impress with their programming. Examples that have been successful at different clubs where I have worked include an adult round robin that involves hitting a piñata with serves; an Iron Man competition with tennis, swimming, and basketball; or a wooden racket classic. As professionals, we can focus too much on the number of lessons per day — not realizing this philosophy can lead to doing the bare minimum during a class. This negatively impacts the student and doesn’t result in positive word-of-mouth advertising.

August 2021

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Member Feature USPTA One quality each great coach possesses is giving a lesson that has a ripple effect on the person you are teaching and gets other non-tennis players interested because of the offered experiences.

Provide Instant Competition and Less Information: Through various continuing education presentations, it has been made clear that successful coaches take time to understand generational differences in their students. Let’s take millennials; from my experience, they tend to care less about being given loads of information, partly because they know they can Google it. They want quick results and instant gratification. In a Forbes article titled, “Motivating Millennials (And Everyone Else, for that Matter),” author Jaime Notter points out, “We all want autonomy, but millennials want it a little faster.” Notter also states, “They [millennials] are used to figuring how to do things by doing them rather than by learning them in the abstract first and then attempting to apply those lessons in the real world.” Relating better to millennials can be summed up in the principle of instant competition and less information especially for those who have never stepped on a tennis court. I have found that this works well even for other age groups because if people want more information, they tend to ask for it. It comes back to the famous phrase in Shakespeare’s ‘Hamlet,’ Brevity is the soul of wit. Two occasions where you can get non-tennis players on court are pickleball and cardio tennis. Within two minutes or less of explaining pickleball, players from 2.5 to 5.0 can play with one another and have a great time. More importantly, it is an excellent way for someone who does or does not play another sport to try a racquet sport. Pickleball is now considered the fastest growing sport in the world, while cardio burn events are significant for those gym enthusiasts who have some tennis skills. These types of events help occasional tennis players associate a positive experience with the sport and create a buzz for your program. If these events give non-tennis playing customers a positive experience, why not try them?

Create a Non-Tennis Personal Connection: Every time I hear tennis players talk about a great tennis event, they typically refer to it as a great experience. That’s because they had one unique and personal connection, which made a big impression, triggering the desire to repeat the encounter. People are much more likely to recommend a business or service if connected to some value they share personally. This can be as simple as holding a round-robin that raises money for a popular charity or conducting drop-in playtimes for members looking for a specific age group or skill level. The bottom line is that we are in the personal connection business. Most of us would agree that knowing three non-tennis facts about each student is vital to sustaining a healthy relationship with that student. While this topic is not always at the forefront of our thinking as tennis pros, making it a priority will improve our industry and increase our business skills as coaches and leaders. So, what are you doing today to hook that non-tennis or infrequent player into the game of tennis? * Photo credit : Yuriy Golub

August 2021

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USPTA Member Feature

Open Sport Learning: Dead Ball Feeding Larry Haugness, USPTA Elite Professional

e all know tennis is an extraordinarily complex and fastmoving game. It is classified as an open sport as opposed to a closed sport. Open sports require a different set of skills to play and have ever-changing variables requiring more tactical

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decision-making. Players must adapt and modify their execution depending upon the circumstances and situations. Therefore, skills are predominantly perceptual. The skill is mostly externally paced, for example, the player’s movement and stroke continually adapting to the situation at hand. Closed sport skills take place in a stable, predictable environment. Movements follow set patterns and have a clear beginning and end. A closed sport skill takes place in a structured and static environment and tends to be self-paced, such as a serve.

August 2021

Tennis has ever-changing variables, play affected by external circumstances such as our opponent’s ball spin, speed, court placement on shots, their court positioning, or even the court surface. This constant dynamic and changing environment requires more tactical decision-making. Players are perpetually adjusting on every shot in tennis as no two balls come the same. Therefore, players must learn how to make these adaptations in their movements to impart more or less spin and adjust the speed of the ball to ensure a successful shot. These quick

Member Feature USPTA decisions are typical and necessary to become even an adequate tennis player. These skills in a dynamic environment require multi-tasking or dual tasks and are predominantly perceptual. So how does one become proficient in an open sport? As the new student needs to acquire a basic stroke with semi-appropriate proper technique, we need to close the skill. The same applies to accomplished players when learning a new skill. This is where the dead ball feed comes in. Dead ball feeding in recent years has been given a bad rap in everyone’s haste to “get playing,” using the live ball feed and game-based play. Using the dead ball feed properly can be of great benefit to a player’s advancement.

