16 minute read
Success Secrets with Ken DeHart
Ken DeHart
By Pat Whitworth USPTA Master Professional
Ken has so many accomplishments and awards during his career that we will list just a few. The most recent is the recipient of the USPTA Lifetime Achievement Award. To list a few more are USPTA & PTR Master Professional (1 of less than 20 with both), USPTA 4-time Divisional Pro of the Year, PTR International Master Professional, PTR 2-time International Pro of the Year PTR Hall of Fame, 3-time USPTA Education Award Winner, and Wilson Premier Staff.
Who were a few of your mentors? Thay Butchee. He helped me get the first director job in Nashville TN. I had asked him if I could work for him for free at his KY club. His brother came back and took over the job. He mentored me about the job and various aspects. He suggested we go check out this Van der Meer place in FL. Next is Bill Tym. He tested me, and he set such a standard that everyone would want to emulate. Dr. Jim Loehr was another since I wanted to work and learn about the mental game. Whenever I saw presentations, I liked to take a picture with the speaker and send him the picture and a note about how much I learned. It was a good way to be remembered.
How important has reading and education been to you? 80-90%. I have over 1200 books on tennis. Going to seminars, meeting people, and watching other people. A lot of people are mentors in the way they interact, network, and treat others. Ed note: Ken mentioned that at the recent conference, many people came up to him and mentioned something from a past seminar that they still use. It is always the little things that stick. Director for the PTR. I had read In Search of Excellence and applied it during the interview. I felt I needed to improve my administrative skills, and this would be the opportunity. I hired Julie Jilly - the best hire ever! As a presenter, it was making things simple, and it carried over to my teaching. Over the last 20 years, my teaching has become much simpler. People learn when it is simple.
Combo question: How are you using technology and what have you changed over the last 20-30 years? In the 80s, my dad built me a video box to video on court. I had the kids tell me their favorite music, and I created their Favorite Hits action video. Now it is so easy to take an Ipad Pro on court and video and diagram. The other thing is my use of Facebook. I have 7000 friends on Facebook. Learning how to present things that were not always about me is a good way to showcase, but not always be self-promoting. The DVDs came about because of Jorge Capestany. He encouraged me to put my ideas into a video format. I also like to give handouts at presentations. It lets people remember the key ideas, but they also remember me when they review the handout. Also important to keep it simple. A lot of learning has come from thinking “What would I like from this presentation?”.
You have never been tied down to a job for 20-30 years. How have changing jobs benefited your career? I was never afraid to try something new, even when I had no idea what I was doing. Even though I have held a lot of jobs, most are 5+ years. One of my top skills is to re-energize a club, but in the process, I get to reinvent myself. It is also important to learn from past mistakes.
What are you reading now? Champion Mindset by Allistair McCaw. I really like his writing style.
What was your breakout moment for both your career and as a presenter? As a professional, it was when I became the Executive Is there a difference between working an east coast club vs. a west coast club? Not really. All clubs are unique, but the underlying factor in dealing with people, building relationships, and staff training. What advice do you offer to newer professionals? My specialty has always been large groups. I do a weekend clinic with 3.5-5.0 players, and it is a drop-in. We may have 20 people. I want everyone involved and nobody is turned away. One of the staff training is to have my under staff hit in the clinics. This way they will learn how I manipulate the timing and levels of players. They can help guide people through the drill as well as give me feedback on how different things work. This is much more effective than a mid-day staff training session. A bonus is they can give mini-lessons during the clinic. I tell them to steal everyone for a private lesson that they can. They are building a relationship, and I will not promote any private lessons for myself. I also encourage them to bring ideas and I will help them implement the idea.
When you are hiring someone, what are you looking for? What questions do they ask me during the interview? Can they find out the information? What is the philosophy of the club and me? If they do not have the knowledge to ask the question, then I will ask them. They need to have high energy, and they need to be a learner. I cannot help if they are not learning. I also try to hire people that are good at the things that I am not good at doing. This builds the best team for our club. Maybe it is a person that is a great red ball person, court maintenance, stringer, etc.
