Tag: learning

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Tennis and Talent Identification, Universal Coach Education, Parents Beware of Coach Promises to Sidestepping Injury Woes

At the very beginning of Beyond Top 10 Tennis (seven years after it was initially proposed), one of the more controversial topics I raised — but let’s be honest, there are a number of them, was around Talent Identification. But this was by no means a surprise given that the Book of focus was my very first Book that was published: The Secrets to Optimal Performance Success. A little known secret at this time was that despite this being my first Book, I had already competed my doctorate and was sitting on top of the underlying data and exhaustive work that went into my latest release and 12th Book to be published: How to Develop a Top 10 Tennis Ranking. 

As much as I wanted to share everything right then and there — in my first Book, what dawned on me was that I couldn’t. I mean, of course I could, but with the data sitting there and my doctorate being ticked off with a number of ‘world firsts’ and landmark findings (you get the gist), it was hard for someone who was ‘not’ sitting with the data and who hadn’t been there, in real time, piecing together what this ‘meant’ and with the enormity of literature that had been sifted through, to genuinely understand the true gravity before their eyes.

But I knew this as well. After all, those of you who have managed to grab a copy of How to Develop a Top 10 Tennis Ranking (thank you!) know this and understand the resounding why, but for those of you who are yet to do so (please do), in simple terms, the data had already done the talking. Rather, what was uncovered was a new way of learning. That is, how you and me learn and the intricacies between and with that, an entirely new take on ‘coach education’ as we know it — universally. This of course has a myriad of offshoots that are still to be shared and quite frankly, I’m not sure this will come to fruition anytime soon with the primary focus being tennis and the current hurdles in place.

Hurdles you say? I hear you loud and clear. Which brings me to Talent Identification. Put simply, the system is broken.

Being mindful of the learning dynamic that is habitual by nature, these behaviours aren’t going anywhere anytime soon. Rather, they’re embedded in each and every one of us and until the system pivots to accommodate this, more and more children will be left behind. But this doesn’t need to be the case. You see, the reason why this work has taken the past 8 Years to be shared — progressively, is to honour the design of the data. It would be a disservice, after all, if I went ahead and ignored my own findings. It would be quite absurd. On one hand, sure the data would be available, but on the other, it would scarcely be understood let alone would a player, parent and/or coach know where to start.

And that’s when the journey really began. Well, the next phase of release. I realised for the data and the vigorous work of my doctorate to have true implications and universal application, as it was scientifically proven to do so, I had to hold your hand — one step at a time, to allow you to learn in your own way, page by page and one Book after the next, on what was required to progress towards a Top 10 Tennis Ranking. 

And guess what? Talent Identification does not play a part.

You see, you have these coaches who are often ingrained in their respective system scouting for new “talent” as in they’re of the belief that they know what they’re looking for. But do you know the success rate? Neither do I. Why? Because there isn’t one key correlation that has stood the test of time when we’re specifically gauging the progressions towards How to Develop a Top 10 Tennis Ranking. On top of this, due to the ingrained nature of the given person, often they’re not up to date with the latest findings and/or equipped with an updated ‘coach education’ to have this at their disposal. The obvious downfall of this is in the system itself as my own body of work remains excluded — rather than included, in universal coach education frameworks. 

This is disheartening to say the least. Why? Well, when you have the real scientific proof on how to make dreams turn into a reality — for the countless children around the globe with their hearts set on achieving a Top 10 tennis ranking, alongside their parents forking out tens of thousands of dollars every few months, if not more, meanwhile knowing that this isn’t how it works. No, the next Djokovic, Nadal, Serena or Federer is not simply ‘replicated’ ten-thousand-fold. No, it just doesn’t work like that. 

And for the parents in particular who may not be conscious of this, coaches are notorious for over-promising and under-delivering, especially when you consider the nature of a business. By that I mean, I cannot tell you how many Academy’s I have been based at with primarily the more senior coaches promising those WTA to ATP accomplishments and then next thing you know the child has lost interest and/or succumbed to injury. Or, they simply have not been ‘coached’ to achieve such feats.

Low and behold, there’s more than one piece to the puzzle. Sure, the ‘education’ needs to be there with the latest resources (this is where I chime in to highlight AM8 International and the very reason for why it was built some almost 13 years prior). On top of this is ensuring you’re familiar with the ins and outs of new technical applications. And this is really important and why players at all levels continue to get injured.

Injuries have to be one of if not the biggest cause of a tennis player’s failure to reach their full potential.

For the player who is scouted courtesy of the mythos around Talent Identification there’s a very real threat of an injury halting their performance progressions prior to them reaching their full potential. And even then, injuries are often hidden just below the surface waiting to be pushed over the edge. Yet, this can be mitigated with new fundamental adaptations that ironically are correlated with a Top 10 tennis ranking.

In other words, there’s no excuse.

To learn more about Talent Identification, revisit Episode 3 of Beyond Top 10 Tennis and its accompanying (very brief) Blog.

To learn more about AM8 International check out our selections of Books to 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 to access 70+ episodes directly from Dr Berge of what it really takes to win multiple Grand Slams to securing that Top 10 tennis ranking. 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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Discrete and Serial Skills: Restoring & Re-learning Movement in Tennis Players

Have you ever wondered why players who embark on achieving Championship success in the Junior ranks scarcely achieve the same results on the WTA and/or ATP tours? If the same Pathway is followed from the Junior ranks to the Senior ranks, the Grand Slam results would arguably be the same, however, this is rarely the case. The players who are fortunate enough to ‘win’ Junior Grand Slam Championships are seldom the ones to achieve this status once they’ve joined their respective tour. The irony here is that those who do not peak as soon or achieve ‘as much’ in their earlier years, are more often than not the ones who progress more steadily opposed to being ‘stuck’ at a certain level and inside a specific ranking range i.e. a plateau inside the Top 100 but higher than the Top 80.

The notion of learning and the need to re-learn is often overlooked as a progression opposed to a regression of a pre-conditioned movement that leaves the player/athlete vulnerable to developing an injury and/or simply not being capable of progressing towards that next level of play due to the ‘hinderance’ of their current technical parameters. To overcome this mishap, coaches and players alike are in need of The 7 Keys to Optimise Your Life that outlines the ‘7 Keys’ specifically that are responsible for developing a Top 10 tennis ranking. These keys not merely better prepare the coach and player to avoid these mishaps, but rather prepare the player for The Long Game.

By affording a player a better and more informed learning to conditioning process, equips them from the get-go for long term success and optimal performances opposed to regressing periodically to correct poor technical proponents of their game.

It remains the coaches responsibility and parents’ alike to up-skill and be prepared for The Pathway to ensure that the player/athlete is learning the key skills of tennis in a way that aligns with core coaching principles to practices that also go beyond the scope of current coach education frameworks — including those of federations. This clearly begs the question, why? Simply put, these ‘keys’ are exclusive to AM8 International for good reason — to ensure all coaches, players and parents alike have access to the latest research, data to performance metrics in a simplified and practical way opposed to being closed off from this level of information and education. Not only does this even the playing field for all, it removes social to geological barriers that otherwise would prevent coaches, parents to players from accessing this key knowledge to ensure if you’re looking towards heading towards a Top 10 tennis ranking — access is available for all to leverage and take the advantage.

To learn more about Discrete and Serial Skills: Restoring & Re-learning Movement in Tennis Players, head on over to Beyond Top 10 Tennis and head to Episode 26. More? Catch up on our Tips over on TikTok, Twitter, Threads or Instagram for quick snippets to apply in your game, today.