ParentingAces - The Junior Tennis and College Tennis Podcast

Welcome to Season 13 Episode 3 of the ParentingAces Podcast, a proud member of the Tennis Channel Podcast Network. Martin Vinokur is back, this time with one of his coaches, Jessie Young, to discuss Tennis:Europe, a unique travel-and-tennis opportunity for teenage players.2024 marks the 50th year of Tennis:Europe, an amazing accomplishment to be sure! Since the inception of ParentingAces in 2011, we have had many of our families participate in the program with the players coming home with new tennis skills and new friends and new experiences that serve them well as they continue to develop as tennis players and young adults.You can find previous podcasts and articles about Tennis:Europe at https://parentingaces.com/articles/tennis-europe/, https://parentingaces.com/articles/tenniseurope-experience-kayleigh-yun-thayer/, and https://parentingaces.com/articles/tennis-europe-a-fantastic-summer-tennis-travel-experience-ft-martin-vinokur/.To get more information on the 2024 offerings and to take advantage of the ParentingAces discount, visit http://www.tenniseurope.com. You can also find them on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/tenniseurope/.If you’re so inclined, please share this – and all our episodes! – with your fellow tennis players, parents, and coaches. You can subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts or via your favorite podcast app. If you haven’t already, be sure to become a Member of ParentingAces by visiting https://parentingaces.com/membership-join. And check out our logo’d merch as well as our a la carte personal consultations in our online shop (Premium Members received FREE SHIPPING every day!). To support ParentingAces' work with a financial donation of any size via PayPal, click here.CREDITSIntro & Outro Music: Morgan Stone aka STØNEAudio & Video Editing: Lisa Stone Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to Season 13 Episode 2 of the ParentingAces Podcast, a proud member of the Tennis Channel Podcast Network. Those of you who have followed college tennis for a while will recognize Danielle Lao as a standout in her four years playing at USC. If you follow the pro tour as well, you will also recognize her from her ten years battling her way to achieve her goal of playing in a Slam.In the past year, though, life has taken a turn for Danielle, finding her in the coaching arena while also pursuing her love of distance running. Is pro tennis a done deal for her? What did her own Tennis Journey look like? How did she handle the transition from college to pro to coach? What is her coaching philosophy as she works with up-and-coming juniors? You'll have to listen to our podcast to find out!Be sure to follow Danielle on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/thelittlegiant/ - she has her DMs open there if you'd like to contact her. You can also follow her sponsors, Hoka and Picky Bars, at https://www.instagram.com/hoka/ and https://www.instagram.com/pickybars/If you’re so inclined, please share this – and all our episodes! – with your fellow tennis players, parents, and coaches. You can subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts or via your favorite podcast app. If you haven’t already, be sure to become a Member of ParentingAces by visiting https://parentingaces.com/membership-join. And check out our logo’d merch as well as our a la carte personal consultations in our online shop (Premium Members received FREE SHIPPING every day!). To support ParentingAces' work with a financial donation of any size via PayPal, click here.CREDITSIntro & Outro Music: Morgan Stone aka STØNEAudio & Video Editing: Lisa Stone Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to Season 13 Episode 1 of the ParentingAces Podcast, a proud member of the Tennis Channel Podcast Network. We are thrilled to kick off the year with two amazing coaches, Robert Gomez and Todd Widom, helping us understand the role of ratings and rankings in our children's tennis development.Robert Gomez is the Head of the Florida Coaches Commission, a member of the Florida Junior Competitive Counsel, and a USPTA Elite Professional. He has run professional tournaments, traveled the world to coach in other professional tournaments, and is the recently-hired Tournament Director of the Junior Orange Bowl 12s and 14s divisions. Robert also coaches junior players at all levels of the game as the head of tennis at the Biltmore Hotel in Coral Gables, Florida.Todd Widom is a former college player from the University of Miami and an ATP professional player who now runs his own tennis system in the Broward County, Florida, area. Long-time listeners of this podcast should be very familiar with Todd by now!These two coaches have known each other many years and often connect to share ideas on developing the players with whom they are working. Now, we have the opportunity to hear from both of them about how ratings - and rankings, to a lesser degree - are impacting long-term athletic development.To contact Todd or to get information on his training, you can reach him at [email protected]. If you aren’t already, be sure to follow him on Facebook and Instagram as well. And check out his newly-redesigned website at https://twtennis.com/.To contact Robert or to get information on his training, you can reach him at [email protected] or by phone at 786-253-8185. More information is available on his Facebook and Instagram.If you’re so inclined, please share this – and all our episodes! – with your fellow tennis players, parents, and coaches. You can subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts or via your favorite podcast app. If you haven’t already, be sure to become a Member of ParentingAces by visiting https://parentingaces.com/membership-join. And check out our logo’d merch as well as our a la carte personal consultations in our online shop (Premium Members received FREE SHIPPING every day!). To support ParentingAces' work with a financial donation of any size via PayPal, click here.CREDITSIntro & Outro Music: Morgan Stone aka STØNEAudio & Video Editing: Lisa Stone Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to Season 12 Episode 43 - our final one of the year - of the ParentingAces Podcast, a proud member of the Tennis Channel Podcast Network. Heath Waters of Match!Tennis App is back with us to share the latest updates to this game-changing tech!Based on the discussions that happen in our Facebook groups and our one-on-one consults, there are some pain points common to almost all tennis families. And, sadly, these pain points rarely change or get resolved by the governing bodies of our sport.Match!Tennis App hears about these same issues and continues to evolve to address and solve problems such as finding a doubles partner, managing tournament entries, sportsmanship, and tournament quality control.In this week's edition, Heath demonstrates for us the latest updates to the app, so I encourage all of you to check out the video version of this episode on ParentingAces.com.For our past podcasts with Heath:https://parentingaces.com/articles/tennis-parents-gotta-get-app/https://parentingaces.com/articles/college-recruiting-app-heath-lindsey-waters/https://parentingaces.com/articles/taking-your-junior-across-the-pond-with-heath-heath-paul-waters/https://parentingaces.com/articles/matchtennis-app-pivots-for-2021/https://parentingaces.com/articles/matchtennis-the-must-have-app-for-tennis-parents-ft-heath-waters/https://parentingaces.com/articles/tourney-selection-based-on-goals-ft-heath-waters-of-match-tennis-app/To get the app, go to https://matchtennisapp.com/ to register before downloading the app in the App Store. There is a free version that gives you access to the most commonly-used features and a paid version ($9.99/month or $100/year) that gives you full access to all features.BONUS: For double the FREE access to the Premium version (30 days instead of 15), simply email [email protected] and tell them you're part of the ParentingAces community.For any questions or suggestions for app improvements, you can email Heath at [email protected]. You can also use the live chat feature on the website for immediate help.If you’re so inclined, please share this – and all our episodes! – with your tennis community. You can subscribe to the podcast on iTunes or via your favorite podcast app. If you haven’t already, be sure to become a Member of ParentingAces by visiting https://parentingaces.com/membership-join. And check out our logo’d merch as well as our a la carte personal consultations in our online shop (Premium Members received FREE SHIPPING every day!). To support ParentingAces' work with a financial donation of any size via PayPal, click here.CREDITSIntro & Outro Music: Morgan Stone aka STØNEAudio & Video Editing: Lisa Stone Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to Season 12 Episode 42 of the ParentingAces Podcast, a proud member of the Tennis Channel Podcast Network. In this week's podcast, Lisa brings back fitness trainer extraordinaire, Dean Hollingworth, to break down what junior tennis players need to be doing off-court to maximize their fitness level.Dean has more education and experience training tennis players around their fitness than anyone I know. Lucky for us, he's more than willing to share his expertise with the ParentingAces community.In this episode, you'll hear from Dean about the importance of fitness, the importance of a proper warm-up and cool-down before and after EVERY practice and match, and the other factors that contribute to a player's overall mental and physical fitness.For more information on Dean and to get in contact with him, visit his website here. Be sure to follow him on Facebook and Instagram for new videos and other valuable content.For our previous podcasts with Dean, click here and here.If you’re so inclined, please share this – and all our episodes! – with your tennis community. You can subscribe to the podcast on iTunes or via your favorite podcast app. If you haven’t already, be sure to become a Member of ParentingAces by visiting https://parentingaces.com/membership-join. And check out our logo’d merch as well as our a la carte personal consultations in our online shop (Premium Members received FREE SHIPPING every day!). To support ParentingAces' work with a financial donation of any size via PayPal, click here.CREDITSIntro & Outro Music: Morgan Stone aka STØNEAudio & Video Editing: Lisa Stone Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to Season 12 Episode 41 of the ParentingAces Podcast, a proud member of the Tennis Channel Podcast Network. Egor Shestakov, a senior at University of Texas at Tyler who happens to be from Russia, shares his junior and college tennis journey with us, one that I believe you will find to be extremely eye-opening.Egor was coached by his father at the beginning of his junior tennis career until both of them realized their relationship - and Egor's tennis - would be better served by hiring an outside coach. Egor continued to play other sports at the recreational level while pursuing his tennis with the goal of coming to the US to play in college.You will hear him talk about the challenges involved in getting noticed by American college coaches, learning English and taking the necessary entrance exams, and what he's learned about himself and his tennis since being in Texas the past 3 years.This young man has a lot of wisdom to share with all of us, so please consider having your junior player(s) watch or listen to this episode.Egor is happy to help other players however he can. To that end, you can email him at [email protected] or message him on Instagram at https://instagram.com/shestakovvegor.NOTE: Here is the article I reference in the episode regarding my son's first solo tournament experience - https://parentingaces.com/articles/another-giant-step/If you’re so inclined, please share this – and all our episodes! – with your tennis community. You can subscribe to the podcast on iTunes or via your favorite podcast app. If you haven’t already, be sure to become a Member of ParentingAces by visiting https://parentingaces.com/membership-join. And check out our logo’d merch as well as our a la carte personal consultations in our online shop (Premium Members received FREE SHIPPING every day!). To support ParentingAces' work with a financial donation of any size via PayPal, click here.CREDITSIntro & Outro Music: Morgan Stone aka STØNEAudio & Video Editing: Lisa Stone Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

