1.Where did you grow up? Pine Bluff, Arkansas.
2.From where are moving to NWA from? The Mile High City. Denver, Colorado.
3. Other than tennis what do you do for recreation, relaxation, hobbies? Recreation: playing guitar and singing - watch out Dickson Street! Relaxation: hitting on a ball machine, road trips, going to any lake or beach with friends and playing piano. Hobbies: guitar, songwriting, cheering/yelling at the Razorback and Denver Bronco football teams, flag football.
4. You’ve been teaching tennis since 2005 – what drew you to teaching tennis?
The opportunity to be outside and have some physical activity in a job. Working in tennis is a blast because, at the end of the day, it's always going to be a game. There's always a way to find enjoyment with any student. I've never had a problem taking myself too seriously and with tennis I get to have fun with the people I'm around. There's also a fantastic social scene within tennis.
5. What are some of the joys and challenges of teaching youth tennis? Joys: What they say. It might sound cliché, but I've heard some hilarious comments over the years. Another is how quickly they progress. Because they're learning basics they can pick it up very quickly if taught in the right environment. The last is how much fun they have. As long as you put up the energy they do and find a few games they will not be able to wait for each lesson.
Challenges: Keeping them involved the whole time. The new 10 and Under Tennis mentality blows the old one out of the water. Now our job as coaches is to keep the kids moving the entire time they're in the lesson and not have them waiting in lines. If a coach has 10 kids in a class you've really got to get creative for 45 minutes to an hour. The challenge is fun in itself sometimes. It keeps me on my toes and keeps my creativity up.
6. What are some of your goals in your role working with FAC Tennis youth? The first
is making sure that we establish a love for tennis at an early age. Because baseball, soccer and other sports have been around for so long they have an advantage on tennis. Now we've got some programming together and are ready to start competing against the sports traditionally aimed at children. I want it to be fun for them first and foremost. If the games are fun enough they'll want to come back. If they come back they'll keep learning better shots. If they learn better shots they'll fall into the game because they can see how they're progressing. Fun should be the foundation of youth tennis. The other is collecting a group of kids who absolutely love the game and have them compete throughout the state. If that fun foundation can be built after a year or two those kids will be ready to take on anyone, anywhere. This also builds a team mentality that so many people feel tennis lacks. A group of FAC kids is a team and teaching them sportsmanship, team support and encouragement are all part of that team experience.
7. What would you like to accomplish in your first six months on the job? Utilize the new 36' courts and build a strong program based around them. A tournament on those courts next spring and summer. Creating an after school program that shows how much fun tennis is. Doing a big social event that involves games that kids can play with their parents no matter their skill level. Making an FAC youth team that wants to compete in the spring and summer of 2012. Get a CDL [Commercial Drivers License to drive a bus] and with the kid's help create the most awesome tennis bus on the face of the planet.
8. What does it take to be a very good youth tennis pro? Energy. If you're not excited, why should they be? Patience. Kids progress at different rates and if a pro can't find a way to incorporate varying skill levels in lessons then some students aren't going to enjoy tennis. Communication. Parent's like to know what's going on with their kids but also need to know when they're getting too involved. Willingness to learn new things is a big one some pros forget about. There are new drills coming out all of the time. Learning new drills, new methods and new techniques allows the coach to make a game plan for each student.
9. Which are harder to teach – youth or adults? Adults. Most adults take tennis too
seriously. That's not necessarily a bad thing but it sometimes interferes with the reason we play the game in the first place. Kids, especially 10 and under, are still forming opinions and their view of the world. If they're playing a game and smiling they don't think twice and just have a good time. At the end of the day I love teaching both. There's definitely a competitive mentality I can be empathetic with in adults.
10. What is your current NRTP ranking? 4.5. Teaching has become much more of a passion than playing so I don't compete as much as I used to. I've always had a basketball point guard's point of view: I'd much rather see someone else scoring points than myself. Hence, the love of coaching.
11. How many years have you been playing tennis? I was a late bloomer and got serious about it when I was 16. This year marks the 10th year anniversary of tennis for me.
