In part one of “7 Tips to Win More Matches from a National Champion”, Kenny talked about three of his tips. They included:

1. Set Expectations, Define Goals, and Create a Plan
2. Be Familiar and Comfortable with the scoring, format, facility, and schedule.
3. Matchday Preparation: rituals, warm-up, focus, mindset

This week, he tells us four more great tips to win more matches. They include:

1. Scouting & Reading your opponents: beforehand, during warmup, and match
2. Handling multiple matches and downtime physically, mentally, and emotional
3. Playing your best tennis: mental, strengths, weaknesses, adjustments
4. Post-match: opponents, cool down, notes/journaling, physio, video/data, and outcome review.

Talking with Kenny, Carolyn and Erin now believe it’s possible to make it all the way to a National Championship and win. We just have to be better about following Kenny’s advise!

If you missed Kenny’s first episode, we hope you’ll go back and listen.

• Ep. 130: 7 Tips to Win More Matches from a National Champion

Here’s a complete transcript of our conversation

Speaker 2: 0:08
Hi, this is Carolyn and I’m here with Aaron, and this is part two of our episode with Kenny, who is the 4.0 18 plus singles national champion. In part one, he gave a lot of great tips on how to succeed in every match and also told us his really interesting story about winning a cheese rolling competition. So if you haven’t listened to part one, we hope you go back and listen, but here is part two, okay.

Speaker 1: 0:32
Let’s talk about number four. It’s scouting and reading your opponents beforehand. Warmup and match.

Speaker 3: 0:39
Yeah. So obviously there’s a lot of platforms that you can kind of, you know, do your research and check. Utr is a big one that I use, universal tennis rating when you’re playing tournaments and even locally or somewhere else, you can ask other players and even like, maybe you played an opponent, like in a in your division or your draw, that you’re probably not going to play them again. And you can ask players for insight and if you’re friendly, that’s how I use that, nationals I’d say, you know, give me a little bit. What does that guy do? Well, what is it? And a lot of people are you know, they’re willing to open up and tell you about your next opponent, and so a lot of players you know post videos of themselves on YouTube, especially. You know higher, higher level players. And then you know swing vision. If you higher level players and then you know swing vision, if you can find them on swing vision, obviously you’re going to see almost all the stats that you could imagine.

Speaker 1: 1:29
That’s really smart Gosh. I didn’t think of any of this stuff before.

Speaker 2: 1:34
I never would have thought swing vision, I never would have thought to look there. But that’s a great point, right.

Speaker 3: 1:38
Yeah, cause swing vision. I mean you’re going to see, like you know pretty much, you can see everything and you can break it down, and so that’s a really cool thing to check out. And then so for warm-up, during warm-up, I’m using that to get myself ready, but I’m also using that to check out my opponent see how they move, check how to handle their spin, see how they handle short balls, see how they handle overheads. And then I’m big, especially when playing doubles, but even in singles, of practicing returning serves. Now I don’t have to whack them. Sometimes I’ll just hit it back to them, and I know some people kind of are annoyed by that, but it’s also my warmup, so I like to return serves just as much actually as I practice serves in the warmup. That’s smart.

Speaker 3: 2:19
So again with the match, take a break after this set. I know you guys have talked about that before. Think about what you’re doing well, think about what you’re not doing well, think about what your opponent, and then we are our best critics and like we don’t have coaches, like we’re not fortunate to simply have coaches on court with us, but we know, like if we had a coach, what would our coach say? And if we’re playing doubles, like I like to, I say, hey, ask my partner, like just to make sure we’re on the right page, like okay, what am I doing? Or what do we need to do better?

Speaker 2: 2:51
Yeah, that was fantastic. Okay For number five we’ve got handling multiple matches and downtime physically, mentally, emotionally. Can you talk about that?

Speaker 3: 3:01
In tournaments you’re going to be playing multiple matches per day and like so. In my experience, you know, playing these fast four, if you’re playing doubles and singles, you could play between three and six matches per day, which that is a lot to deal with. And for me, the hardest thing was just kind of mentally and emotionally decompressing after a match, because you’re just like it was like back to back to back and you didn’t have time just to like you know you’d lose or you play a really tight match and you got to get ready right away for the next match. So after matches, when I have time, I certainly like to take my shoes off, walk around in sandals.

Speaker 3: 3:38
I’m big on changing clothes, whether the match went well or not. And then, you know, at nationals it was so hot. So I was, you know, literally taking a shower between matches, sometimes even when I had, like you know, 30 minutes or an hour. As far as the emotional aspect, you got to move past those tough, emotional matches and, you know, forget about those mistakes, forget about those bad points, and I like a quote here. I use this a lot and it goes accept what, what is, let go of what was and have faith in what will be, and it comes from the author, uh, sonia Riccardi, that’s great, that’s great.

Speaker 1: 4:13
So number six is playing your best tennis mental strengths, adjustments, pressure, and you’ve got three of three written down here. I want to know what that is. But talk about all of those.

Speaker 3: 4:23
Yeah. So mental is obviously, um, you know, really figuring out your greatest strengths and you know, tell themselves, tell yourself them and talk about them. You know, before you’re playing, especially like when, when self-doubt creeps in and you’re like, oh man, I suck, or like, oh I, I, you know it’s not going right, right. So when, when self-doubt creeps in my head, I like to go to my words and like to kick in. I think I mentioned those.

Speaker 3: 4:48
But you know, I say I got this grind fight win and it just gets me a little more pumped up and a little more motivated to play on center court at Nationals. That was added pressure and I like that. I was just going to run a little bit harder, I was going to swing a little bit faster and just play a little bit bigger. And also I I like to record my matches. I use SwingVision and just simply recording matches or even having people watch there that, like I typically don’t know, I just I feed off of that and I play a little bit better and a little bit bigger. So it’s just can you develop that positive relationship with pressure and use it as a tool for you?

Speaker 2: 5:36
Yes, I agree with that.

Speaker 3: 5:38
And then another point of that was strengths. Like you know, write down your strengths, figure out. You know really what those. I think we all know them, but just simply writing them down. Like, for me, my strengths are I’m very fast, I’m physical, I fight every point and I typically play. You know big points. Well, I have weaknesses also, so I try to, you know, stay away from those points. Well, I have weaknesses also, so I try to, you know, stay away from those.

Speaker 3: 6:03
And then, as far as making adjustments, like you got to recognize in a match, you know if everything’s going right you don’t have to think about a lot and that’s how you should be playing. But when things aren’t going right, you know you got to make those adjustments and really figure out. And that’s why, like, especially after maybe you played a bad set, take a break. I think you guys have talked about it. Like, go to the bathroom, you know whatever you need to do, take just a moment to yourself, go fill up your water bottle somewhere. You know, do something just to like kind of reset and come back out there If you can. You know, develop that positive relationship with pressure and use that as a tool to perform at your best, and that’s what you see. You know the biggest players doing, so I have a crazy stat for you, or maybe a like a pop quiz what, according to this study, how many points should be? You’d be striving to win in a match?

Speaker 1: 6:51
I’m raising my hand. Nobody can see it. You have to win at least 51, 51%. That’s what I’m going with.

Speaker 3: 7:00
But I don’t know are you asking actual points. Yeah, a percent, a percentage.

Speaker 1: 7:04
Percentage oh, 52. I’m going with 52.

Speaker 3: 7:06
Yeah, so we’re taking pro tennis and your goal really should be 52%. So if you’re winning 52%, you’re losing 48%, so you got to be mentally prepared to handle that. And they talk about this study of. They took the greats in singles Nadal, federer and Djokovic. Those are the only players they’re all at like 54. Those are the only players throughout history that they’ve found that win more than 52% of their points overall.

Speaker 1: 7:35
Isn’t that crazy.

Speaker 3: 7:36
If you look at stats across all of tennis, the most common rally length is crazy it’s one shot. And the second most common rally length is three shots. So, like 70% of all points across all tennis, even pros and recreational tennis, is 70% of points that will be played between zero and four shots or one and four shots. So to me it’s big understanding that and practicing that, because you know a lot of people will go out and practice like these huge, long rallies and that makes up such a small percentage of the actual game. And then the final thing I have to add about that is the three of three rule. If you win three of three of these, you’re probably going to win. Even if you just win two of these, you’re still probably going to win the match. You’re probably going to win. Even if you just win two of these, you’re still probably going to win the match.

Speaker 3: 8:23
So number one is your before the match preparation, your scouting, your strategy, your warmup and your focus. That’s number one. Those are something, all those things you can easily control. Number two is your on-court time playing your points, playing those key points, winning those break points, saving those break points, and again comes back to winning 52% of your points. And then the final thing is three, and that’s the time between points. And if you really think about it, there’s probably more time between points than there actually is playing points. So the time between points is it’s the mental battle with yourself, it’s the self-doubt, it’s overcoming pressure, challenges, making adjustments. A lot of people kind of explain it as those 20 to 30 seconds between each point and that makes up a huge part, probably the biggest part, of a match.

Speaker 2: 9:17
Agreed, I have a lot of work to do, aaron. I know we both do.

Speaker 1: 9:21
Kenny’s going to be, do Aaron? I know we both do. Kenny’s going to be our new guy. We’re going to call.

Speaker 3: 9:28
Yeah, reach out anytime.

Speaker 2: 9:31
I love that, though. Okay, number seven post-match opponents cool down physio notes. Match review Can you talk about that?

Speaker 3: 9:38
Yeah. So I’m a big proponent of you know you got to win and lose graciously and respectfully. Again, not all of your opponents are going to be your best friends. We’ve certainly ran into those people that we don’t want to talk to ever again, right. But when you’re playing a local league or regional tournament, even a national you know the tennis community is not that big You’re going to see these people again. Almost a hundred percent there’s a chance you’re going to see these people again.

Speaker 3: 10:07
So when I win or lose a match, I really do try to be the same person, whether I win or lose, and I really believe you know that’s the way it should be and I’m sure that you guys can tell me a million examples of people not acting that way. But I said, most of us are here to compete, win and have fun, and we’re not. You know we’re not playing, we’re not professional players, we’re not playing for big money, we’re not playing for millions of dollars and huge endorsements. So again, it’s it’s just important to handle that, you know, with, with, have fun and show good sportsmanship. In my opinion, 100%. And then, as far as like a cool down, this is something I’ve kind of recently incorporated because you know I didn’t really want to do it after I was like, oh, it’s fine, I don’t need to do this.

Speaker 3: 10:53
But you know, in most recent time, you know having a few injuries and then you know playing tons of matches you know multiple matches in a day I really found that it was more important. So after a match, for a cool down, I like to do like a light jog, five minute jog, or like when I play at the court near my house. I live really close to the courts, so I do like a 10-minute easy bike ride home and I also use that as like a warm-up. And then, you know, if I’m feeling soreness, I certainly add some light stretching, icing any aches. And then, especially in tournaments and hot weather and I’m sure you guys have experienced this but you know making sure those feet and those fingers watching for those hot spots, because it’s tough to play if you have, you know, making sure those feet and those fingers watching for those hotspots, because it is it’s tough to play if you have, you know, blisters and all those kinds of things.

Speaker 1: 11:38
I used to come home from matches, um, from singles matches, mostly with, really, if I had really sore legs, if I played during the day but I still had to come home and work, I would fill up a trash can like a big rubber trash can with ice and cold water and I would stick my legs in it under my desk and I would soak my legs. It was so helpful. I need to incorporate that again, but I used to do that all the time because my legs would be so sore from singles.

Speaker 3: 12:07
Yeah, so my football background. We would sit in ice baths every day after practice, after summer camps, and I totally feel like you’re. If you can get used to ice baths, you especially in soreness. You can reduce your soreness by you know, a big, maybe 25, 50%.

Speaker 1: 12:24
Another thing you got to do, Carolyn.

Speaker 2: 12:26
Yeah, another thing I have to do. But also, how do you guys motivate yourself to do that?

Speaker 1: 12:31
I can’t get in an ice bath, but I can put my legs in it.

Speaker 3: 12:34
Honestly, like it’s tough. You know, some people use, like these special toe pads so your toes don’t go numb, cause that’s like the biggest thing, like your toes or your hands will go numb. But um, honestly, it’s just, it’s mental, it’s just like once you get used to it, like no one I think likes it originally, but once you get used to it it’s kind of like cold showers. I there’s research kind of along the same things about taking ice cold showers. I hated that, like my first 20 years of my life hated taking cold showers. Now I love taking cold showers, no matter what the weather is like.

Speaker 1: 13:05
Listen, Carolyn, this is a man who be like, who did a cheese contest where he had to run down a hill really quickly so he can take an ice bath.

Speaker 3: 13:14
He can handle anything.

Speaker 1: 13:18
He can handle it. Oh my goodness.

Speaker 3: 13:21
So, again, after the match, um, you know I like to, you know, take some notes and especially you know we talked about that review swing vision. If you don’t have swing vision, you’re not recording it. You know, I still recommend that you maybe have someone record some for you, but if you can’t, definitely, you know, write some notes down, kind of review those things. And I said I love SwingVision because you know you can really deep dive into all the stats and analytics and see what you’re doing well and not see the shots you were missing and making and really break it down. And then, yeah, if you can, you know, utilize and improve these things and all these steps, you know I’m sure you’re going to win more matches, have more success and kind of feel more comfortable and more in control and play better under pressure. And I like this kind of quote that I’ve kind of merged from others and say like tennis is a journey with highs, lows and lessons to learn, but most of all it’s experiences to enjoy, share and remember.

Speaker 2: 14:19
I love that.

Speaker 1: 14:20
I love that.

Speaker 2: 14:21
We really appreciate Kenny being on the podcast. Kenny mentioned that he reviews his matches using SwingVision and we have an affiliate link and discount code for Swing Vision in our show notes and on our website, which is SecondServePodcast.com. Thanks so much for listening and hope to see you on the court soon.

The post Ep. 331: 7 Tips to Win More Matches from a National Champion (Part Two) appeared first on Second Serve Tennis Podcast.

We are replaying a few of our most popular episodes and this was one of them!

Imagine setting impossible goals and constantly reaching them! That’s precisely what our guest, Kenny, has done. Kenny was the 4.0 18-plus singles National Champion! He is a former Division 1 football player, a former top ten track cyclist in Thailand, and won the UK cheese rolling competition.

If you would like to watch Kenny winning the cheese rolling competition please click below:

Kenny winning the Cheese Rolling Competition
Sports Illustrated Article about Kenny

Here’s a transcript of our discussion:

Carolyn : 0:02
Hi, this is Carolyn, and I’m here with Erin, and we are thrilled to have Kenny here with us. Kenny is the 4.0 18 plus singles national champion. He’s also a former division one football player and former top 10 track cyclists in Thailand and, most importantly, he’s the winner of the UK cheese rolling competition, which has been featured on ESPN’s top 10 plays on good morning america, Yahoo homepage, sports Illustrated and over 100 media outlets. So we have a lot of questions for you. Erin, can you start us off with the first one?

Erin: 0:38
So my first question is not about tennis. We need to hear about the cheese rolling championship that you won.

Kenny: 0:46
Yeah, so it’s. I first found out about it doing a project in college about obscure sports, and it was one of the most obscure sports going around and it’s if you’ve never seen videos. A lot of people have heard it, but if you’ve never seen videos you definitely got to check it out, because it’s literally running down like a ski slope where they roll this giant block of cheese. The cheese can go 70, 80 miles down the hill. No one can beat it. But basically you’re racing it and to see the first one down the hill is crown champion and it’s a tradition that’s been going on since the Roman times for like 500 years and it’s only been canceled like two times or three times in the last 500 years, and one was like World War II, two was like COVID and then one year they just had tons of injuries. So like even to watch it is kind of crazy, because you see people, you know major broken arms and legs.

Erin: 1:34
Oh, my gosh.

Kenny: 1:35
Yeah, it was pretty spectacular and crazy, but when did you do that? Yeah. So I was filming like a documentary project called One in Million, about inspiring a million people to check off their bucket list, pursue their dreams, and it was a goal that I had that I always kind of push back when I was working and like, okay. So I refocused and I was like, okay, I’m finally going to check this one off and go do it. So I wanted to do really big things that year with that project and just in life. So I set the goal for basically impossible goals. One was to be the first American to win the cheese race. Two was two. They actually do an uphill race too. It’s not quite as popular, it’s not as dangerous, but it’s still an uphill race, so that you run up the hill and it’s a separate race and they have women’s and men’s divisions and things like that and kids divisions. And then three was to make ESPN Sports Center top 10 plays, which was a goal that I had in football that I never accomplished. And the four was to inspire and reach a million people with my story and I can proudly say that, with winning the cheese race, winning the uphill, and then the story went worldwide. So I accomplished all those goals.