Quite simply, the pro controls the dead ball feed. Many pros will use a hand drop feed with both beginning players and accomplished players while working on something new, different, or even a specific skill set. As players learn how to judge the incoming ball, the pro can move back, adjusting the distance — while keeping in mind, we want to simulate the arc of

a match play ball. As a player continues to improve and then can rally and play full court, the pro should move back to the baseline to simulate an actual game situation. At this point, think realistically, does the ball always come in the same? Or from the same spot? Of course not. Pros should feed using different speeds, spins, depth, and arc to simulate a match experience. In addition, try feeding balls from various areas along the baseline, including the corners. Now we are giving our players an authentic match experience. Another tip is not to hit the next ball until it passes the baseline. Again, this simulates match play. The best dead ball drill to simulate match play is interval training. This drill was presented by Dr. Jim Loehr years ago at an Area Training Center National Coaches Workshop. When he introduced this, Dr. Loehr said this is how we train our nationally ranked players. It teaches the brain to be on an even keel, not getting down after a poor attempt or overly excited after an incredible shot. The following year I saw Dr. Loehr and asked since this was to work on the mental side of tennis, would it help 3.0 and 3.5 players? He said yes, that it should. Let’s face it, players at every level have mental issues, even the pros, and they are among the most challenging areas to address for a teaching pro. Therefore, interval training is vital in learning how to cope with mental toughness issues. A good program is to feed a total of 50 balls in a session, ranging

from 3-12 balls in a sequence or per point — feeding points that the player needs to work on. For instance, hit a few balls deep, then hit short, forcing the player to hit a transition shot — then move to the net for a volley. The next point could keep them back behind the baseline, simulating a long rally. The important thing is to have them play the ball. They could miss every shot, and that’s okay. Use a variety of spins and speeds, anything a player may see in a match. As a player becomes more proficient, the feed placement can be dependent upon the player’s shot. Ultimately, one can have them begin with a serve — the closest thing to playing points. This is where a pros’ knowledge and experience come into play, helping their player. I have found that figuring a player’s percentage of good shots helps motivate and gauge their improvement. When a player consistently hits in the high 70 to low 80 percent, I suggest making the points more complicated, adding more spin, speed, and moving them around the court. In the last 30-plus years that I have been doing interval training, I’ve only had eight players hit 90 percent at the top level — and all have played collegiate tennis. And just one player hit 100 percent at the highest level. He played for a top DI school and was ranked No. 42 in the nation. I recently saw Dr. Loehr, and he asked me if I was still using interval training. My answer was an emphatic, yep! It is the ultimate in dead ball training and is a great way to keep players adjusting to different shots in an open skill level game. *

AUTHOR BIO Larry Haugness has been a USPTA member for 36 years. He is also a USRSA National Tester, an MRT, and a 28-year USTA volunteer. He has been president of two USTA Sections and four USTA Districts. Larry’s accomplishments have been recognized by the USPTA, USTA, and TIA. He has coached all levels of tennis, from red ball to touring professionals. In retirement, Larry is currently a volunteer coach at Boise State University. His teaching, coaching, and management experience have given him the expertise for his tennis articles and presentations.

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USPTA Member Feature

How to Improve Decision-Making for Different Game Situations Dmytro Kovalevych, USPTA Certified Professional

oor decision-making is a frequent cause of errors in tennis. It can be described as an inability to know what to do in a specific game situation or changing the previous choice made at the last moment. For example, the player who opts to move up to the net after the short ball and later changes their mind to go back to the baseline will likely lose the point. Players struggle to make proper choices in several situations, such as attacking and defending, returning the serve, or approaching the net. However, decision-making can be improved in training through proper drills and progressions. An effective way to train decision-making is to have players say out loud what they intend to do. Verbal cues can be used to increase attention and trigger a particular response of the student.

