Payers & Players Podcast: Recent Episodes
Robert Garrett and Scott Colson
This podcast's mission is to discuss junior tennis with a focus on the journey and process of player development.
We discuss trends in junior development and promote tennis events at all levels, including college, Futures, Challengers, ATP/WTA, and local events.
We would like to invite our audience to share our experience raising competitive junior tennis players in the USA.
We will discuss the highs and lows of being a Payer as we watch our players.
We talk with tennis parent, Steve Miller, whose son (Chad) is a high school senior 5-star who has committed to Northwestern University. Steve shares his thoughts on the parent’s tennis journey and offers advice that can help all tennis parents.
Photo: @OhioTennisZone
Nico Heng is a blue-chip recruit heading to play college tennis at Auburn in the Fall of '22. Originally from Madison, Alabama, Nico has trained for the last 5 years at the Tucker Tennis Academy in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Nico tells us how he got into tennis, and how he ended up at Tucker, after spending a year training in Mallorca, Spain. Nico has won multiple gold balls and had an incredibly successful junior career. Wishing him all the best in college and beyond.
We catch up with TJ Pura - TJ tells us what he's been up to during the COVID-era, we reveiw Tommy Paul's title run at the ATP 250 Stockholm, and of course we hit on some junior tennis developments.
Cooper Williams and Richard Woodruff Cooper is 16 years old, and currently ranked #131 ITF and #10 TRN.
Richard is the Director at Raw Tennis Performance in Boca Raton, FL. Richard is one of the top tennis fitness coaches in the world, having worked with Coco Gauff, Shelby Rogers, Kevin Anderson and many other top juniors and professionals. www.rawtennisperformance.com
In Part 2, we take a deeper look at Brian's tennis coaching philosophy, what makes a successful tennis academy, and some observations from what other successful tennis federations are doing.
BIO Brian was the #1 junior in Southern California before playing college tennis at the University of Illinois. At Illinois, he won the NCAA team championship and doubles title (partnering with current US Open doubles champion) Rajeev Ram. He also achieved being ranked #1 in college tennis. On the pro circuit he was 15 titles, and in World Team Tennis had wins over Pete Sampras and Pat Rafter. He is currently the Associate Director of HP at Darling Tennis Center, Las Vegas and US Scout for Head tennis.
In part 1 of our series with Brian, we explore his junior tennis path, the programs and events coming up at the Darling Tennis Center in Las Vegas, and the UTR Pro Tennis Tour events.
if you enjoy this episode, check out our other episodes with Brian.
BIO Brian was the #1 junior in Southern California before playing college tennis at the University of Illinois. At Illinois, he won the NCAA team championship and doubles title (partnering with current US Open doubles champion) Rajeev Ram. He also achieved being ranked #1 in college tennis. On the pro circuit he was 15 titles, and in World Team Tennis had wins over Pete Sampras and Pat Rafter. He is currently the Associate Director of HP at Darling Tennis Center, Las Vegas and US Scout for Head tennis.
We talk with the 2021 ITA National Player of the Year - sophomore Liam Draxl from Newmarket, Canada. Liam shares stories of his tennis journey, his college career so far, and his plans for the future.
Photo: University of Kentucky Tennis
JY Aubone played college tennis at Florida State, where was ranked in the top 10 ITA. After brief stop in the world of finance, he played professionally for a few years. He is now the travel coach of Reilly Opelka (currently #36 ATP).
In this episode we explore ways to make tennis more fan-friendly, how players can take advantage of the NCAA NIL rules, the UTR's Pro Tennis Tour, and we talk about Jett's tennis development. Jett Middleton is a sophomore on the University of Arizona's tennis team. Jett grew up in Colorado, and moved to California in high school to improve his tennis.
Eric was a 5-time All American at Kentucky, and holds the NCAA record for most singles match victories. He made the finals of the 2012 NCAA Singles championships, where he lost to Steve Johnson. In his return to the podcast (also see Episode 28), we catch up with Eric and discuss what he's learned after being away from professional tennis for a couple years and working with some of the top juniors in Kentucky. In addition to working with a local homebuilder as a site manager, Eric also helps out with the programs at Top Gun Academy and Hurstbourne CC in Louisville.