Erin: 2:52
Wow, you are such an inspiration because Carolyn and I set goals all the time and we talk about them. We always say we put it out to the world, right? We write them on our Google Doc and Carolyn’s was to play Ash Barty. She put that out like one of the first episodes. Ash has since retired, but we’re going to keep putting it out to the world because now we feel like she has more time to play tennis with Carolyn.

Kenny: 3:15
Absolutely. I remember that, listen to that episode and I yeah, I I don’t know her personally, but I know she has more time now since she’s retired. So you know, I really hope she can get that done and I’m a big believer. If you know, you write it down, you talk about it, you keep saying it that it’s going to happen eventually.

Carolyn : 3:33
Yeah, I put it out to the universe. So now I’m just waiting for the universe to respond. So we’ll see. I’ll keep everyone posted.

Kenny: 3:40
And I’m a big believer of that year, like that, six degrees of separation, right, and this tennis community is not that big. So absolutely I think, like you just need one person that knows one person and you’re there.

Carolyn : 3:50
Yeah, we’re one degree from Roger Federer, because we just interviewed someone from tennis warehouse, michelle, who interviewed Roger Federer. So no, we’re two.

Kenny: 3:59
There you go, I guess yeah, probably two. We’re two degrees, we’re close, we’re getting there.

Erin: 4:03
We’re getting there. Yeah, that’s right, we’re getting there.

Carolyn : 4:07
Well, kenny actually won the national championship in singles 18 plus. It’s amazing. And he came up with the title, which is seven tips to win more matches from a national champion. So I’ll start off with the first one, which is setting expectations, goals and plan of action. What did you mean?

Kenny: 4:27
For me, it’s important to set those, define those, write them down, review them. So your goal might not be natural champion right away or might not even be to win a tough match, but for me you might be working on something. You might just be playing your best tennis, have opportunities to win, because I certainly play matches against tough opponents where I’m literally just trying to hold my serve every time I’m winning to try to win three, four game. So for me, once I qualified nationals, the goal was to win and I did lay out a three month plan of playing matches, tournaments, gym workouts and mental and physical training, and then, important, with goal settings, understanding and developing. You know growth mindset. You know you can always improve, you can always get better. You know our, our talents and our skills are not fixed. And then ultimately, specializing my training and I laid a roadmap out for success. And you know, while trusting the entire process.

Erin: 5:22
That’s great. So the second one that you talked about was be familiar and comfortable with scoring format, facility and schedule. Tell us about that one.

Kenny: 5:32
Yeah, so you know, with this format it was the fast for format, so it’s definitely something that’s not common. You know it’s it’s short games, there’s no ad, scoring the way leds, play the way tie breaks, it’s just not something you’re used to. If you’re playing regular, you know adult tennis typically. So my tip here is really just you know, make sure that you really understand especially if it’s a new format how the tie breaks work, how the points work, how the switches and just get as comfortable if you can. And I’m big about practicing tie breaks for pressure to simulate pressure. And for this particular case, I played and practiced matches A lot of those matches with friends in that fast for format, just so I could get familiar with it. Have you guys ever played any like weird formats or fast for any other, like pro sets or anything like that?

Erin: 6:23
Just yeah, just at states.

Carolyn : 6:24
Yeah, or even world team. I think this is such a good point because it does make a difference. And what we don’t do, aaron, like we’ll tie 6-6 with our friends and we won’t even play the tie break because we’re like, oh, let’s just stop. We’re both winners, but maybe we should be.

Erin: 6:40
Yeah, I was like then nobody loses If you, if you don’t play a tie breaker, then you both walk away winners.

Kenny: 6:45
Yeah but maybe we do need to practice it, because I’ve been losing a lot of my time lately, so my format, especially in a new facility, is I like to get there at least one hour early before a match. I like to find the check-in table for a tournament, find the trainer station, find the bathroom, the warm up areas, the food station, the tennis shop, and then I really like to, you know, lay out my bag and really and I’m just trying to get the most comfortable and really kind of create in many ways a home court advantage for myself. And there’s an interesting study about this that they actually studied English football league, which is soccer over as we know it, and they analyzed like 10,000 matches actually, and they found that the home team won 64% of their matches and even with the absence of fans, like obviously okay, that’s the fan support, that’s the fan sharing all that. But even they went back and analyzed this with the absence of fans during COVID and the number stayed the same. The research asked like, well, how are these numbers staying the same when fans weren’t there? And they showed that playing in one’s home stadium, sleeping in your own bed, the added pressure of expectations of we should win because we’re playing at home, certainly were key factors. And so really the takeaway from this is try to create yourself a home court advantage wherever you play.

Erin: 8:06
That’s really smart. Yeah, just being comfortable in your environment, that’s great.

Carolyn : 8:10
And number three, we’ve got getting prepared for match day routines. Warm up, focus mindset.

Kenny: 8:17
Yeah, so I’m big about you know all these things and routines is about getting familiar and I think they help you focus. So, like it kind of starts with match day and it’s like so my, my go to meal is like strawberry oatmeal with banana and coconut water and like every time I eat that I just like I start to feel ready, because I really don’t eat that, honestly, when I’m not playing tennis. So that’s like my go to meal and then like my go to snacks, like crackers with cheese, rice Krispies I actually heard that from other tennis players they use that also and then I always have, you know, like extra flutes, fruit snacks or glucose gummies, and I always make sure, especially when it’s hot, to carry a couple cold sport drinks and cold water for every match. What do you guys use for your? Do you have like your go to meal, your go to snacks?

Carolyn : 9:01
I don’t, but I need to. And when you said rice Krispies, is that rice Krispies with milk, like rice Krispies, cereal?

Kenny: 9:07
No, like rice Krispies treats. Yeah, something just sugary, eat Like yeah.

Erin: 9:11
So I’ll answer that question, because we have Carol and I have an episode coming up about superstitions. So my meals and sometimes my preparation I feel like I actually am going to change my mindset after this conversation because that’s actually. You’re calling it preparation and I a lot of times thought of it as superstition. So I would listen to the same music on the way to matches. I would do what you did eat the same thing.

Carolyn : 9:39
What were you eating? Erin.

Erin: 9:41
Well, I stopped doing that because I thought it was kind of taking over and I was feeling a little bit crazy that it was more of a superstition rather than a prep. But I eat bananas. I do take stuff to matches.

Kenny: 9:51
I actually take those applesauce squeezers because that’s something you can just get quick sugar.

Erin: 9:56
Yeah, but I really only typically drink water. And Carol, you do have a routine. You’re just not saying it but she always has like Gatorades or some sort of hydration drink and Coke which actually I think and water and soda, yeah, coca-cola.

Carolyn : 10:12
I think there’s a lot I can improve on. There’s some things I can improve on. I can feel it.

Kenny: 10:17
I think we all have these rituals and these superstitions, whatever you want to call them. It’s just like if you think about them and review them and learn how to like get them, help you to focus, I think that’s a great thing. So, like with mindset for me, like when the match is about to start, you know you got to focus on that match because, especially when you’re playing tournaments, it’s easily get focused on your last match or the next match and you’re kind of like, really you have to play in that mindset of this match is the most important match of my life, right, you want to focus in the now. So, before a match, to help me focus, especially in singles, even in doubles, I don’t like to socialize much. I like to put my phone on, do not disturb and just really think about my keys to winning, even in doubles, like I’m normally off, kind of getting myself ready and mentally prepared. So then, along those same lines is like a ritual. When I get to there, I like to do like a 20 minute dynamic warm up and a lot of times I like to do that indoors, away from people and, like you know, with headphones in listening to music and then, if I have time to get on the court before. I like to do court visual visualization where I take my racket out there but no ball and I like I swing my shots and I line up and I practice my overhead and my serves and backhand and forehand just to, like you know, feel that moment. My match ritual is, you know, when I’m playing a tournament, you know, I get the court assignment from the check-in table. I walk over with my wife, I give her a kiss and I get ready. I always wear a headband pretty much all the time. So I put my headband on and I kind of turn that, you know, turn that switch on, like it’s time to go. So just in the last couple of years, I think I’ve always been doing these kind of things, but just in the last couple of years I’ve really started to think about it and kind of make sure that I’m doing my rituals and plan it out, just to kind of check it off and move through that process. Because before I thought that these rituals honestly were kind of weird, all these quirky things, because, like you know, you watch pro tennis and there’s these people that you know, I’m sure you guys know, but like Nadal, I love to watch Nadal and he’s super OCD about his bottles and like stepping on lines and all these things. And then you talk about, like Jokovic, like he can bounce the ball like 20 times sometimes. But I realized that like, having rituals kind of like this really helped me calm down and focus and it really served better and play better in those biggest pressure points. So my personal ritual is like, especially when I serve, I like to wipe my forehead, like just to touch myself, get focused, like okay, tap my head. It’s like like that, I do three or four bounces and I serve. And then when I return a serve, I like to self talk. So if someone was standing right next to me, they’re like why is this guy talking to himself? Like I, you know, return a serve. I, you know. I tell myself like okay, get ready. I say it out loud like get ready. And then like, especially in a tough point, I have this three keywords, like I say fight, grind, win, and that really just like whenever I say that, you know, like if you ever feel those moments where, like the back of the hair is on your neck, stand up, like you get that adrenaline rush even by me just saying that right now I can feel like the adrenaline pumping a little bit.

Erin: 13:26
I love that. Yeah, he’s map talking himself.

Kenny: 13:29
Yeah, you can call that meditation in some ways, like there’s a lot of different terms you can use, but just, you know, if you can figure out how to you know, use that, then it’s definitely definitely will help. And then the last part of that was the focus focus on what you control. What you can can control is your preparation, your effort, your mindset, your reactions and your adjustments to play, and then don’t focus on what you can’t control. Right, you can’t control your opponent, you can’t control weather and court conditions, you can’t really control bad calls or really on court distractions. So, if you want to learn more about this, I’m big into these studies and I read a lot. So, like you want to learn more about flow theory or getting in the zone, and there’s a really cool study even about tennis, about quiet eye study, and I’ve, you know, my sports background has enabled me to work with sports psychologist in multiple sports, so I totally, you know, grab this stuff and I really do think it’s powerful stuff that everyone should incorporate.

Carolyn : 14:26
I agree. Thanks very much to Kenny for being on the podcast. We have one more episode with Kenny where he gives us more tips. Also, if you would like to see him winning the cheese rolling competition, we have a link to it in our show notes. Thanks so much for listening and hope to see you on the courts soon.

Tennis Warehouse’s Tip of the Week

We hope you’ve heard some of our Tennis Warehouse’s Tip of the Week segments with Michelle. Use discount code SECONDSERVE in your Tennis Warehouse cart and get $20 off clearance apparel orders over $100. Clearance apparel can be found here!

For more in-depth discussions about gear, check out Michelle’s Talk Tennis podcast.

We hosted Michelle for several great podcast episodes too. You can find them here:

Ep. 118: Gear Talk with Tennis Warehouse’s Playtester, Michelle (Ep. 1)
Ep. 119: Gear Talk with Tennis Warehouse (Ep. 2)
Ep. 120: Gear Talk with Tennis Warehouse (Ep. 3)

The post Ep. 330: 7 Tips to Win More Matches from a National Champion appeared first on Second Serve Tennis Podcast.

Here’s a Complete Transcript of our Conversation with Kana:

Carolyn 0:08

Hi, this is Carolyn and I’m here with Erin. And this is our second episode with Kana on advice as to what to do when you get rocked the first set. Lose 06, 1-6. We play from levels 2.5 to 4.5. And in this episode,

Getting Rocked In The First Set

Carolyn 0:24

Kana starts off giving us a piece of advice that is simple, but I do the opposite. So here it is.Kana 0:30

And I think that another thing is slowing down. Yeah. I think when you start losing, you start playing really quickly and you’re racing because your mind’s kind of racing, freaking out. And I think you need to take a deep breath, slow down between each point.

Slow Down To Break Momentum

Kana 0:47

And even if you just need to take an extra 10 seconds and keep that, you know, because the other team’s rolling. They want to get this done quickly. So I think you got to do everything you can to slow that down and stop them. That momentum. Yeah.Erin 1:00

Someone just said this recently. I thought it was really brilliant. She said, you know, even if they ended up losing, she said, uh, one of the partners said to the other one, she said, let’s not race to lose this match. Like, let’s not be in a hurry to lose. Let’s stay out for as long as we can. No matter win, lose, or draw, let’s stay out here for as long as we can. Because right now we’re just playing quickly to lose. You know, I thought that was really smart.Kana 1:23

You know, also when you’re racing to lose, you know, I think uh one of the pros was talking about overcook your feet. It’s like basically, you know, use too much footwork because you almost can never, you know, exaggerate your footwork. That’s good. Because, you

Don’t Mentally Quit At 0-6

Kana 1:39

know, most times, you know, you start getting nervous and tight and your feet are just stuck in the mud. Yeah. And, you know, he was saying over when you’re not sure, overcook your footwork.Erin 1:49

That’s why you do that, Carolyn. She always overcooks her footwork. Really? That’s good. I do, but I I love that because I’ve had times. Have you guys had it where you just want it over? Yes. Yes. Like I’ve been out there in singles, especially where I’m like, I just want this over. Like, finish it. I’m thinking to my mind to my opponent, can you just finish this? Four aces, serve four aces. Let’s be done. Yes. Yes. Serve four aces. Yeah. Yeah. So if you are, if you do lose the first set zero six, do not listen to me. Please do not get in that mindset of like, I’m done. This is not my day. Get me off the court. Yeah. No, I think that if you lose 06, there is so many things that you could do to win that second set. And now you’re in this tiebreaker, which is a like we said, always it’s a flip of a coin, right? Now you’ve given yourself a chance. And I think there’s just a lot of strategies you can use to get there. And like, you know, whatever. It doesn’t work, it doesn’t work. Yeah. But you got to try it. But if you’ve won that set, pretend like you didn’t just win that set. Like that’s 6-0, 6-1 is the kiss of death. Yes. You know, because Yeah, because I’ve won 6-0 before, and then the other team got up 1-0 in the second set. And I was like, oh, I’m gonna lose the match now. That’s yeah, that’s my mentality too. Well, I think also, you know, um that

Win The First Point Next Set

Kana 3:12

first point that you play in that next set is critical. Like especially if you’re serving, you have to win your first point. Like being up in a game 15 love versus now you’re in a hole is I think because now you’re like, I’ve lost the first set, or I’ve won the first set. No, I’m already down. Like mentally, that’s how I do it too. I’m like, I’ve lost the first point already. Like I my mentally, I’m just like, I’m already losing, even though it’s only one point. Yeah. Yeah, that’s really interesting. I’ve never thought about it that way. I do a lot to like really focus on the first point. And be, you know, we were just so when we won this match the other day, that you know, we were up five two in the second set, and I was serving, which is always you know, dicey proposition to serve this match out. But I remember thinking, you have to win this first point. Like I have to We practiced the other day and you did that. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And I remember you saying that. We we won that first point. And I know. And so I was like, we have to, you know, I just kind of took a lot off my serve just to get it in play. Right. Because I have I was like, I have to get this first serve in. And, you know, being at 15 love, I just gave myself a little bit of breathing room because I know I’m prone to double fault or things like that. So I just knew, like, okay, well, in a worst case, if I double fault, we’re at 15 all. But we won this, then we won the second point. And I thought, oh, okay, well, then I was able to crack a serve at 30 love. Which gave you more confidence. Which gave me more confidence because I knew that now I have more breathing room. Right. And, you know, and we were able to close that class. I think you double faulted on that point though. I’m just kidding. Maybe I was completely in the realm. I was her opponent of that day. Oh no, this is our match. No, I know. Oh, okay. This is our match. When we practiced though, I do feel like you got that first point and then you got a second point, and then you did crack a serve. Yeah. And then you’ve double faulted. And I think I laughed about it. Yeah. Um, this was one other piece of advice that a pro gave me a long time ago. And I need to remember it, but I do once in a while. And actually, when I lose this point, and I’ll tell you what the strategy is, I always think, oh, I remember him telling me that. But um, this pro really believed in

Deuce And First Serve Discipline

Kana 5:18

if you get to deuce, you gotta get your first serve in. Like he was like, even if you take a little bit off, like get your first serving on deuce, because if you win that point, now you’re at ad. If you lose that point because you’ve done something dumb with your serve, now you’re fighting to get back in, and then you gotta re-reset all over again. If you can win that point, then you’re back at deuce. But when you’re at deuce, try to get that first serve in, even if you have to do something a little bit different, not crack it, you know, as hard as you can. Yeah. Agreed. Oh, that’s a great point. Right. I know. And every time I don’t do it, I get so mad at myself. I was like, oh, I suppose it’s my first servant. What am I doing? What am I doing? I’m just throwing, I’m just trying to hurry up to lose. When I go to receive, I try to rip it down the line. Oh my gosh. Oh, Carolyn, we can’t ever play together. I would be Do you do the same thing? No, I would be, I would yell at you. I would say I’m talking about in singles. Singles. Oh, singles. Still, still. What are you talking about? That’s a terrible strategy. Because I’ll get one winner and then like three that are out, three, two that are long, and then I’ll get another winner. And then I’m like, I’m doing pretty well. I don’t know why I’m losing. Well, Karen even would always talk about keeping the count, right? So if someone passes you down the line. Oh, yeah. Right. If they’ve tried three times. Gigi does that too, Fernandez. Really? Yeah. And you have to say, okay, they got one out of four. You give them one out of four every all day long. Yeah. You know?