NOTE: Please pardon the technical issues with the sound. We did our best to capture all of Lester's stories though some of the audio & video glitched along the way.Welcome to Season 12 Episode 40 of the ParentingAces Podcast, a proud member of the Tennis Channel Podcast Network. This week's episode is one that's very special to me as it features my father's college teammate, Lester Sack, who is still competing on the world stage at age 87!Lester Sack didn't really start developing his tennis game until he showed up at the Tulane tennis courts as an 18-year-old freshman walk-on. He credits coach Emmett Pare with his success on the Tulane team and beyond.Lester has been competing on the Seniors and Super Seniors tour ever since graduating from Tulane in 1958, earning a ranking in the top 3 nationally in every age group. He is the epitome of a lifelong learner, even now continuing to make changes and improvements to his game.Here are just a few of his accomplishments in his illustrious tennis life: Played number 3 singles and number 1 doubles for Tulane University from 1956 to 1958 when the Green Wave won 3 Southeastern Conference Championships, and he and was ranked number 1 in doubles in the conference with partner Ron Holmberg Joined the professional tour and won singles titles in England and Germany, won the 1965 Canadian Open Doubles Championships, and reached the 3rd round of the 1966 French Open Mississippi resident until 1977 and one of the most dominant players of his generation, winning the Mississippi Open or Mississippi Closed every year and ranked number 1 in Mississippi Men’s Open Singles and top 10 in the South every year from 1959 to 1975 Won numerous state and section age group tournaments and ranked 2nd in the nation in Men’s 45 singles in 1984, won the 1984 Men’s 45 Singles National Championship and ranked 7th and was a finalist at the Men’s 55 National Clay Court Singles Championship in 1987 Represented the United States on the Dubler Cup, Gordon Cup, Gardner Mulloy Cup, Stevens Cup, and World Team Championship teams Served as the head coach of the USTA New Orleans Area Training Center and was an assistant pro for the Racquet Club of Memphis and the New Orleans Lawn Tennis Club Inducted into the Mississippi Tennis Hall of Fame in 1994, the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame in 1991, the Clarksdale & Cohoma County Mississippi Hall of Fame, the Louisiana Tennis Hall of Fame in 2009, the USTA Southern Tennis Hall of Fame in 2005, Tulane Athletics Hall of Fame in 2000 And Lester isn't even the oldest guy out there competing on the world stage! Take a look at this article on centenarian Henry Young who also played in the recent World Team Championships in Mallorca!I hope to have the chance to hit with Lester in the near future. In the meantime, I'll continue to follow his tennis journey as he makes his way into his 90's!If you’re so inclined, please share this – and all our episodes! – with your tennis community. You can subscribe to the podcast on iTunes or via your favorite podcast app. If you haven’t already, be sure to become a Member of ParentingAces by visiting https://parentingaces.com/membership-join. And check out our logo’d merch as well as our a la carte personal consultations in our online shop (Premium Members received FREE SHIPPING every day!). To support ParentingAces' work with a financial donation of any size via PayPal, click here.CREDITSIntro & Outro Music: Morgan Stone aka STØNEAudio & Video Editing: Lisa Stone Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to Season 12 Episode 39 of the ParentingAces Podcast, a proud member of the Tennis Channel Podcast Network. Coach JY Aubone is back to talk about what he sees as gaps in the training most junior tennis players are receiving.JY works with several junior players, both in person and virtually, and he is noticing definite trends in the people he trains. Not only are they missing the mental toughness and understanding of tactics during competition and pressure situations, but they are also practicing inefficiently. What does that mean?Players need to replicate tournament situations during their daily practice sessions. That includes building their fitness, mental resiliency, and nutritional habits. And sometimes that means bringing in specialists such as sports psychologists or fitness coaches. Great tennis coaches build a network of professionals to whom they can refer players for that extra training and work.If you have more questions or would like to get in touch with JY, you can reach him via his website, AuboneTennis.com. If you aren’t already, be sure to follow JY on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram as well.If you’re so inclined, please share this – and all our episodes! – with your tennis community. You can subscribe to the podcast on iTunes or via your favorite podcast app. If you haven’t already, be sure to become a Member of ParentingAces by visiting https://parentingaces.com/membership-join. And check out our logo’d merch as well as our a la carte personal consultations in our online shop (Premium Members received FREE SHIPPING every day!). To support ParentingAces' work with a financial donation of any size via PayPal, click here.CREDITSIntro & Outro Music: Morgan Stone aka STØNEAudio & Video Editing: Lisa Stone Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to Season 12 Episode 38 of the ParentingAces Podcast, a proud member of the Tennis Channel Podcast Network. Coach Traci Green, Head Women's Tennis Coach at Harvard University, joins Lisa to share her tennis journey and what sets the Ivy League tennis programs and academics apart.Traci Green's success as a coach follows a highly successful career as an undergraduate at the University of Florida. She was a member of the Gators' 1998 NCAA championship team and was ranked as high as No. 5 nationally in doubles and No. 12 in singles during the 1999-2000 season. Her teams won two ITA national indoor championships (1997, 1999) and ranks among Florida's career leaders in singles and doubles wins. Green was a three-time first-team All-Southeastern Conference selection in both singles and doubles.In addition to her coaching, Green also served as an adjunct faculty member in the Temple University College of Education, where she taught courses in the department of kinesiology. She also continues to serve as a USTA Presidential Appointee in a board adjacent role, on the board of the Black Women in Sport Foundation, on the USPTA Diversity & Inclusion Committee, and as Outgoing Board Chair of the Sportsmen's Tennis and Enrichment Center.Coach Green cherishes her role as mentor and coach to the young women who fall under her purview at Harvard. She understands that the college years are an opportunity to grow as tennis players and as humans, preparing for life after competition.You will hear her talk about how Harvard looks at athletics when reviewing applicants and the role of academic success when seeking a coveted spot at an Ivy League university. As Danielle McNamara explained in an earlier podcast episode, students who want to play college tennis absolutely must pursue academic excellence throughout high school.For more information on Harvard Tennis, visit https://gocrimson.com/sports/womens-tennis. For the admission website, go to https://college.harvard.edu/admissions. You can email Coach Traci Green at [email protected] you’re so inclined, please share this – and all our episodes! – with your tennis community. You can subscribe to the podcast on iTunes or via your favorite podcast app. If you haven’t already, be sure to become a Member of ParentingAces by visiting https://parentingaces.com/membership-join. And check out our logo’d merch as well as our a la carte personal consultations in our online shop (Premium Members received FREE SHIPPING every day!). To support ParentingAces' work with a financial donation of any size via PayPal, click here.CREDITSIntro & Outro Music: Morgan Stone aka STØNEAudio & Video Editing: Lisa Stone Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to Season 12 Episode 37 of the ParentingAces Podcast, a proud member of the Tennis Channel Podcast Network. This week, we check back in with SenseArena to see how this unique virtual reality product has morphed over the past several months.Topics of conversation for this episode include how SenseArena is being used at the college level, how junior players can leverage SenseArena to help them be ready to be recruited and play in college, and why the new ATP partnership is so significant to the growth of technology in our sport at all levels.Matthew Simons is the tennis business-to-business manager for SenseArena while also working as the head men's and women's tennis coach at the University of Puget Sound. He offers a unique perspective on how SenseArena can be used at both the junior and collegiate levels to help players work on the mental and physical sides of their game. You will hear Matt talk about how he's using it with his own players to help them prepare for practice sessions and competition.Yannick Yoshizawa and his team of developers created SenseArena, enlisting the expertise and guidance of coaches and professional players to ensure a positive and beneficial user experience. You will hear him talk about why this new partnership with the men's professional tour is a huge step in the technology revolution for tennis and what else is coming in the near future.Here is more information on the ATP partnership:Sense Arena, the world leader in cognitive VR tennis training and The ATP have announced a new multiyear partnership allowing Sense Arena to become the Official VR Tennis Training Tool of the ATP Tour and launching a co-branded platform, ATP Tour Sense Arena. The revamped ATP Tour Sense Arena platform will feature a new integration called Master Your Return, which will be powered by real match data and analytics from pro players on the ATP Tour and Hologic WTA Tour. This revolutionary feature will enable users to analyze and return true-to-life serves in VR from the top ATP and WTA players in the world. The new feature will complement Sense Arena’s existing serve integrations from ATP pro Jack Sock, who had his serves replicated in Sense Arena earlier this year.Compatible with standard tennis equipment, Sense Arena allows players to get valuable off-court training in confined spaces and non-traditional environments such as basements, garages, hotel rooms and more. The innovative VR tech also allows players to train while limiting wear and tear on the body, which is especially important for players rehabbing injury.**DISCOUNT OFFER**Use code PARENTINGACES at checkout for a $50 discount on the annual SenseArena subscription.For more information, be sure to visit the Sense Arena website at https://tennis.sensearena.com/. If you have questions, you can reach out to the support department at [email protected] or you can email Matt at [email protected] and Yannick at [email protected]. Be sure to follow them on socials as well:Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sensearenatennis/Twitter: https://twitter.com/sensearenaInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/sensearenatennis/YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/SenseArenaIf you’re so inclined, please share this – and all our episodes! – with your tennis community. You can subscribe to the podcast on iTunes or via your favorite podcast app. If you haven’t already, be sure to become a Member of ParentingAces by visiting https://parentingaces.com/membership-join. And check out our logo’d merch as well as our a la carte personal consultations in our online shop (Premium Members received FREE SHIPPING every day!). To support ParentingAces' work with a financial donation of any size via PayPal, click here.CREDITSIntro & Outro Music: Morgan Stone aka STØNEAudio & Video Editing: Lisa Stone Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to Season 12 Episode 36 of the ParentingAces Podcast, a proud member of the Tennis Channel Podcast Network. In this week's podcast, Coach Todd Widom is back to talk about the success our US pro players are having this year and why we're not seeing more US junior players showing up on top college tennis teams.This episode was recorded toward the end of the 2023 US Open where we saw 2 American women and 1 American man into the singles semifinals which is a big positive for US professional tennis. That said, the other side of the coin is that we are seeing fewer and fewer American juniors on the rosters of the most desirable college tennis programs. Where's the disconnect?Todd definitely has some thoughts about what's going on in the junior tennis development landscape and what we need to do to make it better. Hint: it involves a culture shift, a parenting shift, and a coaching shift!To contact Todd or to get information on his training, you can reach him at [email protected]. If you aren’t already, be sure to follow him on Facebook and Instagram as well.If you’re so inclined, please share this – and all our episodes! – with your tennis community. You can subscribe to the podcast on iTunes or via your favorite podcast app. If you haven’t already, be sure to become a Member of ParentingAces by visiting https://parentingaces.com/membership-join. And check out our logo’d merch as well as our a la carte personal consultations in our online shop (Premium Members received FREE SHIPPING every day!). To support ParentingAces' work with a financial donation of any size via PayPal, click here.CREDITSIntro & Outro Music: Morgan Stone aka STØNEAudio & Video Editing: Lisa Stone Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to Season 12 Episode 36 of the ParentingAces Podcast, a proud member of the Tennis Channel Podcast Network. In this week's podcast, Lisa is joined by Zach Decker, Chief Marketing Officer of KT Tape.Zach grew up in Boulder, CO with a passion for sports and wellness. He is an avid mountain biker and father of two very active kids. As a result of his interest in physical activity and sports, his role at KT was a no-brainer.In case you're not familiar with the KT brand, it is the leading kinesiology tape brand in the nation. What is kinesiology tape? It is a product used by health care professionals to prevent and treat muscle and tendon injuries and pain such as a strained hamstring or a sore knee. If you watch professional sports of any kind, you have likely seen the colorful tape on athletes' arms or thighs to help them continue playing while preventing further injury.KT has just launched its first mobile app, providing users with clear instructions on how, when, and why to use KT Tape. Based on consumer feedback, KT realized many people lacked confidence in applying KT Tape without professional guidance. The app, designed with input from KT's Sports Medicine Advisory Panel, offers instructional videos to help users understand the benefits, use cases, and proper application of KT tape. You can download the app for free on the App Store and Play Store.They are also launching several new products in the coming months and recently launched the KT PRO Oxygen, the first kinesiology tape to feature CELLIANT® Infrared Technology from Hologenix. Printed on the tape’s surface, CELLIANT® mineral powder converts body heat into full-spectrum infrared energy. This delivers enhanced cellular oxygenation, bringing more oxygen to the cells and increasing local circulation.For the full lineup of KT products, be sure to visit their website at https://www.kttape.com/. You can also find them on Instagram at https://instagram.com/kttape and Facebook at https://facebook.com/kttape.Zach has set up a special discount for the ParentingAces community which gives you 40% off your purchase of KT Tape Pro Oxygen or Pro Extreme tape through the end of 2023. Go to https://www.kttape.com/discount/ACES?utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=Referral&utm_id=parenting-aces and enter the code ACES at checkout to take advantage of this generous savings!If you’re so inclined, please share this – and all our episodes! – with your tennis community. You can subscribe to the podcast on iTunes or via your favorite podcast app. If you haven’t already, be sure to become a Member of ParentingAces by visiting https://parentingaces.com/membership-join. And check out our logo’d merch as well as our a la carte personal consultations in our online shop (Premium Members received FREE SHIPPING every day!). To support ParentingAces' work with a financial donation of any size via PayPal, click here.CREDITSIntro & Outro Music: Morgan Stone aka STØNEAudio & Video Editing: Lisa Stone Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to Season 12 Episode 34 of the ParentingAces Podcast, a proud member of the Tennis Channel Podcast Network. In this week's podcast, Lisa is joined by Daniel McCain and David Howell of 7 Shot Tennis.Former President and Managing Director of Universal Tennis, LLC, Dave Howell was the creative force behind Universal Tennis Ratings (UTR®). Dan McCain is a father, husband, dog lover & tennis coach and analyst. He won gold & silver balls as a junior player before playing the University of Michigan on scholarship. He was a Illinois State High School State Champion, as well as a 2-time Florida High School State Champion. For quite a while now, tennis parents and coaches have manually charted matches using a variety of symbols, abbreviations, and lingo. It's a basic way to analyze a match and use the data collected to help the player improve different aspects of their game. But what if there were a universal language around that data collection that all players and coaches understood so that they could all have a conversation using the same terminology? That's where 7 Shot Tennis comes in.Dave and Dan have been working for several years to create a map of the tennis court that helps players not only understand where they are hitting the ball (the target) but also their court position that allowed them to hit the shot (the position). By simplifying these two components and creating a language around them, Dave and Dan feel players can now better understand their strengths and shortcomings each time they play and coaches can now better evaluate what to work on in lessons and clinics. 