12. What prompted you to play tennis regularly? The Pine Bluff High School Zebras getting our tails kicked when I was 16. I hated losing so decided to go all-in with it the summer before my junior year and played five days a week until I got to college. We won district my senior year so it was good to see the work pay off. The summer after graduating gave me a lot of opportunities to travel around and compete as well. That made me train more because my parent's gave me permission to travel by myself and have some independence.
13. What is your favorite thing/enjoyment about playing tennis? The ability to play it for a lifetime. I played doubles with a 75+ years group and they could still compete! Being able to do something you love for that amount of time is outstanding. If I can make it to 75, I'll still be playing.
14. What is your own favorite tennis shot/worst? Drop shots are my favorite. It takes so much out of your opponent when they lose a point to a drop shot. It's also a good way to build confidence in a match. When I get a drop shot with nice touch I load up with confidence and start playing more aggressive. The worst is my serve. I broke my arm in the same spot twice as a kid so I can't generate much power due to injury. Luckily, power is the least important factor of a serve.
15. Is there any life lessons learned by playing tennis? Yes. The three I find the most are commitment, team building and handling life's ups and downs. Commitment to your club, your doubles partner, your USTA League team and your love/enjoyment of the game. Team building is important, especially in doubles, because you have to work together to get a win. Sometimes you'll struggle but together can find ways to overcome. The final is learning how how handle life's ups (wins) and downs (losses). You need to experience both because life's never perfect. You have to learn from your mistakes and move on when you're low. You have to analyze what you did right and celebrate when your high.
16. What is your most memorable accomplishment playing tennis so far? Winning district my senior year with the Pine Bluff High School team. I lost my finals match but our doubles team stepped up and took down theirs. That was fun because the school had never won it. My best friend was on the 1 doubles team so that was a good way to go out because we had lettered all 3 years.
17. Do you have a particular pet peeve that tennis opponents do that bother you? "COME ON!" It makes me laugh now when someone hits a bad or good shot then screams that. I'll sometimes respond "Where are we going?" to get anyone who is watching to laugh.
18. Do you learn more from your wins or losses and why? Wins. I'm too hard on myself so really drill myself when I lose. In a win, I can go back and watch footage to see what was done right without emotions getting involved. In loses, I find too many things wrong. It's hard to make a game plan with so many things to fix. I fix a few things after a win and really concentrate on solidifying those.
19. What is one thing people would be surprised to know about you? Before getting back in to tennis I spent two years playing music and touring around the United States with three different bands. The last project played Rogue Pizza on Dickson street in February of 2011.
20. When I was 10, I wanted to be… The shortstop for the St. Louis Cardinals. I vividly remember telling my dad when I was 10 that, "I don't need to go to school. I'm going to be playing shortstop and should concentrating on practicing." Needless to say, I went to school that day.
21. Favorite movies: The Shawshank Redemption, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest,
Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, Anchorman and Toy Story 3.
22. The person I most admire is: My dad Walter. It took me a while to find my niche but he was supportive the whole time I was doing music. He's very focused, loyal and could make friends with a brick wall. As I get older I see more and more of me turning into him and I'm fine with that. I have to give my mother Terri some props too. She was a little more patient and together they let me find my way. I'm glad because I found it with a tennis racquet and get to move back to Arkansas.
23. The last book I read was: The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell. Economics has
always been one of my favorite subjects and this is the best economics book I've read.
24. The guests at my fantasy dinner party would be:
Andre Agassi, a Tennis legend.
John Paul Jones (bass player from Led Zeppelin)
Ozzie Smith (Hall of Fame Shortstop for the St. Louis Cardinals)
Lou Holtz, TV Analysis and renowned former Football coach.
Brad Pitt, actor.
Alicia Keys, songwriter/performer.
Betty White, actress.
Steve Jobs, CEO of Apple
Joe Namath, Hall of Fame Quarterback.
25. I‘ve been fortunate to……Land an amazing job with specialized 36' co in the state
where my lives and I love.
26.One word to sum me up…..Fun.
No comments:
Post a Comment