Keep The Count And Communicate Plays

Carolyn 6:40

Yeah. You rip it down the line, Carolyn. You keep going. Yeah. Yeah. Well, the other thing that um I think it was Mackenzie that we had, you guys know on the podcast, but she would when she rips it down the line, she lets her partner know. Like, hey, I’m gonna rip it in the person. So they’re ready to get it. Yeah. Because I played against her and she ripped it at me and I was like, oh, I got it. And then her partner got it and put it over my head. I was like, Oh, yeah, and I know who her partner is. It’s familiar. And I remember thinking, that’s really smart because when I decide to rip it, even if you got it, even if the net person got it, your partner’s surprised by it. Let my partner know what I’m getting ready to do that’s dumb, most likely. Um yeah. There’s a lot of stuff that tennis is hard. It’s so tennis is hard, especially dumb mental game, right?Kana 7:28

Because you can’t just outhit somebody. You have to outside them. You have to outsmart them. So now in the court is so much smaller to work with that you really

Outsmarting Beats Outhitting

Kana 7:39

have to play smart. And you know, two smart players with less skill can beat two people who are highly skilled but don’t know where to put it. Yeah. Yeah. All day. You know, so don’t be down if you lose that person. Yeah. You’re most likely gonna be able to do that. And you’re gonna win the tie break. Yeah, yeah. You’re gonna be happy. Yeah, exactly. That’s what I’m saying. I’m happy if you’re down 06. I have more confidence going down 06 than if I win 06. Because now I’m like, I’m gonna throw the kitchen sink at this. I’m gonna oh yeah, I’m gonna go for broke and then I usually play. They have to close it out. It’s hard to close out a match. We appreciate Kana coming up with this topic. If you have any other tips, please let us know. You can message us on our website, which is secondserv podcast.com, or contact us on any of our socials. Thanks so much for listening and hope to see you on the court soon.

Listen to other episodes we’ve recorded with Kana

• Ep. 281: Sopranos-style Tennis – Playing in New Jersey
• Ep. 282: Sopranos-style Tennis – Playing in New Jersey (Crazy Stories) Part 2
• Ep. 327: What To Do After A Bagel Set

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The post Ep. 329: Stop Racing To Lose appeared first on Second Serve Tennis Podcast.

The annual WWTA Charity Tennis Classic will be held on July 2nd. Funds from the event are donated to Transitions LifeCare (formerly Hospice of Wake County) and used for WWTA scholarships. Cost is $150 per team and includes round robin tennis, goody bag, snacks, lunch and a ticket to Cary Tennis Classic  for you and for your partner on the day of the Charity Classic and also one day Monday to Wednesday (your choice!)  Click here to register. Only team registrations can be accepted, and there is no rain date and no refunds.

Here’s a Complete Transcript of our Conversation:

Carolyn: 0:07
Hi, this is Carolyn and I’m here with Erin, and we are thrilled to have Ted Reese here with us. Ted is the co-tournament director of the Cary Tennis Classic Men’s and Women’s Pro Challenger Tournament. He is the current president of USTA Southern and the past president of USTA North Carolina and the North Carolina Tennis Foundation, and he has done all these other things for tennis, but there are too many to mention right now. So, ted, thank you for coming on the podcast.

Ted: 0:32
Well, thank y’all for having me. It’s such a pleasure to get to chat with y’all.

Carolyn: 0:35
Can you start off by telling us a little bit about your tennis background?

Ted: 0:38
Well, I have to go back a little before that because there wasn’t much tennis background. Like most people that have played pro or taught pro tennis, I started out playing baseball, basketball and football in a small town and tennis just wasn’t accessible for me. So if you weren’t a member of the one country club, there weren’t really tennis courts. So I played those sports and was lucky to go to NC State to major in engineering and play baseball, because I really needed a lot of assistance to get to college. And it was only after I graduated and moved to Cary that I kind of started playing tennis. I had a fraternity brother that was a dear friend that played tennis at a pretty high level, had played one year in college and a girl that I was dating played in college and they would drag me out to the court. So that kind of got me playing. I met some people at the neighborhood courts where I lived and, like everybody’s story, why’d you start? It’s because somebody asked you to, and so I just started playing some with these guys. A few months later I played in the B level of the tournament, which was the lowest level, played. A guy that was about 40 years older than I was in two knee braces and an arm brace in the finals and turned out he ended up being a lifelong friend. About a year later I kept playing and was playing in some pro events. So I went from just jumping in and getting started to being really lucky and I kind of call it Mickey Mouse pro stuff, playing with other teaching pros. So that’s kind of how I got into tennis.

Ted: 1:58
I got really involved with teaching a little bit and left engineering and ended up doing some consulting and then started a company building clubs and have designed many facilities, coach kids at the top 10 level throughout the nation and just had a great time working with top 10 kids and running clubs and getting involved a lot as a volunteer. So just a different background. Certainly for anybody that’s gotten to teach top kids the first question is not usually did you start playing tennis after you were 22? So kind of a different background.

Erin: 2:31
Yeah, crazy story. My background is never touch a racket. Pick it up at 40, become a two, five. I think I was the greatest thing since they spread and now I’m a four, oh, and that’s next year, you never know.

Ted: 2:42
That’s it. Nope, I’m a 4-0. And that’s as far as it’s going.

Erin: 2:44
Well you could be a Wimbledon next year. You never know. That’s it. Nope, I’m on the downslide. You’ve seen me play. I’ve peaked already.

Carolyn: 2:49
Yeah, Ted has seen us play. How do we compare to the top 10 kids in the nation?

Ted: 2:54
Well I’d say that your passion probably exceeds there. So you know, probably the most fun thing in the world to do for me is have somebody that loves to play tennis a basket of balls and get out on the court with no distractions and just see if you can help them love the game even more. That’s so much fun. So that day that we were all on the court together that was so much fun. I do remember Carolyn looking at me like what are you telling us, lynn, I just go play. And Aaron’s like no, no, tell me again, tell me again please.

Erin: 3:24
I know I’m such a rule follower. I’m like I’m not standing in the right spot. Where is it Mark it? Can you mark it on the court for me? I actually think about you all the time now when I’m standing in the correct spot correct-ish, I don’t do it right all the time, but yeah, because I really had no clue where to be, and Ted knew that from looking at us. Right, right, but, carolyn, did you see her crash the net too? Was she crashing the net at that point?

Carolyn: 3:53
Yes very quickly. She moves very quickly a lot of places, no direction. I have no idea where I’m going, I’m just moving, I’m going.

Ted: 3:58
No, moving is good. Moving is better than not moving. That’s definitely the key.

Erin: 4:02
Okay, that’s good At 4.0, I know you’re well beyond that, but at 4.0, that just works to just kind of look crazy on the other side of the net, Because typically you’ll just get an unforced error from your opponents if you do that, that’s right. Okay, so I’m shocked at your background because most people do not come into tennis that way. So you started playing and then got really good. It sounds like playing pros and then teaching as well. So how do you go from all that and running tennis clubs, getting into designing and running tennis clubs into what we want to really talk about and focus on today is running a pro tournament with people that actually know how to play tennis and get paid for it?

Ted: 4:43
Yes, Well know how to play a lot better than I do as well, but I’d say one it shows I’m not really bright. I probably should have stayed in engineering and had a nice, calm life and a really good, stable job.

Carolyn: 4:54
But I didn’t do that.

Ted: 4:55
But no, you know, it’s just serendipitous really, having been involved in tennis then for a while, building clubs, through a long process of managing programs for the town of Cary through one of the companies I owned, mary Henderson was the parks and rec director and she talked to me a lot about how they had had high school kids and then all of a sudden these little clinics we were running that had like four or five people, were having 20, 30, 50 hundreds and there were only a few facilities in Cary that had courts and the biggest one had four courts and I was like we really need a big facility because these clinics we can’t even get them all on the court. And she’s like, well, what’s a big facility? And I’m like could we get like six courts at one place? That’d be great. And that turned into a vision that she and I shared and talked through about building a big facility in Cary. And they hired me to design and help create the vision for that facility, which turned into Cary Tennis Park.

Ted: 5:51
That was in a 32-court facility that’s now even grown beyond that. So as I did that, it was a dream of what could we do at this facility. We want to bring kids in, we want to bring adults in, we want to have high-level play, low-level play, league play, casual play. But a couple of the things we really wanted to do, having traveled and coached all around the world, is have some bigger events, and so I was able, through a friend of mine, jim Russell, to bring the ACC tournament here, and it’s been here pretty much ever since, which is just so much fun, especially with the three universities we have that are, all you know, really top 15, 20 schools perennial in the men’s and women’s.

Carolyn: 6:27
And for people that are, all you know, really top 15, 20 schools perennial in the men’s and women’s, and for people that are outside this area, that’s NC State Duke and UNC.

Ted: 6:32
Yeah yeah, three wonderful programs men’s and women’s. Carolina won a national championship not too long ago and really all are perennial just top 20 teams. So the ACC tournaments really as strong as the NCAA tournament, which is just so neat for the casual tennis player to walk up and watch tennis right there in their backyard. So the other vision we had was would it be able to hold maybe an international event or a national event, maybe a pro event? And then when Sean Ferreira was hired as the director at the facility, he had also coached a lot of kids and I knew Sean from way back and we kind of shared that vision and started working through.

Ted: 7:08
So, with some of the volunteering I do for the USTA, we really worked with the head of the USTA year after year to try to get our name on the list and finally he had a cocktail party one night down in Florida. Gordon Smith came up, who was the CEO, and said hey, have you got a few minutes? I think we’ve got something you might want to look at. And so they had two or three dates that they were looking at expanding, and so that led to the first tournament that we had back in 2015. It’s grown since then and just the community has embraced it so much.

Ted: 7:39
Y’all both been out there. It’s really cool to have the top players in the world that are coming through Cary on their way up or even on their way down and get to see them up close, because you really can get right up within 10 or 15 feet of the court, get a feel for how athletic they are, how hard they hit the ball and also just the movement and the exertion and the points. It’s such a physically active game. It’s just amazing.

Erin: 8:04
Yeah, that’s why when league players think that they can take a point off anyone at that level or a Djokovic, they are kidding themselves. When you see it up close, that’s exactly right.

Carolyn: 8:14
I remember I was a 3-0 and I thought I was pretty good because I was winning a lot of my games. And then I watched the players and it just blew my mind how good they were.

Ted: 8:29
Yeah, it’s crazy when you get on court with them too. I remember you know John Ezra grew up in North Carolina, so I’ve known John. I always tell people since he was like my height or less.

Erin: 8:33
Right.

Ted: 8:33
And one of the kids that I coached that was top 10, he and John played some doubles together but being in Greensboro, you know John growing up there, I would see him a fair amount of time. But anyway, he came a big deal and we were reconnecting and my two boys were with me who played tennis and they were like probably six and eight, and so John did this thing where he had people getting out on the court to see if they could return his serve, and never it’s just he’s hitting them like half speed and the ball is bouncing over their head, it’s going past them and you just really don’t get a sense for how fast the ball moves unless you’re out on the court or very close to the court. And another funny story is we were at the first Atlanta Open and my boys were really, really little. We were sitting on the front row and John Isner, as he is right to do, sometimes gets tired and will give a game or two away.

Ted: 9:21
And Kevin Anderson, who was a A huge, huge server, hit 132 mile an hour serve. John put his racket out and then just moved it out of the way and it bounced up into the stands and hit my eight-year-old son right in the chest and all the friends around me from the USTA were like freaking out, like oh my God is he dead? And he’s like it didn’t hurt, that’s no big deal. And so I was just like we’re all on TV. I’m getting texts about seeing us on TV and I’m like this is great. His mom just saw him get hit by 132 mile an hour serve on TV. She’s going to be down here putting him in the hospital soon.

Ted: 9:57
We’ll never, get to leave home again. So it’s amazing when you get to see it up close and realize just how talented they are. But also just the pace of the ball even in my years of playing is just increased because of the equipment and the athleticism.

Erin: 10:09
Yes, yeah, Can you explain to Carolyn? And I barely know the answer, but can you explain what the different levels of challengers, what that whole thing looks like?

Ted: 10:20
Well, you know, you start with the Grand Slams, which are obviously the four majors, the big tournaments, and then you have the ATP top level that lead to those, the 250s, like a Winston-Salem, the 500s, the 1000s, like an Indian Wells, and then the majors, and so those are kind of your major leagues and the number associated with it is how many points the winner of the tournament gets. So if somebody wins Winston-Salem, which is an ATP 250, you get 250 ranking points and that’s what determines how you get in tournaments is your ranking and your ranking points. Our event, which is going to put us kind of at the AAA, if you compare it to baseball, we’re not the major leagues but we’re right there. So we’ve got players that are playing back and forth in the Grand Slams and Indian Wells, that are also playing in our events, that might be ranked 75 to 100 in the world. So they’re playing kind of at both levels, straddling that, trying to get up on the main tour and stay there.

Ted: 11:11
So we’ve had players in the past like Jack Sock, who was top 10 in the world. We’ve had Ben Shelton, who’s a top player right now Sebi Korda and his dad were here when Sebi was just getting started Francis Tiafoe, who is just such a great, great personality. So we’ve had just a lot of really top players, but we usually see them on the way up. You know, I always tell the players that I get to know we would love to have you back next year, but we hope you’re at such a high level that we’re not going to get to see you here. We’ll get to watch you on TV.

Ted: 11:42
So it’s kind of cool to be a part of kind of that rise that they make to get up onto the main tour and really be able to make a living playing tennis. And it’ll be men’s and women’s, so that’s really cool. We start off usually with the qualifying for the singles and usually the second or third day start doubles. So you know, the doubles is just some of the most exciting. Most of us play more doubles than we play singles anyway. So to get to go out there and see what these ladies and gentlemen are doing on the court together they make the court look so small and when.

Ted: 12:13
I play, it feels like it is so big I can’t cover anything. So just having that experience of getting out, to getting out there and watching and then you mentioned the college players that’s been a linchpin of why we wanted to have this tournament. We work on showcasing the top amateur players at State, duke and Carolina and we’re able to, working with the USTA, provide some wild cards to their top players. So we’ve had some of their top players, like a Will Blumberg who played at Carolina, the only 10-time All-American ever in the NCAAs that played for Chapel Hill. He’s played in our event several times and actually won a round, and now he’s playing doubles on the pro tour. So it’s neat to get to. You know, give those kids a step up. Help maybe help them get their first professional ranking point, because that is such a big deal. They can’t get into other tournaments without one ranking point. So just going from zero to one is massive, and so we’re able to do that and we worked really closely with all the college programs because that’s a great stepping stone.

Ted: 13:10
When I first started coaching collegiate tennis was not as strong as it is now. Now if you get an opportunity to go watch state duke and carolina, you’re seeing future pros. You know tennis is so international and there’s so many internationals coming into the us to play collegiate tennis. So you’re going to see a lot of Americans in Cary. But you’re going to see people from all over the world and they’re coming here to get ready to go to Fleshing Meadow and play at the US Open. So you know we’re part of their preparation to try to go up there and see if they can compete for a lot of money and a lot of ranking points.

Carolyn: 13:41
Yeah that’s nice.

Erin: 13:43
So anything we missed about the Cary Tennis Classic that we want our audience to know.