7 Shot Tennis is the best, yet easiest to understand, approach to visualizing and remembering what happens during tennis points and to analyzing how to improve your game using that information. Be sure to take a look at https://www.7shottennis.com/tennis-court-visualization/ to see the 7 Shot Tennis court map and for an explanation of the various targets and positions. Also, as Dave referenced during the podcast, you can find the blog about Coco Gauff at https://www.7shottennis.com/why-coco-gauff-can-become-world-1/.The 7 Shot Tennis Playbook is an interactive notebook that outlines drills, scripted plays, games and the inherent strategies within the universal language of 7 Shot Tennis. Graphic displays of target areas and diagrams of tactical positions visually show players and coaches how to use this sophisticated system to chart matches, train effectively based on recent performances, and track progress. Lots of blank match-charting, note-taking, and record-keeping forms. A great handbook for players and coaches, alike. You can purchase the playbook at https://www.7shottennis.com/product/7-shot-tennis-playbook/.For the 7 Shot Tennis video course, visit https://www.7shottennis.com/video-course/. You can also follow 7 Shot Tennis on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/7shottennis/ and on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/7ShotTennis.If you’re so inclined, please share this – and all our episodes! – with your tennis community. You can subscribe to the podcast on iTunes or via your favorite podcast app. If you haven’t already, be sure to become a Member of ParentingAces by visiting https://parentingaces.com/membership-join. And check out our logo’d merch as well as our a la carte personal consultations in our online shop (Premium Members received FREE SHIPPING every day!). To support ParentingAces' work with a financial donation of any size via PayPal, click here.CREDITSIntro & Outro Music: Morgan Stone aka STØNEAudio & Video Editing: Lisa Stone Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to Season 12 Episode 33 of the ParentingAces Podcast, a proud member of the Tennis Channel Podcast Network. In this week's podcast, Swupnil Sahai of Swing Tennis comes back to share some exciting updates to SwingVision and new partnerships on the horizon that could have a very positive effect on junior competition and college matches.NOTE: For our previous podcasts about SwingVision, go to https://parentingaces.com/articles/bringing-ai-to-tennis-with-swupnil-sahai/, https://parentingaces.com/articles/swingtennis-ft-swupnil-sahai/, and https://parentingaces.com/articles/whats-new-with-swingvision-ft-george-opelka/Hopefully, by now, you've heard of SwingVision and have tried this innovative app to record matches, analyze stats, and even share match highlights.In addition to recording matches and uploading them to the cloud, the app can be used to create highlight videos to send to college coaches during the recruiting process, pull out stats of a particular stroke or shot, and share matches with all members of a player's team. It will soon be able to livestream matches, all simply by setting up a smartphone on the court and opening the app.Over the past 4 years since first hitting the Apple App Store, Swing's AI has improved exponentially such that it can now make line calls with extremely high accuracy such that we may soon see a massive change in the way junior and college matches are officiated.For more information on Swing, visit their website here. You can go directly to the app download page here.If you’re so inclined, please share this – and all our episodes! – with your tennis community. You can subscribe to the podcast on iTunes or via your favorite podcast app. If you haven’t already, be sure to become a Member of ParentingAces by visiting https://parentingaces.com/membership-join. And check out our logo’d merch as well as our a la carte personal consultations in our online shop (Premium Members received FREE SHIPPING every day!). To support ParentingAces' work with a financial donation of any size via PayPal, click here.CREDITSIntro & Outro Music: Morgan Stone aka STØNEAudio & Video Editing: Lisa Stone Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to Season 12 Episode 32 of the ParentingAces Podcast, a proud member of the Tennis Channel Podcast Network. In this week's podcast, Lisa chats with the Athletic Director of a small college and the Director of Tennis of its neighboring public tennis facility about what it takes to resurrect a college tennis program that has been defunded and unhomed.David Orr is a former multi-sport athlete who attended Centenary College in Lisa's hometown of Shreveport, Louisiana, on a soccer scholarship. After coaching soccer in the Shreveport community, he found his way back to Centenary as its Athletic Director.Chris Dudley is a life-long tennis player who, along with his wife, moved to Shreveport to manage the iconic public facility, Querbes, just over 3 years ago. The facility had just undergone a major facelift when the Dudleys came to town, and they have continued to nurture it and its relationship to other entities in the area.Today, these two are working closely to reinstate the Centenary Men's and Women's Tennis Teams after Centenary decided to move from Division I to Division III athletics. As part of that move, the existing tennis courts were razed to provide space for a football field, so David had to look outside the college for a place for the tennis players to practice and compete.Because of its proximity to the college campus, Chris knew Querbes would be the perfect spot to host these collegiate athletes. He and David have been working hand in hand to hammer out the details, find the right coaches, and recruit athletes to the school. This is a partnership that can be replicated around the US where college tennis teams are losing their funding and facilities, and David and Chris are both happy to share their blueprint.For more information on Centenary College, visit its website at https://www.centenary.edu/. You can find the athletics website at https://www.gocentenary.com/landing/index. David Orr is happy to field any questions from prospective student-athletes and their families and can be reached via email at [email protected] more information on Querbes Tennis Center, visit its Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/QuerbesTennisCenter. Chris Dudley is available via email at [email protected] from Lisa: If you find yourself in the Shreveport area, do yourself a favor and visit both of these amazing spots. I grew up going to events on the Centenary campus and playing tournaments at Querbes, so both hold a big spot in my heart!If you’re so inclined, please share this – and all our episodes! – with your tennis community. You can subscribe to the podcast on iTunes or via your favorite podcast app. If you haven’t already, be sure to become a Member of ParentingAces by visiting https://parentingaces.com/membership-join. And check out our logo’d merch as well as our a la carte personal consultations in our online shop (Premium Members received FREE SHIPPING every day!). To support ParentingAces' work with a financial donation of any size via PayPal, click here.CREDITSIntro & Outro Music: Morgan Stone aka STØNEAudio & Video Editing: Lisa Stone Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to Season 12 Episode 31 of the ParentingAces Podcast, a proud member of the Tennis Channel Podcast Network. In this week's podcast, Lisa is joined by Amanda Fink, former top junior and college player and current developmental coach and USTA board member.After growing up in Southern California and becoming the top junior player in her age group in the 16s and 18s, Amanda chose to play her college tennis at USC where she achieved All-American status all four years. Her tennis playing resume speaks for itself!Moving into coaching was a logical next step once her professional playing career came to an end. She has worked with players of all ages and levels, helping them achieve their tennis goals. Amanda approaches junior tennis development in a logical and methodical manner, stressing the importance of playing practice matches as an important piece of the journey.Along the way, Amanda became very involved with USTA, both in the Southern California section and now in the Southwest section. She sits at the table where big decisions are made regarding junior tennis and the sport overall and was happy to share some insights with the ParentingAces community.For questions, you can reach Amanda via email at [email protected]. You can also follow her on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=3419937 and Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/amandafinkmoore/.If you’re so inclined, please share this – and all our episodes! – with your tennis community. You can subscribe to the podcast on iTunes or via your favorite podcast app. If you haven’t already, be sure to become a Member of ParentingAces by visiting https://parentingaces.com/membership-join. And check out our logo’d merch as well as our a la carte personal consultations in our online shop (Premium Members received FREE SHIPPING every day!). To support ParentingAces' work with a financial donation of any size via PayPal, click here.CREDITSIntro & Outro Music: Morgan Stone aka STØNEAudio & Video Editing: Lisa Stone Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to Season 12 Episode 30 of the ParentingAces Podcast, a proud member of the Tennis Channel Podcast Network. In this week's podcast, Danielle McNamara rejoins Lisa to discuss why grades are important to high schoolers hoping to be recruited to play college tennis.For those of you who have watched/listened to our previous episodes with Danielle (click here, here, and here), you know she's the former Head Coach of the Yale Women's Tennis Team as well as a former college player herself. She is now retired from coaching and has started DLM Coaching to help families better navigate the recruiting process.Many high school players and their families are under the false impression that tennis skill alone is enough to open the door to college tennis playing opportunities and that good grades are secondary to on-court success. That couldn't be further from the truth, as Danielle explains in this episode. She stresses that families need to develop a recruiting plan before starting high school that includes choosing academic courses that will allow the student to achieve at their highest potential. For more information on the NCAA Eligibility Center and to create your Player Profile, visit https://web3.ncaa.org/ecwr3/.In fact, Danielle has fielded so many questions from parents of 8th, 9th, and 10th graders in recent weeks that she's decided to offer a free webinar to help these parents and players better understand the recruiting process and what they need to be doing at each stage of the process. You can get more information and register for the September 24th webinar at https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_EAvVc_tmRf6JdDSI9_BCaQ.For more information or to ask questions, you can contact Danielle through her online contact form at https://www.dlmcoaching.com/contact. You can also email her at [email protected]. Be sure to sign up for her enewsletter at https://dlmcoaching.substack.com/.If you’re so inclined, please share this – and all our episodes! – with your tennis community. You can subscribe to the podcast on iTunes or via your favorite podcast app. If you haven’t already, be sure to become a Member of ParentingAces by visiting https://parentingaces.com/membership-join. And check out our logo’d merch as well as our a la carte personal consultations in our online shop (Premium Members received FREE SHIPPING every day!). To support ParentingAces' work with a financial donation of any size via PayPal, click here.CREDITSIntro & Outro Music: Morgan Stone aka STØNEAudio & Video Editing: Lisa Stone Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to Season 12 Episode 29 of the ParentingAces Podcast, a proud member of the Tennis Channel Podcast Network. In this week's podcast, we take a deep dive into the NCAA's Name Image Likeness (NIL) rule