Category: Coaching

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Revisiting the Coach-Athlete Relationship Part 1: Developing an Elite Tennis Player

We’re definitely not done yet. The Secrets to Optimal Performance Success has provided the opportune platform to share real and fundamental insights on the initial milestones to practices if your core objective is to ascend towards a Top 10 tennis ranking. Interestingly and yet to be shared, this was never the intention between the pages. Rather, as my very first book I was to pen, my simple wish was to share ‘best practices‘ that I knew were attributed towards this end goal but equally as important at all stages of the player/athlete developmental cycle. Whether ranked inside the Top 50 on the WTA or ATP tour — key pointers await, or Top 50 nationally — the same applies. Likewise is the impact for beginner to high performance based Club and/or Academy players to be placed on The Pathway towards this level of play without the attention.

That’s right, it was purposely removed from this initial release as to not overshadow the importance of these fundamental skills at all levels of play. As such, emphasis towards a Top 10 tennis player was not explicitly shared until The 7 Keys to Optimise Your Life but even then, the Top 10 remained between the pages. The same has been the case throughout texts two to nine as it remained and remains true that attention needs to be given to the developmental stages between to incremental steps opposed to highlighting an end point. But The Secrets to Optimal Performance Success is where it begins and sets the scene for The Long Game whilst the 7 Keys remain a constant but are yet to be brought to the surface. This wasn’t to be the case until 5 years later, however, I knew how powerful these keys were and that progressive steps had to be put in place to better gauge their impact.

As a result, the practices that underscore optimal performance outcomes are as diverse as they are intricate and these remain primarily sidelined in most coach education frameworks. Where some of these principles are evident, I do not know, but I have to be of the belief that some of them are out there — I hope, to ensure the next generation of players and their respective coaches have a head start. To fill the void of What is Your Game Missing is where these practices are further amplified. At the same rate, when considering your rate of progress these fundamental steps help in piecing together the method behind the science in a much simplified context.

Built for all opposed to a few, the power is in its truth and the simple steps to guide players, coaches to parents alike on what you can do now — today, tomorrow and in the week’s ahead to build the foundations that are attributed towards the best tennis players in the world.

Not limited to if you should fire your coach to reaffirming the power of the parent-athlete relationship, these are core proponents to consider for your game as they’re all interconnected. But too much too soon is overwhelming. It’s all about being progressive — step by step. This includes year by year in the 10 Years of Play. It’s not something to be adopted overnight — it takes work. As such, irrespective what your current ranking is there are key reminders to interwoven secrets that are brought to life — dependent on your level of play and position on the performance spectrum.

And still, this is akin to one piece of a significant puzzle that is being pieced together — week after week. That is the timeline we’re working with — constant work and practice to engage the player/athlete to ensure motivation remains front and centre whilst their intention is bursting at the seems with each and every session. But this doesn’t happen from one month to the next — it may very well take a year and you’ll still be ahead of the game. Yet, even still we’re merely at the beginning when it comes to providing the next steps in place. These steps, nonetheless, are incredibly powerful as if they’re left behind you may very well be fortunate enough to advance to the Top 200 and wonder why your game has reached a plateau. Or similar, ascended towards the Top 60 and wonder why your game has become stuck. The advantage of knowing the foundations is in knowing yourself — how to get unstuck and how to ensure your ascension remains continuous with each new peak performance cycle.

Whether Top 60 or Top 200 it may very well be a new beginning. The same applies for the developmental player on the hunt for those first national ranking points. Irrespective of where your ranking is at on the performance spectrum, these secrets remain true to the ascension and integration of optimal performance metrics. But it presents one of many. And of this one is the initial foundation laid bare to integrate into your game — no matter your level of play or ranking, to ensure you’re positioned and prepared for the journey ahead.

To learn more about our data, predictive analytics and how to optimise your own performance, head on over to AM8 International. To learn more about AM8 International check out our selection of Books and/or options to join Dr B’s Pack to gain exclusive access to the best in the world. Not quite ready? Head on over to Beyond Top 10 Tennis for free access to 100+ episodes directly from Dr Berge of what it really takes to win multiple Grand Slams to securing that Top 10 tennis ranking with new episodes each week. More? Catch up on our Tips over on TikTok, Twitter, Threads or Instagram for quick snippets to apply in your game, today.

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The Training Session that Can’t be Missed: is this the case Every Time?

