Articles & Videos
Creating Strong Female Athletes
Femininity by definition is: The quality or nature of the female sex (Merriam-Webster). Coaches who work with enough female players will inevitably run into an issue that can plague many careers, the fear of gaining too much muscle and getting ‘too big’. As women’s...
What is the Best Way to Return to the Court After 4 Weeks off?
It happens that extended time off the court is part of every tennis player's career, but what is the best way to return to play after four-plus weeks off the court? WTA tour player Francesca Di Lorenzo gives a first-hand insight into a professional tennis player's...
CEO Sarah Stone Moves Home but it’s Business as Usual for the WTCA
The five-year mark for the Women’s Tennis Coaching Association is just around the corner with a bright future slated for the WTCA. We recently announced our partnership with the USPTA. With our leading partners Accutennis, Madalux, Pro Bar, and several others right...
Are UTR Rankings a Solution to a WTA Return in the Fall?
We are all desperate to see tennis return in the fall, but the ultimate question is: What ranking system would be fair for everyone? Indian Wells wasn't playing this year, but before the tournament director canceled the tournament, Canadian star Bianca Andreescu had...
Are You Prepared Enough When it Comes to Losing/Failing?
Failing on your terms. Tennis is a very unique sport if we talk about losing. Tennis players lose more often than athletes playing other sports. Professional players play up to 30 or more tournaments per year and there is only one winner each week. More than...
USPTA Forms Partnership with WTCA
LAKE NONA, Fla. – The United States Professional Tennis Association (USPTA) has signed a formal partnership with the Women’s Tennis Coaching Association (WTCA) that will bring leaders of the tennis industry together and offer several benefits for members of both...
Dealing With Injuries and the Return to Competition
Tennis is a very demanding sport as it requires a lot of volume/intensity in terms of training (on-court and off-court) and tournaments on varied surfaces during almost all the year. Because professional tournaments are played in 36 different countries, jet-lag and...
Life Beyond Elite Sport Interview – with Sarah Stone
Jane Taylor (a former professional tennis player) has been interviewing past elite athletes to discover their insights on their life after sport. In particular, they are being asked how they made the transition beyond elite sport. Here is an interview with WTCA...
The Fear of Failing – Meike Babel
Obviously, it’s never fun to fail, which in tennis means missing a shot, losing a game, set or even the whole match. The biggest underlying fear I have, looking at my career in retrospect and now working as a mental skills coach is that I don’t want to look...
Who are you, really? – “You are not a tennis player. You just play tennis.”
Who are you when everything you own and accomplished is taken away from you? This question came up in one of my recent conversations with the player I currently work with, Alize Cornet. Alize and I, we are very much alike and it’s one of the reasons we often arrive at...
Why Winning Young Doesn’t Matter
“But we’re investing so much money, we really need to see a return on our investment!” I can’t tell you how many times I have heard the above or variations thereof from parents of kids 14 and under. And I don’t know how many times their daughter or son stands right...
What Martina Navrtilova Taught Me About Breathing
People often ask me who my favorite player of all time. Hands down, Martina Navratilova! I will never forget my first time meeting her. I was 16 years old and had received the wildcard for the tournament in Filderstadt (the one where the winner gets a Porsche). Prior...
The Most Radical Mental Skill: Kindness Towards Yourself
I know, I know…many roll their eyes when they hear the word self-kindness or self-compassion in the context of sports. After all, when talking about sports we’re inundated with terms that conjure up feelings quite the opposite of kindness–we’re going to war, fighting...
7 WAYS TO ENHANCE RESILIENCE IN YOUNG TENNIS PLAYERS
By Jane Taylor Resilience is a skill that is essential for all young people to develop. According to Benard (2004),“…personal resilience strengths are the individual characteristics associated with healthy development and life success”(p.13). These personal strengths...
Finding the Right Path for your Player
As coaches, it’s important to foster positive development and create a supportive environment for players. One of the first steps in helping to assure positive outcomes is understanding that every player is different. Mandy Wilson, a renowned coach and player, can...