and how tennis families can use it to their advantage throughout the Junior Tennis Journey.Joy Harris is a mom and an entrepreneur. While her two sons followed their dreams in football, she is no stranger to youth sports and the expense involved in helping your child achieve their athletic goals.Joy found a way to offset the high costs of her own children's' athletic development by helping them develop their personal brand then leveraging it into brand deals with local and national businesses. As a result, other sports parents started asking her advice to help them do the same with their young athletes. She then parlayed her knowledge and expertise into a consulting business that helps junior athletes and parents find ways to parlay their sport and other interests into income opportunities.While the NCAA NIL rule applies solely to college student-athletes, brand deals are open to athletes of all ages and stages of development. Since the cost of junior tennis development continues to increase, why not learn how you might be able to offset some of those costs while helping your child learn valuable life skills in the process?To learn more about how to build a personal brand, be sure to follow Joy on social media:Instagram: @thejoyharrisTiktok: @thejoyharrisThreads: @thejoyharrisYou can also reach her via email at [email protected], Joy has a book coming out the end of August 2023 titled HOW TO GET PAID BEFORE GOING PRO. You can do an advanced purchase of her book using our affiliate link: Parenting Aces Link. By purchasing the book through this link, someone in our community could win a $1,000 scholarship to the university of their choice! NOTE: ParentingAces may receive a small commission from your purchase.If you’re so inclined, please share this – and all our episodes! – with your tennis community. You can subscribe to the podcast on iTunes or via your favorite podcast app. If you haven’t already, be sure to become a Member of ParentingAces by visiting https://parentingaces.com/membership-join. And check out our logo’d merch as well as our a la carte personal consultations in our online shop (Premium Members received FREE SHIPPING every day!). To support ParentingAces' work with a financial donation of any size via PayPal, click here.CREDITSIntro & Outro Music: Morgan Stone aka STØNEAudio & Video Editing: Lisa Stone Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to Season 12 Episode 28 of the ParentingAces Podcast, a proud member of the Tennis Channel Podcast Network. In this week's podcast, Wofford Men's Tennis Coach, Rod Ray, joins Lisa to share his sports journey with his two sons and why he's found value and joy in the challenges life has thrown at him. He also talks about his recruiting philosophy and what parents and junior players need to know.When he was about 4 or 5 years old, Rod's oldest son, Cole, was diagnosed as being on the autism spectrum. Since Rod and his wife also had another son, Ashe, just 18 months younger, they had to find a way to balance Cole's needs with those of his little brother.As the boys got older, they both gravitated toward sports, not surprising given Rod's background as a collegiate tennis player and current job as the Head Coach at Wofford. Through sports, Rod was able to watch both his sons face hardships head on and learn from those situations in order to keep improving on and off the playing field.For Cole, that meant coming in last place in his track events multiple times until he was able to find a way to move up the ranks, eventually earning the opportunity to compete at the collegiate level. For Ashe, that meant learning to be self-sufficient at his tennis practices and tournaments when his parents were otherwise occupied with their own jobs and the care of his older brother.Both brothers will graduate college in the coming months with a future that looks bright for both of them. Throughout their journeys, though, Rod has had his own challenges balancing his role as both Coach and Dad. He is now in the process of sharing that journey through book form, writing HARD COMES FIRST which will be published some time in 2024.For more information on Rod's process, visit his website at https://hardcomesfirst.com/ and sign up to receive his blog and join the waitlist for his book.For more information on Wofford College Tennis, a Division I program in the Southern Conference, visit https://woffordterriers.com/sports/mens-tennis and https://woffordterriers.com/sports/womens-tennis. You can reach Rod via email at [email protected] you’re so inclined, please share this – and all our episodes! – with your tennis community. You can subscribe to the podcast on iTunes or via your favorite podcast app. If you haven’t already, be sure to become a Member of ParentingAces by visiting https://parentingaces.com/membership-join. And check out our logo’d merch as well as our a la carte personal consultations in our online shop (Premium Members received FREE SHIPPING every day!). To support ParentingAces' work with a financial donation of any size via PayPal, click here.CREDITSIntro & Outro Music: Morgan Stone aka STØNEAudio & Video Editing: Lisa Stone Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to Season 12 Episode 27 of the ParentingAces Podcast, a proud member of the Tennis Channel Podcast Network. In this week's podcast, we take a look at a new way to help players get in their fitness training on or off the court.Gemma Coles is a former gymnast in the UK who moved into the coaching arena once her competitive years came to a close. She became very interested in learning how young athletes can maximize their performance by increasing their physical strength, flexibility, and endurance. Shuffle Up Games came about with the help of experts in their respective fields, starting with gymnastics and moving into the tennis arena with the help of former ATP player, Marcus Willis. Gemma's goal in creating Shuffle Up is to provide a simple way for players to work on a variety of skills with a minimum of equipment while giving players a fun way to compete with family and friends. The game box comes with a variety of game-playing ideas while leaving room for players to create their own games as well. The activities are divided up by level of difficulty and are appropriate for all ages and stages of tennis skill.To order your copy of Shuffle Up: https://amzn.to/3rqWd5i (ParentingAces may receive a small commission on your order)You can also engage with Gemma on social media:Twitter (https://twitter.com/Games1Shuffle)Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/shuffleupgames/)Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/shuffleupgames/?hl=en)If you’re so inclined, please share this – and all our episodes! – with your tennis community. You can subscribe to the podcast on iTunes or via your favorite podcast app. If you haven’t already, be sure to become a Member of ParentingAces by visiting https://parentingaces.com/membership-join. And check out our logo’d merch as well as our a la carte personal consultations in our online shop (Premium Members received FREE SHIPPING every day!). To support ParentingAces' work with a financial donation of any size via PayPal, click here.CREDITSIntro & Outro Music: Morgan Stone aka STØNEAudio & Video Editing: Lisa Stone Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to Season 12 Episode 26 of the ParentingAces Podcast, a proud member of the Tennis Channel Podcast Network. In this week's podcast, we revisit the idea of virtual academic learning and do a deep dive into a program based in the UK called Minerva Virtual Academy.Fabian Spiess grew up in the world of soccer - or as he calls it, football. After realizing his professional career had reached its end, he wanted a way to give back to other young athletes and found his way to Minerva, a unique virtual school for children ages 11-18.Fabian works across the entire group of Minerva's offerings (Minerva's Virtual Academy, Minerva Tutors and Minerva Homeschooling) to develop relationships and partnerships with sporting governing bodies, academies and clubs to help deliver an education which is accessible, flexible and manageable for young athletes around their athletic commitments. He also works as a mentor to the student-athletes to help them stay grounded in both their academic and athletic pursuits. Minerva places a huge value on what they term the pastoral well-being of each student, putting the person before the athlete. This approach sets them apart from other online learning systems and helps ensure Minerva students are prepared for whatever faces them after graduation.For more information on Minerva Virtual Academy, here are some links for you:Website - https://www.minervavirtual.com/mva-for/sport Open Event on the 17th of July - https://www.minervavirtual.com/events/july-17th-sports-open-event?utm_source=Parenting%20Aces&utm_medium=Podcast&utm_campaign=OpenEventInstagram - https://www.instagram.com/mva.athletes/Discovery Call Link - https://calendly.com/minervaforathletes/online-school-discovery-call-for-tennis-playersYou can also reach out to Fabian directly via email at [email protected] you’re so inclined, please share this – and all our episodes! – with your tennis community. You can subscribe to the podcast on iTunes or via your favorite podcast app. If you haven’t already, be sure to become a Member of ParentingAces by visiting https://parentingaces.com/membership-join. And check out our logo’d merch as well as our a la carte personal consultations in our online shop (Premium Members received FREE SHIPPING every day!). To support ParentingAces' work with a financial donation of any size via PayPal, click here.CREDITSIntro & Outro Music: Morgan Stone aka STØNEAudio & Video Editing: Lisa Stone Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to Season 12 Episode 25 of the ParentingAces Podcast, a proud member of the Tennis Channel Podcast Network. Todd Widom is back to discuss how junior players can take full advantage of their time away from school to maximize their training.While we realize many junior tennis players are now opting for virtual school, summertime is still a lighter load, academically speaking, and the perfect time to maximize time working on their game both on and off the court.In this episode, Todd talks about how players can best use the summer months to get in peak physical shape, peak mental shape, and peak competitive shape. He discusses specific drills he uses with his players as well as some of the shortcomings he and his team of coaches have recently noticed in the players who come work with them in Florida.To contact Todd or to get information on his training, you can reach him at [email protected]. If you aren’t already, be sure to follow him on Facebook and Instagram as well.If you’re so inclined, please share this – and all our episodes! – with your tennis community. You can subscribe to the podcast on iTunes or via your favorite podcast app. If you haven’t already, be sure to become a Member of ParentingAces by visiting https://parentingaces.com/membership-join. And check out our logo’d merch as well as our a la carte personal consultations in our online shop (Premium Members received FREE SHIPPING every day!). To support ParentingAces' work with a financial donation of any size via PayPal, click here.CREDITSIntro & Outro Music: Morgan Stone aka STØNEAudio & Video Editing: Lisa Stone Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to Season 12 Episode 24 of the ParentingAces Podcast, a proud member of the Tennis Channel Podcast Network. Tanner Stump is back this week to discuss his upcoming college showcase and why these showcases are so valuable to college-bound junior players.As you may remember from our previous conversation, Tanner is the former Associate Head Coach of the University of Florida Men's Tennis Team and is now working to help educate and mentor other college coaches. To that end, he has tapped into his extensive network to offer a great opportunity to players ages 13-18 who want to play college tennis.The inaugural Slamstox College Tennis Showcase at Michigan State University August 1-3, 2023, is open to boys and girls with a cost of $399 ($349 if you sign up before July 1st). Included are college coach panel discussions for both parents and players, singles and doubles match play in a round-robin format, and time between matches for one-on-one conversations with the college coaches themselves.You may notice the dates coincide perfectly with the start of this year's National Hardcourt tournaments in Kalamazoo and San Diego. That was no accident! Tanner is hoping players will use the showcase as a warmup event to prepare for the summer's biggest junior tournament while giving them a chance to play in front of college coaches in a less pressure-packed environment. You should also know that the showcase is a verified UTR event which means all matches CAN count toward the players' rating although Tanner has offered alternatives to that which you will hear him discuss in the podcast.Tanner has generously offered the following discounts/bonuses to the ParentingAces community - simply type "ParentingAces" in the "How did you hear about us" section of the registration form: 15% off of early bird rate ($349) if signed up before July 1 10% off of regular rate ($399) anytime before July 10 First 10 signups with ParentingAces discount code receive a free 30 min video call consultation with Tanner Stump and August 1 exclusive training session before the showcase begins For more information and to register, be sure to visit the showcase webpage at https://www.slamstox.com/en/event/college-tennis-showcase-michigan/. To reach Tanner directly, email him at [email protected] you’re so inclined, please share this – and all our episodes! – with your tennis community. You can subscribe to the podcast on iTunes or via your favorite podcast app. If you haven’t already, be sure to become a Member of ParentingAces by visiting https://parentingaces.com/membership-join. And check out our logo’d merch as well as our a la carte personal consultations in our online shop (Premium Members received FREE SHIPPING every day!). To support ParentingAces' work with a financial donation of any size via PayPal, click here.CREDITSIntro & Outro Music: Morgan Stone aka STØNEAudio & Video Editing: Lisa