Anything else to add? One is, do you have a passion for the tennis business? This is still old school, but I work 50 hours at my club, teach 20 hours in the park, and I string racquets at night. It is important to have a vision or have someone that will guide you. It is important to continue to learn in person or online. Be on an education pathway and be involved in your professional association.
Anything that you would have done differently as you look back? We are so lucky to be where we are, and this comes up during discussions at various conferences. The answer is NOTHING. Everything that I have done, including mistakes and bad choices, has made me who I am today.
The Written Word
Review by Rick Willett
The timing of this book is so relevant during this pandemic. The pandemic has created distractions, daily disruptions, and derailed consistent revenue streams. Allistair McCaw’s new book provides lifelines out of this melee. Developing a Winning Attitude and Mindset offers a pandemic professional reset for tennis directors, coaches, and tennis professionals. He focuses on the merits and positive outcomes of mastering your mindset. There are two kinds of mindset-the fixed mindset and the growth mindset. The fixed mindset is resisting having changes, being close-minded to any new ideas or outlooks, the ability is limited by failure, and easily giving up. The watchword for a fixed mindset is inflexible. The growth mindset is adaptable, hungry to learn, open to feedback, enjoying trying new things, and welcomes challenges. The watchword is teachable.
Some of the themes we will unpack are the energy vampires, developing a positive mental attitude, the factors to keep a good attitude, what depletes energy and restores energy, the role of discipline, and how a winning attitude will broaden one’s perspective galvanizing change.
The book is broken out into eight sections illustrating how the reader can shed the pandemic grip on your attitude to acquire a winning mindset. McCaw writes about many of his own life and coaching experiences with the daily work required to advance one’s mindset. McCaw places great emphasis on changing your mindset and your attitude. One way he sees to do this is to avoid energy vampires. These vampires have a negative outlook, try to sabotage their ideas, and focus on others’ shortcomings. They are a buzzkill trying to take your joy. The watchword is discouragement. Here are six ways to distance yourself from these energy vampires: • Unfollow and delete these people from your social media. • Be aware as vampires cloak their destructive behavior. • Diminish watching the news filled with negativity. • Keep your distance from them. • Avoid discussions with them bringing you down. • Try to avoid these vampires and disconnect from them.
One aspect that struck me is the integration of how attitude depends on energy. Alistair shares a story of coaching a client in another country and noticed his attitude was not at peak performance. It was due to his low energy; therefore, he flew home for a few days to rest and recover. Alistair states 70% of the coaches he knows are on empty due to racing all over the world to meet coaching requirements never stopping to rest and regain recovery.
The number one-way tennis professionals deplete their energy is the pressure the pandemic created to teach longer hours and work seven days a week. Generating revenue is a real stressor. One outcome from being so depleted is injury. Energy depletion spills into having a negative attitude. It is important to know your limits. While wanting to build your book of business, you may lose existing clients alienating them with low energy and a bad attitude. Clients will detect apathy. The watchwords are rest and metabolic recovery.
McCaw established the correlation between energy and attitude. He assembled the following list of how attitudes intersect with energy: • Energy you give is to others • Energy you have is your health • Energy you bring is in your attitude • Energy you share are your relationships • Energy you gain is from exercise
Another quality for a winning attitude is to be “All In”. It takes a 100% commitment daily to implement this mindset. McCaw says it’s important to do the following in developing a winning attitude: • Surround yourself with people who have an amplified mission like you. • Choose people who push you and elevate you to be better. • Spend time with like-minded people who have a positive mental attitude. • Include those who discover the best in you, not the stress in you. The foundation to have a winning mindset is discipline. Any goal or significant achievement demands a high level of discipline. The more discipline a coach possesses; the more freedom it eventually makes possible. Discipline requires a single-mindedness and an unyielding focus. McCaw created the 15-90 principle: Spend 15 minutes a day investing in a new endeavor; this translates into 90 hours a year reaping the benefits of a new skill. The watchword is to thrive on learning.