Ted: 13:47
Well, you know, one of the other reasons that it was so important for us to have this tournament is community involvement and impact. When we first got the tournament, sean and Mary had asked if I would be involved in running it and I was like no way, I’ve got five clubs to run, I’ve got two boys, they’re playing national level tennis, au basketball, they’re doing all these different things. And I can’t imagine. And they were like, well, you know, how about help a little? And I was like no, no, no. And they said how about? Sean came to me and said how about, if we do it together? And if we do it together, we’ll run any community events that you want to run? And that’s kind of like the heart tug for me. So right now we do probably a dozen or more community events. Just a few of them are like we work with Abilities Tennis Association, which y’all know, which really bring kids with intellectual disabilities into tennis. Lou Welch does just an amazing job running this throughout the state. So we have a clinic and dinner free tickets, and then we do a stadium exhibition for two of their athletes. We do the same thing with Wheel Serve and Wheelchair Tennis Athletes. I’ve gotten involved with Wheel Serve. Kelly and Helen that run Wheel Serve are amazing. I was going down twice a month to Pinehurst driving down there to help them get a wheelchair program started. Oh, it’s just amazing to work with those athletes. We do a stadium exhibition and a clinic for them out there. We do a Kids Day for underserved kids and kids in the NJTLs. That’s a program Arthur Ashe started for kids that are in underserved communities to expose them not only to tennis but education. So that’s really cool. And one of the things I’m really excited about we started this year with Raleigh Tennis Association is working with those NJTLs to do ball kid training. So that group is working three times to do trainings and we’re going to have some of these kids that have barely started being ball kids. So that exposure. We’ve heard stories of Roger Federer talking about remembering being a little kid in Basel, switzerland, and being a ball kid and how that helped him dream of what he wanted to do. So we’re hoping we can help kids dream like that as well.

Ted: 15:47
We’re involved with the business community. The Cary Chamber does a big after hours out there. We’re able to bring the community in from that standpoint. And then Western Wake Tennis Association and Raleigh Tennis Association are just great, great supporters of tennis. Western Wake is located in Cary and they do a big charity event and so we host that now at our tournament, instead of it being separate to try to elevate it, provide free tickets for those participants because it raises money for the community. That event’s raised over a quarter of a million dollars for hospice in our community and about 60 or $70,000 for college scholarships. So these are ways that the community can get impacted by this professional event. It’s not just about professional tennis and watching great players, but it’s a chance to really impact the community, to give back and try to grow tennis, because tennis has been a lot to me and it means so much. It’s one of the only sports that you can play for a lifetime. There’s a national championship in the 90 and over.

Ted: 16:46
I hope I can just like walk to the court when I’m 90. And you know I’ve been involved in tennis for quite a while now. I’ve been a volunteer for over 35 years with USTA. That’s one of my big passions is to try to volunteer and give back.

Ted: 16:59
But I wrote an article for several years for the newspaper and I always talked about tennis is the best first sport and I really believe that, having played all the other sports at a pretty high level, that it prepares you for everything because you’re moving in different directions. It’s just so good for you. You’re working on your hand but you’re moving, the ball’s moving and you have no control over the ball once you serve it. So it’s great. You’re by yourself, you’re learning to be resilient, be independent. But tennis is also the best last sport because you can play it socially. You can play it as long as you want, and so you know, 70% of tennis is played on the public parks.

Ted: 17:35
Cary Tennis Park is a public facility. It just happens to be one of the best and award-winning in the nation, but it’s a public park. Anybody can go out there and get a court in place. So you know, it’s just all these things that really combine to make having pro tennis be something that impacts it, and you know we’d love to see everybody at least have the opportunity to play. I didn’t have that as a kid. I want every kid to have the opportunity to play, if they won’t, and all sports are great Anything that gets you active and moving. So we’re just really fortunate to have a facility like this, a community like this and people like y’all that are supporting tennis, that help get it to the masses and give everybody an opportunity to experience it.

Carolyn: 18:16
Yeah, I love that.

Ted: 18:18
It’s just really cool. I mean, it’s a community event, but anybody can be there. It’s so small. We try to make it very social. You know you can come out with your friends and, whether you’re a hardcore tennis player or not, it’s almost like a cocktail party and there’s tennis going on behind you. So it’s a great time to come out with your teams, with your friends, and socialize. Cannot wait.

Carolyn: 18:37
I cannot wait either. And Erin, are we going to play in the over 90s?

Erin: 18:40
together.

Carolyn: 18:41
Yes, I think this is the only chance we have to win a national championship.

Erin: 18:44
Only if Ted coaches us to the 90s.

Ted: 18:46
I know I’m thinking that my chance for a gold ball is going to be if I can still walk at like 90. But the only thing is I’ve seen some of these people play. I’m not sure I could beat them today. That’s the problem. I’m not sure I’m going to get better.

Erin: 19:00
I may be still getting worse. I know I feel the same way. I feel you.

Carolyn: 19:03
Thanks to Ted for coming on the podcast. The Cary Tennis Classic will be June 29th through July 6th and if you go, please look for Aaron and me. Also, if you’re a recreational player in North Carolina, western Wake Tennis Association’s Charity Classic will be July 3rd and it includes a ticket to the Cary Tennis Classic. We’ve provided more information about the Cary Tennis Classic and the Charity Classic in our show notes. Thanks so much for listening and hope to see you on the court soon.

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The post Ep. 328: Pro Tour Tennis in North Carolina appeared first on Second Serve Tennis Podcast.

Here’s a complete transcript of our conversation with Kana:

Carolyn 0:08

Hi, this is Carolyn. I’m here with Erin and Kana is back. And Kana came up with this idea, which is what do you do if you lose zero six? Or if you win six zero. Or if you win six zero. Okay, Kana. And what do you

When A Set Ends 6-0

Carolyn 0:24

do?Kana 0:24

Well, I guess, you know, we just had that experience recently where we won the first set 6-0. And, you know, your first thought is this can’t last. You know, it was one of those sets where everything you touched was a net cord winner or you know, a framer winner, you know, and you think, well, this can’t last that much longer. You know, and also we also had the thought that, well, they’ll probably change everything, right? Switch sides. Should we switch sides? Right. And then, you know, you have this long, you know, conversation about like what you think the opponent is going to do. Um, so I just know from last recently winning that set 6-0, you know, where we talked about switching sides in the anticipation that they were gonna switch sides. And then we thought, well, we’re doing obviously fine on our sides. Do we just stay? Um, which we ended up doing. And we thought the opponent would change everything because when I’ve had the experience of losing 06, we changed everything. We changed sides, we changed serving sides, we changed, you know, every single point was uh Australian eye formation to back. Um, we also play one called the Lynn Goldberg, where if you’re serving from the deuce side, the your partner

Switching Sides And Weird Formations

Kana 1:44

stands on your right. Yeah, picture. Oh, yeah. Wow, I’ve never seen that. That really messes people up. Yeah, I I do it on the ad side so I can get over to the deuce side because the ad side is my much weaker side to be on. So when I serve from the ad side, I would have my partner stand to my left. I serve in the middle, and then scoot over to the the deuce side.Erin 2:08

And it’s weird because it’s a formation you don’t see. You’re allowed to do it. Yeah. Um are your opponents like, what are you guys doing? Yeah, like you’re serve. Sometimes I’ll be like, I’ve seen people do it. I’m like, are they serving from the wrong side? They’re both standing there. What is happening right now? They’re kind of waiting for you to get into the correct formation. Right, right. Yeah. And so there’s a lot of just staring at each other. Right? I love that. I’m gonna try that. Which tends to just mess someone up because it’s a different formation. The problem is, I feel like I also, so if I win a set 6-0 or 6-1, like very, you know, easily, like Kana said, I tend to be more nervous because I’m like, now I gotta hang on to this, right? Like you said, like you lose, right? The second set. And so I I have been in this situation as well recently. And I literally looked at my partner and I said, we are going to pretend like this is the beginning of the match. We did not win a set. We are starting over and we gotta hunker down and we gotta like, let’s win

How To Avoid The Second-Set Letdown

Carolyn 3:10

this set so that you know. Um, so I think of it more psych psychologically, that’s the way I think of it. I’m like, now is not the time to think we won the first set, like, because there’s always that letdown. I think that’s why it’s really common to win a set super easy and then lose a set because you’ve you’re just like, oh, I’ve got this in the bag now. And now you’re in a third set tiebreaker. And now you’re in a third set tiebreaker, which is just a flip of a coin, which is the worst situation you can be in. Yeah. Have you guys ever switched sides in anticipation that they’re gonna switch sides? Like if you win 6-0. Yeah, I know that’s really hard. No, but I had a serious discussion with someone where we were going to, and in retrospect, we completely should have, because it was a better matchup when it was I was with that when I was on the deuce side and we were hitting deuce to deuce, and then that person switched to the ad side, and I had a I struggled much more with their partner. So, really, in retrospect, we should have switched sides. But you know, I guess that’s a Monday morning quarterback thing. Right. And actually, I think the best thing that can happen going into a second set, if you’re questioning whether you should serve, I mean, um switch sides or not, is hopefully you’re the server. A lot of people don’t want to, you know, a lot of people don’t want to serve first because they’re like, oh, I gotta get the jitters out, I might need a game or whatever. Going into the second set, it’s fantastic if you can, if you happen to be the next serving team, because then you can make the decision. Yeah. If you’re the receiver, you got to make it right away. And then you don’t know what they’re gonna do. And and actually, I think there’s many, many times I’ve been played against, you know, my my opponents have played against me and a partner where we’re the receiving team, and so they’re serving, and they see, oh, well, they stayed in that same formation. So we are now going to switch. And so we don’t really have that choice as the, you know, as the opponents. But I think that’s kind of the best scenario scenario you can be in going into a second is being the the team that’s serving first, and then you can make your decision after that first game. Yeah. And and I’m thinking too, you know, a lot of times where it’s happened is with combo, where you have a 3-5 and a 3-0, and all of a sudden they switch sides, and then the whole game changes because somebody’s against somebody else and it just doesn’t work. Yes, especially in combo, I would really consider after winning the first set six, six, oh, six, one or whatever, very, you know, lopsided. I would definitely consider switching. And my only reason sometimes for not, because I often have have a discussion with my partner. Apparently, I learn lose a lot of first, or or maybe, I don’t know, lose a lot or win a lot, lopsided um sets. And I do have that discussion. And it’s one of those things like it’s kind of it’s not, it’s genius if you end up winning that set. It’s terrible if you’ve decided to switch and then you’re like, well, that didn’t work out. But it’s yeah, it’s really tough because sometimes I feel like, just physically feel like, well, I haven’t received a ball on that side now for an entire match. And I’m already nervous. I’m in a USTA match, you know, it matters for nothing, but whatever. Um, and I’m like, oh, I haven’t played at the net on that side necessarily. I haven’t hit a volley, you know, maybe I like my backhand volley more than my forehand volley or something. So I always kind of feel like I have to get my bearings on the court again of like, I haven’t received a ball on that side, on that side, whichever side it is, you know, deucer ad. Um because you’ve been receiving the whole time on the other side. So I think that’s where it gets a little bit tricky is is how you’re feeling about it. And that is uh one good reason. If you get beaten oh six, yeah, then you gotta figure it out anyway. So yeah, what’s the worst that’s gonna happen? You’re gonna get beat oh six again. Yeah. You know, although once uh I was losing a set one six and we decided to switch everything up and we said, what’s the worst that can happen? And we lost the next set six oh six. So there is a worst that can happen. And I actually thought she was lying. I was was that the one I was playing next to you? Oh, a different one. Okay. Yeah. What advice would you have? Let’s say two fives just starting, you lose the set zero six. You guys are now four. Play four five. What advice would you give to them if they’ve lost zero six? I would say go to the bathroom together, talk. It not one person, like you both have to go together and talk about what you’re gonna change, right?

Down 0-6: Change Everything Together

Carolyn 7:25

Yes, and change everything. And I would change everything. Change the side you serve on if you can. Some people are. If they’re liking hardballs, you gotta go to your moon balls, you gotta go to the lob, you gotta go to the drop shot, whatever. Or if they’re liking those. Yeah, or if they’re like if they’re really, you know, hitting overheads on your lobs, then you gotta go down the line. You just I just feel like you have to throw everything else at them. If not, what’s the point, right? Like you’ve just lost so bad, and then you’re get if you do exactly the same thing, they’re gonna be like, oh great, thanks. We we we’re familiar with this, you know, this this tennis. Yeah, we’ll just beat you again six-o. So yeah, I mean two. And then and then at that point, if if you’ve tried everything else, right? And it didn’t work, then it’s not your day. Then then then it’s not your day. Yeah. Then you have to do what, you know, uh Carlos Arpro says, which is, you know, try to take a positive out of the match and say, well, you know, I only double faulted twice. So like for me, that’s really good. So you know, like, yeah, that’s yeah, that’s definitely a good serving day for me. So, you know, like you have to take your positive away from the match, but you’ve got to try everything. Yeah, I remember this. Um, Carolyn, you’ll love this. I I just thought of this. Um, but uh Michelle, who’s been on our podcast many times, Michelle, um, you know, our local friend, not from tennis warehouse, and um, her and I played a match and we won 6-0 and we went to the bathroom because it was close, close by. The bathroom was close by, and she said, I think we should switch sides. And I was like, Are you insane? Like, really, we just rolled, right? But she knew that they had us figured out by then, and we did not switch sides, and the next set we lost 06, and then we went into a third set tiebreaker, and we barely pulled out the third set tiebreaker. Did you switch sides going into the tie break? Did you say, okay, we’ve lost now, now we switch sides? I think we ended up staying. No, yeah, we did switch back. Yeah, we switched back, and I think they didn’t or something. But I mean, it was still really tight, but there was something she just knew it. She literally was like, I think we should switch sides. And I’m like, I almost feel like this is silly to say, but I would have almost felt rude. I’m like, that was so easy. We’re just gonna try playing on the other side now. And she was like, I really feel like they’re gonna change everything, like they’re gonna switch sides, they’re gonna, and I was like, I think we should stay. Like, that’s crazy. We just did so well. And she was absolutely right. And uh I think also in that second set, if you just lost, you have to treat it like a tiebreaker. Every point is like a tiebreaker. You know, any ball that’s close, you just hit it. Like, don’t let something bounce in, you know, don’t cut down your errors and refuse to miss a ball and just yeah, treat every single point as if it were a tiebreaker point. Super important. The other advice we got, Kana and I actually got um one day from playing with Karen Rembert, who we’ve had on the podcast about tiebreakers, is um she said, do not miss your returns. Like you cannot miss a return. That’s not it’s like not acceptable. It’s a non non-negotiable. It’s a non-negotiable. Yeah. Yeah. Don’t miss returns. Oh, I miss returns all. That’s good to know. Yeah, and it might be. That’s good to know, especially after you’ve lost zero six. Let’s not give you a big thing. You have to keep every ball in play. Yeah. You have to, you know, and and actually in this match where we won, you know, the only points that we had lost, the other team, they didn’t give us a strong ball back, but they just continued to make us play. And, you know, we’d miss, you know, like whatever. We’re, you know, that was where they got their points, instead of, you know, quickly trying to hit it, you know, uh a winner. They’re, you know, that’s where they really got in trouble was they were trying to hit all these winners instead of making us play. So I think like the other people are probably a little nervous too to close out the match, and you gotta make them play. Right. So don’t miss a return, don’t miss a rally ball, and don’t and play super high percentage. It’s you know, 30 all is not the time to go down the line. Right. Even though Cam loves to. She does too. I’m down two five serving. It’s time to go down the line now. Yeah. Let’s change it up. Let me try this drop shot thing now. Oh, that would make me crazy. Yeah. You gotta see my vision. You just don’t see what I’m seeing. But also, if you do lose zero six, if you’ve, you know, you don’t normally play with signals or you don’t normally play a certain way, you can try it. Now’s the time to do it. I mean, yeah, it’s not gonna get worse. It can’t get worse. It can’t be worse than zero six in tennis. Yeah. Yeah. And, you know, and I think you and not only the score line, but you personally feel, and I don’t know if your team sitting, you know, I hate people watching, but your teammates could be watching, and it’s, you know, you’re feeling terrible

High-Percentage Tennis Under Pressure

Carolyn 12:05

about your tennis, right? You’re probably not feeling confident. So I think you got to go to, you know, uh, I think my partner and I were talking about our running speed. Like, I don’t know if you’ve ever done long distance running. Like there’s a speed where you can just go on forever. Oh. Right? Whatever, you know, it’s it’s slow, but you need to know what that speed is. So when you’re in trouble and you’re hurting, you can run that speed. So it’s kind of like in tennis hitting a 60% ball, right? So you need to know what your shots are that you can always hit no matter how badly you’re feeling about your tennis that day, whether it’s just a lob or, you know, um, something like that. That’s for me, that’s what it is. I can always hit a lob. You know, when nothing else is working, I can hit a lob. So I know that like when I’ve just lost 06, like, okay, I’ll go to my lob. That’s what I got today. So I think you need to know what your that shot is, is that you can make no matter what. Yeah. And if you do lose 06, 06, I mean, sometimes you’re just playing people that are better than you. They have more skills than you. They’re maybe at the very top of the level that you’re at, you’re at the very bottom. I mean, it happens to everybody. And maybe, you know, maybe you do go to deuce for a lot of the points, but it happens to everybody. But I feel like if you lose 06, there’s a lot of that for myself that, you know, when I win 606-1, I immediately think, oh gosh, we’re going to a third set tie break. You know, because I know that they’re gonna fight, you know, at our level. I feel like people have enough tricks up their sleeves. Yes. Right. That they’re gonna try everything that they can to win that second set, and we’re gonna be a little tighter and they’re gonna be a little looser. Yeah. Yeah. I lost my very first UST match, 0606. And I will, I remember the people that day. I I remember being proud. I still treated myself to like an iced coffee because it was like middle of the day. I couldn’t like have a you know, prosecco or something. But I was like, I played my first UST match. It’s so awesome. But I lost 6060. Do you think it’s because people don’t know what to do in that moment uh in that second set? Like problem solving, maybe. Yeah. What do you why do you think it happens more with that? I think there’s a big difference between someone that just started and a two five getting bumped to a three-o, too. So I think there’s a lot. Well, there are also people that have come into playing, they’ve self-rated as it doesn’t matter. You know, they’ve come into the league, they’re a two-five, but they may have taken 20 years off. They may have actually played 20, 30 years ago, and then are just getting back into it. And then there was someone like me who had never touched a record. I stayed at 2-5 actually for several years, but I played against two fives that would murder me because they were just super athletic. They had they had maybe played before or played a sport. Do you remember when you lost your first match? Did you have any thoughts for the second match or the second set? Or were you just no? I literally was just like, let’s just keep hitting up all this. I had no absolute zero strategy of what I could do different at that point. But I do also remember keeping notes in my bag at that level. And now I just said it again at that tiebreaker uh clinic that we had last week. I was like, I need to keep notes in my bag again because sometimes I like I just said this. As a two five, I would keep like a little note and I’d bust it out and be like, oh yeah, watch the ball when you’re hitting, or you know, whatever it said on it. And now as a 4-0, I’ve been playing for so many years. I walk in and I’m like, okay, and I should know what I’m doing. I don’t need notes in my bag, but you still need to be reminded of like, I mean, maybe it’s a strategy, maybe it’s a trial. Andy Murray kept notes in his mind that said, like, sit down and read through notes. High to low or low to high, or you know, like basics. But um, so yeah, it would be helpful to, especially Carolyn at those lower levels, keep a note in your bag and say, like, even if it says try everything, do everything different, serve from a different side, whatever. Because I, yeah, that was a good question about that first match. I had no clue what to do differently other than just keep hitting the ball. Yeah. Thank you to Kanna for coming on the podcast. We have one more episode where she gives a piece of advice that is brilliant and simple, but I do the opposite. We hope you check out our website, which is secondservepodcast.com. Thanks so much for listening and hope to see you on the court soon.