Stone Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to Season 12 Episode 23 of the ParentingAces Podcast, a proud member of the Tennis Channel Podcast Network. This week's episode continues our recent theme around Tennis Parenting with guest Violet Clark.Violet is the mother to 3 tennis-playing adult daughters, all of whom started playing the sport at young ages at a local grassroots program in their hometown of Chicago. Each daughter had different levels of commitment to tennis but all pursued their love of the game into college. While the two oldest Clarks played at the club level in college, the youngest, Gabrielle, went on to Emory University where she played the top position in both singles and doubles and won the NCAA DIII Singles Championship not once but twice in her four years in Atlanta.Throughout her daughters' developmental years, Vi became involved in the sport as a valuable volunteer, starting with the Love to Serve Tennis and Education Foundation and eventually moving into her current role on the National Board of the USTA. She has seen first-hand the value of tennis in helping to shape her daughters into the productive women they are today and wants to give back to the sport that has offered so much to her family.Vi shares her wisdom and experience with us, reflecting on the things she feels she did well and those where she could've done better. It's an honest glimpse behind the scenes of a committed parent looking to provide her children with opportunities to grow their minds and their bodies while learning life lessons throughout the journey.For more information on Love to Serve, visit their website at https://ltstennisacademy.us/.If you’re so inclined, please share this – and all our episodes! – with your tennis community. You can subscribe to the podcast on iTunes or via your favorite podcast app. If you haven’t already, be sure to become a Member of ParentingAces by visiting https://parentingaces.com/membership-join. And check out our logo’d merch as well as our a la carte personal consultations in our online shop (Premium Members received FREE SHIPPING every day!). To support ParentingAces' work with a financial donation of any size via PayPal, click here.CREDITSIntro & Outro Music: Morgan Stone aka STØNEAudio & Video Editing: Lisa Stone Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to Season 12 Episode 22 of the ParentingAces Podcast, a proud member of the Tennis Channel Podcast Network. This week, Argentinian Tennis Parent, Hernan Chousa, is back to discuss his thoughts on being a better sports parent as well as his latest book, PARENTSHIFT.Being a former top junior and professional player himself, Hernan believed he was the best-equipped person to coach his own sons to tennis success. While things started off just fine, there came a point in their journey that Hernan realized he needed to take a step back in order to salvage what was left of his relationship with his oldest son. It dawned on Hernan that it wasn't his son who needed to change but himself. He began the long journey of self-reflection that eventually led to the healing of their relationship and speaks very candidly about that journey in this week's episode.Be sure to follow Hernan on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/hernanchousa/?hl=en and Twitter at https://twitter.com/chousahernan. His courses are available for purchase on his website at https://www.hernanchousa.com/.To purchase Hernan's latest book, PARENTSHIFT: THE SKILLS YOU NEED TO BECOME A SUPER PARENT, go to https://amzn.to/3oEU4SF (Note: ParentingAces may receive a small commission from your purchase).If you’re so inclined, please share this – and all our episodes! – with your tennis community. You can subscribe to the podcast on iTunes or via your favorite podcast app. If you haven’t already, be sure to become a Member of ParentingAces by visiting https://parentingaces.com/membership-join. And check out our logo’d merch as well as our a la carte personal consultations in our online shop (Premium Members received FREE SHIPPING every day!). To support ParentingAces' work with a financial donation of any size via PayPal, click here.CREDITSIntro & Outro Music: Morgan Stone aka STØNEAudio & Video Editing: Lisa Stone Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to Season 12 Episode 21 of the ParentingAces Podcast, a proud member of the Tennis Channel Podcast Network. For this week's pod, Lisa chats with sports parents, Mark and Britt McKinney, about their book, THE DRIVE HOME, and some of the things we can do to be better at this Tennis Parent thing.Mark and Britt have a daughter who participated in competitive cheerleading and a son who still competes in competitive junior golf. They began to realize they each had a role to play in their children's - and their family's - well-being when it came to extra-curricular pursuits and that they weren't doing things as well as they could. They sought counsel from other sports parents but also from highly-successful coaches and business leaders to improve their own sports parenting skills. As they gathered information, they realized other sports parents could likely benefit from their new-found knowledge so decided to write a book together.THE DRIVE HOME delves into the common issues all sports parents face when helping their children pursue a passion at an elite level. Mark and Britt use humor and personal anecdotes as they share stories of their own missteps and how they have learned to do better as their children are nearing the end of their junior competitive years.For more information, follow the McKinneys' Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/TheDriveHomeYouthAthleteParentDynamic. They also have an interactive Facebook Group at https://www.facebook.com/groups/225725129487601. To order THE DRIVE HOME, click https://amzn.to/3WDA2o4 (ParentingAces may receive a small commission on your order) - for bulk orders, simply email Mark and Britt at [email protected] Mark & Britt:Mark and Britt have been married for 25 years and have walked the fairways of junior golf tournaments for roughly 10 of those. They are the proud parents to two children, Katie Britt and Ben, reside in the upstate of South Carolina, and are proud members of the roller-coaster community of golf parents. Mark is a graduate of Clemson University, works in the software industry, and has a passion for storytelling, laughter, and anything golf. Mark authored his first book, Faith on a Sticky Note in 2010.Britt is a lifelong educator with a passion for teaching and writing. She describes herself as an avid golf mom who gladly gives up vacations to walk the grass fairways instead of sandy beaches. Britt graduated from Georgia Southern University and also holds degrees from Furman University and Augusta University. If you’re so inclined, please share this – and all our episodes! – with your tennis community. You can subscribe to the podcast on iTunes or via your favorite podcast app. If you haven’t already, be sure to become a Member of ParentingAces by visiting https://parentingaces.com/membership-join. And check out our logo’d merch as well as our a la carte personal consultations in our online shop (Premium Members received FREE SHIPPING every day!). To support ParentingAces' work with a financial donation of any size via PayPal, click here.CREDITSIntro & Outro Music: Morgan Stone aka STØNEAudio & Video Editing: Lisa Stone Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to Season 12 Episode 20 of the ParentingAces Podcast, a proud member of the Tennis Channel Podcast Network. This week's guests are two former Division I college tennis coaches - Danielle McNamara (Yale) and Tanner Stump (University of Florida) who have taken their expertise to the private sector and are now working with players and coaches on an individual level to continue to grow and improve the college tennis landscape.When Danielle reached out to me about tackling the topic of growth over results on the podcast, I couldn't wait to get these two behind the mic! As Danielle wrote, "[Tanner and I] were having this really interesting conversation on our thoughts, experiences and beliefs on the need for players (and parents!!) to focus on the long game (e.g. development) over wins today. It seems like so many parents are putting so much pressure on kids to perform so they can 'make it' to the name brand school rather than the process of improvement. Sounds cliche but something I think the two of us really believe in. And ironically, by focusing on results over development it probably makes it less likely that a player will get to the schools they (and/or their parents) are striving for."I hope you enjoy the conversation as much as I did!To reach Danielle, visit her website at dlmcoaching.com then click the Contact tab at https://www.dlmcoaching.com/contact. She is incredibly responsive and can answer any questions you may have. I also encourage you to sign up for her free e-newsletter for some very helpful tips.To reach Tanner, visit his website at https://collegetenniscrashcourse.com/. You can also email him at [email protected] you’re so inclined, please share this – and all our episodes! – with your tennis community. You can subscribe to the podcast on iTunes or via your favorite podcast app. If you haven’t already, be sure to become a Member of ParentingAces by visiting https://parentingaces.com/membership-join. And check out our logo’d merch as well as our a la carte personal consultations in our online shop (Premium Members received FREE SHIPPING every day!). To support ParentingAces' work with a financial donation of any size via PayPal, click here.CREDITSIntro & Outro Music: Morgan Stone aka STØNEAudio & Video Editing: Lisa Stone Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to Season 12 Episode 19 of the ParentingAces Podcast, a proud member of the Tennis Channel Podcast Network. This week, Lisa chats with Australian tennis enthusiast, Ric Curnow, about his solution to players ducking matches because of a potential negative impact on their UTR.Since the dawn of junior tennis ratings and rankings, we've seen players opt out of certain tournaments or matches due to fear of losing to a lower-ranked or lower-rated player. Rather than focusing on the benefits to be gained from playing any and all matches, some coaches, parents, and players only focus on outcomes which doesn't serve anyone well.Ric saw this happening over and over again with Tennis Australia tournaments and wanted to create a solution that could show players (and parents and coaches!) whether a match would be UTR-positive, UTR-neutral, or UTR-negative based on the ratings of the two players involved and the resulting final score. Tennis Neutral was born!Players can now input their own UTR and that of their upcoming opponent to: See the ratio of games that would return a neutral UTR result. See the minimum percentage of games in a match that generates positive UTR outcomes for both players. Enter match results to check if a result is UTR positive for either player. Ric's hope is this will reduce the stress around the unknowables of the UTR algorithm and reduce the number of withdrawals as a result of that stress. Tennis Neutral is a useful tool for coaches wanting to monitor a player's performance under differing circumstance or setting up training sessions between players at different levels. It’s an aid for any serious player, and especially for any prospective college-level player.As an added bonus, Ric donates all proceeds from the app's purchase to the Nick Kyrgios Foundation which offers sporting opportunities to underprivileged youth in Australia. It's a great cause and should make purchasing the Tennis Neutral app a no-brainer!For more information and to get the app, visit the Tennis Neutral website at https://www.tennisneutral.com/index.html. If you have additional questions for Ric, you can reach him via email at [email protected] you’re so inclined, please share this – and all our episodes! – with your tennis community. You can subscribe to the podcast on iTunes or via your favorite podcast app. If you haven’t already, be sure to become a Member of ParentingAces by visiting https://parentingaces.com/membership-join. And check out our logo’d merch as well as our a la carte personal consultations in our online shop (Premium Members received FREE SHIPPING every day!). To support ParentingAces' work with a financial donation of any size via PayPal, click here.CREDITSIntro & Outro Music: Morgan Stone aka STØNEAudio & Video Editing: Lisa Stone Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to Season 12 Episode 18 of the ParentingAces Podcast, a proud member of the Tennis Channel Podcast Network. This week Lisa chats with Haitham Eletrabi, co-founder and CEO of Tennibot.We all know the pain of picking up tons of balls during a lesson or ball machine session. It takes up time and energy that could be better spent working on your game. Tennibot is a company that builds robotic assistants for sports. It won TechCrunch Disrupt in Berlin 2017, was a finalist in the Silicon Valley Robotics competition in 2018, and has won multiple awards since, including the 2021 European Product Design Top Design Award and the Wingfield Tennis Innovation Award in 2022.Haitham is a tennis player himself and has captained many USTA teams that won the local chapters and made it to the state (the last team was in 2022). He also currently serves as a board member for the Auburn (Alabama) USTA league. His passion and love for the game come through loud and clear!For more information via video on Tennibot, go to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jq4cOcfHK6E. You can also email Haitham at [email protected] and visit the website at https://www.tennibot.com/ for info and ordering details. Be sure to follow them on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, too.If you’re so inclined, please share this – and all our episodes! – with your tennis community. You can subscribe to the podcast on iTunes or via your favorite podcast app. If you haven’t already, be sure to become a Member of ParentingAces by visiting https://parentingaces.com/membership-join. And check out our logo’d merch as well as our a la carte personal consultations in our online shop (Premium Members received FREE SHIPPING every day!). To support ParentingAces' work with a financial