Sunday, August 14, 2011

11 Things for 2011

Over the next eleven weekdays, I'll be counting down the things that I'm excited for (as a coach) entering the 2011 season. Check out previous posts below.

#11 - New Regional Alignment
#9 - Playing Elite Competition
#8 - Playing a New Opponent
#7 - The Freshman
#6 - New JV Tournament

#5 - Creating an Atmosphere of Focus

As with all seasons, the goal of practice is to improve. The goal of the whole season is to be playing our best tennis when the season ends, when we compete for Sectional. Last season, we had a whole contingent of experienced players who helped lead us through their actions. This season, 2/3's of our team is underclassmen.

So, the atmosphere of practice is actually something that we cannot assume, instead it is something we are going to have to create. And the number one thing that I want to create in my players practice experience is the ability to focus on a specific task.

It's not going to be easy. With only 1 coach for 21 players, there are going to be many times when the players are completely on their own for a segment of practice. But this again is where the beauty of tennis and life connections comes in. If we can create an atmosphere of focus in tennis, if players will be self-motivated to get better, to stay engaged, to fight laziness... then the this will begin to happen in other areas (schoolwork, chores, jobs, etc.)

In addition to the character development, we will continue to improve right until the last day of the season (which we hope won't come until the second week of October, at least!)

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