The post Ep. 327: What To Do After A Bagel Set appeared first on Second Serve Tennis Podcast.

Karen was a National USTA Finalist in 45 Doubles, a two-time NC State 25 Doubles Champion, and ranked #11 nationally in NAIA Doubles. Karen is a USTA High-Performance Coach, USPTA Elite Professional, and a USPTA Certified Pickleball Professional.

Whether you’re just picking up a racket or you’re a seasoned competitor, this episode is brimming with insights that will enhance your game and keep you cool in those decisive moments.

Learn More About Karen’s Tennis Camp

If you would like to learn more about her camp please check out her facebook page at Costa Rica All Inclusive Tennis Vacations, email her at kr.crdg@gmail.com, or listen to our episode: The Ultimate Tennis Vacation.

Here’s a Transcript of our Conversation with Karen About Her Tiebreaker Strategy

Carolyn: 0:07
Hi, this is Carolyn and I’m here with Erin and we are excited Karen Rembert is here with us. Karen has been a teaching pro for over 30 years, played in college and is the owner of Costa Rica all inclusive tennis vacations. Aaron and I were discussing how difficult tiebreakers are and Erin said we had to have Karen on the podcast to discuss this. So, Erin, can you start us off with the first question?

Erin: 0:30
Hey Karen, can you tell us your philosophy on your tiebreaker? It’s philosophy slash strategy, really on tiebreakers. I learned this from you in Costa Rica and I think about it often. Although I told Carolyn right before we started recording that I played a tiebreaker this weekend, I totally forgot to integrate it. Instead I just went into the tiebreaker really mad. That does not work for tiebreakers.

Karen: 0:55
No, I recommend going in mad, and that is part of my tiebreak philosophy is that you’re dead. Even it’s a wash right. It’s basically a brand new match set game. However you want to look at it, and you have to have that mindset that, all right, and if you’re in a tiebreaker, you’re probably playing somebody that’s pretty close to your ability. So you’re not going to go out and win that tiebreaker 7-0 or 10-0. It’s going to be a battle and it’s going to be a lot of switches in momentum, up and down. You’re going your way really well for a while and then not going your way, and you have to hang in there.

Karen: 1:34
So one thing that I’ve been doing for years is I take that tiebreaker as mini games. So every two service points is a game and what I’m trying to do is I’m trying to win the very first point of that mini game. So if I win that very first point, then the second point is a bonus point. Right, if I don’t win that, no worries, I’m going to try and win the second point, so I’m fine. So if I take that philosophy the whole way, and if I don’t win either of them, it’s like, no worries, I’m going to. I’m going to go back to that same philosophy. If I’m now returning serve, we’re going to try and win that first point. We don’t win that first point, no biggie, we’re going to try and win the second. If we do, we can play loose. We’ve got a bonus point. So, and that way I’m not going.

Karen: 2:26
Oh, my goodness, it’s eight, seven, and I’m nervous. And if I get this point I’m up nine, seven, and then I’m going to congratulate him when I win 10, seven. And then all of a sudden it doesn’t go that way. That’s what I do, and that goes kind of into my second part, and I do this a lot in the matches. When I feel myself getting nervous towards the end of that breaker is, I’ll lie to myself about the score. You know, if I’m up 9-6, it’s 3-5. Come on, bear down, it’s 3-5. And then I’m almost a little bit surprised when I win the match because I’m like oh, I thought it was 3-5. So that keeps me very much grounded and in the present, so I explained it to Carolyn incorrectly.

Erin: 3:10
So I actually said when you’re serving, obviously you want to hold your serve, even if that’s for one point, like if I’m the first server in a tiebreaker, my first thought is hold my serve right. So if I hold my serve and then my opponents serve, I’m trying to at least just get one of their points right.

Karen: 3:29
That is, that is absolutely, that’s absolutely correct. What I’ve found is in women’s doubles holding serve and breaking serve are not as big of a factor, as in a men’s match. So I’ve kind of I’ve kind of moved a little bit away from the holding serve breaking serve for women’s doubles. You know, we’re not six foot eight, we’re not you know, hitting a bomb for serves and getting those free points.

Karen: 3:55
So I watched. I just got back from the Southern Cup the Senior Southern Cup in Alabama, and watched a lot of matches, and especially in the women’s and these are the best women in the South and some of them are the best women in the nation and some of them have even won world. So we’re talking about the highest caliber ladies tennis and this holding of the serve is not as big of a factor. Yeah.

Erin: 4:25
Even in pro matches. There was one I just told someone this the other day they each got broken 10 times in the match. It was like neither one could hold. And I’ve been in matches like that where it’s like the first one to hold is the one like you think 6-4 is only a single break, right? You’re like oh, I won the first set 6-4. And that’s like that could be one break, but actually it was like four breaks on each side Right right, there were no holds.

Karen: 4:54
There break, but actually it was like four breaks on each side. Right, there were no holds. There were no holds. Yeah, it was like someone finally actually held and I think I think that’s a factor of the ground strokes being better and us not working on the volleys enough.

Erin: 4:59
Yes, we’re going to talk about volleys. Yeah, that’s a whole conversation so you’re.

Karen: 5:04
So you are actually a hundred percent correct in the men’s. In the men’s double it’s hold your serve and then try and get one of the one of the two return points.

Erin: 5:13
And I said that to Carolyn, like I said, before we started recording. So I said you know, if I hold and then my opponent serve, I try to get one of theirs, and if I get one of theirs then it’s a bonus, right? Then I’m like I’m ahead, and then you just try to hold, serve and, and then I said to her. I said and then you just have to break their serve basically twice if you want to win. I mean it would be nice to win easier than 10-8 or 7-5 or whatever.

Karen: 5:36
Right, you don’t want to play, you know 12 to 19 points or whatever, but the reality is that’s going to happen.

Erin: 5:41
Yeah, a lot, but then I said that to her and she was like wait what I said you only have to break them twice and you have to hold serve every time.

Carolyn: 5:48
And she was like I was like, wait, does the math add up?

Erin: 5:51
Is what I was thinking, because and even with the way Isn’t it just one break if you’re serving first? Well, but you have to win by two? Well, that’s true. If you serve first, you’re right.

Carolyn: 6:04
It’s only cause. That’s what I was saying, I to think each two points as okay. I want to win one of these. If I win the next, it’s extra Correct, no matter if I’m serving, no matter if I’m receiving, and I think that helps keep you from going into a mental slide too, Right?

Karen: 6:23
And if I turn to my partner and I say, okay, let’s get the first one right here Instead of I’m not thinking about that easy forehand volley you just put in the net I’m thinking about the next one.

Erin: 6:35
Because that’s going to happen multiple times. Don’t think about it that time, because that’s going to happen again.

Karen: 6:39
Correct Exactly, exactly.

Carolyn: 6:42
Well, I have a question then, because I’m thinking about I never think about it this way. Instead, I normally go to a bad place.

Erin: 6:48
Yes, she does.

Carolyn: 6:49
When I’m down like I’m down nine to two, I’m just going to hit it as hard as I can until you know, I usually say I can’t believe I’m in a tiebreaker, the whole tiebreaker.

Karen: 6:59
We shouldn’t even be here. We should be at the bar.

Erin: 7:02
Why am I here?

Karen: 7:06
Yes, I should have won this when I was at 5’2″. We have this saying and it’s anything can happen, your opponent can get tight, they’re up big. I saw it. We have a lady in the 65s she was probably number two in the nation playing the number one girl in the nation and she was up 6’3 in the breaker and she got tight and the other girl didn’t go away. She hung tough. The girl that was ahead 6-3 had a double fault and when I see that I’m like all right, that’s tight. She hadn’t double faulted all match and she just double faulted at one of the most important, if not the most important point of the match. She’s feeling the nerves. So as long as I’m going, I’m not going away. I’m still here. We say anything can happen and that’s the great thing about tennis is you have those comebacks and you have those matches that you shouldn’t win. But if you go away mentally, it’s probably not going to happen. You’re probably going to fall short of your goals.

Carolyn: 8:10
Yeah, I do have just one quick question. I may not even include this in the podcast, but, karen, when we as women, okay for the women’s game, where you’re just supposed to try to win one point, take them at two points at a time for the tiebreak is how you should think about it. Like, I want to win one point, then I, you know, the extra point, how do you then also keep track of score? Like that’s the part that I’ve had issues with in tiebreaks is that we’ve tried. You know, I’ve sometimes got to even flip the score in my head, but then I’m like oh, but I still need to keep track of the score. So that, do you know what I’m talking about?

Karen: 8:49
Like how do you?

Karen: 8:50
keep this all in your head, I think there’s like a before a point thought and an after a point thought. So, as I’m getting ready to serve or getting’re getting ready to return, one Okay, first point, let’s get this first point Point finishes in my head. I go, okay, we’re up, three, two, and then I’m getting ready to return, okay, second point, let’s go you know what. So so it’s a before before the point thought and then an after the point thought, and then I’m hoping somebody else is keeping up with it too and then if we’re playing Komen, I’m using the score markers for that reason, so at least we’re not going to get too far off base. But that’s a good question. I think that I definitely.

Karen: 9:41
I mean, I wonder how many thoughts we actually have between points, cause I’m sure there’s a bunch of them, but but for me it’s it’s all right Right before I strike the ball and then right after I hit the ball, so so it’s like a, like a business management, you know, keeping up with the points, right, and then it’s an emotional. Okay, I’m trying to get one of these two, so I’m present and not going. Why am I in this tiebreaker?

Erin: 10:10
Look at that, aaron, comma, aaron, no, I think that’s a good question too, because I’ve actually done just what you were saying, and when someone was serving I would think, oh, if I get their point, you know, if I get this point, then I’m at this score, and then maybe I haven’t, and so then sometimes I’ll get the score wrong because I made an assumption that was going to happen before it. Actually, happened.

Karen: 10:33
Right, right, yeah, yeah, that’s that’s, that’s, that is dangerous.

Erin: 10:37
Yes.

Karen: 10:38
Thinking like oh, if I get this, I’m up 5-2.

Erin: 10:41
And then they’re like no, you weren’t, we’re only at 5-4.

Karen: 10:45
But in my head I was so that should be enough, Right? Doesn’t that count?

Carolyn: 10:49
That’s what I was ahead. I’m pretty sure.

Erin: 10:51
I thought I was ahead.

Karen: 10:52
I don’t even know I’m in this breaker.

Erin: 10:56
I already won the breaker In my mind, in my mind.

Carolyn: 11:02
Exactly In my mind. In my mind, exactly. Thanks very much to Karen for coming on the podcast. We have another episode with Karen where she will give us mental tips for tiebreakers, which I definitely need. We’ve included more information in our show notes about her tennis camp. Thanks so much for listening and hope to see you on the court soon.

The post Ep. 326: Tiebreak Strategy appeared first on Second Serve Tennis Podcast.

Here’s a Transcript of Our Episode:

Carolyn: 0:06

Hi, this is Carolyn and I’m here with Erin and we have Gin back on the podcast. Gin got bumped from 3.5 to 5.0 in three years. This wasn’t going to be an episode, but we started discussing after the other episodes we recorded with Jen how she was able to win so many singles matches and we thought others may want to hear it. So here it is, jen. Since you have played 3-5, 4-0, 4-5, and 5-0 singles, can you tell us your single strategy?Gin: 0:37

Yeah, I think that you know a lot of rec players have the wrong mindset is kind of my point of view, and I bet you a lot of pros out there are going to disagree with me. But you know, I have just, you know, shown that I can win at singles and, and you know, women’s recreational tennis, and I have done it through consistency. And you know I learned from y’all’s podcast that even at the professional level, most points are lost by an error, not won by a winner, even if Djokovic can’t win a match on more on winners, I’m not going to be able to. So I’ve taken the strategy of I do not ever aim for a line, I’m aiming three feet inside the line. I am really trying to just get a lot of balls back and I have found that at three, five, four, oh, four or five, and you know even a couple of five, oh, doubles, uh, singles matches. This is all singles, um, that I’ve been in. You know they, you, you will win more than you will lose and they will get, they will hit some winners, um, but you kind of just say, yeah, good shot.Gin: 1:39

And and I’m going to go back to the next point being consistent and and I have found a lot of success that way, yeah, so I think that people really should come into a match more with a mentality of of getting you know, finding a ball you know I want you to find as a singles player out there. I want you to find a ball that you can hit 90% of the time in and safe you know that’s a good. You know still be working toward a good deep. You safe you know that’s a good. You know still be working toward a good deep, you know ball. But don’t let it be within a foot of the line. Do not think of it as like I’m going to put this ball away. They’re not going to get to it. Don’t even worry about that. If you can hit a ball inconsistently you know deep, ish, um, a lot of times you know you will win a lot of matches.Erin: 2:26

So what I was saying before we started recording this was that what I learned, and now I’m upset about it. What I learned was when you have a short ball or an attackable ball, right, then you come in and you do something with it. So you, so I learned basically like, do patterns, set up, set up your point, but then when there is a short ball, like, let’s say, inside the service box, you have to do something with it. You’ve got to finish the point. And that was what my pros mentality was for years and Carolyn had the same, the same pro, and what Jen is saying is still be consistent with that ball.Erin: 2:59

Don’t think of it as this ball I have to like, I think of it as I have to kill this ball, and usually what happens to me is I kill the ball to the back fence or three feet over, you know, three feet out or whatever, so I lose. I actually played a woman who’s super consistent that that you guys both know and I won the first three games and I was like I am rolling now and I did not win another game after that because she hit just consistently. You know, back in the court. Every ball came back in the court, no matter if it was short or deep or whatever, but every single ball, and I kept thinking I’ve got to put it away, I’ve got to put it away. And I did not win a single game after that.Gin: 3:32

So yeah, and when I come forward, when I get a short ball, you know I’m going to try to know. If you’ve got a phenomenal approach shot that you can hit consistently, by all means hit that. But I haven’t found many ladies you know in any of these levels I’ve played at who can do that super consistently. So for most people you know what I do is I come in, I have a. I’m much more, I can count on my slice forehand much better in that situation. The pros don’t like it when I do it, but I know I can hit that in 90% of the time, whereas my topspin approach shot I do not feel as confident with. So I hit that and I hit it with that same mentality of like, yeah, I’m going to try to challenge the person. You know I don’t want to hit like an easy ball to the middle but I’m not going to hit a ball that I’m not pretty sure you know very sure I can hit in. You know I want to hit a ball that I know sure I can hit in. You know I want to hit a ball that I know and if that and if all you know you can hit in if you’re at a level, you know, if you’re a two, five or a three, oh, and you only know that you can hit on a pop-up ball, I would encourage you to hit that pop-up ball.Gin: 4:34