In this episode, we talk with Diego Moyano - one of the most successful coaches in USTA player development. Diego has worked closely with Reilly Opelka, Tommy Paul, Taylor Fritz, Frances Tiafoe, Dennis Kudla and many more. He's been referred to as America's Tennis Whisperer. Diego shares his thoughts on junior player development, including how to develop weapons, motivate players, and deal with players on an individual basis. Diego's passion for tennis and developing players as well as his relentless work ethic is evident in this interview. I doubt his Apple Watch has ever told him it's time to stand. Diego is currently coaching Kevin Anderson on the ATP tour.
http://baseline.tennis.com/article/86412/player-development-coach-diego-moyano-parts-ways-usta Please also see Diego's website: https://diegomoyanohighperformancetennis.com/
Jordan Cox was one of the highest ranked junior tennis in the US. He culminated his junior career by making the finals of Jr Wimbledon. After a few years on the pro circuit, he finished his career at Georgia Gwinnett College. He led the Grizzlies to 3 NAIA National Championships while he was there. Jordan is currently pursuing his acting career and hosting his own tennis shows in Instagram (@jmcoxxy).
Adam Blicher is a high performance coach and sport psychology consultant in his home country of Denmark. Adam is also the host of wildly popular tennis podcast, The Adam Blicher Show.
In this episode we discuss Adam’s approach to coaching junior tennis players, how to structure an efficient practice, and the benefits & limitations of data analytics in tennis development. We also put Adam to the test as we put him through his own famous rapid fire questions.
Beau is currently the travelling coach for Brandon Nakashima. Beau played college tennis at Nebraska (Big 10 Doubles Champion) and played 4 year on the Futures/Challenger circuit. Before joining Brandon's team, Beau was a High Performance coach at the Brymer-Lewis Tennis Academy in Southern California. Beau is passionate about maximizing tennis performance thru the use of video analysis, match charting and strategic practice organization.
Alex was the #1 rated recruit by Tennis Recruiting Net his junior & senior years of high school. We discuss his junior tennis development from growing up in South Florida to choosing to attend TCU, where he was an All-American and Big 12 Conference Freshman of the Year and Player of the Year. He is currently competing on the pro tour.
https://www.atptour.com/en/players/alex-rybakov/rg42/overview
Jack Newman is the founder of the Austin Tennis Academy, one of the top tennis academies in the United States. Jack tells the story of ATA and what has made their program so successful.
TJ Pura played college tennis at Duke. He was a nationally ranked junior player who was featured in the awesome tennis movie 50,000 balls. In 2018 he coached and mentored Tommy Paul, who went on to reach a career high of 79. We talk with TJ about his time coaching Tommy, and what he's doing today. His tennis background helped him successfully land his dream job working in the renewable energies corporate finance industry. TJ offers a lot of wisdom to players and parents alike,
Episode 49 is with Tommy Paul. Tommy is an American Professional tennis player. Tommy reached a career high ATP ranking of #79 in 2019. We caught up with Tommy at the Knoxville Challenger for a quick conversation. We talked about his tennis development in Greeneville, NC, Coach Brandi's favorite punishment, how he was able to go from losing in Qualifying to winning the Charlottesville Challenger in 2018, and why sliding may or may not be bad footwork.
Kevin is the coach of Caty and John McNally, and has coached several women on the WTA tour as well working with National level junior players. In this episode we discuss what fundamentals junior players should be focused and we explore the lessons Kevin has learned from 25+ of coaching.
https://payersandplayers.com/2019/10/08/episode-47-kevin-oneill/
We bring back Petros to review the NCAA tennis championships, his experience playing World Team Tennis, get his thoughts on how tennis can attract new fans, and his plans for the future.
Ronnie Schneider was the #1 recruit in his class, he won Kalamazoo 3 times (16s Singles & Doubles and 18s Doubles), was an All-American at UNC, reached a career high ATP rank of 406, and is currently the volunteer assistant at Indiana University, where he is getting his MBA. In part 2 of our conversation, we talk about his experiences of playing at the US Open, he offers advice to both parents and players for how to get the most out of a tournament, his thoughts on how tennis can be a viable profession, and recruiting pitch to players to come to IU.
In part 1 of our wide-ranging conversation with Ronnie Schneider about his junior career, including winning Kalamazoo 3 times (16s Singles, 16s Doubles, and 18s Doubles)and playing in the US Open (both junior and Main Draw doubles). Ronnie was the #1 recruit in his class in each of his 4 years of high school, and was an All-American at the University of North Carolina. He reached a career high ATP ranking of #406. He is currently pursuing his Master's degree at the University of Indiana, and is serving as the volunteer assistant coach of the men's tennis team. This podcast is sponsored by the Smashpoint App - the leading match tracking app. You can find it in the App Store for iPhones. www.Smashpoint.pro Enter promo code: Podcast for a 20% discount on their "pro" products.