Attitude and effort are interrelated. The book discusses giving the extra 5%. The most successful coaches and tennis professionals do more than what is asked of them. Consistently exceeding 5% or more, you can succeed far beyond what you predict. Outworking others distinguishes you from others. My father ran the golf course every morning before school, amplifying his abilities, being in the best shape of everyone else on the team. Doing the extra 5% will open many doors capturing new opportunities.
A timely component that is an outgrowth from the pandemic is embracing change from Winning Attitude and Mindset. We are living in a period never experienced before. McCaw’s book is a benchmark showing you how to move out of this isolation and chaos to catapult yourself to champion a new opportunity. Break the hold isolation has by establishing communication and connecting with your mission builders, positive coaches, and uplifting friends.
In summary, embracing change can spark a winning approach formulating ways to adapt in this new climate being open-minded for change, and practicing gratitude. This book provides the necessary tools to rejuvenate, recharge and redesign yourself. It is crucial to differentiate yourself and capitalize on this new mindset. Attitude is the bedrock for success.
I have read all four of Alistair McCaw’s books, and I highly recommend Developing a Winning Attitude and Mindset. 5-star rating
Tech Corner 15 Insanely Useful Websites That’ll Come in Handy Someday
By Ben Stegner
Finding useful websites can be tough. There are well over a billion sites on the web, and a good number of them are totally useless. Of course, some of the most useful websites are quite popular, so you probably already know of them. But there are many other useful websites beyond the ones you may be familiar with. Fortunately, we’ve done the work of searching for you. Check out these top useful websites that each offer something worth checking out.
www.cleanpng.com
This website provides free high-quality PNG images without a background. Its millions of PNGs on offer work for brochures, banners, websites, and more. The website provides unlimited free downloads with no registration or other hoops to jump through.
pixlr.com
With Pixlr, you can edit pictures right in your browser, without Photoshop or GIMP. It’s an easy-to-use tool that doesn’t require installation, and is free unless you need more features. You can work in your favorite browser or download the app on your phone to edit pictures without any complicated tools.
pixabay.com
Sites like Shutterstock are too expensive for most casual users; Pixabay is a much more suitable option. It offers over two million royalty-free images, illustrations, videos, and vector graphics to download at no charge.
privnote.com
With Privnote, you can send a note that selfdestructs after it’s read. This is great when you need something more private than an email to send sensitive information.
downforeveryoneorjustme.com
When you’re having trouble accessing a website, it could be an issue on your end or a problem with the website itself. This site makes it easy to find out. Just enter a website URL, and you’ll see if this tool has trouble accessing it. If it does, you’ll know the problem isn’t just happening for you.
ninite.com
Ninite is a must-know site when setting up a new Windows computer. On its homepage, you’ll find dozens of popular apps. Check all the ones you want to download and hit the download button at the bottom, then Ninite will download a file that installs them all. www.lucidchart.com/pages/ Here’s an easy-to-use website that converts your data into a neat diagram. It’s a great way to make flowcharts, task flows, and even wireframes.
www.eatthismuch.com
Eat This Much is an automatic diet planner. Enter how many calories you want to eat and how many meals to spread them across, and the service will help you create a diet plan. It includes weekly emails for what to buy at the grocery store, cooking instructions, and updated stats as you go along.
www.diffchecker.com
Diffchecker is a handy way to find out what someone else changed in your document. Paste two sets of text (or upload a pair of images, PDFs, or Excel files) and you can see what’s different between them.
fast.com
Curious about the speed of your current network connection? Open up Fast.com (powered by Netflix) and you’ll quickly see the speed of your current connection. It works for mobile hotspots, your home, or any other network you want to check.