Know in your head what your opponent’s weaker shot is. You know, let’s say that they have a weaker backhand Hit them a pop-up ball to their backhand. You’re still in a better position. You know, you’re still in the mentality You’re getting balls back and so that I mean, you know that’s kind of what I’ve done. You know, so be smart about it. You know, notice what your opponent’s weaknesses are. You know, if there’s someone who and every time you hit them a short ball, hit a short ball. Don’t make it a ball that is barely coming over the net that you can only hit in two at a time.Gin: 5:03

Don’t hit a shot that you are only going to be able to hit in two at a ten times, but just something that makes them move. So it’s just really sort of a safe, consistent mentality. And even if we look at professionals, obviously there are different types of players. There’s players who are, you know, fast and consistent and that’s their game even at the professional level. And there are other players who are power players. You know I’m not a power player. If you’re a power player, you know you may have to sort of tweak my strategy, I guess. But yeah, I don’t think that any adult recreational ladies, tennis players, should be going for the line, the line and winners every time.Erin: 5:44

I have not seen anyone be able to do it. Yeah, I would say I’m a power player, and I will tell you.Gin: 5:46

The problem with being a power player is you hit more out than you hit in you know, and that’s the person when I’m playing singles, if I’m warming up against that is I’m like yes like this girl enjoys going for it and she’s going to hit some winners that I don’t get. But you know this is gonna be easy because she’s she cannot do that. If she could, if she could do that she would be a 5-5. You know, like if she could hit that ball in 90 percent of the time Right.Erin: 6:09

Yeah, what’s your mentality, carolyn, in singles?Carolyn: 6:13

It was single. Well, if I get a short ball, it’s put it away, just because I’ve been taught OK, put it away. And let me tell you, I can’t put it away 90 percent of the time. I probably put it away 20 percent of the time because my body’s moving, I’m not set up correctly. But in my mind I’m like, oh, I got a short ball, I’ve really done everything I needed, and and it frustrates me. Then I get frustrated because I go for it and I’m like I should be able to hit this, because when my pro is feeding it to me time after time after time, I can do it Right.Carolyn: 6:45

But in a real match, you know my feet aren’t, you know, I’m hitting it a little differently and I’m missing it and I’ve just, you know, I’ve never thought to like, okay, let’s really bring the ball in. Some like you can still be aggressive, but bring the targets in and not go, not go for these winners, and I’ve always gone for the winners and I don’t, I don’t win. So but I think the thing is we don’t. I don’t think pros really understand this, because they play at such a high level, whereas Jen is in the trenches Like she’s playing 3-5 level 4-0, 4-5, and now 5-0. She’s seen it.Gin: 7:25

She’s seen rack tennis. I believe I’ve played 76 for USTA singles matches and I’m 72-4. Wow, so I have tested this theory and it you know it’s pretty effective. Again, there will be people you come up against that may not work and you may have to tweak it. But yeah, I do believe people should really work on their consistency. We’re not. I would highly encourage people to really work on being a little more consistent and hitting balls. They have confidence they can hit in a lot of the time.Erin: 8:07

Yeah, I’m, I’m, I’m still going to be mad that I it’s like, my, it’s a muscle memory of, like it was just so ingrained and I remember bumping from three five or watching, when I was probably a three oh, watching a friend of mine who maybe just got bumped to three five and she was, I’m sorry, just got bumped to four oh from a three five and I remember her walking off the court and she walked past me and she was like every short ball that I gave that woman was a winner, like she, you know, like she felt like that was the difference between three five and four oh singles was that four oh players would put it away if they recognized either a short ball or a ball that they hit like a deep to someone’s backhand. You know that they would come in on and so that’s. It’s been in my mind for so many years. And now, getting to know Jen and hitting with Jen a lot more and watching her progression from those love you know up through the, through the ranks, it’s like, yeah, the pros, whatever the somebody knows the numbers, but it’s something like, you know, maybe a three or five ball rally is typical and that’s because people are going for it.Erin: 9:11

Now, again, that’s a completely different. It’s all called tennis, but what they play and what we play is completely different, and you know. So, like Jen said, if they can’t hit winners or if they can’t cut down on their unforced errors, we aren’t going to be able to do it. So I’m going to try to change. We talked about goals last week on our podcast, carolyn. That’s my new. Goal is consistency. You know, hitting with Jen more.Gin: 9:39

It’s a strategy to try. You know we all get out on the court and try different, you know, and you may have to tweak it. You have to say, oh gosh, I’ve run up against another player who’s doing the same strategy and she’s faster and younger and more athletic than me. Like I gotta, I’m going to have to do something different.Gin: 9:53

So you know this isn’t just a catch all, but I do think that I don’t think people think about it enough. I would like to enter this in as, like, another sort of way to play uh that people work on. You know, work on it in your clinics, you know, maybe go to a clinic and don’t see how hard you can hit it and cause that’s fun. You know we all love to go and cause it doesn’t matter. You know who cares if I hit it out. But like, maybe go and say I want to see how many. You know, maybe I can try to have fewer than five errors all day today. Or, you know, it’s just a different way to think about your game.Erin: 10:23

Have you ever counted your own errors in Like? Have you recognized how few you had, that you were able to count them? I have won a set before I can think of one match ever I have won a set before not losing a single point, and almost won the whole match. That’s a golden. Isn’t that called a golden? It is.Gin: 10:38

Somebody told me that was like a golden match or something. I did lose a couple points. I think maybe we were three games into the second set or something.Erin: 10:47

Have you ever done that?Carolyn: 10:48

Have you ever, carolyn, I had a golden match no, I’ve never even heard of that. That’s how I’ve never even been close to that.Gin: 10:55

Well, that’s because you like to put the ball away.Carolyn: 11:06

You’re a different style of player. Well, I come in. You know what I do. I come into the net Like I’m like, oh, they’re lobbing it, I’ve gotten it to a shot where I can get to a volley and I hit the volley out. Or I mean I may hit some winners and they feel so good, yeah. But it’s few and far between. Like this is kind of a different way to think. And Jen is very athletic, so she can move, she can get to things. She does have that style of play. But to be a little bit more like I need to be consistent versus let me try to put something away, even though I’m getting older and I’m not as athletic as I was and I’m not to the, you know, like I don’t have the skill to do it, I haven’t done it a million times. I think I’m gonna try Jen’s way.Erin: 11:41

I know how it goes Exactly. We’ll have to. We’ll do a follow up podcast and see.Gin: 11:46

Yeah, yeah.Erin: 11:47

I have this one funny story about actually I have a couple funny stories about watching Jen play singles. One is a friend of mine we were out watching. It was it was a summer singles match because I remember it was like after dark and I think we were like having a drink at our club and just watching gin play because we enjoy it. And this poor woman she was playing against. There’s just nothing she could do. And so my friend canna and I were like that what she needs to, that one needs to just get into the net like try to put balls away, because she wasn’t going to outlast her.Carolyn: 12:15

So we kept saying, like why is she doing that?Erin: 12:17

know, hit two balls and come in, like hit one ball and come in, do something different, but then the same thing kind of happened. The other funny story was the same thing sort of happened to Jen in a match where she voice texted us after because she had such a long story about. She actually had to finally change her mentality from being consistent because she came up against another Jen basically. So she would hit 200 and some balls I counted. Do you want me to tell yes, please?Gin: 12:43

So I, she’s right, I was like reluctant to tell this, but um, you know, I did. I ran up against somebody who kind of played my game better than I did and um, and she, we, we were having just incredibly long rallies. It was summer, it was very hot, she was younger than me and I was counting rallies and I mean they were many, were over a hundred balls, but the one that I counted one that was 278 balls and I lost the point and I, and I really was in that match trying to move her. You know, I was, I felt like I was changing it up, you know, and but she just was getting everything back in her ball. Anyway, it was, she was better that day than me at my game and and so I did Erin’s right.Gin: 13:20

That’s the only time in my, you know, uh, tennis career so far that I have been like to heck with this. I’m not doing this anymore, I’m not. You know, I thought to myself this is adult record, I’m not having fun and I’m going to, just I’m going to end this match one way or the other. So I did start hitting as hard as I’m talking, you know, one might be a winner and then one would go two courts over. I mean, you know it was, it was I was, but I was like I’m sticking with this strategy and I want a game like that, but then I did not end up winning that match, but um yeah, so I did run into that, you’re right, but that was one out of, like you know, 70 or 80 singles matches ever.Erin: 13:54

But it just made me laugh because she sent this long voice, you know, recording to us and she was like y’all, I mean, I had 278 balls and then I just decided I had to change everything. I was just hitting winners, I was hitting as hard as I like. It just made me laugh Cause it’s like well, that’s kind of our everyday match.Carolyn: 14:10

And that was like once in a lifetime for Jim so yeah.Gin: 14:26

Oh, that’s great. That was not my favorite match. She did a great job. She was a great player that day. Yeah, yeah, how long that match take, how long. The first set was a very long set because we were both doing that strategy, but no once I mean I switched to that maybe a couple games into the second set and then it was over very fast, um, so I mean the first set was at well over an hour. Was it a set?Erin: 14:36

tiebreaker. What were your scores? Do you remember? I don’t remember. Uh, for close first set.Gin: 14:37

I don’t remember if it went to tiebreaker. What were your scores? Do you remember? I don’t remember Close for set. I don’t remember if it went to a tiebreaker, if it was just 6-4 or 7-5 or something like that, and then the second set wouldn’t, because once I started doing that, I think I won one game and then no more.Erin: 14:50

What did she say to you after? Was there any awkward? I?Gin: 14:53

think she said you could have done that much earlier and saved us some time. You know, but nicely.Carolyn: 14:57

Yeah, yeah, as a joke.Gin: 14:59

We had very good rapport and yeah, she was kind of kidding Like why didn’t you do that and save us, you know, some energy and heat and everything else?Erin: 15:08

Yeah, Could you imagine I told Jen this I don’t know how many points there would be in whatever. Uh, I I’m sure I could do the math quickly, but I won’t. But like, whatever a golden set or a golden match would be, however many points that is, but I don’t think I’ve hit 200. And what did you say? 78. 78 balls in an entire match. And she was talking about one point. One point, yeah.Carolyn: 15:27

One point that’s so crazy. That’s so crazy. Yeah, that’s amazing.Erin: 15:32

Would you ever do that, Carolyn?Carolyn: 15:41

You just rush into the net. I don’t think I could Like I’m not at that level to you know. Well, most people aren’t. That’s what. That’s what it’s. I don’t think I could do, to be honest, more than 10.Erin: 15:47

Oh, I’ve seen you hit. Could I do more than 10? Yeah, you can.Carolyn: 15:49

Even if it’s hit directly to me. Yeah, you can. Could I do 20? Yes.Erin: 15:54

Maybe not right now, but this spring you’re going to, you can hit 20.Carolyn: 15:57

What do you think, yours, my shot tolerance.Erin: 16:00

Yeah, if I was pretending like I was just hitting against a friend and that I was not hitting a winner, I think I could definitely do 10.Gin: 16:09

Oh, we just did 100.Erin: 16:10

We just did yeah, oh, 100. Okay, wow. But see, here’s the difference between Jen and I too. I wouldn’t do 100 in one point, because I know that I still have like 70 more points to play out, or whatever.Carolyn: 16:22

the you know, yeah, I don’t have the stamina for it either. So there’s, you have to do what Jen did, which is stamina nutrition, everything involved to do it.Erin: 16:31

That’s crazy, I know, but that’s good. That’s really good single strategy and it’s good. It’s yeah, carol and I are both going to play a lot of singles, so we’re gonna try to implement some of this a lot of it.Carolyn: 16:42

Yeah, yeah, we’ll let you know how the gin strategy goes, yeah maybe some of the listeners will try it and let us know. I know, but they better not try it against us.Gin: 16:49

Right.Carolyn: 16:50

Yeah, don’t do it, against that we can’t have two people doing that.Gin: 16:53

That’s true. Yeah, it’s just for us Nevermind, don’t, don’t put this out?Carolyn: 16:56

Yeah, this is not going out. Thanks again to Jen for coming on the podcast. If anyone listening tries Jen’s single strategy and it works, please let us know. You can message us on our website, which is SecondServePodcastcom. Thanks so much for listening and hope to see you next time.

The post Ep. 325: 3.5 to 5.0 in 3 Years – Winning Singles Strategy appeared first on Second Serve Tennis Podcast.

Here’s A Complete Transcript of Our Conversation with Gin

Carolyn: 0:07

Hi, this is Carolyn, and I’m here with Erin, and this is part two of our episode with Jen, who went from level 3.0 to 5.0 in three years. If you’d like to hear more about her background, please check out part one, but here is part two.Gin: 0:22

Both when I bumped to four or five and then this year Erin knows, because I called her that morning I’m a coach at my club and so I did the safe play thing through USTA. So I got the email early and I sobbed when I got this most recent bump and I know that maybe sounds silly because I know I, you know I am, I do, I’m aware that it’s a privilege to even talk about being at that level and you know, really a special thing, but it changes your life. You know, it has changed my um. Something that I’ve come to really love, and that’s something that has given me a lot in my life, is, you know, tennis and I and I started it as a daytime when my kids were at school activity and and it has, I mean, given me friendships and health and just I mean so much and that is now gone and so I’m having a hard time. Even right now I could sort of cry like kind of come into terms with that.Erin: 1:16

So yeah, because we’ve talked about there’s a pathway from 2.5 and up, but not once you hit that 5.0 level, right.Carolyn: 1:23

Yeah, so do you not have a team at 5.0 right now? So in our area, or are there teams Right? Are there teams? I guess there are teams.Gin: 1:30

In our area and I’m sure this is very different depending on where you are, but in our area there are not teams, like you all know that. You know a lot of us play in the different local you know I mean we call them Eno and Cary and in our area you can kind of travel not far and play. So a lot of our friends play on. You know two teams in Raleigh, two teams in Cary and an Eno team, and you know, so you kind of can build all these teams that you’re playing on, and so for 5-0, there is not Durham Cary, there’s none there, and so there’s only one Raleigh team. And also in the other brackets you can play 18 and 40, because I am well over 40. But in 5-0, there is not a 40. So it is one league and it plays on Sunday afternoons and I had already made the decision. I did not want to play on weekends because that’s when I’m. I did not start tennis to be another thing on the weekends, when my kids.Gin: 2:25

I started tennis to be what I did during the day.Carolyn: 2:28

So yeah.Gin: 2:29

Did you appeal? I did. I took my time with it. I did not hit it right away because I just wanted to make sure, because you know USDA is very clear about you can’t undo an appeal. So I just thought you know, I want to make sure this is what I want. I mean it is maybe something I would never achieve again, I just want to make sure. But the more I thought about it and talked to friends that week I was like no, what am I thinking? And so I did hit appeal and it was denied.Carolyn: 2:52

I hit appeal this year too, at 4-0, and it was denied. I know, I think that’s you know.Gin: 2:56

I heard Erin say the thing on the podcast last podcast about that, and I’m the one that said that. I think if you battle cancer you should be able to say I want to be this level I know the USTA should make that happen, carolyn’s, like I’m coming back as a 2.5.Erin: 3:09

Yeah, I know right.Carolyn: 3:11

You can come with me, jen, we’ll do it again, I know.Erin: 3:25

I mean, I really, I mean this maybe y see her play shouldn’t look like a four.Carolyn: 3:26

Oh yeah, I’m sure that is kind of a you, because you don’t hear these stories that often of somebody making it to five, oh, and then not having opportunity to play opportunities.Erin: 3:36

Yeah it really does. So, like I said, there’s a really good pathway and USTA has done an amazing job of getting people who have never touched a racket.Carolyn: 3:44

You know there’s a five, three, five, four.Erin: 3:47

There’s all those programs for, like, just jump on a court and for 40 bucks we’ll give you a racket and a coach and six weeks of training, and you know. So they have all this. And then there’s a, you know, learn to play and then learn to play in a league. You know this whole. Really they’ve done a good job of that pathway. No-transcript. We could have like three guys and a woman on the court just because they just don’t have the opportunity to play. And here we are. Like Jen said, we’ve got 18 over, 40 over. In our area, I mean in our club, we’ve got 55, 65, 75 year olds. They’ve got all those leagues plus all the different areas that we could travel to. So Jen, unfortunately, at 5.0, is just out of those options.Gin: 4:57