We talk with Heath Waters, Sr. about his philosophy on junior tennis development. Heath Waters is one of only a handful of coaches in the world to be a current ATP and WTA registered coach on the men’s and women’s professional tennis tour. Heath’s professional players have had wins over many top world ranked tour players such as the likes of Andy Murray, Fernando Gonzalez, James Blake, Ivo Karlovic, Sam Querrey, Juan Ignacio Chela, and more. Heath is the founder of the Alliance for Coaching Excellence (ACE) Player Development System™ and runs the Homeschool program at the Manor. Heath’s professional players have won more than 40 professional titles on tour and his junior students have won more than 30 gold balls. Heath and his wife, current professional tour player, Lindsay Lee-Waters own and operate a popular tennis instructional website www.virtualtennisacademy.com. Heath’s desire is to enhance tennis player development throughout the world through a pragmatic and scientific based approach. This podcast is sponsored by the Smashpoint App - the leading match tracking app. You can find it in the App Store for iPhones. www.Smashpoint.pro Enter promo code: Podcast for a 20% discount on their "pro" products.
Episode 42 - Todd Widom and Ronnie Hohmann (2019 Easter Bowl Champion) by Robert Garrett and Scott Colson
Andy Brandi served as a partner of the Harold Solomon Tennis Institute since 2007 before joining the USTA staff in August 2010. While at USTA he led the Player Development team for 12 & Under Boys. From 2001-06, Brandi was Director of Tennis for IMG and the Evert Tennis Academy. From 1984-2001, he was the head coach of the University of Florida women’s team, where is teams reached the NCAA finals 8 times, winning the championship 3 times. During his career, Brandi has worked with top professionals, including Elena Dementieva, Shahar Peer, Maria Kirilenko, Lisa Raymond, Ryan Sweeting and Jesse Levine. While at the University of Florida, he led the Gators to three NCAA Division I Team titles and coached four NCAA women’s singles champions and four NCAA doubles champions. He is currently the co-Head Coach at LSU with his son Chris.
We discuss his thoughts on junior tennis development, and why he thought it was important to work with the 12 & Under boys at USTA Player Development. We talk about building a strong foundation, while adapting to the playing style of the player, injury prevention, periodization, and focusing on the long-term development of the tennis player.
http://www.playerdevelopment.usta.com/blogs/andy_brandi/?Year=2017
We discuss how Petros Chyrsochos developed into an NCAA champion. His coach in Cyprus, Demetrius Herodotou, was instrumental in his development - working with Petros as beginner and taking him to the junior Grand Slams. Following his junior career, Petros chose to play college tennis at Wake Forest, where he has won national championships both as a singles player and team level.
http://tennisacademy.com.cy/ https://godeacs.com/index.aspx?path=mten
Episode 36 - Devin Britton - Former NCAA singles champion and Ole Miss Assistant Coach by Robert Garrett and Scott Colson
Parker Wynn is a junior on the Texas Tech men's tennis team. He transferred to Texas Tech after 2 successful seasons at the University of Louisville, where he twice made All-ACC 3rd team and qualified for the NCAA doubles championships. We talk to Parker about his junior tennis development in the Dallas/Ft Worth area and how he finished his high school career with a ranking inside the top 10 (Tennis Recruiting).
https://payersandplayers.com/2019/02/11/parker-wynn-texas-tech-mens-tennis-episode-35/ https://texastech.com/news/2019/2/12/mens-tennis-wynn-garners-big-12-player-of-the-week-selection.aspx https://tennisrecruiting.net/player.asp?sessionid=29637C0403F0C39A
In this episode we talk with Tony Bresky, the head coach at Wake Forest – the defending NCAA National Champions. Coach Bresky shares his thoughts on college tennis recruiting, how important culture is to building a championship team, his outlook for the 2019 season, and how thankful he is for leaving his career in Finance behind.
We talk with Shannon Wrege of the Tennis Recruiting Network. www.tennisrecruiting.net
Please see the google sheet that has the data on the Class of 2019. https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/19L6D87Dvk6tV487KWC3pjdiW8CpyQlX0X1XCPen25fg/edit
We discuss the developmental path of Eric Quigley, the NCAA leader in career singles wins. Eric was a 5-time All American at University of Kentucky, and reached an ATP ranking of 297. Eric was not a tennis prodigy, but with his passion and commitment became one of the top ranked juniors in the USA and had a stellar college career. Eric now resides in Louisville, KY where he is a teaching professional at Springhurst Tennis Club.
Episode 27 - Jeff and Brooke Wolf - Parents of JJ and Danielle Wolf by Robert Garrett and Scott Colson
We speak with Dr. Ben Kibler - world renowned Orthopedic Surgeon and founding member of the USTA Sports Science Committee, as well as WTA consultant.