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August 2021

Photo credit : Elkhophoto

Member Feature USPTA

Exercise 1

Choosing the Direction: Cross or Line The coach feeds the ball, and the student has to say “cross” or “line.” At the beginning of the exercise, the coach explains to the students when it is better to hit crosscourt. For example, on deep or wide balls, when it is more advantageous to hit down the line — and in the attacking position, the player has time to set up. Then, the coach gives the student different feeds, and the student’s goal is to make decisions early on where he or she will hit the ball. The student’s primary focus is choosing the direction of the shot, and the coach’s feedback should be related to how wise the decision is and how quickly it was made. A. A modification to this exercise for more advanced students would be setting up four cones of different colors in various court areas. The players would have to call out the color of the cone they are deciding to hit towards. Choosing between four variants is more complicated, and so, students learn to decide on whether to hit short or deep, as well as crosscourt or down the line. B. Another variation for students is to start the point with a serve, where the receiving player would call the intended direction of the return. C. The progression to the first exercise would be a full-court rally with two or four students, where they have to call “cross” or “line” before each shot. After that, the students may choose to hit in any direction. Again, their goal is to make an intelligent decision. D. The next progression will be an open game situation, where the players call “cross” or “line” only on the first shot they are receiving, then play out the point. Again, the coach may vary the depth, speed, and direction of the feeds to encourage thinking and decisionmaking. The points in this game may be awarded to players for making good decisions and winning points.

Exercise 2

“Red, Orange, Green” In this exercise, the coach gives feeds of various difficulties, and the students have to decide whether they should defend, create the advantage, or attack. A. Players should call “red” when they get the most difficult feeds. When receiving those balls, the goal is to defend, hit the ball in the court, and prevent the opponent from attacking. B. Students would call “orange” if they think the incoming ball is of medium difficulty. Those feeds represent a large number of shots that occur in the rally of a match. When getting the orange feed, the purpose is to neutralize and create the advantage before the next shot. C. Players must call “green” when they think the feed is comfortable enough to attack and go for a winner. Those feeds are usually short and slow enough for the student to get inside the court and set up on time. Students should try to hit with maximum power and aim for a winner. The teaching points should be related to ball recognition and the different tactical responses made by the students. For instance, when the student receives a deep, wide ball, calls it “red,” and then hits hard down the line, that wouldn’t be a good decision and must be addressed by the coach. D. As a progression to this training, students can make different decisions during the rally with another player or coach. They would call “red, orange, or green,” depending on the ball they receive before each shot. The point could be played on a half-court or a full-court, depending on the number of people involved. E. In the following sequence, the coach or student feeds the ball in any direction. The student calls “red, orange, or green” on the first shot — then students play out the point when scoring may be introduced.

F. Return of serve variation; this drill is excellent for working on receiving the serve. The student has to decide what type of serve is coming and what he or she will do on the return. Through this sequence of exercises, students learn to decide when to attack or defend depending on their court position and the shot they receive.

Exercise 3

“Up or Back” Sometimes tennis players struggle to decide if they should move up to the net or drop back to the baseline following a short ball. As a result, they get stuck in the middle of the court and become vulnerable. The coach feeds the ball at the service line in this training — varying between short and deep. A. The student hits the ball and then calls “up” if he/she decides to follow it to the net after the shot or “back” if they choose to return to the baseline. The coach then feeds a second ball — and so, the player who came to the net hits a volley. Those that returned to the baseline hit a groundstroke. The goal for the students is to make a decision quickly following the first shot to avoid getting stuck in “no man’s land.” B. As a progression, the student chooses to move to the net or back to the baseline depending on the feed and then play out the point. This exercise is also great for working on passing shot decisionmaking for the defending player. When the attacking player comes to the net, the other student is working on choosing between a variety of passing shot options, which may include hitting crosscourt or down the line and playing it low to the legs of the net player or going for a lob. The ability to make decisions when playing matches is a vital skill for tennis players. One of the techniques that help to improve decision-making is the use of verbal cues. Coaches can teach the students to apply cue words in a variety of drills for different game situations. *

August 2021

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ADDVANTAGE MAGAZINE

President................................................................. Feisal Hassan First Vice President.............................................Richard Slivocka Vice Presidents...............Lane Evans, Mark Faber, Trish Faulkner, Jason Gilbert, Bill Mountford Immediate Past President............................................ Gary Trost CEO...........................................................................John Embree Legal Counsel........................................................George Parnell

Editor...................................................................................... Jim Burke Managing Editor......................................................... Mike Calendrillo Layout/Design.............................................................Kevin Karczewski Editorial Assistance .............................Alegna Hollis, Ramona Husaru, Sid Newcomb, Fred Viancos, Ellen Weatherford Circulation..................................................................... Trevor Trudelle USPTA World Headquarters 11961 Performance Dr. Orlando, FL 32827 407-634-3050 – www.uspta.com

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ADDvantage is published monthly by the United States Professional Tennis Association. The opinions expressed in ADDvantage are those of the authors and not necessarily those of ADDvantage or the United States Professional Tennis Association. Copyright© United States Professional Tennis Association, Inc. 2021. All rights reserved. Reproduction of any portion of the magazine is not permitted without written permission from the USPTA.