You’re just too good, jen, you’ve gotten too good too quickly is that? I don’t really feel like it? So you know? But I, you know I did have the win, so I guess I’ve got to accept it. And you know I would also be remiss. I left out, I kind of glossed through my 4.0 year and I did. I will also say you know we’re talking about what I did. I did take a lot of lessons that year and so I can’t, you know, leave out. I mean, some phenomenal coaches really taught me a lot and so you know that was a big part. I did that mostly during the year that I was a 4.0. It was blessed to be able to do that almost weekly and that was incredible. In fact, erin and I and our other friend who’s also been on the podcast, did a group lesson and then I did some private, so that was also incredibly helpful.Erin: 5:40

Yeah, and I know we’ve said it, but it’s not just natural ability. She worked really really, really hard at working out constantly. You know, like she said nutrition, I mean she kind of did it all and she just did it so quick. A lot of people say they’re going to commit to doing that and maybe they do it, maybe it takes some years, maybe they dabble in it. Jen really went full force into it and she’s just very, very quick. She has amazing footwork from her other sports and that, like you said, that competitiveness and you know it’s. I hate to say that it’s a bummer that you got bumped to 5-0. It feels like that. But you know people listening might be like oh you know how lucky, but it was a lot of hard work, but now she’s just out of options.Carolyn: 6:23

I mean there’s professional athletes that play tennis and they, you know 3-5, 4-0. They’re not getting bumped to 5-0. So that shows how much you worked, how hard you worked, how much you’ve done, Even though you are a phenomenal athlete. There’s other professional athletes that play tennis now and they’re not getting bumped to 5-0.Gin: 6:42

Well, thank you, I appreciate that.Erin: 6:44

Yeah, there’s a few in our area. We interviewed a baseball player. I know a hockey player. They’re playing tennis. Very, very good, Very good yeah 4-4 to 4-5, but not getting bumped to 5-0.Gin: 6:56

It’s really fun for me to watch the different sports that people come out of and watch how it appears on the tennis court. You know you’ve got the volleyball players who are just like crazy net people who look like they. You know they look like they’re they. I mean they love being up there at that net and putting that ball away. And then you’ve got, I mean, we have at our club when you just said hockey, that’s what made me think of this and I played her this morning, so maybe that’s why it’s fresh on my mind but we have somebody who played hockey ice hockey and she was a keeper, a goalie and whatever.Gin: 7:25

I mean her. The way that she slaps at the ball in these crazy arm movements looks like a hockey goalie, but it comes back at you in the craziest spin that you ever will see and it’s very effective. She’s a very, very good player and you know, just fun to watch. You know a soccer player and people will say what sport did you play? You know, cause they can tell there’s something there, um, and I think that is the, maybe the running and the footwork, um, yeah, and so, yeah, it’s fun to watch the different the, to see the different sport, the different athletes and um how it looks on the tennis court. That is fun.Erin: 7:57

Yeah, carolyn gets in trouble, cause she was a basketball player and she was like just run up to the net at any point, like when I should like anytime, so she’s like time to get to the net.Carolyn: 8:10

I’d rather be at the net than at the baseline. So yeah, I just run to the net.Erin: 8:16

Willy nilly whenever.Gin: 8:17

And I run. I do the opposite. I get you know. The coaches yell at me all the time especially in singles.Erin: 8:28

But you know I’ll go to midway up and hit a ball and then backtrack, you know. But I want to be on the baseline. I get as far away from the net as possible. Me too.Gin: 8:32

It’s like there’s a magnet on the baseline. It just pulls me back.Erin: 8:35

Okay, so since you have now played USTA leagues and a zillion matches in the last three years, is that all you’ve been playing 2020.Gin: 8:45

Yeah, 2020.Carolyn: 8:45

Yeah.Erin: 8:46

Okay, one, almost all of them too. Yeah, um, do you have a craziest story that you can tell our listeners? People love to hear about the crazy. Yeah, you know, I have a lot of.Gin: 8:55

I think what I have is like a lot of crazy stories. I mean, you know, erin and I are texting and telling each other about crazy stories, but then it’s like when you try to think of like the one crazy story to share, that’s when it gets hard. You know, one that comes to mind for me is that I was playing. I had lots of things happen that first year that were funny to me. Like you know, a player that and we’re this is three, five, you know adult recreational tennis and a woman came out and was switching rackets every changeover and she had like 20 bag tags from all her championships and was just very undone over that. She was losing to me and yelled at me you are not a 3-5.Gin: 9:36

And a lot of things like that happened over the years, but the one that I guess I was going to tell you about is that I had a player we were playing very competitive singles match and she was doing well, she was ahead, and then I kind of had a little comeback and she cried. She came to the net at one of the changeovers and literally had tears rolling down her cheeks and said you know, I would really like to go back to the way that we were playing at the beginning. You know, I really do not.Carolyn: 10:04

When I was beating you yeah.Gin: 10:06

Yeah, can we?Carolyn: 10:06

play that way instead. Yeah.Gin: 10:08

And I really do not, and it was very sincere, and I really do not like this anymore, and I kind of just thought to myself, like you know what, do you want me to do Like?Gin: 10:18

you know, that’s all I need to know. Like, I mean, this is a the way I am. So, um, and I think it was being just crazy obnoxiously consistent, hitting balls, you know, maybe even with less pace to the middle of the court, kind of thing and, um, I beat her, but that was. That was bizarre to me, that she thought that would be an effective strategy to cry and to ask someone.Erin: 10:39

you know, I’m going to try that next time, when I’m winning and then I fall behind, maybe, like I get broken, I’m going to go up and ask my opponent hey, could you like do all the stuff you were just doing when I was beating you instead? That’s so. That’s crazy, that’s pretty nutty. I wonder if she remembers that she did that.Carolyn: 10:54

Erin, have you ever made someone cry? I’ve never made anybody cry. Oh, I’ve made.Gin: 10:58

I’ve made back to me. I interrupted Erin. No there’ve been several other. I’ve made a lot of people cry.Carolyn: 11:03

I think I’m just very frustrating to play against. Does that make you feel awkward at all? Oh yeah, because to me it would make me feel awkward.Erin: 11:10

Yes, why would people do that? Do you think they do that in men’s tennis? Never.Gin: 11:15

I think I’m frustrating. I think that you know, I think it’s very frustrating to play a type of player who just gets things back a lot. And and I think I’ve I mean I’ve had people say you know, I hit it, I’m hitting them out because I feel like I’ve got to get it on the line or you’re going to get to it, and so I think it’s just. I mean, you know, I think I’m just I’m frustrating, so I do, I do. People do cry, people do cry. I’ve cried too.Carolyn: 11:46

We’re women, you know, Jen.Gin: 11:52

so can you also tell us your most memorable moment on the court? Yes, I’m a huge fan of this podcast and so I knew that question was coming and so I think probably I have to say I mean, there have been so many, as I’m sure everybody you know would say, and absolutely you know our state championships and, um, those have been incredibly special and I’ve gotten to be you know part of several at this point, but, um, I’d say there have to be two, and one is that, um, I actually won a state championship in high school. Um, our tennis team won the two a which, if you’re from North Carolina, you know what that means it’s a little school, right.Gin: 12:24

But if you’re not, it means that it’s a small school, we’re from a small town. State championship, and as a whatever I was 16-year-old that was just so exciting, and to have all the parents there, I mean it was just really, really special and we had tried we’d made it to the final for three straight years and um, so to win that match was, um, you know, it has to be among my top tennis moments, even though it was a long time ago. And the other one was, I guess, planet nationals. Um, you know that, that, I’m sure, is something I’ll never experience again. And um, even though we didn’t win, I believe we finished fifth. That was also still, you know, just a highlight, you know, to say I did it and it’s really fun, yeah.Erin: 13:07

I’ve never made it to regionals.Gin: 13:09

It’s hard, it’s really hard we would have made it several times if they had regionals.Erin: 13:16

True, we did win the state championship in singles several times, and but Jen was also like so amazing at nationals Cause she was kind of our marketing girl and pushing our podcast and wearing.Carolyn: 13:27

So much for doing that.Erin: 13:29

She was wearing our sticker on her shirt while she was playing. So she was giving us some, you know, giving us some love all the way at nationals.Carolyn: 13:36

Should we have had Jen doing that, cause she’s making people cry, true?Gin: 13:40

I did not make anybody cry at nationals. I think it was okay. I played against lovely people.Carolyn: 13:46

We really appreciate Jen coming on the podcast. If you’re aware of any other person like Jen who climbed the rankings really quickly, please let us know. You can message us on our website, which is SecondServePodcastcom. Thanks so much for listening and hope to see you on the courts soon.

The post Ep. 324: A Journey From 3.5 to 5.0 in Three Years (Part Two) appeared first on Second Serve Tennis Podcast.

Here’s A Complete Transcript of Our Conversation with Gin

Carolyn: 0:06

Hi, this is Carolyn and I’m here with Aaron and we are thrilled to have on the podcast Jen. Jen has been bumped from level 3.5 to 5.0 in three years. We met Jen. How do we meet Jen Aaron? Aaron was captaining a 4-0 team that won the state championship. Jen was on that team. She was a 3-5 at that time. She is now a 5-0. Aaron, are you a 5-0 now?Erin: 0:36

Not close. But the funny thing about that is well, first of all, carolyn picked all the amazing great people on that team and our first goal was we want nice people to form a team with that are also good tennis players, and we got a really good group of people and some of us, including Jen and I, became very, very close through that team. But, carolyn, you picked all the great people. But I remember when someone at my club contacted me and said, oh, jen is looking for a summer singles team, I was like great. And then Jen I think we were on a group text and Jen was like but I’m a 3-5. And I was like you’re good, you’re fine, because I saw her play several matches and at that point I was like I want nice people and it’ll just be a fun team. And then, yeah, we went on to win the state championship, actually two years in a row.Erin: 1:26

And then we retired last year because I was like eh, jen got bumped.Carolyn: 1:36

Been there, done that. Yeah, I was like let’s go out on a high note. Too bad, there’s not a national championship for singles. I know I mean it just ends at the state level, because Jen would win her court, for us for sure.Erin: 1:42

Oh, yeah, it might be the only court we win all weekend, but she’d be winning it so anyway. So welcome Jen.Gin: 1:49

Thank you. Thank you for coming on. I’m so excited. I’m happy to be here.Carolyn: 1:52

Okay, tell us a little bit about your tennis background.Gin: 1:55

So, I definitely was like a total tomboy growing up. You know the kid who was just every ball I could get my hands on. You know, really tennis was not my main sport when I was little but I did do some tennis. I lived in a really small town but we had a pro that would travel to us so I took some lessons as a junior, but really, and my little high school tennis team did have some success and that was really fun, but really, you know, my main sports were soccer and basketball. We have that in common, carolyn, the basketball and but you know I just love anything athletic. And then I took off 25 years to have kids and didn’t touch a racket and so that was kind of the background, you know, until the present era starts. But yeah, it was kind of a lot of kid stuff and then a long time doing nothing but being a mom, because Jen has four kids.Carolyn: 2:49

Yes, that’s right.Erin: 2:50

Okay, wow, and didn’t you get back into it because your kids were taking lessons. I did yeah.Gin: 2:54

So that you know, my kids were playing, I had gotten them into the sport and they were taking lessons somewhere else and I kind of was like I don’t know that. I feel like you know, this is the best and so what, I’m going to look into where we could go. So I found our where Aaron and I are at our club right now and got my kids in there and you know, I was just watching them. I, you know, I still had a three-year-old, so I was then, you know, one day I was like you know, maybe I’ll take a clinic, Like this looks kind of fun, Like I, I can do this, Like I’ll get back out there and take a clinic. So that’s what I did. I think it was the fall of 21. I signed up for, just, you know, just picked one off the sheet, just not knowing anything or anybody, just I’ll try this clinic.Gin: 3:33

It was it was uh like a double strategy yeah.Erin: 3:37

That’s actually my favorite clinic, like a Thursday morning double strat. Yeah, so then okay, so you came in. Who talked you into getting into league play In our area?Gin: 3:47

anyway, it’s kind of like that’s what it. It’s like there’s not much else.Erin: 3:50

Right, it’s so competitive. Yeah, I mean you can do clinics and then everybody at the club.Gin: 3:54

That was kind of like what they did. I didn’t really feel like there was another path. Really, now at our club we do have some indoor like during the winter, but during the rest of the year it’s sort of like you, you join a league and and, um, you know, I didn’t know how to self rate. You know people kept saying you need to get a rating and you know I, I did the the forum online to self rate and it actually recommended that I’d be a 3-0. Which is crazy. Yeah, I answered all the questions, as it said. You know. I think it said did you play college tennis? I did not. Have you played tennis in 25 years? I had not. So it said we recommend 3-0. And I thought, ah, let me try 3-5.Carolyn: 4:31

Yeah, so I did that’s interesting. So you played 3-5, even though technically you could have played 3-0.Gin: 4:37

Right.Erin: 4:38

Yes, could you imagine her at 3.0?Gin: 4:40

Oh my goodness, sorry, yeah, so I guess you could say I went from 3.0 to 5.0.Carolyn: 4:45

Correct.Gin: 4:46

Yes, that’s amazing, but I did not ever. I did not self-rate. I’ve started as a self-rated 3.5.Erin: 4:52

And not to get off on a tangent, but that’s what I do.Gin: 4:55

That’s a whole nother episode.Erin: 4:57

We need to do a self-rate episode. Heard someone else that was like I did play college tennis, but it wasn’t within the last like 20 years. I think there’s like some sub. We should go through the questionnaire again online, carolyn. We did that years ago, but I think we just did a very high level or maybe we only went over, like the NTRP ratings and what you should be able to do with that rating, but the whole self rate. We need to have an entire episode on that, because Jen answered honestly and correctly and got rated a 3.0, which is nuts. But I’ve heard someone else that was like oh yeah, I was supposed to play 4.0, and I self-rated as a 4.5 because they had played some college tennis, whether it’s D3, d2, you know something, so it’s interesting. More we need to fix with USTA. You know rating stuff.Carolyn: 5:44

Yeah. I mean because most people would be like 3.0, okay, let’s interesting, we need to more. More we need to fix with USTA, you know rating stuff. Yeah, I mean because most people would be like three, oh, ok let’s go I mean everybody would want you on their team. I mean, everybody wanted you on their team at every level.Gin: 5:53

So you know, not really.Carolyn: 5:55

It didn’t mean anything. No, not really.Gin: 5:57

Because and I mean it’s like Aaron said, this is a whole episode in and of itself. I have lots of strong opinions on this whole. You know appeals and self rates, because I was that person and you know I don’t know what. What does three mean? I don’t know what does three. I don’t know. And, and you are very like you just said, everybody wants you on their team but they don’t know me, they don’t know. You know they don’t, they don’t want. No one was. I mean I had to sort of ask, really ask around. And I know y’all have an episode because I’m a huge fan of the podcast about tryouts and I completely had a tryout. I did not know it at the time but now I’m, you know, I’m certain, I know, I mean I absolutely Did you make that team?Erin: 6:38

I did, that was my first team. Carolyn had a tryout, but she didn’t make her team. Oh, carolyn, at 2-5,. Jen, it was a 2-5 team.Carolyn: 6:44

I got cut from Anyway. I’m not bitter.Erin: 6:48

We still talk about it every episode, though I’ve heard y’all talk about it, yeah, which is funny, because now Carolyn’s a 4-0 and people that cut her from the team never made it past.Carolyn: 6:59

Probably three, five or three, oh, probably well I don’t know it’s, it’s hard, but it’s so interesting that that’s the way it happened and that you were three, oh, and now you’re five, oh, I mean it just blows my mind so.Erin: 7:11

So take us through that journey. So three, five self rate right um to five. Oh so I know each year during ratings you got bumped, since I’ve known you, so go through that yeah, so I played.Carolyn: 7:21

Yeah, give us tips. I want to know how to be a five. Oh yeah, I mean you don’t you so go through that. Yeah, so I played. Yeah, and give us tips. I want to know how to be a 5-0.Erin: 7:26

You don’t want to know how to be a 5-0.Gin: 7:27

You don’t, yeah, I mean maybe we’ll get to that, but I’ve cried a lot about it, but I started. So I started playing UST tennis in spring of 22 and it was a self-rated 3-5 and played that season and, you know, had good success but definitely lost some matches and you know was figuring out how to do all this. I mean, I remember actually standing at the club was my very, very first match was against your y’all’s friend at your club.Erin: 7:49

That was your first match. I watched you play.Gin: 7:51

Yeah, that was my very first yes.Erin: 7:53

Do you remember that Mike and I sat up there you were playing singles and Emily was playing singles against Jen, and I think Mike and Emily was playing singles against Jen and I think Mike, your Mike and I watched and both Mike and I were like, oh, she’s not a three five, Just watching her play. And our friend Emily is a very good singles player.Gin: 8:12