Did you ever (or maybe still) rush home from school to make it just in time for your favourite sitcom and/or show of choice because you couldn’t bare to miss it? Now, is this the same for your training sessions…each and every time? This analogy hopefully gets you thinking about what excites you to motivates you and whether or not the same care is taken in ensuring this is the case every time you step onto the tennis court…or is it only periodically? You see, each and every coach has the power to ensure this in fact does happen with a few keys front and centre and there really is no excuse that this shouldn’t be the case every time your performance is on the line as you work to edge towards that next progression.

One of the primary concerns here is around planning and if it is being done on a daily basis and/or in advance for each and every player? Now, this might sound like a lot of work from a coaches perspective but this planning should be done prior to the week ahead and built upon after each and every session whether with a group of players in a squad environment and/or on an individual basis for one-on-one sessions. What matters is the planning and the adjustments. For the parents out there, if this is not being done this is a word of warning. Why?

If your child’s session is not being modified and/or planned specifically for them each and every session they’re left susceptible to developing an injury (i.e. due to null modification) and/or their performance progressions are not being taken seriously and as such, your child’s ability to steadily progress along The Pathway and in turn The Long Game remains susceptible to a regression, whether performance based or from the onset of an injury over time.

The thing is, planning matters. And to ensure the player/athlete remains engaged each and every session, that prior thought goes a long way. How do you ensure the player/athlete rushes to practice (or training) just like they would their favourite sitcom and/or show if you’re not putting in the work?

I’ll tell you a few secrets. Ensuring The 7 Keys are well-known is a significant head start. On the other side, being available for your player/athlete whether that be as a mentor or to discuss rates of progress it all counts. Being present matters and not just for a select few players/athletes — for all players/athletes you work with. Moral of the story then is of course do not take on more players/athletes unless you are prepared to give them your time and energy when they’re in need and plan for their progressions and modifications on a regular basis.

What differentiates good players from great players is often the difference between their coach-athlete relationship. Irrespective if a good player is ahead of that great player in performance and their ranking suggests otherwise, the good player will eventually succumb to one of the pitfalls not afforded to them by their coach whereby the great player will leverage these assets to their advantage with their performance and results steadily progressing to reach the same level as the good player — continuing along the set trajectory.

There is more to a players/athletes current performance than their results. The behind-the-scenes matters and what their coach is able to deliver and show up for on a consistent basis. Relationships of all variances can have profound impacts on all individuals — child or adult and putting the time and effort into creating conducive relationships to help build key performances is often overlooked. After all, if you’re set on that first 10 Years of Play you’ll want a coach-athlete relationship that is supportive and knowledgeable of The 7 Keys to keep you on the road ahead. To the contrary, if you’re in your second 10 Years of Play and the relationship has run its course, fear not — there are ample coaches available that can transition good to great with the keys included in their pedagogy that will allow you to succeed and ascend closer towards your optimal ranking range. However, without these keys and a mutually conducive coach-athlete relationship, the odds are not in your favour.

To learn more about our data, predictive analytics and how to optimise your own performance, head on over to AM8 International. To learn more about AM8 International check out our selection of Books and/or options to join Dr B’s Pack to gain exclusive access to the best in the world. Not quite ready? Head on over to Beyond Top 10 Tennis for free access to 100+ episodes directly from Dr Berge of what it really takes to win multiple Grand Slams to securing that Top 10 tennis ranking with new episodes each week. More? Catch up on our Tips over on TikTok, Twitter, Threads or Instagram for quick snippets to apply in your game, today.

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Mentoring and its Tie to the Tennis Players Success

A coaches role is incredibly dynamic when held in the highest regard and mentoring is just one element that can be leveraged to help players/athletes excel at their performance. Unfortunately, this view is often lost over the years with the majority of coaches who succumb to a more standardised practice. And by standardised I am referring to disregarding their role model status and position as a mentor to their players and limiting their focus to the tennis courts and the respective instruction.

Whilst this is incredibly disheartening there are those coaches who go above and beyond and establish healthy mentoring relationships with their players/athletes to help guide them through The Long Game and/or are trusted sounding boards for troubles at school to uneasiness at home. Irrespective the scenario, a coach is in a unique position to help and by making themselves available — in a professional context, allows the oftentimes gap to be bridged if and/or when needed to ensure the players/athletes parents and/or guardians remain informed.

Oftentimes a child inside the developmental spectrum that is progressing along The Pathway may be having trouble managing their workload from their range of subjects to their training load. At some point, one begins to suffer until a healthy balance is found where the child/player/athlete eventually finds a manageable solution. But this is a simple example where a coach that is a trusted mentor can help.

After all, each session a coach has with their player/athlete they should be engaging with the player/athlete and if any concerns and/or anything out of the ordinary comes about, to take note.

