August Promotion – $30 Off EX03 Racquets

================================================

THIS IS AN AUTOMATED MESSAGE PLEASE DO NOT REPLY

================================================

Manage your online subscriptions at

http://www.teamprince.com/nf/user-login.aspx

To Unsubscribe from this list please follow this link

http://www.teamprince.com/nf/user-unsubscribe.aspx?s=38746&l=492&e=tonyfarnum@puretennis.net&p=tupelo

Tennis Tip: Be Positive with your words

Do you sometimes feel like you’re sounding like a broken record with your athletes? If you are getting a little tired of hearing the same things come out of your mouth- it’s a safe bet that your players are starting to tune you out. Here’s a list of 23 *new* ways to say “Good Job” to your team. 1) You’re on the right track now! 2) You’ve got it made. 3) You’re really working hard today. 4) You are very good at that. 5) I’m proud of the way you worked today. 6) That’s the best you’ve ever done. 7) I knew you could do it. You are learning fast. 9) Couldn’t have done it better myself. 10) You did it that time! 11) Nothing can stop you now. 12) That’s the way to do it. 13) You’ve got your brain in gear today. 14) That was first class work. 15) That’s better than ever. 16) You must have been practicing. 17) Good job, (person’s name) 18) You outdid yourself today! 19) Good going. 20) Now you have the hang of it. 21) Sensational! 22) That’s the way! 23) Aren’t you proud of yourself? I’m a big believer in catching kids doing things RIGHT. It’s way more fun to call out a kid doing something correctly than one doing something wrong (for you and the kid). But as coaches, we usually spend more time pointing out mistakes than pointing out the good.

Monthly Tennis Tip: Motivating Kids.

In my 20 + years of working with kids, I have learned that there are 3 ways to “reward” an athlete for good
performance:

1) Tangible Rewards (medals, athletic letters, stickers)
2) Communication Rewards (praise, publicity, smiles, thumbs up)
3) Activity Rewards (playing a game instead of doing a drill, getting to take a short rest, being able to keep playing)

It’s a good idea to use ALL 3 types of rewards as part of your motivation strategy.

Some kids will do ANYTHING for a tangible reward, others could care less about earning a medal. Some kids grow up in very critical households, so having a coach say they did something amazingly well will keep them working at their full potential day in and day out. And finally, some kids love to be singled out and given an activity reward in front of their peers.

Can you see how this three-pronged rewards approach might help your coaching?
It’s way more fun to reward a kid doing something correctly than one doing something wrong (for you and the kid).

See you on the court!

Tony

Tennis Tip: Think, Prioritize, Win!

Developing correct priority thinking when learning and playing tennis is essential. For instance, take consistency and hitting winners. Both should become a part of your game plan. But the mental priority should flow from consistency to hitting winners in a winning strategy. Attempting to hit winners without a base of consistency is like trying to build a building without a foundation. You may get a building up but it’s not going to last very long!  Any veteran of the game clearly understands that winners are the reward of consistent play. Consistency creates and maintains an environment for the opportunity to hit winners, exactly like a foundation creates an environment to construct a strong building.

 Here is a drill I do to condition a player’s mind to prioritize:

While at the net volleying to an opponent on the baseline, the net player is not allowed to hit a winner until he has hit two or three consistent shots to the baseline player. After the second or third ball the net player is free to pick a shot and hit a winner.

Consistency first, winners second!

 Although this is a simple concept, getting players to part from hitting winners prematurely in match play can take years. Even when warming up players tend to hit many winners. How in the world are you and your opponent supposed to warm up if you are slamming winners all over the place?

It’s time to add another piece of the big picture to your tennis mental repertoire. Hitting winners does not win matches, hitting with consistency and control wins matches. Your game plan is to not hit winners to win. Your game plan is to strive for consistency, then stand firm on that consistent foundation and blast away at any winners that show up!

 See you on the court!

Tony

USTA Joins Forces with First Lady Michelle Obama

“It’s important for kids to get the hour of active play they need every day, and there are so many fun things that each of us can do to be healthier,” said First Lady Michelle Obama. “Thanks to programs like the USTA’s 10 and Under Tennis initiative, it’s easier than ever for kids to get active and have fun. And that’s a big part of what we’re doing with Let’s Move!, America’s campaign to raise a healthier generation of kids.”

“Tennis is the sport of opportunity. With our new 10 and Under initiative, tennis is also the newest ‘pick-up sport,’ where kids can play in schools, in parks, at clubs and even at home,” said Jon Vegosen, USTA Chairman of the Board and President. “Our new collaboration with the First Lady and ‘Let’s Move!’ will help us reach more families to teach them that tennis is easier to learn and access than ever before.”

Working with the Office of the First Lady, the USTA is launching a public service announcement to promote tennis as part of the 60 minutes of play a day kids need. The PSA features First Lady Michelle Obama, Andre Agassi and Stefanie Graf, all of whom play the role of ballpersons for youngsters playing tennis on courts and with equipment correctly sized for them. Ensuring that children compete with properly sized equipment and on smaller courts is a key component of the USTA’s new 10 and Under Tennis initiative designed to make tennis easier, more accessible and more fun. 10 and Under Tennis is real tennis brought to scale for the sport’s youngest participants, with slower-moving and lower-bouncing balls, lighter and smaller racquets and shorter courts.

The USTA plans to create both a 60-second and a 30-second version of this PSA. Initial plans call for the PSA to be used in tennis programming on CBS Sports, ESPN and Tennis Channel. The PSA will go into broader rotation during the summer months leading up to the US Open, which takes place from August 29 through September 11.

Additionally, the USTA, through its facilities assistance arm, is committed to constructing and renovating 3,000 tennis courts across the country in 2011. As part of this program, all courts that are built or renovated will be lined to enable use in the QuickStart Tennis play format. As part of a public-private partnership, the USTA will build the courts in places where local officials, public parks and schools commit to building tennis into their core programming for kids. The USTA has created a website – USTA.com/facilities – for those groups interested in applying for court construction or renovation and learning more about this major initiative.  For more information on 10 & Under Tennis, visit 10andundertennis.com.

In another component of the collaboration, the USTA will use its national resources and programs to encourage 200,000 kids to take the Presidential Active Lifestyle Award (PALA), which encourages young Americans to be active 60 minutes a day, five days a week for six weeks in an eight-week period. PALA’s national goal is to get one million youngsters to take this challenge. The USTA plans to activate its National Junior Tennis & Learning (NJTL) network, which has 602 chapters impacting more than 250,000 kids, to meet this goal.

“Tennis Night in America” featuring the “BNP Paribas Showdown” on February 28 will serve as the kick-off event for the 2011 tennis season across the country. More than 600 tennis facilities will be participating in the USTA’s third annual National Youth Registration initiative, a month-long event. Tennis Night in America will serve as “opening day” for facilities to sign up children for spring and summer programs, with youth registration events around the country encouraging parents to get involved by volunteering and for everyone to learn more about tennis.

​