Tennis Quote of the Day: Tennis, Life and Confidence

"Tennis is arguably one of the best sports to teach "life skills" as it mimics life in that we are totally reliant on court on ourselves; we experience highs, lows, euphoria and crushing panic at times and every other emotion in between . . . [and] tennis requires a "solid brain" to get to the highest levels of the sport. There is no guarantee that on any specific day or match you will play awesome! Actually most of the time, you will struggle with something! So what is left? Let me think about this little word "confidence". What does it mean and how does one get confidence? Confidence starts the moment you get up in the morning to play your match! It is a mindset one has to have long before you hit the first ball. [It is] the knowledge that you have done the "hard yards" and you have been there before etc."

Johan Kriek
Grand Slam Champion, Australian Open 1981, 1982
Owner, Johan Kriek Tennis Academy

2016 BNP Paribas (Indian Wells): Novak Djokovic and Victoria Azarenka Win!

Article: 2016 Champions at Indian Wells (Fox Sports)

Tennis Topic of the Day: Control Your Destiny

Image Courtesy: OnlineTennisInstruction.com

Tennis Topic of the Day: Learning from Losing

"To get better at tennis, you have to lose. As my first coach Vic Braden used to say, half the people who play a tennis match on any given day are defeated. You lose all the time, and it can hurt . . . But the good news is that there's a lot to learn from losing.
***Make sure that you control the one aspect of losing that's always in your hands: you
***compliment the opponent and look at the loss appropriately
***assess what wasn't working in your game
***get back to the practice court, and look forward to the next opportunity to compete"

-- Tracy Austin, Grand Slam Champion
"Learning How to Lose", Tennis Magazine, (March-April 2016), Page 10. 

Tennis Quote of the Day: Martina Hingis - Hands and Anticipation

"[Martina] Hingis had amazing hands and uncanny anticipation. It's a skill just like a forehand or backhand, and you can work on improving it . . . Hingis knew what shot she was going to hit by preparing as soon as the ball crossed the net. Her decisiveness made up for her lack of power. This is a great lesson for club players: Anticipate better and act quicker to see results."

--- Peter Burwash, Coach and Author
Peter Burwash International (PBI), "Learning from Legends",
Martina Hingis' Tactics, Tennis Magazine (March-April 2016), Page 80.

Tennis Topic of the Day: The Path to Success