If a player/athlete trusts you, the coach, with a concern and/or area they’re trying to navigate, it’s incredibly important to keep abreast of the issue and when necessary to leverage the coach-parent relationship to share these concerns as applicable. Oftentimes the coach can be the ‘middle person’ between the child/player/athlete and the parent/guardian to simply be a sounding board. However, to the coaches who do not take the time to make themselves available as a mentor to their players/athletes this can be at a detriment to their performance and also yours long term.

Of course, a coaches pedagogy and how this is shaped to influenced comes under the spotlight. With the right tools and proponents of best practice, mentoring is a part of your daily activities whether on or off the tennis court. But it takes time. It also takes patience and a heightened level of awareness to astuteness when dissecting what’s really behind what a player/athlete is sharing. It may be absolutely nothing — the case the majority of the time when they’re simply using you as the coach as that sounding board; nothing more, nothing less. But on the odd occasion it might be something else. And these occasions can make all the difference to that player/athlete when they know their coach is their to help.

Being a mentor may sound like a lot of work but in reality it’s nothing more than being available for those conversations and when needed, a little nudge in the right direction if they happen to be a little lost. No one is asking you to be anything more than a good human being with the best interests of your players/athletes front and centre each and every time they’re within earshot. And all it takes is making yourself available. The best part? Mentoring and its tie to the Tennis Players Success is undeniable which means if you’re putting in the work with a conducive coaching pedagogy then there’s a good chance your player/athlete will keep pace with The Long Game in the years ahead.

To learn more about our data, predictive analytics and how to optimise your own performance, head on over to AM8 International. To learn more about AM8 International check out our selection of Books and/or options to join Dr B’s Pack to gain exclusive access to the best in the world. Not quite ready? Head on over to Beyond Top 10 Tennis for free access to 100+ episodes directly from Dr Berge of what it really takes to win multiple Grand Slams to securing that Top 10 tennis ranking with new episodes each week. More? Catch up on our Tips over on TikTok, Twitter, Threads or Instagram for quick snippets to apply in your game, today.

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Why are the Top Tennis Players Dropping like flies? Periodisation

A player’s performance follows a patterns and more precisely a cycle that allows them to peak within a predetermined window if the work is done to ensure a proper plan is put in place and adheres to the rulers of periodisation. For a more in depth understanding of periodisation there is ample amount of research available. I’d encourage those of you who are intrigued to delve into the research to be careful of those who claim to share otherwise as this is an important topic to understand and just as important to be cautious of those that may lead you down a less than desired path that may very well cause injury to overload the player/athlete.

A thorough plan involves sprints — short bursts of high intensity output, followed by a decrease in load akin to tapering in the lead up to a planned peak performance…

To read the full article please consider supporting my work through my new Book (pending release late 2024) that incorporates a variety of my writing — Dr Berge 

To learn more about our data, predictive analytics and how to optimise your own performance, head on over to AM8 International. To learn more about AM8 International check out our selection of Books and/or options to join Dr B’s Pack to gain exclusive access to the best in the world. Not quite ready? Head on over to Beyond Top 10 Tennis for free access to 100+ episodes directly from Dr Berge of what it really takes to win multiple Grand Slams to securing that Top 10 tennis ranking with new episodes each week. More? Catch up on our Tips over on TikTok, Twitter, Threads or Instagram for quick snippets to apply in your game, today.

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When Should Tennis Players Take Time Off if They Become Sick: the Balancing Act

At times a player/athlete may indicate symptoms akin to being ‘sick’ when they’re otherwise healthy. Symptoms typical of a cold and/or flu may present themselves in varying forms during times when the player/athlete has a vigorous and/or extensive training load with limited periods of rest — if at all. These are key indicators of over-training that should be taken seriously — including time off with the necessary rest. Whilst general ‘sickness’ happens to the best of us, these symptoms can come about in otherwise healthy individuals when their training hasn’t factored in periods of rest. And that underlines the importance of periodisation…

To read the full article please consider supporting my work through my new Book (pending release late 2024) that incorporates a variety of my writing — Dr Berge 

To learn more about our data, predictive analytics and how to optimise your own performance, head on over to AM8 International. To learn more about AM8 International check out our selection of Books and/or options to join Dr B’s Pack to gain exclusive access to the best in the world. Not quite ready? Head on over to Beyond Top 10 Tennis for free access to 100+ episodes directly from Dr Berge of what it really takes to win multiple Grand Slams to securing that Top 10 tennis ranking with new episodes each week. More? Catch up on our Tips over on TikTok, Twitter, Threads or Instagram for quick snippets to apply in your game, today.