www.flightstats.com/v2
Whether you’re a globetrotter, student, businessman, or concerned parent, this site allows you to track any flight. Just enter the flight number and you’ll see the real-time location and status of the journey.
infogram.com
This website lets you create stunning infographics as well as charts, reports, and social media visuals. It’s a modern and sleek editor that helps you present information in an interesting way.
alternativeto.net
Ever find an app that you want to use, but it’s too expensive or doesn’t work on your platform of choice? Or perhaps you’re looking to replace one of your favorite apps that was recently discontinued. In these cases, AlternativeTo can help.
www.manualslib.com/Chances are that you don’t keep the manuals for every device you own. That can become a problem if you run into an issue with your device and need to consult the instructions for something. Thankfully, even if you’ve thrown away your copy of the manual, ManualsLib is an excellent resource for finding instruction manuals online.
cloudconvert.com
You’ll likely need to convert a file to a different format at some point. When you do, head to the useful website CloudConvert. This makes it easy to change any file to pretty much any other format.
www.innerbody.com
Among other resources, this site offers an interactive guide to human anatomy. It’s an easy way to study the human body’s various systems and segments, perhaps to teach students in school. The site also offers help with testing, health products, and telemedicine.
Southern Officers
The “Standard” is the official newsletter for the Southern Division of the United States Professional Tennis Association.
President Kevin Theos theos@sta.usta.com 205-790-7256 1st Vice President Tom Parkes pvcctennis@gmail.com 910-233-4755 2nd Vice President Kaitlin Flaherty-Bisplinghoff kflaherty07@gmail.com 832-656-4472 Secretary/Treasurer Ken Andriano kandriano0507@gmail.com 336-541-5876 Past President/Regional VP Todd Upchurch tupchurch1@gmail
Directors at Large Bill Riddle tennisun@aol.com 615-243-6698 Jason Hazley usptala@gmail.com 225-247-3028 Executive Director Pat Whitworth pat.whitworth@uspta.org 800-438-7782 (phone/fax) Head Tester Ron Gwyn rgwyn@haigpoint.com 843-341-8114 ALABAMA John Beaube jbeaube@green2grocer.com ARKANSAS patmalone67@gmail.com GEORGIA Bill Anderson banderson@capitalcityclub.org KENTUCKY Tim McCollum mccollum@sta.usta.com 502-709-0021 LOUISIANA Bill Bryan billb1481@gmail.com MISSISSIPPI Emilia Viljoen stayplaytennis@gmail.com NORTH CAROLINA Fred Pfuhl usptanc1@gmail.com SOUTH CAROLINA Dean Mays deano959@bellsouth.net TENNESSEE Meg Bandy mbandy@mccallie.org
USPTA Welcomes Our New Members
Cause, Robert ............... Winnabow NC Delany, Richard.......... Mount Pleasant SC Lawson, Curtis..................Durham NC Patchett, Leon...............Clarkesville GA Phillips, Cecil ................. Cumming GA Robinson, Terrence.............Memphis TN Seman, Richard............... Pike Road AL
FAST FACTS
WTA Championship
The WTA championships were held for the first time in October 1972 in Boca
Raton, Florida as a climactic event at the end of a series of tournaments sponsored by Virginia Slims, called the
Virginia Slims Circuit.
The WTA Finals have been held in 9 different countries and on 3 continents.
Since 2003 there have been eight singles players divided into two round-robin groups, and eight doubles teams.
Martina Navratilova has the most wins in WTA Finals history, eight singles and 13 doubles titles.
Martina Navratilova has the longest consecutive win streak with 5 WTA Finals titles.
Monica Seles and Serina
Williams each won 3 straight
WTA titles.
— E.M.Forster
— John Quincy Adams
“The best teachers are those who tell you where to look – but don’t tell you what to see.” — Alexandra K. Trenfor
USPTA SOUTHERN DIVISION NEWSLETTER
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