And I remember I was shaking, standing back there to serve first. So I mean, you know I was terrified and it could not have been a lovelier first match. She is just the loveliest person. And so, anyway, I went through that season and, like I said, had success. But didn’t, you know, I lost some matches and every match felt nervous. You know I didn’t think to myself oh, I’m a 5-0. This is ridiculous. You know, every time I thought, you know I’m, who knows what’s going to happen. And then I did that summer, played, you know, was looking for some more singles that’s the team we referred to at the beginning and so got that experience. But again I was, I told Aaron, you know I was very like, but I’m a three five like you. You may not want me, I completely get this. So you know, I definitely did not feel like I was in the wrong place. But then I bumped, you know that, november, december, and again played.Erin: 9:00

So then she was computer rated for it. So then I was like yep, correct.Gin: 9:03

So computer rated four, oh, um, played that year 23 as a computer rated four, oh, and you know, I think by that time I had started to get my tennis legs under me and gain confidence. And you know, and I I will say, you know, first tip as far as how did you do this? I mean, I worked hard, you know I, I did clinics, I hit, you know, played a lot. I actually also really worked on my own personal fitness and nutrition and lost a lot of weight, partially through tennis, and you know, so that’s that was helpful. And so played that next year at 4-0 and was fortunate enough to go to States again, um, we won the state um summer singles state championship again. And actually and this has also been featured on your podcast, as I went to nationals, I was on that team that y’all have featured, um, that went to 4-0 team that went to nationals. So that was great, my 4-0 year. And then it happened again, you know, I bumped that November, december to 4-5. And she was really upset.Gin: 9:59

I was very upset because at that point in time my friends were 4-0s. You know, I had really developed great friendship. This lady sitting next to me included.Carolyn: 10:07

Which is Erin, which is Erin um, and Aaron, which is Aaron’s right beside her.Gin: 10:11

Um, carolyn and I would be, I’m sure, we just haven’t had as much opportunity. Um, but, uh, yeah, I. So I bumped that year and sort of the same story. I mean just play it again and and, and, for whatever reason, you know, I don’t know. You know, I don’t really know why I keep bumping. I think I’m a competitor. Um, I am very scrappy, like I think there’s. I think I’m a competitor. I am very scrappy, Like I think there’s some people who, especially if you were not a junior athlete or have come to sports as an adult, you know you’re going to hit three balls and then you’re kind of like, well, I didn’t win that point, I will hit you know, 300 balls in a point, and that’s no big deal, and I was a soccer player in college.Erin: 10:48

And that’s not exaggerating, right? When she says 300, it’s not like when I say a thousand, and that really means five for me. When she says 300, she means 300 balls. Wow, like she’ll hit that many.Carolyn: 10:58

Right, so it’s the consistency. So, yeah, you can do it.Gin: 11:01

I think that for sure for me. You know, I’m not a power player, I’m not hitting winners and hitting people off the court. And you know, in fact I’ve had people tell me like you’re not at all what I thought you were going to be. You know, I saw your rating and I saw your record and like you don’t really hit the ball and I’m like, yeah, you know, and so it’s, I’m athletic.Erin: 11:24

I’m fast and I get to balls and get them back. I mean, she gets stuff that they’re just ungettable for most people, you know. They’re just ungettable for most people, you know.Carolyn: 11:29

But can get it and then return it inside the court. Because I could understand consistency at like, oh, 3-0, that person’s consistent, so she gets bumped to 3-5. Maybe even consistent getting bumped to 3-5 to 4-0. But then at that point I mean people are hitting the ball hard, they are. I mean I can’t imagine at 4-5, like, getting to the shots that people can hit at that level and then getting them back and getting them back inside the court. I mean that’s ridiculous to be able to do that. Like I understand like 3.0 being consistent, but 4.5, you know, because we’ve had people that are consistent that get bumped up to 4.0. But that’s kind of where they stop, yeah, like they can’t get to that 4.5, 5.0 level.Erin: 12:18

So that’s just amazing. Yeah, and to Jen’s credit, she won’t say it, but she does get the ball back deep and with something on it or she does something smart Like it’s. It’s not. I think it’s more than consistent.Carolyn: 12:23

Yeah.Erin: 12:24

I don’t want to just say consistent it’s. It’s consistent with you know something, that that takes the next shot away from the next person. But yeah, don’t sell yourself short.Carolyn: 12:34

I mean, yeah, I think she’s ridiculously good, yeah, because I can be consistent, but I can’t be consistent against a 4-5 player.Erin: 12:43

Well, she keeps saying back in the court I mean I can probably get to a ball too, but it may not you know I’m going to throw it up in the air and see where it lands.Carolyn: 12:51

We have another episode with Jen where she tells us what she did when she found out she got bumped to 5-0. And also the craziest situation that ever happened to her on the court and she is someone that has won almost all her singles matches the past three years, so there’s been a lot of crazy situations. We hope you check out our website, which is SecondServePodcastcom. Thanks so much for listening and hope to see you on the court soon.

The post Ep. 323 A Journey From 3.5 to 5.0 in Three Years appeared first on Second Serve Tennis Podcast.

Tennis doesn’t have to feel exclusive or overly serious to be a real workout. In our episode (National Hit to be Fit Weekend) Michele shares the vision behind National Hit To Be Fit Weekend (May 15 to 17), a nationwide celebration that pairs National Tennis Month with a simple idea: make the court feel like a party and make it easy for anyone to say yes. Think music under the lights, big group energy, and a format that welcomes the person who has never played alongside the 4.0 who wants a sweat.

For more information on all things Cardio Tennis and National Hit to be Fit Weekend visit: http://Linktr.ee/cardiotennis

Register to host a Hit to be Fit event at: www.cardiotennisinstructor.com 

Below is a complete transcript of our conversation with Michele Krause

Carolyn 0:08

Hi, this is Carolyn and I’m here with Erin. And this is our final episode with Michele Krause. People refer to Michele as the cardio tennis guru. And in our first episode, we discuss National Hit to Be Fit weekend, and we hope everyone participates. And if you do, let us know. And in the second episode, she tells us why everyone should be taking advantage of the red, orange, and green ball. But in this episode, she tells us a little bit about her experience at Indian Wells and her most memorable moment on the court. So here it is. Okay, Michele, I have to ask you about Indian Wells. You just got back. Tell us all about it. I’ve never been there. It’s on my bucket list. Okay. I want to go. Okay. Can you tell us a little bit about your experience?Michele 0:50

Yeah. Well, you definitely to try to, you know, get there at some point because it, because it is incredible. I was actually

Indian Wells Camp And Adult Beginners

Michele 0:57

helping Gigi Fernandez with her adult tennis camp, which I work with Gigi, you know, for a number of years and do various camps with her. Each camp session is 12 athletes. So I was there for camps one and two. And like as we were talking earlier, like a lot of the those two groups of campers happen to be all female. A lot of times it’s mixed. It just so happened that this was mostly the all gals. And it the amount of the gals that told me that they started playing tennis when they were 30, 40, 50 years old, okay, this is made up a bulk, okay, of those two groups, right? And I love that. And going back to your point, it’s like you can start this sport at at any time. And if you can get exposed to it with red and orange and green balls initially, your experience and you’re probably jumping in and committing to it is going to be better.Carolyn 1:58

Yeah, for the GG camp, are you doing cardio tennis? Are you doing triples?Michele 2:02

Yeah, we we well, there’ll be little tiny pieces. Like um, I will often warm the campers up, uh, cardio tennis style. And then usually we’ll have some opportunities to get in a little bit of triples. Her agenda is pretty, it’s very structured as it should be. Um, and again, it’s it’s a format that works well, and there’s a lot to learn from her methodology from you know, from a strategy and tactical standpoint. So we Yeah, she has the Gigi method.Carolyn 2:32

Yeah, I’ve taken the online GG method and another one. I want to take it in person too. Yeah.Erin 2:38

Another bucket list. Gigi was one of our, well, maybe not one of our first, but she was really early on in our podcast.Carolyn 2:45

Yeah, yeah.Erin 2:46

And she’s excellent. Yeah, she was so, I mean, she’s just so down to earth, you know. I mean, we were like, oh my god, it’s Gigi Fernandez, you know, we were freaking out. And she was just like, we’ll just gonna sit and talk. So I do have a Gigi question for you though, sure specifically. I hope she listens to this.Michele 3:02

I’m gonna tell her to listen.Erin 3:03

How does Gigi Fernandez feel about adults playing with a red ball or a yellow ball?Michele 3:09

She does understand the value of that.Erin 3:13

Okay. Because, you know, there’s people in different camps, depending on like she started, you know, I’m sure as a baby. I mean, she’s how one, how many slams? 17. 17? Yeah, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So I’ve heard, you know, from different people. I think, you know, nowadays we know if you can get in and have fun. I mean, it’s with kids too. If you can introduce them and they have fun and they’re not stressed, you know, they’ll stay in the sport longer. Correct. And so sometimes that means hitting with a different ball. I have also heard people that have started as a kid when those balls didn’t exist and they’re like, you should learn to hit with the green ball immediately or the yellow ball, whatever you want to call it, immediately. But so that’s why I wanted to ask the Gigi question. Yeah.Michele 3:48

So she she she’s very she’s smart and savvy, and she understands the value that those balls um can provide um to any, to any age. Um, now, when we are in adult camp though, um, that is that is yellow ball, rightly so. I mean, and it there’s it again, it’s it’s a it’s strategy and tactical and um um but yeah, she she she is.Erin 4:17

She’s a fan. Yeah, okay, good. Yes. Well, she also doesn’t have people coming to her camp that are like had never, you know, never played league or never hit a ball. They’re there because they want to improve their tennis. So they’re already experienced in hitting that ball. But yes, they could do yes. Another bucket list, Carol. Another bucket list.Carolyn 4:35

It is, it is. G Gigi’s at the top, to be honest for me.Erin 4:39

It’s like Gigi, Indian Wells. Or how about Gigi at Indian Wells?Carolyn 4:43

You gotta do next year. That’s a good thing. Okay, next year.Michele 4:46

Think about that for next year, okay? Because her camps sell out immediately at Indian Wells. Okay. Because then you get to go watch the tennis afterwards. Yeah, yeah. Okay.Carolyn 4:56

I may take this part out so other people don’t exactly. Or leave it in. We’re promoting Gigi as well.Michele 5:03

Um, but yeah, she’s um, you know, her camps are so popular. She has so many repeat customers, and you know, it is very special to be in the presence of somebody of that level of accomplishment, right? Like 17 grand slam doubles titles and two gold medals. I mean, but she’s so welcoming too.Erin 5:25

She’s just so down-to-earth.Carolyn 5:27

Yes, somebody at that level teaching adults.Erin 5:29

Yeah.Carolyn 5:30

You know, like she knows how to teach us to move, understanding like we’re not as fast as we used to be. Some of us can’t move very well, but here’s a strategy for that.Michele 5:40

Yeah, yeah. Yeah. What was probably the highlight for me of the week was uh, I’m not sure if you’re aware of this, but Gigi Fernandez has a uh a tennis foundation called Tennis for Hope. So she had her inaugural founding member

Tennis For Hope And Disaster Relief

Michele 5:58

event um at La Quinta Resort. So La Quinta Resort is pretty iconic, it’s beautiful, it’s amazing. Um, really great event with the Bryan Brothers. They were the, they were like the marquee. Um, of course, Gigi is the marquee. Pam Schreiber was there. Some of the members got to play a tiebreaker again, or with with the Bryan brothers. And and then, yeah, and we had like 50, there were probably 50 to 70 people there, and all the other athletes. Well, we were playing doubles and cardio triples, and then there was a beautiful dinner on the lawn at the stadium courts, and then um the Brian Brothers band played. Yeah, and then uh Gigi and Pam, there was a silent auction, and Pam Shriver was the auctioneer, and she did an incredible job. As I don’t know if she has experience in there, but she she was amazing. And um some amazing prizes were uh auctioned off, and a lot of money was raised to help tennis facilities that have been struck by natural disaster.Erin 7:09

So did she start that? I think she started that after um one of the Florida events, right? She was actually out of her home for a while.Michele 7:17

Yeah, so her house was more or less destroyed um in hurricane season 04, uh 2024. Um, I’ve lost my house to a hurricane. My house was condemned. So back in 2005, I my my house was literally condemned. It had the notice of condemnation uh sign on it. So she’s done some amazing things. She’s uh she’s uh raised a lot of money for Palisades. Uh we actually went to uh Altadena and Palisades while we were there. We did uh Pam Shriver and Gigi did a clinic for kids in Altadena for kids they lost their school during the fire. Um, so a lot of good people are you know donating money so that we can fix or rebuild um these facilities, such and and continue to have tennis. So yeah, that was the highlight.Carolyn 8:07

That was the highlight of my Yeah.Michele 8:09

That doesn’t, that week didn’t suck.Carolyn 8:11

Yeah, yeah. And what a way to use tennis.Erin 8:13

I was gonna say, yeah, use the sport we love and raise money for these great causes. So yeah, it’s it’s a that’s a bonus.Michele 8:20

Gigi and I have a lot of fun together. So when I have the opportunities, um, if I’m invited, um, you know, it’s always a special, it’s always a special experience. So that’s an automatic yes. Yeah.Carolyn 8:32

Tell her we’re coming. Okay. Michele. Okay, well, Carolyn and Erin are on their way. Michele, last time you were on, you mentioned your most memorable moment was what we were talking about it before. Like you got to meet the pope.Erin 8:45

Yeah. Yes. I know, and I was thinking, and I want to hear your most memorable story, but I was thinking, I wonder if the new Pope would be, because he’s an American. I wonder if

Memorable Moments And Tennis Gratitude

Erin 8:53

he’s a tennis player.Michele 8:54

You know, I think you need to put on your bucket list to get back to So the Pope um happens to be from um the South Side of Chicago, which is where I was born and raised. And a lot of, and I went to Catholic high school on the South Side. So a lot of my Catholic high school friends have ties to him, like through, like, okay, you know, my sister’s brother knows, you know, that that sort of thing. And I and I think he might be a tennis player. So he met Sinner, remember?Erin 9:28

That was like the big running joke that Sinner went to meet the Pope, which I think everybody thought was very funny. That was like a meme, like that wrote itself. Right.Michele 9:37

I’ve been talking a lot with my Italian friends to get me out of it out to Italy this year. So we’ll I’m gonna work it. I’m gonna work it. Love it. Love it. Yeah, I do too.Carolyn 9:47

But uh, have you had a most memorable moment since then? That’s hard to top that, but what would you say?Michele 9:53

Yes. Um, I I I’ve had another uh incredible. It’s it’s not really on the like I don’t feel like these things are they’re related to tennis, of course. They happen because of tennis, but they’re not on the tennis court. Okay. Um but since I last chatted with you, um I was able to uh I was invited to go to one of Gigi’s camps um in the British Virgin Islands. Uh-huh. Okay, which is lovely. I mean, going to um so lovely, lovely location. So that was a you know, wow, you know, what a great place to go to. Well, it got even better because it’s it worked out that um we took a private jet there. Yeah. Again, that doesn’t suck.Erin 10:40

That’s pretty nice. Yeah, but how do you go back from there? I know it’s like welcome to commercial airline again.Michele 10:47

It was so like, you know, you say it would like, okay, this is in the top five greatest moments of my life, right? And the the plane was just gorgeous, and the um, you know, it was like six of us gals, and the people were just everybody was lovely, and you know, you’re there and back, and you know, you’re just flying around the Caribbean, and and you’re like, Yeah, you gotta there’s commercial. So exactly.Erin 11:13

I love that. I had a friend recently say we had gone to States and it was a really good group. And she said to me after we got home, that was the best weekend of my life.Michele 11:23

Yeah.Erin 11:23

She literally used those words. And I said, Um, you’re married and you have two children. Are you sure you don’t want to restate that? And she goes, Okay. In the tennis world, right? It was the best weekend of my life. Yeah. So I get it.Michele 11:35

But I think, I mean, I think we all agree. If you talk to like we all know all the blessings that tennis has have get have have given us, right? Whether it’s, you know, our friendship, sometimes our best friends, sometimes our significant others, right? The people that we get to meet, the places that we get to go. I mean, it’s, you know, tennis, uh, it it’s given us our health, right? I mean, like, it’s it’s, you know, for me personally, it’s given me everything. So I’m very grateful.Carolyn 12:04

We greatly appreciate Michele coming on the podcast. We’ve included links in our show notes where you can learn more about National Hit to Be Fit weekend. Thanks so much for listening and hope to see you on the court soon.

The post Ep. 322: Tennis Can Change Your Life appeared first on Second Serve Tennis Podcast.