donation of any size via PayPal, click here.CREDITSIntro & Outro Music: Morgan Stone aka STØNEAudio & Video Editing: Lisa Stone Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to Season 12 Episode 17 of the ParentingAces Podcast, a proud member of the Tennis Channel Podcast Network. In this episode, the ITA's Dave Mullins is back to discuss what's happening in the world of College Tennis and to update us on new and returning initiatives to look forward to.Dave Mullins is the Managing Director of the ITA. As such he works closely with the Tennis For America (TFA) program as well as other areas of the organization and is an incredible resource for us at ParentingAces. In this week’s episode, Dave updates us on the ITA Summer Circuit, ITA's partnership with the USTA and World Tennis Number (WTN), the joint NCAA Championships later this month, and other upcoming events in the works.For more information on Tennis for America, go to https://www.tennisforamerica.com. To see the 2023 ITA Summer Circuit schedule, go to https://www.wearecollegetennis.com/championships/summer-circuit/. For more information on the ITA, go to https://www.wearecollegetennis.com. You can reach Dave Mullins directly via email at [email protected] you’re so inclined, please share this – and all our episodes! – with your tennis community. You can subscribe to the podcast on iTunes or via your favorite podcast app. If you haven’t already, be sure to become a Member of ParentingAces by visiting https://parentingaces.com/membership-join. And check out our logo’d merch as well as our a la carte personal consultations in our online shop (Premium Members received FREE SHIPPING every day!). To support ParentingAces' work with a financial donation of any size via PayPal, click here.CREDITSIntro & Outro Music: Morgan Stone aka STØNEAudio & Video Editing: Lisa Stone Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to Season 12 Episode 16 of the ParentingAces Podcast, a proud member of the Tennis Channel Podcast Network. In this episode, Lisa chats again with Coach Peter Scales, creator of the Compete, Learn, Honor approach to junior tennis development and author of the new Raising Aces series on ParentingAces.com.Coach Pete is a highly-respected coach who works with players of all levels with a focus on high-school players and college-bound athletes. He has graciously offered to create a series of articles for the ParentingAces website to help parents better navigate the junior and college tennis journey. The first installment is now online at https://parentingaces.com/articles.For more information on Coach Pete, be sure to visit his website at https://www.competelearnhonor.com/. You can reach out to him directly via email at [email protected]. Be sure to check back periodically for updates to Pete's series!If you’re so inclined, please share this – and all our episodes! – with your tennis community. You can subscribe to the podcast on iTunes or via your favorite podcast app. If you haven’t already, be sure to become a Member of ParentingAces by visiting https://parentingaces.com/membership-join. And check out our logo’d merch as well as our a la carte personal consultations in our online shop (Premium Members received FREE SHIPPING every day!). To support ParentingAces' work with a financial donation of any size via PayPal, click here.CREDITSIntro & Outro Music: Morgan Stone aka STØNEAudio & Video Editing: Lisa Stone Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to Season 12 Episode 15 of the ParentingAces Podcast, a proud member of the Tennis Channel Podcast Network. This week, Lisa chats with Stanford Men's Tennis player, Anders Matta, and the creator of CoachU, Adrian Levitt, about leveraging NIL opportunities to help both college and junior players.If you've been listening to the podcast for a while, you know how Lisa feels about the importance of mentors, both for coaches and for parents and players. CoachU is filling a void by creating a platform where college players can take advantage of the still new NIL rules to earn money while in school AND junior players can be mentored by these more-experienced players who are living the life they aspire to.Adrian grew up in a tennis family and saw his brother go through the entire junior and college tennis process. Anders is currently a college player, balancing academics and tennis at Stanford while trying to gain some work experience that will help him get a job after he graduates.In this episode, you will hear both men talk about what CoachU can do for the college athletes AND for the junior athletes and why it solves many issues present in our sport.To learn more about CoachU and how it can help your player(s), visit the website at https://withcoachu.com/. You can also follow them on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/w.coachu/ and LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/coachu/. You can contact Adrian directly at 610-962-6608 (cell) or [email protected] you’re so inclined, please share this – and all our episodes! – with your tennis community. You can subscribe to the podcast on iTunes or via your favorite podcast app. If you haven’t already, be sure to become a Member of ParentingAces by visiting https://parentingaces.com/membership-join. And check out our logo’d merch as well as our a la carte personal consultations in our online shop (Premium Members received FREE SHIPPING every day!). To support ParentingAces' work with a financial donation of any size via PayPal, click here.CREDITSIntro & Outro Music: Morgan Stone aka STØNEAudio & Video Editing: Lisa Stone Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to Season 12 Episode 14 of the ParentingAces Podcast, a proud member of the Tennis Channel Podcast Network. This week's episode is all about using virtual reality to enhance tennis training and recovery.Yannick Yoshizawa and Nick Monroe are tennis veterans. From playing junior and college tennis to coaching, they have seen the sport change and develop over the years. One thing was missing, though - finding a way to use virtual reality (VR) technology effectively to help tennis athletes reach their full potential. So Yannick and his team of developers created Sense Arena, enlisting the expertise and guidance of coaches like Nick and players like Jennifer Brady to ensure a positive and beneficial user experience.Sense Arena’s groundbreaking technology provides tennis players of all ages and abilities with enhanced visualization, allowing them to improve the mental aspects of their game such as anticipation and decision-making skills. Using VR goggles and a haptic racquet, players can train their body and brain in a small space (12'x12' or larger), giving them more opportunities to get in their reps even when court costs, weather, or injury hamper traditional on-court play.Juniors can even customize their virtual environment and train in different weather conditions including bright sun and wind. They can choose Hard Court, Grass, or Clay as the training surface to mimic the various bounces and help their eyes track the ball more effectively.The price of this amazing tech is very reasonable. After a 10-day free trial, you can choose a monthly or annual (discounted) plan that won't bust the family tennis budget.For more information, be sure to visit the Sense Arena website at https://tennis.sensearena.com/. If you have questions, you can reach out to the support department at [email protected]. Be sure to follow them on socials as well:Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sensearenatennis/Twitter: https://twitter.com/sensearenaInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/sensearenatennis/YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/SenseArenaIf you’re so inclined, please share this – and all our episodes! – with your tennis community. You can subscribe to the podcast on iTunes or via your favorite podcast app. If you haven’t already, be sure to become a Member of ParentingAces by visiting https://parentingaces.com/membership-join. And check out our logo’d merch as well as our a la carte personal consultations in our online shop (Premium Members received FREE SHIPPING every day!). To support ParentingAces' work with a financial donation of any size via PayPal, click here.CREDITSIntro & Outro Music: Morgan Stone aka STØNEAudio & Video Editing: Lisa Stone Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to Season 12 Episode 13 of the ParentingAces Podcast, a proud member of the Tennis Channel Podcast Network. Lavie Sak rejoins the podcast to share V2 of the ADV Tennis Bag and ADV Tennis Backpack. Be sure to catch the video version of this one on ParentingAces.com!Making a better mousetrap has always been at the core of entrepreneurship, and Lavie's latest creations are no exception. His team of engineers and designers have reimagined the ordinary tennis bag to create an iteration that solves for so many common issues such as where to store wet clothes and how to keep drinks cool.And the story behind ADV Tennis is a great one! If you missed our last podcast with Lavie, I encourage you to check it out at https://parentingaces.com/articles/reimagining-tennis-essentials-ft-lavie-sak/. The show notes include a link to a very inspirational video that speaks to the philanthropic aspect of ADV Tennis.To learn more and to pre-order your bag(s), go to www.advtennis.pro. You can contact Lavie directly with any questions at [email protected]. Also, be sure to check out ADV Tennis's Kickstarter at https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/advtennis/adv-tennis-jetpack-collection - the video is a fun watch! NOTE: The Kickstarter campaign ends April 12, 2023.If you’re so inclined, please share this – and all our episodes! – with your tennis community. You can subscribe to the podcast on iTunes or via your favorite podcast app. If you haven’t already, be sure to become a Member of ParentingAces by visiting https://parentingaces.com/membership-join. And check out our logo’d merch as well as our a la carte personal consultations in our online shop (Premium Members received FREE SHIPPING every day!). To support ParentingAces' work with a financial donation of any size via PayPal, click here.CREDITSIntro & Outro Music: Morgan Stone aka STØNEAudio & Video Editing: Lisa Stone Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to Season 12 Episode 12 of the ParentingAces Podcast, a proud member of the Tennis Channel Podcast Network. Chase Hodges, Vice President at Universal Tennis, joins us this week to discuss his company's role in junior, high school, and college tennis. I highly recommend you watch the video version on ParentingAces.com so you can get a better understanding of how to use Universal Tennis.As the former Men's & Women's Head Coach at NAIA powerhouse, Georgia Gwinnett College, Chase Hodges knows recruiting and college tennis. When he decided to retire from college coaching, the move to Universal Tennis seemed the perfect next step. Since Summer 2022, Chase has been working hard to ensure junior, high school, and college coaches have the tools and tournament structure they need to develop players to their highest potential.Each week, it seems, Chase and Universal Tennis are announcing new initiatives to help players, parents, and coaches maximize opportunities to learn and compete. Whether it's the Junior National Pathway, High School tournaments, or the Pro Tennis Tour, Universal Tennis is cementing its role on the global tennis stage.Chase shares some insights into what's currently happening in the ratings arena - I hope you appreciate his honesty and frankness here as did I.For more information on Universal Tennis, visit its website at https://www.universaltennis.com/. For details on the Junior National Pathway events, go to https://www.universaltennis.com/national-pathway. To see the Summer Camp schedule, go to https://www.universaltennis.com/college-camps. For details on the inaugural Universal Tennis National Intercollegiate Tennis (NIT) Championships, go to https://www.universaltennis.com/pr/universal-tennis-to-host-first-ever-nit-championships-for-college-tennis-on-prime-videoAnd, if you have questions, please use the email addresses here:Universal Tennis High School Inquiries [email protected] Tennis College Camps and Circuits Hosts [email protected] also urge you to read the article regarding Universal Tennis and College Tennis at https://www.universaltennis.com/pr/universal-tennis-expands-its-commitment-to-college-tennisIf you’re so inclined, please share this – and all our episodes! – with your tennis community. You can subscribe to the podcast on iTunes or via your favorite podcast app. If you haven’t already, be sure to become a Member of ParentingAces by visiting https://parentingaces.com/membership-join. And check out our logo’d merch as well as our a la carte personal consultations in our online shop (Premium Members received FREE SHIPPING every day!). To support ParentingAces' work with a financial donation of any size via PayPal, click here.CREDITSIntro & Outro Music: Morgan Stone aka STØNEAudio & Video Editing: Lisa Stone Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to Season 12 Episode 11 of the ParentingAces Podcast, a proud member of the Tennis Channel Podcast Network. This week, we are chatting with the former Head Women's Tennis Coach at Emory University, Amy Bryant, who has moved into the executive coaching and recruiting support space with her company, Bryant College Coaching.Amy shares her knowledge and experience regarding college tennis recruiting and its ever-changing landscape, especially now due to the adoption of the World Tennis Number (WTN) by both USTA and ITA. Her no-nonsense approach to junior development and recruiting is 100% in line with what we've heard from other junior and college coaches as well as industry experts, so I'm hoping you'll take it to heart and stay focused on improving just 1% each day. At the end of the day, the best college coaches are looking for players who will fit into their team culture and work hard for the betterment of the team. And the responsibility lies with each junior player to reach out to coaches for whom they want to play and to get and stay on those coaches' radar through regular outreach and communication.For more information on what Amy offers to junior athletes as well as coaches, please