NYT Article on Women's Serve: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/03/sports/tennis/us-open-wta-tour-serving.html
Positioning Youth Tennis for Success: https://www.usta.com/content/dam/usta/sections/northern-california/norcal/pdfs/coachesorganizersresources/playerdevelopment/positioning_youth_tennis_for_success_-full_version.pdf
Society for Tennis Medicine & Science: https://www.tennismedicine.org/
Books by Dr. Kibler: https://www.amazon.com/s/?ie=UTF8&keywords=ben+kibler&tag=mh0b-20&index=stripbooks&hvadid=78340253865728&hvqmt=e&hvbmt=be&hvdev=c&ref=pd_sl_xi0adzc5y_e
Lexington Clinic: https://www.lexingtonclinic.com/staff/orthopedics/wbenkibler.html
We discuss the junior development process of top 60 ATP player Tennys Sandgren. He grew up in Gallatin, TN with nothing but a tennis court and ball machine in his backyard. With coaching from his mother, he became one of the top US junior tennis players. After 2 years at the University of Tennessee, he joined the professional grind. He broke out in 2018 by making the QFs of the Australian Open.
John Yandell is a legendary tennis coach and founder of tennisplayer.net
John has coached John McEnroe as well as many of other elite college and professional players.
We take on several topics within the player development arena, including a discussion of pin-point vs platform serve, straight-arm vs bent-arm forehand, and much more.
https://www.nytimes.com/2003/10/16/technology/a-coach-s-digital-tools-take-center-court.html
Episode 22 - Jakob Gustafsson - Louisville Asst Coach - European vs American Development Models by Robert Garrett and Scott Colson
Episode 21 - Todd Widom - All about Junior tennis development by Robert Garrett and Scott Colson
Sebastian Stiefelmeyer grew up in Vienna, Austria. He was ranked as high #67 ITF, and played college tennis at University of Louisville, where he was the outdoor fall national championship and reached the #1 ITA (NCAA) ranking in his senior year. We talk about his junior development in Austria, including practicing with Dominic Thiem. We also discuss his recruitment to Louisville, and how he became the #1 ranked player in college tennis.
Article mentioned in the podcast: https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-tennis-phenom-who-chose-to-be-terrible-1467228669?mod=searchresults&page=1&pos=5
We discuss Hayley's junior tennis development path, including her time at Smith Stearns Tennis Academy and choosing UNC for her illustrious college tennis career.
We look back at data from the USTA 12U rankings for boys from 2008 - 2011, and see if there are any trends or takeaways from where those players ended up as high school seniors.
Here is the Google Sheet, with the data: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1F9H0qXzLNDI7y2cFtAeb5KyUgFXdT3WyCLik5nLgn5s/edit#gid=1126298337
We also referred to an amazing article about the illustrious junior tennis career of Al Parker, The Boy Who Fell To Earth. https://www.slideshare.net/palmerleasing/the-boy-who-fell-to-earth
We talk with Patrick Kypson of Texas A&M men's tennis (current ITA rank #5) about his junior development and his journey to Texas A&M including winning Kalamazoo twice.
We talk with TJ Pura about his junior tennis career, the 50,000 Balls documentary, and choosing the Duke Blue Devils. TJ provides real practical advice about the things that helped him develop into an elite junior tennis player in America.
You can find the documentary at amazon: https://www.amazon.com/50-000-Balls-Tennis-Documentary/dp/B00A7IWAFI/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1524229886&sr=8-3&keywords=50%2C000+balls
In this episode we discuss developing junior tennis champions with Mario Llano of the Rhode Island Tennis Academy. Mario has developed several players that have won prestigious national and international events. His most popular student is Jared Donaldson (currently #48 ATP).
www.ritennisacademy.com https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5TkaGB4zqDk
In this episode we discuss the junior tennis development of Thai Son Kwiatkowski. From his dominance of the Little Mos to his time at USTA Player Development to becoming a 4-time NCAA National Champion at the University of Virginia, Thai shares his journey.
Topics: Development Plan Playing Little Mos @mcbtennis Moving to USTA Player Development @usta Dealing with emotions and maturity 50,000 Balls https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00A7IWAFI/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?smid=A2POMR406N5GX1&psc=1
In this episode Scott and Robert discuss what behavior is acceptable and unacceptable in junior tennis. If we are going to compare our players behavior to Roger Federer, which Federer should it be - the Federer of today or the junior Federer?
We also discuss one podcast and one book that we would recommend to our listeners, and provide a brief recap of the ASU v Stanford, Louisville v Notre Dame and Ole Miss v Vanderbilt tennis matches.
Podcast mentioned: @adamblicher - The Adam Blicher Show, episode #68 with Dave Bandelin (www.EuroElite.info)
Book recommended: @AllistairMcCaw - 7 Keys to being a Great Coach