visit her website at www.bryantcollegecoaching.com. There is a Contact form on the site to connect with her directly. You can - and should! - sign up for her e-newsletter on the homepage of her site. She sends very valuable information directly to your inbox each week with specific calls to action included where appropriate.Here are her socials if you want to give her a follow:https://twitter.com/BryantCoachinghttps://www.linkedin.com/in/bryantcollegecoach/Https://www.linkedin.com/company/bryantcollegecoachinghttps://www.instagram.com/bryantcollegecoaching/https://www.facebook.com/bryantcollegecoaching/If you’re so inclined, please share this – and all our episodes! – with your tennis community. You can subscribe to the podcast on iTunes or via your favorite podcast app. If you haven’t already, be sure to become a Member of ParentingAces by visiting https://parentingaces.com/membership-join. And check out our logo’d merch as well as our a la carte personal consultations in our online shop (Premium Members received FREE SHIPPING every day!). To support ParentingAces' work with a financial donation of any size via PayPal, click here.CREDITSIntro & Outro Music: Morgan Stone aka STØNEAudio & Video Editing: Lisa Stone Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to Season 12 Episode 10 of the ParentingAces Podcast, a proud member of the Tennis Channel Podcast Network. Coach Todd Widom is back with us to shed some light on why tour players don't always make the best junior coaches.Many of you have had the good fortune to see former professional tennis players come to your local club or academy or other facility and offer to work with developing juniors. Sometimes they make great coaches right away, using the lessons they've learned throughout their development and career to teach younger players how to be successful on and off the court. But sometimes they need time to develop into effective coaches, and sometimes that never happens for them.Todd and I discuss what questions parents should be asking of these former pro players to ensure they are the right fit to coach your particular child. It's not rocket science, but we just don't want you to let their star power impact your judgement in this very important decision.To contact Todd or to get information on his training, you can reach him at [email protected]. If you aren’t already, be sure to follow him on Facebook and Instagram as well.If you’re so inclined, please share this – and all our episodes! – with your tennis community. You can subscribe to the podcast on iTunes or via your favorite podcast app. If you haven’t already, be sure to become a Member of ParentingAces by visiting https://parentingaces.com/membership-join. And check out our logo’d merch as well as our a la carte personal consultations in our online shop (Premium Members received FREE SHIPPING every day!). To support ParentingAces' work with a financial donation of any size via PayPal, click here.CREDITSIntro & Outro Music: Morgan Stone aka STØNEAudio & Video Editing: Lisa Stone Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to Season 12 Episode 9 of the ParentingAces Podcast, a proud member of the Tennis Channel Podcast Network. This week we welcome Coach Tim Noonan to discuss his very interesting proposal to discourage cheating in junior tennis.Several years ago, Tim wrote an article (click here to read in full) with some thoughts on why junior players cheat and what we as a sport can do to put a stop to it. I came across Tim's article in an industry newsletter I get each month and immediately reached out to him to invite him on the podcast.Tim and I moved in the same circles in Atlanta. Tim is behind the very successful Universal Tennis Academy (UTA) with multiple locations in the metro Atlanta area and has played and coached tennis at every level from beginners to high-performance juniors to college to adult league players. He's seen it all when it comes to on- and off-court behavior and has felt the same frustration as the rest of us in terms of the continual cheating and lack of meaningful consequences.Please take the time after listening to this episode to also read Tim's article here and add your thoughts in the Comments section. Tim is hoping to spark conversation that will lead to significant changes and benefit the sport as a whole.To reach Tim, visit the UTA website at https://utatennis.com/. You can also email him at [email protected] you’re so inclined, please share this – and all our episodes! – with your tennis community. You can subscribe to the podcast on iTunes or via your favorite podcast app. If you haven’t already, be sure to become a Member of ParentingAces by visiting https://parentingaces.com/membership-join. And check out our logo’d merch as well as our a la carte personal consultations in our online shop (Premium Members received FREE SHIPPING every day!). To support ParentingAces' work with a financial donation of any size via PayPal, click here.CREDITSIntro & Outro Music: Morgan Stone aka STØNEAudio & Video Editing: Lisa Stone Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to Season 12 Episode 8 of the ParentingAces Podcast, a proud member of the Tennis Channel Podcast Network. This week we return to our recent discussions around UTR, WTN, and what that means for junior tennis and college recruiting with guest Chris Lewit.Chris Lewit is a former number one for Cornell and pro-circuit player. He is a high-performance coach, educator, and the author of two best-selling books: The Secrets of Spanish Tennis (2014) The Tennis Technique Bible Chris has coached numerous top 10 nationally-ranked players and is known for his expertise in building the foundations of young prodigies. Chris coaches in NYC and year-round at his high-performance tennis academy in Manchester, Vermont, where players can live and train the Spanish Way full-time or short-term.Chris has studied the various rating systems currently in use and has some very definite thoughts on how players, parents, and coaches should be using them.To listen to the podcast that led to this conversation, visit https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/utr-is-god-prodigy-maker-show-episode-68/id1456148452?i=1000588954030. If you'd like to learn more about Chris and his coaching opportunities, visit his website at https://www.chrislewit.com/. You can also email him at [email protected] or reach him by phone or WhatsApp at 914-462-2912.If you’re so inclined, please share this – and all our episodes! – with your tennis community. You can subscribe to the podcast on iTunes or via your favorite podcast app. If you haven’t already, be sure to become a Member of ParentingAces by visiting https://parentingaces.com/membership-join. And check out our logo’d merch as well as our a la carte personal consultations in our online shop (Premium Members received FREE SHIPPING every day!). To support ParentingAces' work with a financial donation of any size via PayPal, click here.CREDITSIntro & Outro Music: Morgan Stone aka STØNEAudio & Video Editing: Lisa Stone Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to Season 12 Episode 7 of the ParentingAces Podcast, a proud member of the Tennis Channel Podcast Network. Our guest this week is Martin Vinokur, creator of Tennis Europe, a fantastic summer tennis-travel experience for players age 13-18 (click the ad on our homepage to go to their website).I first met Martin over a decade ago while at the US Open and learned about Tennis Europe. They offer a unique combination of tennis, travel, tournament match play, and quality coaching. Juniors will travel with peers from all over the country in an athletic team atmosphere and meet players from all over the world, making lifelong friends. It is opportunity to expand horizons, learn life lessons and pursue success.If you're still looking for the perfect summer opportunity for your player(s), I encourage you to visit the Tennis Europe website at http://www.tenniseurope.com and click through the various trip options. As a bonus, ParentingAces community members will receive a nice discount off the total cost of the trip (to be determined on a trip-by-trip basis by Tennis Europe).To read about past Tennis Europe experiences, go to https://parentingaces.com/?s=tennis%3Aeurope and click the articles written by former players and coaches. This is an experience your child will never forget!If you’re so inclined, please share this – and all our episodes! – with your tennis community. You can subscribe to the podcast on iTunes or via your favorite podcast app. If you haven’t already, be sure to become a Member of ParentingAces by visiting https://parentingaces.com/membership-join. And check out our logo’d merch as well as our a la carte personal consultations in our online shop (Premium Members received FREE SHIPPING every day!). To support ParentingAces' work with a financial donation of any size via PayPal, click here.CREDITSIntro & Outro Music: Morgan Stone aka STØNEAudio & Video Editing: Lisa Stone Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to Season 12 Episode 6 of the ParentingAces Podcast, a proud member of the Tennis Channel Podcast Network. Former Head Women's Coach at Yale, Danielle McNamara, returns to dig into choosing the proper tournaments given all the rating/ranking changes.Last week, we spoke with ITA CEO Tim Russell about the ITA's recently-announced partnership with WTN. Many of you are feeling some confusion about how best to position your junior player(s) to find a college tennis playing opportunity - do you play USTA tournaments, WTN tournaments, ITF tournaments, or does it even matter?Danielle has recently transitioned into a new role as a consultant to players and parents who are struggling with training, scheduling, and/or recruiting. In this week's episode, she gives some very helpful tips and advice to make the Junior Tennis Journey and College Recruiting go a bit more smoothly.To reach Danielle, visit her website at dlmcoaching.com then click the Contact tab at https://www.dlmcoaching.com/contact. She is incredibly responsive and can answer any questions you may have. I also encourage you to sign up for her free e-newsletter for some very helpful tips.If you’re so inclined, please share this – and all our episodes! – with your tennis community. You can subscribe to the podcast on iTunes or via your favorite podcast app. If you haven’t already, be sure to become a Member of ParentingAces by visiting https://parentingaces.com/membership-join. And check out our logo’d merch as well as our a la carte personal consultations in our online shop (Premium Members received FREE SHIPPING every day!). To support ParentingAces' work with a financial donation of any size via PayPal, click here.CREDITSIntro & Outro Music: Morgan Stone aka STØNEAudio & Video Editing: Lisa Stone Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to Season 12 Episode 5 of the ParentingAces Podcast, a proud member of the Tennis Channel Podcast Network. This week, Tim Russell joins us to discuss the Intercollegiate Tennis Association's (ITA) announcement regarding its relationship with the USTA, ITF, and World Tennis Number (WTN).For those of you following the various rating systems over the last several months, you know USTA announced it would be using WTN instead of UTR moving forward. We all wondered how this would play out for college tennis recruiting and recently had our questions answered when the ITA announcement was released.Tim Russell, who is the CEO of the ITA, explains to us why the ITA decided to adopt WTN, what this looks like for college recruiting, and how it fits into the larger developmental landscape. He answers many of the questions our listeners have been asking regarding the impact on junior tournament selection and recruiting efforts, so please tune in and share with anyone considering the college tennis pathway.For more information on the ITA announcement, go to https://www.wearecollegetennis.com/2023/01/05/wtn-named-official-rating-of-college-tennis/. For information on the ATP/ITA Accelerator Program, go to https://www.wearecollegetennis.com/2023/01/18/atp-and-ita-unite-to-accelerate-professional-development/. If you have additional questions, you can email Tim at [email protected] you’re so inclined, please share this – and all our episodes! – with your tennis community. You can subscribe to the podcast on iTunes or via your favorite podcast app. If you haven’t already, be sure to become a Member of ParentingAces by visiting https://parentingaces.com/membership-join. And check out our logo’d merch as well as our a la carte personal consultations in our online shop (Premium Members received FREE SHIPPING every day!). To support ParentingAces' work with a financial donation of any size via PayPal, click here.CREDITSIntro & Outro Music: Morgan Stone aka STØNEAudio & Video Editing: Lisa Stone Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to Season 12 Episode 4 of the ParentingAces Podcast, a proud member of the Tennis Channel Podcast Network. Our returning guest this week is Coach JY Aubone who takes a deep dive into the difference between "liking" and "loving" tennis and what that can mean for overall junior development.Those of you who are long-time listeners of our podcast are very familiar with JY and his no-nonsense approach to helping junior players reach their full potential. Whether it's through his virtual coaching services or in-person instruction, JY has a real talent for assessing a player's commitment to doing what it takes to achieve their stated goals. He understands that going all in isn't for every child, and he helps parents understand where they should best allocate their financial and other resources to make the journey an enjoyable one for all involved.If you have more questions or would like to get in touch with JY, you can reach him via his website, AuboneTennis.com. If you aren’t already, be sure to follow JY on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram as well.If you’re so inclined, please share this – and all our episodes! – with your tennis community. You can subscribe to the podcast on iTunes or via your favorite podcast app. If you haven’t already, be sure to become a Member of ParentingAces by visiting https://parentingaces.com/membership-join. And check out our logo’d merch as well as our a la carte personal consultations in our online shop (Premium Members received FREE SHIPPING every day!). To support ParentingAces' work with a financial donation of any size via PayPal, click here.CREDITSIntro & Outro Music: Morgan Stone aka STØNEAudio & Video Editing: Lisa Stone Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to Season 12 Episode 3 of the ParentingAces Podcast, a proud member of the Tennis Channel Podcast Network. Our guest this week is Coach Rick Macci who you may know from KING RICHARD as the coach of Venus and Serena Williams.Rick is a Hall of Fame coach who has been working with tennis athletes since he was 22 years old. Andy Roddick, Maria Sharapova, Sofia Kenin - these are just a few of the players who have worked with Rick over the years.A self-taught player himself, Rick has developed a coaching style that seems to resonate with players who want to reach their highest potential. He focuses on the process rather than short-term results and feels parents are an important and crucial part of a junior player's tennis journey. Rick sees his role as a tennis coach and also a life coach and understands how to educate parents to be assets to their children throughout the process.To get in touch with Rick Macci, you can email him at [email protected]. He has also generously shared his phone number for those who would like to chat with him: 561-445-2747. Or visit his website at https://rickmacci.com/. Be sure to follow Rick on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube as well.If you’re so inclined, please share this – and all our episodes! – with your tennis community. You can subscribe to the podcast on iTunes or via your favorite podcast app. If you haven’t already, be sure to become a Member of ParentingAces by visiting https://parentingaces.com/membership-join. And check out our logo’d merch as well as our a la carte personal consultations in our online shop (Premium Members received FREE SHIPPING every day!). To support ParentingAces' work with a financial donation of any size via PayPal, click here.CREDITSIntro & Outro Music: Morgan Stone aka STØNEAudio & Video Editing: Lisa Stone Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to Season 12 Episode 2 of the ParentingAces Podcast, a proud member of the Tennis Channel Podcast Network. Coach Todd Widom is back with us discussing the limitations of talent identification in young athletes.Governing bodies in junior tennis have traditionally relied on talent ID to determine where to allocate their financial and coaching resources. Players as young as 8 years old would get "tapped" by the organization based on guesses made about their future size, commitment to the sport, and upside potential. As we know, that has led to many mistakes over the years with some children being the Chosen Ones then burning out due to over-playing or injuries and other children being denied coaching and financial resources well before they had a chance to grow into their potential.In this week's podcast, Todd Widom discusses the limitations of traditional tennis talent identification. He argues that the current system of identifying talent fails to account for the differences between players and their individual journeys. He also explains why tennis players need to be evaluated more holistically and how to create a better system of talent identification.Todd and I chat about the factors to consider when trying to decide who will "make it" and who won't, and why Talent ID is such an inexact science. We present several different schools of thought and what parents should consider when deciding whether to invest their time and money in expensive coaching and tournament play.To contact Todd or to get information on his training, you can reach him at [email protected]. If you aren’t already, be sure to follow him on Facebook and Instagram as well.If you’re so inclined, please share this – and all our episodes! – with your tennis community. You can subscribe to the podcast on iTunes or via your favorite podcast app. If you haven’t already, be sure to become a Member of ParentingAces by visiting https://parentingaces.com/membership-join. And check out our logo’d merch as well as our a la carte personal consultations in our online shop (Premium Members received FREE SHIPPING every day!). To support ParentingAces' work with a financial donation of any size via PayPal, click here.CREDITSIntro & Outro Music: Morgan Stone aka STØNEAudio & Video Editing: Lisa Stone Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to the premiere episode of Season 12 of the ParentingAces Podcast, a proud member of the Tennis Channel Podcast Network. We are so excited to bring back coach and tennis parenting author, Frank Giampaolo, to discuss his latest book and his thoughts on how we as parents can help our children have a more positive experience as they go on their Junior Tennis Journey.Frank has been coaching for over 30 years in Southern California and around the world and has worked with top juniors who have gone on to have great college and professional careers. But Frank isn't just a coach; he's also a Tennis Parent who helped his daughter reach her tennis goals. Frank understands what it takes from the parent side to survive and thrive in our sport.If you're interested in attending one of Frank's workshops or just want to chat with him, you can email him at [email protected]. Frank is also active on social media - just click the link to follow him: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram.To receive your FREE copy of Frank's latest book, email [email protected] with FRANK'S BOOK in the subject line.To purchase Frank's books online, click here (NOTE: ParentingAces may receive a small commission when you order).If you’re so inclined, please share this – and all our episodes! – with your tennis community. You can subscribe to the podcast on iTunes or via your favorite podcast app. If you haven’t already, be sure to become a Member of ParentingAces by visiting https://parentingaces.com/membership-join. And check out our logo’d merch as well as our a la carte personal consultations in our online shop (Premium Members received FREE SHIPPING every day!). To support ParentingAces' work with a financial donation of any size via PayPal, click here.CREDITSIntro & Outro Music: Morgan Stone aka STØNEAudio & Video Editing: Lisa Stone Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to Season 11, Episode 37, of the ParentingAces Podcast, a proud member of the Tennis Channel Podcast Network. This is our final episode of Season 11 and what better way to close out the year than by taking a deep dive into the mental side of junior tennis development with Dr. Peter Scales!Coach Pete Scales, Ph.D. is an internationally known developmental psychologist and expert in positive youth development, a U.S. Professional Tennis Association-certified tennis teaching pro, long-time high school boys and girls tennis coach, mental strength consultant to college tennis teams, award-winning mental game author, and regular mental game columnist for Racquet Sports Industry Magazine.Coach Pete is the author of the award-winning book, Mental and Emotional Training for Tennis: Compete-Learn-Honor (Coaches Choice, 2019). His latest book is The Compete-Learn-Honor Playbook: Simple Steps to Take Your Mental & Emotional Tennis & Pickleball Game to a New Level.In this week's podcast, Pete shares with us some simple and very effective ways we as parents and coaches can help our developing players improve their mental skills, gaining those small margins that can make a big difference in overall tennis - and human! - development. He emphasizes the importance of learning, then practicing, rituals and routines to give players the confidence to perform at their highest level.If you're interested in speaking with Coach Pete, you can reach him via email at [email protected]. He's available for consultations and for virtual mental skills coaching. To purchase his latest book, please use this link to the ParentingAces Amazon Shop: https://amzn.to/3hsRPOj.If you’re so inclined, please share this – and all our episodes! – with your tennis community. You can subscribe to the podcast on iTunes or via your favorite podcast app. If you haven’t already, be sure to become a Member of ParentingAces by visiting https://parentingaces.com/membership-join. And check out our logo’d merch as well as our a la carte personal consultations in our online shop (Premium Members received FREE SHIPPING every day!).Happy Holidays and we'll see you in January 2023!CREDITSIntro & Outro Music: Morgan Stone aka STØNEAudio & Video Editing: Lisa Stone Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to Season 11, Episode 36, of the ParentingAces Podcast, a proud member of the Tennis Channel Podcast Network. This week, Todd Widom is back to discuss the challenges of developing junior players indoors versus outdoors.As you're well aware, there are many paths to success for junior tennis players. Some players grow up in sunny, warm climates where they can train outdoors year 'round. However, there are just as many who grow up in variable climates where indoor tennis is the norm for much of the year. Does one type of training environment offer an advantage over the other?Coach Todd Widom dives into the ways junior developmental coaches can set up their players to better handle the challenges that indoor training poses. And these challenges aren't only about hitting tennis balls but also about handling weather conditions, tactical adjustments, and mentality. All skills that not only serve these players well on the court but also outside of tennis in the rest of their lives.To contact Todd or to get information on his training, you can reach him at [email protected]. If you aren’t already, be sure to follow him on Facebook and Instagram as well.If you’re so inclined, please share this – and all our episodes! – with your tennis community. You can subscribe to the podcast on iTunes or via your favorite podcast app. If you haven’t already, be sure to become a Member of ParentingAces by visiting https://parentingaces.com/membership-join. And check out our logo’d merch as well as our a la carte personal consultations in our online shop (Premium Members received FREE SHIPPING every day!).CREDITSIntro & Outro Music: Morgan Stone aka STØNEAudio & Video Editing: Lisa Stone Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to Season 11, Episode 34, of the ParentingAces Podcast, a proud member of the Tennis Channel Podcast Network. This week, Lisa chats with Fellow Tennis Parent, Hugo Aguirre.When you have multiple children playing the same sport, oftentimes you can simply repeat the developmental process with each child. Tennis, however, is different. What works for one child won't necessarily work for the next one, even if they are siblings.Hugo Aguirre found that out first hand. His older child, a daughter who is now playing college tennis in California, went the more traditional route with her development, working with a variety of coaches in and around Miami throughout her junior tennis journey, playing tournaments locally and elsewhere, and reaching her goal to play college tennis.Hugo's son, Matteo, however, now age 11, is on a different path. Feeling frustrated by the opportunities available to his son in Miami, Hugo decided to move his family outside the US and try a alternative route. Hugo studied and became a certified coach himself but hired more experienced coaches in a variety of countries to work with his son who has the goal to be the #1 men's player in the world.After living in Ecuador, Serbia, Hungary, and now, Italy, Hugo feels he has found the right training ground for his son.The Professione Tennis Academy outside of Florence, Italy, takes a unique approach to junior tennis development, combining technique and tactics with on-court mental training. The philosophy is to get players uncomfortable in practice so they can better handle discomfort during competition. They use a variety of drills to teach these skills which Hugo details in this episode.For more information on the academy, visit their website at https://www.professionetennis.it/. You can also find them on Instagram at @Professionetennis.Hugo has offered to connect with any parents who may have questions or want more details about the academy and his family's decision to move outside the US. You can reach him via email at [email protected]. If you’re so inclined, please share this – and all our episodes! – with your tennis community. You can subscribe to the podcast on iTunes or via your favorite podcast app. If you haven’t already, be sure to become a Member of ParentingAces by visiting https://parentingaces.com/membership-join. And check out our logo’d merch as well as our a la carte personal consultations in our online shop (Premium Members received FREE SHIPPING every day!).CREDITSIntro & Outro Music: Morgan Stone aka STØNEAudio & Video Editing: Lisa Stone Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to Season 11, Episode 34, of the ParentingAces Podcast, a proud member of the Tennis Channel Podcast Network. This week, we focus on off-court strength and conditioning with certified coach James Shapiro.James grew up playing junior tennis then moved into the coaching realm. He realized there was a missing piece when it came to the off-court training for young players - there were fitness coaches out there but very few who knew the ins and outs specific to tennis training. James continued his education, earning two masters degrees, and now works with players of all ages and levels in the Southern California area.To get more information on James or to contact him, visit his website at https://jameslshapiro.com/. You can also follow him on Facebook, Twitter, & Instagram.If you’re so inclined, please share this – and all our episodes! – with your tennis community. You can subscribe to the podcast on iTunes or via your favorite podcast app. If you haven’t already, be sure to become a Member of ParentingAces by visiting https://parentingaces.com/membership-join. And check out our logo’d merch as well as our a la carte personal consultations in our online shop (Premium Members received FREE SHIPPING every day!).CREDITSIntro & Outro Music: Morgan Stone aka STØNEAudio & Video Editing: Lisa Stone Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices