1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:02,580 (upbeat music) 2 00:00:02,580 --> 00:00:07,360 Welcome to the GoTennis! Podcast. 3 00:00:07,360 --> 00:00:09,800 Our conversations are uniquely engaging 4 00:00:09,800 --> 00:00:12,800 and our tips will help you to win more matches. 5 00:00:12,800 --> 00:00:14,960 Our mission is to keep you well informed, 6 00:00:14,960 --> 00:00:16,960 give you what you need to improve your game 7 00:00:16,960 --> 00:00:18,600 and help you save money. 8 00:00:18,600 --> 00:00:21,200 We invite you to become a GoTennis! Premium member 9 00:00:21,200 --> 00:00:23,400 and join our community today. 10 00:00:23,400 --> 00:00:26,160 (upbeat music) 11 00:00:26,160 --> 00:00:29,480 Hey, hey, this is Shaun with the GoTennis! Podcast, 12 00:00:29,480 --> 00:00:31,000 powered by Signature Tennis. 13 00:00:31,000 --> 00:00:33,200 Check out our calendar of Racket Sports events 14 00:00:33,200 --> 00:00:35,200 at LetsGoTennis.com. 15 00:00:35,200 --> 00:00:36,640 And as you're listening to this, 16 00:00:36,640 --> 00:00:38,200 please look in your podcast app 17 00:00:38,200 --> 00:00:40,680 where to leave a review and do that for us. 18 00:00:40,680 --> 00:00:43,440 We would love to earn your five-star reviews. 19 00:00:43,440 --> 00:00:45,280 And now let's get into our recent conversation 20 00:00:45,280 --> 00:00:46,960 with Nathan Singleton. 21 00:00:46,960 --> 00:00:50,040 Nathan coaches in the Dunwoody area of Metro Atlanta 22 00:00:50,040 --> 00:00:52,440 and offers online tactical content 23 00:00:52,440 --> 00:00:55,600 at firstserveuniversity.com. 24 00:00:55,600 --> 00:00:57,840 Have a listen and let us know what you think. 25 00:00:57,840 --> 00:00:59,720 (upbeat music) 26 00:00:59,720 --> 00:01:03,040 Coach Nathan, I will not ask our typical, 27 00:01:03,040 --> 00:01:04,720 who are you and why do we care question? 28 00:01:04,720 --> 00:01:06,200 'Cause we already care about you 29 00:01:06,200 --> 00:01:07,960 because you are a contributor. 30 00:01:07,960 --> 00:01:09,360 So I will change it a little bit 31 00:01:09,360 --> 00:01:12,760 and I will ask who are you and why should everybody 32 00:01:12,760 --> 00:01:15,200 that doesn't already know you care? 33 00:01:15,200 --> 00:01:18,680 Well, I suppose everybody will care. 34 00:01:18,680 --> 00:01:21,240 So, I won't go that far. 35 00:01:21,240 --> 00:01:25,000 But I will say that I am a pretty much a homegrown 36 00:01:25,000 --> 00:01:28,680 Dunwoody tennis player played around here 37 00:01:28,680 --> 00:01:31,480 in the neighborhoods, Winter Hall, 38 00:01:31,480 --> 00:01:33,400 some exposures to Doni Country Club 39 00:01:33,400 --> 00:01:34,720 for a short amount of time. 40 00:01:34,720 --> 00:01:36,840 And then Blackburn Tennis Center 41 00:01:36,840 --> 00:01:38,520 played some out to there. 42 00:01:38,520 --> 00:01:39,880 I went to Dunwoody High School, 43 00:01:39,880 --> 00:01:41,880 played there, varsity tennis. 44 00:01:41,880 --> 00:01:44,680 And then by some sheer miracle, 45 00:01:44,680 --> 00:01:47,400 the coach down the street at Georgia Fremader 46 00:01:47,400 --> 00:01:49,360 thought I had potential to play on his team. 47 00:01:49,360 --> 00:01:53,240 And so while I was duly enrolled still in high school, 48 00:01:53,240 --> 00:01:57,000 I got a scholarship to play for two years at GPC, 49 00:01:57,000 --> 00:02:00,640 which of course now is Georgia State Fremader College. 50 00:02:00,640 --> 00:02:03,760 And did a little bit of some semi-pro training 51 00:02:03,760 --> 00:02:05,040 until I got into coaching 52 00:02:05,040 --> 00:02:07,720 and wanted to help players with their games 53 00:02:07,720 --> 00:02:10,320 and then fell in love with the tactical piece of tennis. 54 00:02:10,320 --> 00:02:13,000 So I'm a tennis tactical specialist. 55 00:02:13,000 --> 00:02:14,680 So a little bit different from your average coach 56 00:02:14,680 --> 00:02:16,320 in the neighborhood, I specialize 57 00:02:16,320 --> 00:02:18,200 in developing people's brains. 58 00:02:18,200 --> 00:02:20,840 I like the way you put that. 59 00:02:20,840 --> 00:02:22,920 And yes, those that have heard the podcast 60 00:02:22,920 --> 00:02:25,440 before and paid attention to your tips 61 00:02:25,440 --> 00:02:27,440 that you offer and the advice that you share, 62 00:02:27,440 --> 00:02:29,680 it is tactically specific. 63 00:02:29,680 --> 00:02:34,360 And in that world saying, hey, you come in, 64 00:02:34,360 --> 00:02:37,480 you want to help me how to think my way to victory. 65 00:02:37,480 --> 00:02:39,040 I think it's one of the phrases that you use, 66 00:02:39,040 --> 00:02:42,000 which I really appreciate when people put some time 67 00:02:42,000 --> 00:02:44,840 into how to describe what they do. 68 00:02:44,840 --> 00:02:46,680 'Cause a lot of tennis coaches come in 69 00:02:46,680 --> 00:02:48,240 and they say, I'm a really great tennis coach. 70 00:02:48,240 --> 00:02:49,680 You should take lessons from me. 71 00:02:49,680 --> 00:02:51,280 But if anybody ever asks why, 72 00:02:51,280 --> 00:02:53,400 I don't know that they're gonna have an answer. 73 00:02:53,400 --> 00:02:55,240 I think that's one of the things you do well is, 74 00:02:55,240 --> 00:02:56,600 well, here's how. 75 00:02:56,600 --> 00:02:58,040 This is what I like to do. 76 00:02:58,040 --> 00:03:00,280 And you've got your online system as well 77 00:03:00,280 --> 00:03:02,760 at firstserveuniversity.com, 78 00:03:02,760 --> 00:03:04,320 which we will talk about in a second. 79 00:03:04,320 --> 00:03:08,040 But as you just described your origin into tennis, 80 00:03:08,040 --> 00:03:10,200 you weren't like many of the rest of us coaches 81 00:03:10,200 --> 00:03:11,760 that had other jobs first. 82 00:03:11,760 --> 00:03:14,760 You went from college to maybe thinking 83 00:03:14,760 --> 00:03:17,760 about professional tennis right into coaching, right? 84 00:03:19,200 --> 00:03:21,040 I did, yes. 85 00:03:21,040 --> 00:03:26,560 And my background probably is similar background 86 00:03:26,560 --> 00:03:28,840 to tennis players is I just watched it on TV first 87 00:03:28,840 --> 00:03:32,480 and then was outside of my house one day 88 00:03:32,480 --> 00:03:35,720 after watching Roger Federer play at Wimbledon 89 00:03:35,720 --> 00:03:37,240 and found this old racket 90 00:03:37,240 --> 00:03:39,160 and one of our broken down bands, 91 00:03:39,160 --> 00:03:40,000 it was like we had one, 92 00:03:40,000 --> 00:03:42,120 you know those ones that you get from like Goodwill? 93 00:03:42,120 --> 00:03:43,280 - Yeah. - I don't know 94 00:03:43,280 --> 00:03:46,160 grip on and they like massive 110 in shed. 95 00:03:46,160 --> 00:03:48,960 And grabbed it and picked up a dead tennis ball 96 00:03:48,960 --> 00:03:50,200 and started hitting against the wall. 97 00:03:50,200 --> 00:03:51,960 But mom was like you're gonna loosen the mortar 98 00:03:51,960 --> 00:03:52,960 on the house and bring it down. 99 00:03:52,960 --> 00:03:54,560 So we're gonna get you some lessons. 100 00:03:54,560 --> 00:03:55,840 (laughing) 101 00:03:55,840 --> 00:03:57,320 - I love that origin story, Bobby. 102 00:03:57,320 --> 00:03:59,240 We talk about that a lot where it's either 103 00:03:59,240 --> 00:04:01,360 I went to a professional tournament and I saw it 104 00:04:01,360 --> 00:04:02,880 and I thought oh my gosh, that's amazing. 105 00:04:02,880 --> 00:04:04,120 I wanna do that. 106 00:04:04,120 --> 00:04:08,200 Or like me trying to get the rabbit ears on the television 107 00:04:08,200 --> 00:04:12,280 just right so I could watch the guys play Wimbledon 108 00:04:12,280 --> 00:04:14,880 and really realizing again, how cool is that? 109 00:04:14,880 --> 00:04:16,960 I wanna be like that. 110 00:04:16,960 --> 00:04:17,960 How do I do that? 111 00:04:17,960 --> 00:04:19,200 Where do I go? 112 00:04:19,200 --> 00:04:21,520 And then stepping outside with whatever racket 113 00:04:21,520 --> 00:04:24,040 we find in the garage and hitting up against the wall. 114 00:04:24,040 --> 00:04:27,160 I love that origin story and then hey, parents finally say 115 00:04:27,160 --> 00:04:28,440 you know what, the kid loves it. 116 00:04:28,440 --> 00:04:34,400 So Nathan, you provide tips and advice in a tactical way. 117 00:04:34,400 --> 00:04:38,280 It's one of the things you do for us on the podcast 118 00:04:38,280 --> 00:04:39,880 and we put those out every month 119 00:04:39,880 --> 00:04:42,160 and those are extremely valuable. 120 00:04:42,160 --> 00:04:44,000 And from a tip point of view, 121 00:04:44,000 --> 00:04:45,680 it's just a little bit of a reminder. 122 00:04:45,680 --> 00:04:47,560 One of the ways I like to think about it is 123 00:04:47,560 --> 00:04:49,200 this is something on a Thursday morning 124 00:04:49,200 --> 00:04:52,040 when I get in my car, I'm gonna go into my tennis match. 125 00:04:52,040 --> 00:04:53,840 I just wanna put myself into a mindset. 126 00:04:53,840 --> 00:04:58,520 It's not gonna be maybe life changing every piece 127 00:04:58,520 --> 00:05:02,440 of advice any coach gives, but it's just to get me 128 00:05:02,440 --> 00:05:03,280 in that mindset. 129 00:05:03,280 --> 00:05:08,280 So to get you in the mindset, how do we talk tactical? 130 00:05:08,280 --> 00:05:12,400 That's gonna be different from technical and physiological 131 00:05:12,400 --> 00:05:14,280 and all the other things tennis coaches talk about. 132 00:05:14,280 --> 00:05:17,120 So talk about that specialty for yourself. 133 00:05:17,120 --> 00:05:22,040 - What's so refreshing about tactical training 134 00:05:22,040 --> 00:05:24,840 is that once you understand the patterns of play, 135 00:05:24,840 --> 00:05:27,720 you really don't have to relearn it. 136 00:05:27,720 --> 00:05:31,640 It's not like missing a forehand for four years 137 00:05:31,640 --> 00:05:34,440 because you had an injury or traveled or had a family 138 00:05:34,440 --> 00:05:37,080 or you know, decided you weren't gonna play anymore 139 00:05:37,080 --> 00:05:38,640 'cause you got burned out and then came back 140 00:05:38,640 --> 00:05:41,280 and you have to you know, restructure your stroke again. 141 00:05:41,280 --> 00:05:43,080 With tactics, once you learn it, 142 00:05:43,080 --> 00:05:44,560 you have it for life. 143 00:05:44,560 --> 00:05:48,440 It's the chest of tennis and I really hope that tennis 144 00:05:48,440 --> 00:05:51,000 has more of that in the training, especially of juniors 145 00:05:51,000 --> 00:05:52,880 so that when they get to higher levels, 146 00:05:52,880 --> 00:05:55,160 they don't have to learn it then, they already have it. 147 00:05:55,160 --> 00:05:57,520 Kind of like some of the really nice soccer clubs 148 00:05:57,520 --> 00:05:59,640 or I say football clubs from overseas 149 00:05:59,640 --> 00:06:02,400 that train the kids in the tactics early. 150 00:06:02,400 --> 00:06:04,280 So by the time they get to the league, 151 00:06:04,280 --> 00:06:05,320 they've already learned all that. 152 00:06:05,320 --> 00:06:07,760 So it's just doing it at a faster pace for them. 153 00:06:07,760 --> 00:06:09,600 - That makes a lot of sense. 154 00:06:09,600 --> 00:06:12,200 And Bobby, I know you got a bunch of questions. 155 00:06:12,200 --> 00:06:15,200 Bobby likes to play in the business of who we talk to. 156 00:06:15,200 --> 00:06:16,960 So Bobby, I know you got a lot of questions 157 00:06:16,960 --> 00:06:19,240 but I wanna kick it off for Bobby. 158 00:06:19,240 --> 00:06:23,280 Bobby, you're gonna start as you usually do, 159 00:06:23,280 --> 00:06:26,400 which is so, when you're coaching, 160 00:06:26,400 --> 00:06:28,680 where is it, how does everybody get in touch with you? 161 00:06:28,680 --> 00:06:32,200 Because Bobby runs Windomir Club incoming. 162 00:06:32,200 --> 00:06:35,640 But Bobby, I know you wanna jump into how 163 00:06:35,640 --> 00:06:39,200 and where Nathan coaches and all that. 164 00:06:39,200 --> 00:06:40,440 - Well, I wanna open up Pandora's. 165 00:06:40,440 --> 00:06:42,440 I wanna see if we're thinking on the same lines. 166 00:06:42,440 --> 00:06:43,760 I wanna know, first of all, Nate, 167 00:06:43,760 --> 00:06:46,440 what was the impetus behind the name of your company, 168 00:06:46,440 --> 00:06:47,640 first serve tennis? 169 00:06:47,640 --> 00:06:50,600 - First serve university. 170 00:06:50,600 --> 00:06:52,840 - First serve university, I'm sorry. 171 00:06:52,840 --> 00:06:54,000 - Yeah, the first serve university, 172 00:06:54,000 --> 00:06:58,840 it came from realizing that I felt like a brain surgeon 173 00:06:58,840 --> 00:07:01,040 in a way and so I was like, well, 174 00:07:01,040 --> 00:07:03,520 you have to go to a program to learn that, 175 00:07:03,520 --> 00:07:05,000 to be able to get your certification 176 00:07:05,000 --> 00:07:06,640 to become a brain surgeon. 177 00:07:06,640 --> 00:07:09,920 And it can be a really involved process to get there. 178 00:07:09,920 --> 00:07:11,760 And so I said, ah, university. 179 00:07:11,760 --> 00:07:13,400 And then of course, you can't start anything 180 00:07:13,400 --> 00:07:14,800 without a serve in tennis. 181 00:07:14,800 --> 00:07:17,160 So I said, oh, first serve university. 182 00:07:17,160 --> 00:07:19,800 And as well, I'm serving the public in a way. 183 00:07:19,800 --> 00:07:22,000 So it has dual meanings and it came together. 184 00:07:22,000 --> 00:07:23,000 And I was like, oh, that was nice. 185 00:07:23,000 --> 00:07:24,640 Also, it was like, what are the only domains 186 00:07:24,640 --> 00:07:26,360 that was open? 187 00:07:26,360 --> 00:07:27,760 - It was.com, right? 188 00:07:27,760 --> 00:07:30,000 - That means that I thought about the role, right? 189 00:07:30,000 --> 00:07:32,480 We kinda find it.com on the name. 190 00:07:32,480 --> 00:07:33,840 It's tough to do. 191 00:07:33,840 --> 00:07:36,160 So you just take whatever was available and stuff. 192 00:07:36,160 --> 00:07:38,440 - No, 'cause I know, I mean, when I'm coaching, 193 00:07:38,440 --> 00:07:42,000 obviously I harbor, you know, 194 00:07:42,000 --> 00:07:44,720 matches are one, you can argue it all you want, 195 00:07:44,720 --> 00:07:48,960 but statistically speaking, by first serve success 196 00:07:48,960 --> 00:07:51,480 and how you return on the second serve. 197 00:07:51,480 --> 00:07:53,880 So I was like, well, it's a great place to start 198 00:07:53,880 --> 00:07:56,240 because it's the most important start. 199 00:07:56,240 --> 00:07:57,720 You know, we make excuses, 200 00:07:57,720 --> 00:07:59,760 oh, Pete Sanford was great, but he had a great serve. 201 00:07:59,760 --> 00:08:02,520 - So what's different than having a great serve, 202 00:08:02,520 --> 00:08:03,840 than having a great forehand? 203 00:08:03,840 --> 00:08:05,720 You know, if you're gonna have a great shot, 204 00:08:05,720 --> 00:08:07,200 I'd wanna start with the serve. 205 00:08:07,200 --> 00:08:08,880 It's the most important shot in tennis. 206 00:08:08,880 --> 00:08:10,760 So that's all I didn't know. 207 00:08:10,760 --> 00:08:12,560 You know, if you were hitting them right out of the gate, 208 00:08:12,560 --> 00:08:14,320 listen, first serve is everything. 209 00:08:14,320 --> 00:08:15,600 So here it is. 210 00:08:15,600 --> 00:08:17,200 We're not gonna lie about it. 211 00:08:17,200 --> 00:08:20,040 (laughing) 212 00:08:20,040 --> 00:08:21,960 So where do you hang your hat? 213 00:08:21,960 --> 00:08:24,080 Where are you guys located? 214 00:08:24,080 --> 00:08:26,120 - I'm at Donut North Driving Club. 215 00:08:26,120 --> 00:08:30,520 It's a Chumantennis Club here in North of Donut, 216 00:08:30,520 --> 00:08:31,760 North Atlanta. 217 00:08:31,760 --> 00:08:33,600 So I teach all my lessons out of there. 218 00:08:33,600 --> 00:08:36,080 I travel at times, not much anymore. 219 00:08:36,080 --> 00:08:37,880 I like having people come to me. 220 00:08:37,880 --> 00:08:40,160 One thing I hope in the future for tennis coaches 221 00:08:40,160 --> 00:08:41,960 that we don't have to travel as much, 222 00:08:41,960 --> 00:08:45,440 and every other sport or mastery you come to the master. 223 00:08:45,440 --> 00:08:47,600 You don't, master doesn't come to you. 224 00:08:47,600 --> 00:08:48,440 (laughing) 225 00:08:48,440 --> 00:08:49,720 And I believe that coaches may be 226 00:08:49,720 --> 00:08:52,560 are tired of trekking their cars all over the city, 227 00:08:52,560 --> 00:08:53,640 especially to Atlanta, 228 00:08:53,640 --> 00:08:55,640 trying to teach tennis lessons to make a living. 229 00:08:55,640 --> 00:08:57,240 I like to make it a norm. 230 00:08:57,240 --> 00:08:58,520 But we'll get to that question later, 231 00:08:58,520 --> 00:09:00,840 but I would hope that for more coaches here in the industry. 232 00:09:00,840 --> 00:09:01,840 - Well, no, but that is, 233 00:09:01,840 --> 00:09:03,640 and I think it's very specific to Atlanta. 234 00:09:03,640 --> 00:09:06,560 And I think that's something that we have to deal with. 235 00:09:06,560 --> 00:09:08,280 We're a lot to blame for it, of course, 236 00:09:08,280 --> 00:09:09,880 'cause we made ourselves accessible, 237 00:09:09,880 --> 00:09:10,800 but I think you're right. 238 00:09:10,800 --> 00:09:12,800 And you lose control, 239 00:09:12,800 --> 00:09:16,440 and it's hard to set a culture if this isn't your house. 240 00:09:16,440 --> 00:09:18,320 You can't go to somebody else's house 241 00:09:18,320 --> 00:09:19,280 and tell them to clean up, 242 00:09:19,280 --> 00:09:21,480 but if they come to your house, clean up. 243 00:09:21,480 --> 00:09:23,280 - Exactly. 244 00:09:23,280 --> 00:09:25,560 - So absolutely. 245 00:09:25,560 --> 00:09:26,760 And how long you've been at? 246 00:09:26,760 --> 00:09:27,680 How long you've been doing it? 247 00:09:27,680 --> 00:09:29,640 'Cause you're still, I mean, we met, God almighty. 248 00:09:29,640 --> 00:09:32,240 How long has it been already since we met? 249 00:09:32,240 --> 00:09:35,920 - Wow, so that was probably 2016 when we met. 250 00:09:35,920 --> 00:09:37,320 - Is it that long already? 251 00:09:37,320 --> 00:09:40,080 We were at Atlanta Country Club? 252 00:09:40,080 --> 00:09:40,920 - Yes. 253 00:09:40,920 --> 00:09:42,400 - No, no, no. 254 00:09:42,400 --> 00:09:43,760 - That's hard-firing in itself. 255 00:09:43,760 --> 00:09:45,560 - I remember Bobby came and helped us 256 00:09:45,560 --> 00:09:48,000 with like, and he was doing something like this. 257 00:09:48,000 --> 00:09:48,920 - The Miyagi! 258 00:09:48,920 --> 00:09:49,760 (laughing) 259 00:09:49,760 --> 00:09:52,640 - I'm done properly, it is indefensible. 260 00:09:52,640 --> 00:09:54,440 I was like, "This guy's the personality." 261 00:09:54,440 --> 00:09:57,080 - We get asked up here. 262 00:09:57,080 --> 00:09:58,480 Do you guys teach that for hand? 263 00:09:58,480 --> 00:10:01,160 And I'm like, "No, that's just something that, 264 00:10:01,160 --> 00:10:04,600 but now everybody's PC world, I'm more careful, 265 00:10:04,600 --> 00:10:06,280 but that's from Karate Kid. 266 00:10:06,280 --> 00:10:09,800 That was Mr. Miyagi, he taught Daniel Sun that move. 267 00:10:09,800 --> 00:10:12,640 And I was like, "That's a lot of people's forehands too." 268 00:10:12,640 --> 00:10:14,880 So yes, I love the Miyagi. 269 00:10:14,880 --> 00:10:18,680 It's still thriving, I'm proud to say, 270 00:10:18,680 --> 00:10:21,840 that the Miyagi still lives in North Georgia. 271 00:10:21,840 --> 00:10:25,400 - And Bobby, do you remember where you and I met? 272 00:10:25,400 --> 00:10:26,240 - I do. 273 00:10:26,240 --> 00:10:28,560 I don't know where, I remember where were we. 274 00:10:28,560 --> 00:10:30,960 Where did we took our USPTA exam? 275 00:10:30,960 --> 00:10:32,240 - At Land Academy Country Club. 276 00:10:32,240 --> 00:10:33,320 - It wasn't Land Academy Country Club. 277 00:10:33,320 --> 00:10:35,000 Is it really that we did it? 278 00:10:35,000 --> 00:10:36,640 Tom Daggers with those dead, 279 00:10:36,640 --> 00:10:39,680 I'll never get over Tom Trump and us like that. 280 00:10:39,680 --> 00:10:42,520 He played, he made us hit with Clay Court balls 281 00:10:42,520 --> 00:10:46,040 on hard courts and then Zoyntos on touch shots. 282 00:10:46,040 --> 00:10:46,880 I'm like, "Really? 283 00:10:46,880 --> 00:10:48,280 "Where were you using red dots?" 284 00:10:48,280 --> 00:10:50,320 How are we supposed to hit a perfect lob? 285 00:10:50,320 --> 00:10:51,520 - With these, that was, yeah. 286 00:10:51,520 --> 00:10:52,640 - In key balls you brought up. 287 00:10:52,640 --> 00:10:55,440 - Yeah, it was also at Land Academy Country Club. 288 00:10:55,440 --> 00:10:56,640 - Wow. 289 00:10:56,640 --> 00:10:59,000 - And that shot along the way to see. 290 00:10:59,000 --> 00:11:00,640 - Yeah, say hi to Cam and Adriana. 291 00:11:01,320 --> 00:11:03,160 - Tom just tested my memory to see how I'm like, 292 00:11:03,160 --> 00:11:05,880 "You're orange and sorry, same exact orange and story, 293 00:11:05,880 --> 00:11:09,480 "except my idol was Jimmy Connors just 30 294 00:11:09,480 --> 00:11:11,360 "some odd years before, that's all, you know, 295 00:11:11,360 --> 00:11:13,360 "but same idea. 296 00:11:13,360 --> 00:11:17,000 "Roger was not born yet, so that's good for Roger." 297 00:11:17,000 --> 00:11:19,520 But same thing, bang it on the garage door, 298 00:11:19,520 --> 00:11:21,600 so certainly appreciate that, but I laughed yet. 299 00:11:21,600 --> 00:11:23,880 This year, Roger took Jimmy, 300 00:11:23,880 --> 00:11:25,480 that's a little bit of a different time period, 301 00:11:25,480 --> 00:11:27,760 but yes, we started the same way. 302 00:11:28,800 --> 00:11:31,080 - Yeah, I like those origin stories, 303 00:11:31,080 --> 00:11:34,280 'cause I think that's how we also can encourage the kids. 304 00:11:34,280 --> 00:11:37,640 And we're all interested in bringing in new tennis players 305 00:11:37,640 --> 00:11:40,280 and bringing in an adult is one thing as a new player. 306 00:11:40,280 --> 00:11:41,440 But if we, you know, hook 'em young, 307 00:11:41,440 --> 00:11:43,240 if you can get the kids interested, 308 00:11:43,240 --> 00:11:45,400 and it really is one of those things 309 00:11:45,400 --> 00:11:47,200 where the kids learn a lot from watching tennis 310 00:11:47,200 --> 00:11:49,720 on television, they may never get hooked, 311 00:11:49,720 --> 00:11:52,840 but they might learn what 15, 30, and 40 are, 312 00:11:52,840 --> 00:11:54,880 which can be confusing for a new player. 313 00:11:54,880 --> 00:11:58,200 So you'll be able to watch and encourage your kid 314 00:11:58,200 --> 00:11:59,480 to go home and watch television, 315 00:11:59,480 --> 00:12:03,000 which sounds counterintuitive to a sporting coach, 316 00:12:03,000 --> 00:12:04,880 to say go home and watch TV, 317 00:12:04,880 --> 00:12:07,400 but in this case, they actually get to learn a lot. 318 00:12:07,400 --> 00:12:10,240 And also sending them to a computer. 319 00:12:10,240 --> 00:12:12,560 So in this case, I want to ask, 320 00:12:12,560 --> 00:12:14,720 is your first sort of university, 321 00:12:14,720 --> 00:12:18,520 is it targeted adults, juniors, is it for everybody? 322 00:12:18,520 --> 00:12:20,760 Talk us through first sort of university. 323 00:12:20,760 --> 00:12:24,920 - I would say it's for whatever tennis fanatic, 324 00:12:24,920 --> 00:12:26,720 which there's some of us out there, 325 00:12:26,720 --> 00:12:30,520 that really wants to find ways to break through 326 00:12:30,520 --> 00:12:32,000 to the next level. 327 00:12:32,000 --> 00:12:36,320 So all of us have had that in our careers as players is, 328 00:12:36,320 --> 00:12:38,960 we feel like we've hit a plateau. 329 00:12:38,960 --> 00:12:41,600 We've polished the forehand, we've polished the backhand. 330 00:12:41,600 --> 00:12:44,360 Hopefully we've got our serve down, like Bobby said, 331 00:12:44,360 --> 00:12:47,480 sometimes that's for the last 10 minutes of the training. 332 00:12:47,480 --> 00:12:50,360 And then we've played a lot of tournaments. 333 00:12:50,360 --> 00:12:53,480 So we have that match play under our belt, 334 00:12:53,480 --> 00:12:54,920 and we just feel like we can't break through, 335 00:12:54,920 --> 00:12:57,120 we keep getting beat by the same players, 336 00:12:57,120 --> 00:12:59,880 we don't know why, I would be that person that comes in 337 00:12:59,880 --> 00:13:03,160 and say, have you considered how to structure your points 338 00:13:03,160 --> 00:13:06,920 in a certain way to give you a chance to beat these players? 339 00:13:06,920 --> 00:13:10,760 Because a lot of it is just learning how to play certain players. 340 00:13:10,760 --> 00:13:12,320 They frustrated us to get us under a scam, 341 00:13:12,320 --> 00:13:13,680 we don't know how to deal with it. 342 00:13:13,680 --> 00:13:16,560 And this is for anybody that wants to learn that. 343 00:13:16,560 --> 00:13:18,840 So that could be a 11 year old junior 344 00:13:18,840 --> 00:13:21,960 that's looking to break through and get a raking. 345 00:13:21,960 --> 00:13:23,760 I even worked with a gentleman, 346 00:13:23,760 --> 00:13:25,920 he was in his 60s when I met him, 347 00:13:25,920 --> 00:13:27,800 and he travels around the country, 348 00:13:27,800 --> 00:13:29,960 still plays national tournaments. 349 00:13:29,960 --> 00:13:32,400 So shout out to Captain Kaplan, 350 00:13:32,400 --> 00:13:34,680 hopefully he doesn't mind me dropping his name 351 00:13:34,680 --> 00:13:36,200 on the recording here, 352 00:13:36,200 --> 00:13:38,680 but he came to me, I met him on a hitting app actually, 353 00:13:38,680 --> 00:13:41,120 and he was like, now you're too good with your coach me. 354 00:13:41,120 --> 00:13:43,760 And so we started together, and he's in his 60s, 355 00:13:43,760 --> 00:13:45,840 now almost in his 70s, and he still trains 356 00:13:45,840 --> 00:13:47,640 and plays national tournaments. 357 00:13:47,640 --> 00:13:50,880 And he said, the program that you gave me still works today, 358 00:13:50,880 --> 00:13:52,640 and I had to lose for two years straight, 359 00:13:52,640 --> 00:13:54,040 but now I'm beating everybody. 360 00:13:54,040 --> 00:13:55,040 So. 361 00:13:55,040 --> 00:13:56,000 (laughs) 362 00:13:56,000 --> 00:13:57,720 - We're good for him that he's stuck it out, 363 00:13:57,720 --> 00:14:00,080 because in our instant gratification society, 364 00:14:00,080 --> 00:14:03,080 a lot of people don't realize we got to take a step back sometimes 365 00:14:03,080 --> 00:14:06,240 to take those couple steps forward that we're looking for. 366 00:14:06,240 --> 00:14:07,880 - It's all about the slow burn. 367 00:14:07,880 --> 00:14:10,720 We need to teach that more, especially with juniors, 368 00:14:10,720 --> 00:14:14,560 is we make it into a force fire for kids. 369 00:14:14,560 --> 00:14:17,240 We see a little bit of potential, and then we like, 370 00:14:17,240 --> 00:14:18,920 we pack their schedule with tennis, 371 00:14:18,920 --> 00:14:20,240 and so that's why we have so many players 372 00:14:20,240 --> 00:14:21,960 that we probably never got to see, 373 00:14:21,960 --> 00:14:23,360 probably some of the best tennis players 374 00:14:23,360 --> 00:14:26,160 that ever touched the sports, we will never get to witness 375 00:14:26,160 --> 00:14:29,360 on live television, just because they were burnt out. 376 00:14:29,360 --> 00:14:31,840 There's too much tennis, too fast, 377 00:14:31,840 --> 00:14:33,520 and by the time they get to the teenage years, 378 00:14:33,520 --> 00:14:35,080 they're gone, but like, I'd ever do this again. 379 00:14:35,080 --> 00:14:37,880 And then we get to play like an out of something. 380 00:14:37,880 --> 00:14:39,160 And they're like, where did you play? 381 00:14:39,160 --> 00:14:40,760 Oh, I played a little junior tennis, 382 00:14:40,760 --> 00:14:42,880 or phenomenal players on the court. 383 00:14:42,880 --> 00:14:44,600 So it's all about the slow burn. 384 00:14:44,600 --> 00:14:46,360 - And you're right, the statistics bear out. 385 00:14:46,360 --> 00:14:49,640 I mean, it's absurd, the percentage of division one college 386 00:14:49,640 --> 00:14:52,040 tennis players that one state are done, 387 00:14:52,040 --> 00:14:54,600 never pick up a tennis racket again. 388 00:14:54,600 --> 00:14:57,840 And to be division one, you obviously had to dedicate 389 00:14:57,840 --> 00:15:00,520 a good deal of your childhood to that endeavor, 390 00:15:00,520 --> 00:15:02,600 and to never do it again. 391 00:15:02,600 --> 00:15:06,720 It's sad, that it was so much pressure, 392 00:15:06,720 --> 00:15:08,960 and that's why I love, I'm with you. 393 00:15:08,960 --> 00:15:10,280 I'm a big tactical guy, 394 00:15:10,280 --> 00:15:12,480 'cause that's the creative part to me. 395 00:15:12,480 --> 00:15:14,520 The ground strokes allow you, 396 00:15:14,520 --> 00:15:17,320 it's like, and I'm not a musician, I'm not an artist, 397 00:15:17,320 --> 00:15:19,480 but you learn how to do it a certain way, 398 00:15:19,480 --> 00:15:21,160 then that's when your artistry takes in. 399 00:15:21,160 --> 00:15:23,280 And I feel the same way about tennis. 400 00:15:23,280 --> 00:15:26,440 Yes, you have to get some basics of fundamentals, 401 00:15:26,440 --> 00:15:29,360 but then that allows you to expand the court and see. 402 00:15:29,360 --> 00:15:32,640 And also, detactically, if you hit the ball in the right place, 403 00:15:32,640 --> 00:15:35,760 the ball tends to come back to a certain area more often. 404 00:15:35,760 --> 00:15:38,080 So you'd find that tactically might help you 405 00:15:38,080 --> 00:15:38,920 with your ground strokes, 406 00:15:38,920 --> 00:15:41,080 because you might find yourself hitting a forehand, 407 00:15:41,080 --> 00:15:42,600 for instance, more often than a backhand, 408 00:15:42,600 --> 00:15:43,720 just because of your tactics. 409 00:15:43,720 --> 00:15:48,000 So I love the, and I love the analogy of chess, 410 00:15:48,840 --> 00:15:51,160 because I use it all the time, how many, you know, 411 00:15:51,160 --> 00:15:53,560 you play chess, how often do you win with a pawn? 412 00:15:53,560 --> 00:15:55,160 The pawn can set it up, 413 00:15:55,160 --> 00:15:57,720 but you're kill shots, you're rook in your queen, 414 00:15:57,720 --> 00:16:00,320 and understand your rook's got limitations. 415 00:16:00,320 --> 00:16:02,080 So, you know, if you're really going 416 00:16:02,080 --> 00:16:04,560 for everything you want to queen, so I love it. 417 00:16:04,560 --> 00:16:06,600 So, when you get somebody, 418 00:16:06,600 --> 00:16:08,960 how do you get them to drink the Kool-Aid? 419 00:16:08,960 --> 00:16:09,960 How do you start to sit there? 420 00:16:09,960 --> 00:16:12,520 It's okay, hitting the ball 100,000 miles an hour 421 00:16:12,520 --> 00:16:15,280 is wonderful, but you know what, how about this? 422 00:16:15,280 --> 00:16:16,560 Where do you start with them? 423 00:16:18,320 --> 00:16:21,320 Well, you have to start with what they love to do the most. 424 00:16:21,320 --> 00:16:24,840 So, is it that they are enjoying a golden retriever, 425 00:16:24,840 --> 00:16:26,320 where they just love running back and forth, 426 00:16:26,320 --> 00:16:28,760 like a Gale-Mom Fee, who's still playing so well 427 00:16:28,760 --> 00:16:32,400 into his 30s, he's 38, and he's built different. 428 00:16:32,400 --> 00:16:34,520 He wins basically on a war of attrition. 429 00:16:34,520 --> 00:16:36,720 He gets to every ball, he uses his speed, 430 00:16:36,720 --> 00:16:38,720 and then every once in a while, I really hope, 431 00:16:38,720 --> 00:16:41,000 that's my dark horse in Australia, 432 00:16:41,000 --> 00:16:43,760 and open his Open-A-Seed Gale, go all the way, 433 00:16:43,760 --> 00:16:46,080 is if you learn how to get on the front foot, 434 00:16:46,080 --> 00:16:47,800 when you have the opportunities and go for 435 00:16:47,800 --> 00:16:50,240 his forehand is just as big as anybody else's, 436 00:16:50,240 --> 00:16:51,440 serve as well. 437 00:16:51,440 --> 00:16:53,720 So, if he could stop playing in the back court, 438 00:16:53,720 --> 00:16:55,480 fetching the ball and starts to move forward, 439 00:16:55,480 --> 00:16:57,440 I think it's good to probably help him with that, 440 00:16:57,440 --> 00:16:58,640 and he really could be a strong player. 441 00:16:58,640 --> 00:17:01,800 So, it's just finding what each player is good at. 442 00:17:01,800 --> 00:17:03,520 Are they artists, or they have great touch? 443 00:17:03,520 --> 00:17:04,640 You can use that. 444 00:17:04,640 --> 00:17:05,640 Better was one of those players, 445 00:17:05,640 --> 00:17:08,200 great touch of Bublik is the same way, 446 00:17:08,200 --> 00:17:10,960 as a great touch and feel, and then once you find that, 447 00:17:10,960 --> 00:17:13,840 then you start to put a tactical plan for them together. 448 00:17:13,840 --> 00:17:16,080 So, they can just, often as they can. 449 00:17:16,080 --> 00:17:19,840 What Bonfist just became the oldest ATP Tour winner 450 00:17:19,840 --> 00:17:21,360 with that win last week, right? 451 00:17:21,360 --> 00:17:24,640 So, he's, and in a great, like you said, 452 00:17:24,640 --> 00:17:26,640 and I used to scream at Chang about this, 453 00:17:26,640 --> 00:17:29,360 being five foot nine, you know, the idea of, 454 00:17:29,360 --> 00:17:32,480 he wasn't even five foot nine, but a grinder, 455 00:17:32,480 --> 00:17:34,040 and I'd be like, yeah, but if you imagine, 456 00:17:34,040 --> 00:17:36,440 like you said, as good as you are on defense, 457 00:17:36,440 --> 00:17:38,880 if you hit five more balls off that front foot, 458 00:17:38,880 --> 00:17:41,480 during the match, would that make a difference? 459 00:17:41,480 --> 00:17:42,560 I always use the Agacy. 460 00:17:42,560 --> 00:17:46,040 Agacy was certainly not what you'd call a classic ballier, 461 00:17:46,040 --> 00:17:48,800 but he always had one of the highest win percentage rates 462 00:17:48,800 --> 00:17:51,480 at the net because his dawn approach shots were so good. 463 00:17:51,480 --> 00:17:53,560 You know, to get people to, 464 00:17:53,560 --> 00:17:56,520 where tennis matches inherently are so close, 465 00:17:56,520 --> 00:17:59,320 especially, you know, as far to total number of points, 466 00:17:59,320 --> 00:18:02,760 your fight over the analytics, say, 10% of the points 467 00:18:02,760 --> 00:18:04,760 are gonna be the, you know, is what difference. 468 00:18:04,760 --> 00:18:09,120 So, if somebody wins, obviously, wins 50.1, 469 00:18:09,120 --> 00:18:10,560 they're probably winning the match, 470 00:18:10,560 --> 00:18:11,720 and that's scary about tennis, 471 00:18:11,720 --> 00:18:13,760 because you can also lose more points, 472 00:18:13,760 --> 00:18:15,960 but there's sometimes, you know, to convince them, 473 00:18:15,960 --> 00:18:17,720 there's a method to this madness, 474 00:18:17,720 --> 00:18:20,760 and I'm always afraid when you got to deal with the mind, 475 00:18:20,760 --> 00:18:25,200 so you must have a great deal of patience to do what you do. 476 00:18:25,200 --> 00:18:27,040 - Well, you really can excite players 477 00:18:27,040 --> 00:18:28,960 when you tell them that you can help them break down 478 00:18:28,960 --> 00:18:32,360 somebody mentally, and there's no more gratifying feeling 479 00:18:32,360 --> 00:18:35,080 for me than to be able to predict what you're going to do. 480 00:18:35,080 --> 00:18:35,920 - Yeah. 481 00:18:35,920 --> 00:18:38,400 - It's like the dad that fights like the five year old son, 482 00:18:38,400 --> 00:18:40,400 and he's like punching and like the dad's like blocking it 483 00:18:40,400 --> 00:18:43,360 like this, 'cause he knows what's gonna happen. 484 00:18:43,360 --> 00:18:45,360 Like, there's something that just refreshes your soul 485 00:18:45,360 --> 00:18:49,520 to be able to do that, and not many players know how to do it. 486 00:18:49,520 --> 00:18:51,360 They don't, and specifically what you were talking about 487 00:18:51,360 --> 00:18:56,360 earlier, Bobby, is those points that really win matches, 488 00:18:56,360 --> 00:18:58,840 of approach shots like Agacy, it's all about doing it 489 00:18:58,840 --> 00:19:00,320 at the right time, you probably heard this, 490 00:19:00,320 --> 00:19:01,480 you probably about Agacy figured out 491 00:19:01,480 --> 00:19:03,200 what Beck was used to do with this tongue. 492 00:19:03,200 --> 00:19:04,920 - Yes, it's the Cal. 493 00:19:04,920 --> 00:19:07,360 - And so he had the high that he knew, 494 00:19:07,360 --> 00:19:11,000 until the break points, and that's when he used his information 495 00:19:11,000 --> 00:19:13,080 to be able to capitalize, and that's what separates 496 00:19:13,080 --> 00:19:17,240 good players from fantastic players, is knowing when to do 497 00:19:17,240 --> 00:19:18,840 what you want to do to win. 498 00:19:18,840 --> 00:19:21,600 So so many people burn out early in the game, 499 00:19:21,600 --> 00:19:23,920 and then they lose because they lose on the key points, 500 00:19:23,920 --> 00:19:27,480 which are the 30, 40s and 30, 15s, so it's teaching them 501 00:19:27,480 --> 00:19:29,560 how to break down and match that way as well. 502 00:19:29,560 --> 00:19:32,520 - I love it, I love it. 503 00:19:32,520 --> 00:19:36,080 But again, you guys are both of you, don't remember, 504 00:19:36,080 --> 00:19:38,040 but when Ivan Lando was coming out, 505 00:19:38,040 --> 00:19:41,320 he had the crushing forehand, and everybody was afraid 506 00:19:41,320 --> 00:19:44,080 to play his forehand, and for two consecutive years 507 00:19:44,080 --> 00:19:46,000 that the US open Conner's beat him, 508 00:19:46,000 --> 00:19:47,640 because Conner's attacked his forehand. 509 00:19:47,640 --> 00:19:50,400 Now, granted Conner's was left, his best shot 510 00:19:50,400 --> 00:19:52,440 was his two handed back, and so they were going 511 00:19:52,440 --> 00:19:57,200 really mono or mono, but mentally he broke Lando's best shot, 512 00:19:57,200 --> 00:19:58,920 and Lando didn't have a reply yet. 513 00:19:58,920 --> 00:20:01,800 He was too young, he hadn't gone out on the journey, 514 00:20:01,800 --> 00:20:04,520 and Conner's was able to beat him by doing the, 515 00:20:04,520 --> 00:20:07,880 I'll take it even further, that's how Muhammad Ali beat 516 00:20:07,880 --> 00:20:09,000 George Foreman. 517 00:20:09,000 --> 00:20:12,040 You know, George Foreman's best punch and said, 518 00:20:12,040 --> 00:20:14,920 "I'm still here," and George Foreman had never seen that 519 00:20:14,920 --> 00:20:17,240 before, and Muhammad Ali, who everybody was like, 520 00:20:17,240 --> 00:20:19,840 "Old, gonna lose in three rounds." 521 00:20:19,840 --> 00:20:21,920 He ended up knocking out George Foreman, 522 00:20:21,920 --> 00:20:26,640 because he just got in his head, and the head is the biggest muscle, 523 00:20:26,640 --> 00:20:29,520 so if you can break that, you're in good shape. 524 00:20:29,520 --> 00:20:31,600 - And George foreshade the same an adult, 525 00:20:31,600 --> 00:20:33,560 people were scared of his forehand too. 526 00:20:33,560 --> 00:20:35,600 (screaming) 527 00:20:35,600 --> 00:20:37,040 People just like feared it, so they were trying 528 00:20:37,040 --> 00:20:38,080 to go to his back and all the time. 529 00:20:38,080 --> 00:20:39,720 What they didn't realize, they were giving him 530 00:20:39,720 --> 00:20:41,320 a lot of good practices. 531 00:20:41,320 --> 00:20:44,160 - Yeah, and then backhand, and they probably forgot 532 00:20:44,160 --> 00:20:45,160 that he's a ridey by now. 533 00:20:45,160 --> 00:20:46,000 - He's riding, yeah. 534 00:20:46,000 --> 00:20:48,440 - It's pretty strong, but when George figured out, 535 00:20:48,440 --> 00:20:51,240 I'll just go into his forehand with my powerful backhand, 536 00:20:51,240 --> 00:20:52,720 and then open it up to his backhand, 537 00:20:52,720 --> 00:20:54,280 that's when he started to crush Nadal, 538 00:20:54,280 --> 00:20:55,360 then other people figured it out, 539 00:20:55,360 --> 00:20:57,000 where he would beat him too. 540 00:20:57,000 --> 00:20:59,400 - I'd like to be Roger, I'd love to talk to Roger, 541 00:20:59,400 --> 00:21:01,800 and say, "Wouldn't you have been just curious 542 00:21:01,800 --> 00:21:04,520 if you unleashed that backhand three years earlier?" 543 00:21:04,520 --> 00:21:06,840 You know, where he finally said, "I'm gonna go." 544 00:21:06,840 --> 00:21:08,960 You know, I'm not winning by slice, 545 00:21:08,960 --> 00:21:10,680 and so I'm gonna, like you said, 546 00:21:10,680 --> 00:21:12,680 it got better in those last two years 547 00:21:12,680 --> 00:21:14,200 at the Australian when he won. 548 00:21:14,200 --> 00:21:17,080 It was like, holy cow, you imagine if he was doing this 549 00:21:17,080 --> 00:21:18,880 the entire time, he's winning, you know, 550 00:21:18,880 --> 00:21:21,680 blatant his career with essentially a new shot. 551 00:21:21,680 --> 00:21:22,800 And that is wonderful. 552 00:21:22,800 --> 00:21:23,840 Like you said about Monthes, 553 00:21:23,840 --> 00:21:25,920 who's still playing after all those years, 554 00:21:25,920 --> 00:21:29,000 still find and joy, and still trying to get better. 555 00:21:29,000 --> 00:21:30,520 And I don't think that ever ends, 556 00:21:30,520 --> 00:21:33,480 and I try to tell my, 'cause I wasn't traditional, 557 00:21:33,480 --> 00:21:36,000 I only played tennis, I played every sport, 558 00:21:36,000 --> 00:21:38,560 and it was always, if he ever catches up. 559 00:21:38,560 --> 00:21:40,400 And that's why I still excited about the game. 560 00:21:40,400 --> 00:21:41,960 I love to hit the ball. 561 00:21:41,960 --> 00:21:44,000 You know, in my adventure, still hitting the ball, 562 00:21:44,000 --> 00:21:45,360 and I still wanna get better. 563 00:21:45,360 --> 00:21:47,280 Now, I didn't have the same background, 564 00:21:47,280 --> 00:21:49,640 I played other sports, but it's still interesting to me. 565 00:21:49,640 --> 00:21:52,720 And by far, the most interesting sport to me, 566 00:21:52,720 --> 00:21:55,440 you know, I don't play any of the other sports I used to, 567 00:21:55,440 --> 00:21:57,320 but if I play something, I'll go shoot hoops. 568 00:21:57,320 --> 00:21:58,160 But that's it. 569 00:21:58,160 --> 00:22:00,640 That's the only other thing that I will still do, 570 00:22:00,640 --> 00:22:02,400 and I spent more time on a baseball field 571 00:22:02,400 --> 00:22:03,720 than I ever did anything else. 572 00:22:03,720 --> 00:22:07,240 But tennis to me just opens up so many things for you. 573 00:22:07,240 --> 00:22:09,880 And if you get to the opportunity to fight, 574 00:22:09,880 --> 00:22:12,080 and my coach was all about tactics, 575 00:22:12,080 --> 00:22:13,480 he used to call it the theory, 576 00:22:13,480 --> 00:22:16,120 and he was probably so far ahead of his time, 577 00:22:16,120 --> 00:22:18,080 but where I'm like you, and you're trying to, 578 00:22:18,080 --> 00:22:19,240 well, you know where the ball's going, 579 00:22:19,240 --> 00:22:20,360 and I say, yes, I do. 580 00:22:20,360 --> 00:22:22,080 Isn't that a big advantage? 581 00:22:22,080 --> 00:22:23,720 Wouldn't you like that advantage? 582 00:22:23,720 --> 00:22:26,440 To know where the ball's gonna go? 583 00:22:26,440 --> 00:22:28,360 It helps, it certainly does, yeah. 584 00:22:28,360 --> 00:22:31,640 - I hope that more players understand, 585 00:22:31,640 --> 00:22:33,080 as we talk about earlier about the chess board, 586 00:22:33,080 --> 00:22:35,320 it's not only knowing what pieces to move, 587 00:22:35,320 --> 00:22:36,960 but also how to use the whole board. 588 00:22:36,960 --> 00:22:39,640 And a lot of parts of the court just aren't used enough, 589 00:22:39,640 --> 00:22:41,400 and that's also something I help people with, 590 00:22:41,400 --> 00:22:43,960 is realize like, hey, but why don't you stay in here? 591 00:22:43,960 --> 00:22:44,760 You don't have to stay in here, 592 00:22:44,760 --> 00:22:45,840 they're at hash mark, I think, 593 00:22:45,840 --> 00:22:48,240 I'm one of the tips we shared on the podcast. 594 00:22:48,240 --> 00:22:50,160 You can stand all the way over to the aisle if you want to. 595 00:22:50,160 --> 00:22:52,520 Use the whole court when you're playing, 596 00:22:52,520 --> 00:22:55,280 like a good pitcher, don't let him know it's coming. 597 00:22:55,280 --> 00:22:57,040 Right, just comforted uncertainty. 598 00:22:57,040 --> 00:22:59,640 I've had the pleasure, and this one really got me 599 00:22:59,640 --> 00:23:01,960 to really fall in love with tactics, 600 00:23:01,960 --> 00:23:05,160 but I got to be on court with Louis Kaye. 601 00:23:05,160 --> 00:23:07,160 I can't not take now, he works for the LTA, 602 00:23:07,160 --> 00:23:08,280 and does a lot of work with the Brit, 603 00:23:08,280 --> 00:23:10,680 with Jamie Murray and all of them, 604 00:23:10,680 --> 00:23:12,200 and that opened up doubles for me, 605 00:23:12,200 --> 00:23:16,160 and then a beautiful mind, which is Craig Sicken-Rally. 606 00:23:16,160 --> 00:23:18,040 He's, I think, somewhere in the Carolina's now, 607 00:23:18,040 --> 00:23:19,280 and he's pretty to himself, 608 00:23:19,280 --> 00:23:21,000 but one of the most brilliant people 609 00:23:21,000 --> 00:23:23,240 when it comes to singles tactics, so. 610 00:23:23,240 --> 00:23:24,440 - He has to be here. 611 00:23:24,440 --> 00:23:27,800 - Well, he went, did you work with Craig? 612 00:23:27,800 --> 00:23:29,000 Was he still at Atlanta, I thought it's up, 613 00:23:29,000 --> 00:23:30,000 and you started? 614 00:23:30,000 --> 00:23:31,520 - I mean Atlanta, I come from the zero, 615 00:23:31,520 --> 00:23:33,960 I don't know, I don't believe he was there when I was there, 616 00:23:33,960 --> 00:23:37,040 but I, Marley Woods is another dear friend of mine, 617 00:23:37,040 --> 00:23:40,320 and she helped me connect with Craig for a brief period of time, 618 00:23:40,320 --> 00:23:43,640 and I got to talk to him and get some of his insight. 619 00:23:43,640 --> 00:23:45,480 That man is a, he's a brain. 620 00:23:45,480 --> 00:23:48,960 Like, I'm near compared to what he can do, 621 00:23:48,960 --> 00:23:50,440 but I try to say up a little bit what he has. 622 00:23:50,440 --> 00:23:51,960 So thanks Craig, and thanks Louis, 623 00:23:51,960 --> 00:23:53,680 if you're listening, I appreciate you all, 624 00:23:53,680 --> 00:23:55,400 you're helping players all over the world. 625 00:23:55,400 --> 00:23:59,000 - God, I haven't spoken to Craig in a while in a long time. 626 00:23:59,000 --> 00:24:00,240 (laughs) 627 00:24:00,240 --> 00:24:02,760 - He would, but he was here for a while, and Marley, of course. 628 00:24:02,760 --> 00:24:05,200 Marley came up and worked after she left. 629 00:24:05,200 --> 00:24:07,280 She came up and worked up here a little bit. 630 00:24:07,280 --> 00:24:10,080 Is she still up in the border of Tennessee, 631 00:24:10,080 --> 00:24:13,600 commuting too far, or do you wanna talk about, 632 00:24:13,600 --> 00:24:14,560 how old is her daughter now? 633 00:24:14,560 --> 00:24:15,400 There you go. 634 00:24:15,400 --> 00:24:18,320 I mean, her child, that's, that'll tell us how long it is, 635 00:24:18,320 --> 00:24:20,520 'cause she was a baby back then, so. 636 00:24:20,520 --> 00:24:24,400 - Marley is a woman that has traveled probably more than 637 00:24:24,400 --> 00:24:25,840 any of us ever will for kids. 638 00:24:25,840 --> 00:24:26,840 (laughs) 639 00:24:26,840 --> 00:24:29,360 I think she's traveled all over the world for multiple years. 640 00:24:29,360 --> 00:24:32,080 She's probably been on the court with almost everybody, 641 00:24:32,080 --> 00:24:33,880 and just loves learning. 642 00:24:33,880 --> 00:24:36,080 I've never met a person that loves learning more than Marley, 643 00:24:36,080 --> 00:24:38,560 so shout out to Marley Woods, too. 644 00:24:38,560 --> 00:24:41,200 A big part of the reason that I have the information I do. 645 00:24:41,200 --> 00:24:43,760 - And under the third confidence that she did. 646 00:24:43,760 --> 00:24:44,680 - We hear that a lot. 647 00:24:44,680 --> 00:24:46,720 We hear Marley's name a lot. 648 00:24:46,720 --> 00:24:50,200 And Nathan, before I ask you the King of Tennis question, 649 00:24:50,200 --> 00:24:51,240 which is my favorite question, 650 00:24:51,240 --> 00:24:52,240 I know you wanted to talk about, 651 00:24:52,240 --> 00:24:54,800 I'm gonna ask you the leading question, right? 652 00:24:54,800 --> 00:24:57,640 You wanted to talk about the state of instruction, 653 00:24:57,640 --> 00:24:59,960 and I wanna kinda ask what you mean by that, 654 00:24:59,960 --> 00:25:02,960 because we wanna talk about how is this gonna lead to 655 00:25:02,960 --> 00:25:04,400 better players in the future, like, 656 00:25:04,400 --> 00:25:06,600 where are we from a coaching scenario? 657 00:25:06,600 --> 00:25:07,960 I know that was a discussion you wanna have, 658 00:25:07,960 --> 00:25:09,480 so I wanna give it to you and say, 659 00:25:09,480 --> 00:25:11,320 what exactly do you mean by that, 660 00:25:11,320 --> 00:25:13,360 and where do you wanna take that discussion? 661 00:25:13,360 --> 00:25:18,600 - Well, we're losing a lot of players to pickable. 662 00:25:18,600 --> 00:25:19,920 (laughs) 663 00:25:19,920 --> 00:25:21,720 Right now, that's part of it. 664 00:25:21,720 --> 00:25:23,680 I won't touch on that today. 665 00:25:23,680 --> 00:25:27,240 I'm really hoping that the industry will change 666 00:25:27,240 --> 00:25:28,560 in the way that we collaborate more, 667 00:25:28,560 --> 00:25:31,320 especially here in the city of Atlanta. 668 00:25:31,320 --> 00:25:37,360 I would really enjoy seeing more instruction, 669 00:25:37,360 --> 00:25:39,880 where you have two coaches in the court with one child, 670 00:25:39,880 --> 00:25:41,240 especially in private lessons. 671 00:25:41,240 --> 00:25:44,640 So often it's like one coach and one player. 672 00:25:44,640 --> 00:25:45,800 There's a lot of benefit, 673 00:25:45,800 --> 00:25:47,560 and you see it on the tour all the time, 674 00:25:47,560 --> 00:25:50,080 and probably have more of the means to be able to do that, 675 00:25:50,080 --> 00:25:53,160 to be able to have one coach in the back talking to him, 676 00:25:53,160 --> 00:25:55,760 given tips, one coach may be hitting with them, 677 00:25:55,760 --> 00:25:57,680 or feeding to them, 678 00:25:57,680 --> 00:26:01,440 and so having that dual instruction going on would be nice. 679 00:26:01,440 --> 00:26:02,560 And then, like I said earlier, 680 00:26:02,560 --> 00:26:04,640 integrating tactical awareness 681 00:26:04,640 --> 00:26:08,720 and understanding patterns of play early on with players. 682 00:26:08,720 --> 00:26:11,800 And to remember, the kids can handle it. 683 00:26:11,800 --> 00:26:13,400 Sometimes I feel like in the industry, 684 00:26:13,400 --> 00:26:15,440 and I'll only speak through the city of Atlanta, 685 00:26:15,440 --> 00:26:17,560 is we dumb it down because we don't think 686 00:26:17,560 --> 00:26:19,640 that the players can understand it. 687 00:26:19,640 --> 00:26:21,720 The kids are resilient, they can learn anything. 688 00:26:21,720 --> 00:26:26,160 So trusting that they can soak in the information 689 00:26:26,160 --> 00:26:27,200 and take it to heart, 690 00:26:27,200 --> 00:26:28,880 and they may not be listening all the time, 691 00:26:28,880 --> 00:26:32,640 but even if it's one or two tips that they grasp, 692 00:26:32,640 --> 00:26:33,800 and they can use it in a match, 693 00:26:33,800 --> 00:26:35,720 and they're like, whoa, it actually worked, 694 00:26:35,720 --> 00:26:37,720 then they'll come back, hey, give me more, give me more. 695 00:26:37,720 --> 00:26:41,040 And so I'm hoping that that is something that will change. 696 00:26:41,040 --> 00:26:42,960 And then being able to, 697 00:26:42,960 --> 00:26:45,760 when we talk about this a lot, 698 00:26:45,760 --> 00:26:47,720 Sean and I is, and Bobby as well, 699 00:26:47,720 --> 00:26:49,760 is being able to know that the player 700 00:26:49,760 --> 00:26:51,800 may not be with you for life. 701 00:26:51,800 --> 00:26:54,040 So if you know that you're specialised 702 00:26:54,040 --> 00:26:55,800 tact is like mine, I'm a tactical person, 703 00:26:55,800 --> 00:26:58,320 I can teach all the other strokes and techniques, 704 00:26:58,320 --> 00:27:01,520 we all know that, but if I know that somebody's a specialist 705 00:27:01,520 --> 00:27:04,280 in a certain category, and I know that they have availability, 706 00:27:04,280 --> 00:27:06,480 I'm a send them to that person. 707 00:27:06,480 --> 00:27:09,680 So sharing more often would really help the industry 708 00:27:09,680 --> 00:27:11,240 in a big way. 709 00:27:11,240 --> 00:27:13,520 OK, so I'm gonna put you on the spot a little bit. 710 00:27:13,520 --> 00:27:15,680 How do we convince others of this? 711 00:27:15,680 --> 00:27:18,280 Because you're speaking the GoTennis language. 712 00:27:18,280 --> 00:27:20,800 Because what we do is bring everybody together 713 00:27:20,800 --> 00:27:22,680 and we share resources. 714 00:27:22,680 --> 00:27:26,000 And as an example, I run Bobby's 12 and under. 715 00:27:26,000 --> 00:27:29,040 I have a specialty, I'm good with little kids. 716 00:27:29,040 --> 00:27:31,080 Bobby doesn't have the time to do it. 717 00:27:31,080 --> 00:27:32,920 But as most tennis coaches are gonna say, 718 00:27:32,920 --> 00:27:34,960 well, I can coach every single thing, 719 00:27:34,960 --> 00:27:37,440 and I'm gonna make sure I make all the money. 720 00:27:37,440 --> 00:27:40,920 As opposed to, let's bring it, let's expand the pie, 721 00:27:40,920 --> 00:27:43,240 as opposed to trying to chop up a little bit. 722 00:27:43,240 --> 00:27:47,000 How do we convince others that working together is OK? 723 00:27:47,000 --> 00:27:51,760 We don't have to wear all the hats all the time. 724 00:27:51,760 --> 00:27:54,440 It's a lack of information. 725 00:27:54,440 --> 00:27:57,760 So any business person, like a real business, 726 00:27:57,760 --> 00:28:00,360 Matt Rick will know that you will never make as much money 727 00:28:00,360 --> 00:28:01,920 as you can all in your own. 728 00:28:01,920 --> 00:28:05,640 And CEOs and founders, founders never 729 00:28:05,640 --> 00:28:07,880 make the most amount of money if they retain 730 00:28:07,880 --> 00:28:10,360 100% of their companies. 731 00:28:10,360 --> 00:28:13,680 If they really want to grow, they always bring in outside people. 732 00:28:13,680 --> 00:28:16,800 And they may have 20% or 30% of their companies. 733 00:28:16,800 --> 00:28:17,760 But that's the way that they grow. 734 00:28:17,760 --> 00:28:19,880 They bring other people in that have investment, 735 00:28:19,880 --> 00:28:21,440 that have interest in the company, 736 00:28:21,440 --> 00:28:23,360 and that's how you really grow something to be. 737 00:28:23,360 --> 00:28:26,360 So if you're looking for money, it may happen slow, 738 00:28:26,360 --> 00:28:27,800 but it's partnering with people. 739 00:28:27,800 --> 00:28:29,560 That's the only way to really make something grow. 740 00:28:29,560 --> 00:28:31,200 If you do it all alone, you're gonna burn out. 741 00:28:31,200 --> 00:28:33,600 And then the whole industry that you have 742 00:28:33,600 --> 00:28:36,480 or your little island is dependent upon you. 743 00:28:36,480 --> 00:28:40,320 So if you're not able to coach, then all the cash flow stops. 744 00:28:40,320 --> 00:28:41,640 But if you have partners in place, 745 00:28:41,640 --> 00:28:44,720 and you can still have that passive income coming in, 746 00:28:44,720 --> 00:28:46,480 because you're partnering with other people. 747 00:28:46,480 --> 00:28:48,200 So it's just misinformation, I believe, 748 00:28:48,200 --> 00:28:50,000 or lack of it for coaches in Atlanta. 749 00:28:50,000 --> 00:28:51,520 So you all really want to make some more money 750 00:28:51,520 --> 00:28:53,160 than partner with each other. 751 00:28:53,160 --> 00:28:57,000 Bobby, can we just put him on a loop 752 00:28:57,000 --> 00:29:00,120 and just play him on the YouTube channel, just loop him? 753 00:29:00,120 --> 00:29:01,920 - You know, you get an amen out of me for that. 754 00:29:01,920 --> 00:29:06,920 And that's exactly why nobody can grow their business. 755 00:29:06,920 --> 00:29:10,320 Like you said, it's stagnated 756 00:29:10,320 --> 00:29:13,080 because everybody wants their name on the marquee. 757 00:29:13,080 --> 00:29:18,080 And I've always been a proponent of it and talked about it, 758 00:29:18,080 --> 00:29:21,640 but then when I actually did it and found the right partners 759 00:29:21,640 --> 00:29:25,840 to use, like you said, and forget about just the money aspect 760 00:29:25,840 --> 00:29:29,200 of it, my God, does it make it more fun for everybody? 761 00:29:29,200 --> 00:29:32,480 Because like Sean says, nobody wants to be coaching 762 00:29:32,480 --> 00:29:34,640 their 12 and under because I am 12 and under. 763 00:29:34,640 --> 00:29:37,160 So I'm gonna be the biggest distraction on the court. 764 00:29:37,160 --> 00:29:39,760 So make me come down there for three minutes, say hello, 765 00:29:39,760 --> 00:29:41,440 get the kids riled up and leave, 766 00:29:41,440 --> 00:29:43,000 because you're gonna want me to leave, 767 00:29:43,000 --> 00:29:45,360 'cause they're not gonna learn the Miyagi. 768 00:29:45,360 --> 00:29:47,920 And that's good for last, but it's not really 769 00:29:47,920 --> 00:29:49,200 improving their tennis. 770 00:29:49,200 --> 00:29:52,520 So it's knowing where your strength is 771 00:29:52,520 --> 00:29:55,680 and putting it in and saying that. 772 00:29:55,680 --> 00:29:57,120 I couldn't agree more. 773 00:29:57,120 --> 00:29:59,440 And as you said, that's what we're trying to do. 774 00:29:59,440 --> 00:30:02,480 And I think the fun part about the journey we've taken 775 00:30:02,480 --> 00:30:04,120 is finding the folks. 776 00:30:04,120 --> 00:30:05,800 And it's still hard to land it because 777 00:30:05,800 --> 00:30:07,440 hey, geography plays a role. 778 00:30:07,440 --> 00:30:08,280 There's no question. 779 00:30:08,280 --> 00:30:09,640 It's a big city. 780 00:30:09,640 --> 00:30:11,920 It's not the easiest city to maneuver, 781 00:30:11,920 --> 00:30:15,240 going east and west in this city would make you homicide. 782 00:30:15,240 --> 00:30:17,200 And I truly believe that if I had to drive even more 783 00:30:17,200 --> 00:30:18,120 than I do. 784 00:30:18,120 --> 00:30:23,000 So it's tough, but I would love to see the big organizations, 785 00:30:23,000 --> 00:30:25,600 you know, as we get more involved with the GPTA or, 786 00:30:25,600 --> 00:30:27,880 you know, the US or whatever they're gonna become, 787 00:30:27,880 --> 00:30:30,760 to do something like this, not just for the instructors. 788 00:30:30,760 --> 00:30:33,040 This is one of my biggest gripes. 789 00:30:33,040 --> 00:30:36,160 We get together on the top level 790 00:30:36,160 --> 00:30:38,640 or the coaching level to share ideas. 791 00:30:38,640 --> 00:30:42,320 Why don't we bring every, a lot of different coaches together? 792 00:30:42,320 --> 00:30:44,960 I think that's why the Northside Hospital event 793 00:30:44,960 --> 00:30:47,280 has been so successful throughout the years 794 00:30:47,280 --> 00:30:50,480 because you bring in a lot of different people 795 00:30:50,480 --> 00:30:52,080 with a lot of different knowledge for one day. 796 00:30:52,080 --> 00:30:53,520 It should be done more. 797 00:30:53,520 --> 00:30:55,240 I think it would be done more. 798 00:30:55,240 --> 00:30:57,520 And hey, you're gonna make more money and be, 799 00:30:57,520 --> 00:30:59,840 you're just gonna have a lot more fun doing it. 800 00:30:59,840 --> 00:31:01,240 And it's gonna keep you fresh. 801 00:31:01,240 --> 00:31:05,520 - Well, you are doing that right now with the Goat Tennis. 802 00:31:05,520 --> 00:31:07,560 This has been good to see you and Sean partner up 803 00:31:07,560 --> 00:31:08,920 and y'all can do more. 804 00:31:08,920 --> 00:31:10,160 'Cause you can specialize in your area 805 00:31:10,160 --> 00:31:11,720 and let the other person specialize in the area. 806 00:31:11,720 --> 00:31:14,160 And then, you know, ask questions every once in a while. 807 00:31:14,160 --> 00:31:15,280 I was like, I know he's got it. 808 00:31:15,280 --> 00:31:18,240 Now I've got my part and we're better together. 809 00:31:18,240 --> 00:31:19,160 - Absolutely. 810 00:31:19,160 --> 00:31:20,400 I concur. 811 00:31:20,400 --> 00:31:21,240 - Better together. 812 00:31:21,240 --> 00:31:22,160 That's part of our tagline. 813 00:31:22,160 --> 00:31:23,800 Better tennis together. 814 00:31:23,800 --> 00:31:26,280 We still haven't figured out better racket sports together. 815 00:31:26,280 --> 00:31:28,320 Like, not everything scales into racket sports. 816 00:31:28,320 --> 00:31:29,480 - Doesn't flow. 817 00:31:29,480 --> 00:31:32,120 - Doesn't always flow exactly. 818 00:31:32,120 --> 00:31:34,080 All right, well Bobby got anything else for Nathan 819 00:31:34,080 --> 00:31:35,760 before I hit him with King of Tennis? 820 00:31:35,760 --> 00:31:36,800 - No, I have his phone number. 821 00:31:36,800 --> 00:31:37,880 I'm trying to call him anytime. 822 00:31:37,880 --> 00:31:38,880 - Oh good, we can call him. 823 00:31:38,880 --> 00:31:41,440 He's one of us already, which is good, I know. 824 00:31:41,440 --> 00:31:42,880 But we wanna make sure everybody's here. 825 00:31:42,880 --> 00:31:44,920 - Obviously we can call him. 826 00:31:44,920 --> 00:31:46,520 And one of the things I will mention, 827 00:31:46,520 --> 00:31:48,960 I don't remember if this was there the first time 828 00:31:48,960 --> 00:31:50,240 I maybe I just didn't check. 829 00:31:50,240 --> 00:31:53,600 FirstServeUniversity.com for anybody that wants to check it out, 830 00:31:53,600 --> 00:31:56,080 you can find it on our site if you forget what that is. 831 00:31:56,080 --> 00:31:58,560 It's in our shop and there's a link to it. 832 00:31:58,560 --> 00:32:02,560 It's 30 bucks a month and you've got a lot of content 833 00:32:02,560 --> 00:32:04,240 on there, you've got a lot of videos 834 00:32:04,240 --> 00:32:05,880 and a lot of tactical information. 835 00:32:05,880 --> 00:32:09,600 Does that also come with access to you 836 00:32:09,600 --> 00:32:11,680 or is it just the videos online? 837 00:32:11,680 --> 00:32:14,120 What do those products look like real quick? 838 00:32:14,120 --> 00:32:16,840 - It can and we're gonna do some big promos starting soon. 839 00:32:16,840 --> 00:32:19,960 So you might see a little bit of a drop in that rate online 840 00:32:19,960 --> 00:32:21,240 for how much it costs a month. 841 00:32:21,240 --> 00:32:22,760 - Ooh, discounts. 842 00:32:22,760 --> 00:32:24,080 - We're now at time. 843 00:32:24,080 --> 00:32:25,120 (laughing) 844 00:32:25,120 --> 00:32:27,800 - Yeah, so we wanna make it accessible to more people. 845 00:32:27,800 --> 00:32:31,920 We see a lot of progress and a lot of good feedback 846 00:32:31,920 --> 00:32:33,440 from the information. 847 00:32:33,440 --> 00:32:35,600 So we wanna open it up to more people in Atlanta. 848 00:32:35,600 --> 00:32:37,040 People like me growing up, I didn't have, 849 00:32:37,040 --> 00:32:39,600 we didn't have a lot of money to be able to pay for tennis lessons. 850 00:32:39,600 --> 00:32:42,640 So if I did, who knows, you all might have been seeing me 851 00:32:42,640 --> 00:32:45,280 in the US open crack and I wasn't expecting. 852 00:32:45,280 --> 00:32:46,440 Just know what I had that exposure, 853 00:32:46,440 --> 00:32:49,400 but God knew that there's something better for me to do. 854 00:32:49,400 --> 00:32:52,280 That being said, you can find it online 855 00:32:52,280 --> 00:32:56,040 and yeah, sometimes access, if you all need help 856 00:32:56,040 --> 00:32:57,960 and I'm in your area, like I said, 857 00:32:57,960 --> 00:32:59,080 I don't like to travel anymore. 858 00:32:59,080 --> 00:33:01,720 So if you can come to me, then I'm always open to meet 859 00:33:01,720 --> 00:33:03,920 the players at least one time and we can record it 860 00:33:03,920 --> 00:33:05,560 so they can have it for themselves. 861 00:33:05,560 --> 00:33:07,280 And then also we have a sportswear company too. 862 00:33:07,280 --> 00:33:09,440 If y'all wanna check that out, it's called the baller, 863 00:33:09,440 --> 00:33:10,720 like the baller. 864 00:33:10,720 --> 00:33:11,720 - Okay. 865 00:33:11,720 --> 00:33:14,200 - See that, there's also sportswear line 866 00:33:14,200 --> 00:33:16,160 that we got if y'all wanna get some of that merch. 867 00:33:16,160 --> 00:33:18,920 - Yeah, and we saw the baller, I like that. 868 00:33:18,920 --> 00:33:21,080 And we saw that online, is that you, 869 00:33:21,080 --> 00:33:23,840 you say we have a sportswear company, is that your, 870 00:33:23,840 --> 00:33:24,680 - Is it a family? 871 00:33:24,680 --> 00:33:25,520 - Is it a partner? 872 00:33:25,520 --> 00:33:26,360 - Family business. 873 00:33:26,360 --> 00:33:28,200 - Family business, nice, okay. 874 00:33:28,200 --> 00:33:30,440 Okay, yeah, support logo. 875 00:33:30,440 --> 00:33:34,760 - We'll make sure there we go, support the Nathan family. 876 00:33:34,760 --> 00:33:36,200 Which is part of the go tennis family. 877 00:33:36,200 --> 00:33:38,320 So therefore you should also support them. 878 00:33:38,320 --> 00:33:42,480 Aside from the self-serving comments. 879 00:33:42,480 --> 00:33:44,840 All right, so Nathan, I appreciate your time 880 00:33:44,840 --> 00:33:47,560 and we wanna ask obviously our favorite question, 881 00:33:47,560 --> 00:33:49,320 which of course you know is coming, 882 00:33:49,320 --> 00:33:50,880 which is the King of Tennis question. 883 00:33:50,880 --> 00:33:53,520 And if you were King of Tennis, 884 00:33:53,520 --> 00:33:55,960 is there anything you would do or change? 885 00:33:55,960 --> 00:33:57,880 - Ooh. 886 00:33:57,880 --> 00:34:04,000 - Anywhere in the world or just Atlanta, you can scale. 887 00:34:04,000 --> 00:34:05,360 Is there anything you would do or change 888 00:34:05,360 --> 00:34:06,680 if you were King of Tennis? 889 00:34:06,680 --> 00:34:12,920 - If I ruled the kingdom, I would, 890 00:34:12,920 --> 00:34:15,440 I would say there'd be more sharing of facilities for coaches. 891 00:34:15,440 --> 00:34:17,440 So there's a lot of coaches that could do more good 892 00:34:17,440 --> 00:34:20,080 if in their down times they would allow 893 00:34:20,080 --> 00:34:21,920 some of the maybe independent contractors 894 00:34:21,920 --> 00:34:22,760 be on their courts. 895 00:34:22,760 --> 00:34:25,920 So like public parks that use their own by academies, 896 00:34:25,920 --> 00:34:28,920 having them come in and being able to use their courts 897 00:34:28,920 --> 00:34:30,720 would be really good. 898 00:34:30,720 --> 00:34:33,280 And then I would have more coaches mixers 899 00:34:33,280 --> 00:34:34,960 that people would come together and meet other coaches 900 00:34:34,960 --> 00:34:36,680 in the area to do exactly what we talked about 901 00:34:36,680 --> 00:34:39,080 and network and see who specializes and what. 902 00:34:39,080 --> 00:34:42,240 Of course, tactical training and then, 903 00:34:42,240 --> 00:34:45,160 I would raise the higher minimum rate. 904 00:34:45,160 --> 00:34:49,080 I don't think there is a one for coaches at facilities 905 00:34:49,080 --> 00:34:49,920 and clubs. 906 00:34:49,920 --> 00:34:51,920 I would say that you have to pay coaches 907 00:34:51,920 --> 00:34:53,920 at least this amount. 908 00:34:53,920 --> 00:34:56,760 There's so much turnover here in the industry. 909 00:34:56,760 --> 00:34:58,960 It seems like every two years your coach is leaving 910 00:34:58,960 --> 00:35:00,840 because they're not getting paid enough 911 00:35:00,840 --> 00:35:05,560 or the facility or club is not doing right by the coaches. 912 00:35:05,560 --> 00:35:08,200 Sometimes you got bad coaches, they'd be let go. 913 00:35:08,200 --> 00:35:09,680 But there's a lot of good ones out there 914 00:35:09,680 --> 00:35:11,800 that should be paid their way in gold 915 00:35:11,800 --> 00:35:16,240 and everyone benefits from having tenure in their coaches 916 00:35:16,240 --> 00:35:18,440 and not having somebody new every time 917 00:35:18,440 --> 00:35:20,480 to coach them on the court. 918 00:35:20,480 --> 00:35:21,320 I like that. 919 00:35:21,320 --> 00:35:24,280 So raising the pay, now, does that also raise 920 00:35:24,280 --> 00:35:26,400 and I'm gonna pick in a little bit if you don't mind? 921 00:35:26,400 --> 00:35:29,120 Because I always take these King of Tennis questions 922 00:35:29,120 --> 00:35:30,520 and then I try to figure out how to actually 923 00:35:30,520 --> 00:35:31,520 accomplish it. 924 00:35:31,520 --> 00:35:33,960 Okay, this is all pie on the sky stuff. 925 00:35:33,960 --> 00:35:37,480 But one of my jobs is how do I make it happen? 926 00:35:37,480 --> 00:35:39,800 Raising paid is that also raised cost. 927 00:35:39,800 --> 00:35:41,880 So most tennis coaches think hourly. 928 00:35:41,880 --> 00:35:45,040 We think if I'm paying my coach 80 bucks for the hour, 929 00:35:45,040 --> 00:35:47,920 that's the hour and that's what it costs the player. 930 00:35:47,920 --> 00:35:50,320 If I'm working at a club, the club usually takes 931 00:35:50,320 --> 00:35:51,160 a little bit of that. 932 00:35:51,160 --> 00:35:53,040 So maybe I'm paying the club 80 933 00:35:53,040 --> 00:35:55,920 and the coach gets paid 60 and the club takes 20. 934 00:35:55,920 --> 00:35:57,920 If we raise what that coach makes, 935 00:35:57,920 --> 00:35:59,360 are we talking about the club making less? 936 00:35:59,360 --> 00:36:02,600 Are we talking about raising costs on the player? 937 00:36:02,600 --> 00:36:05,040 Have you figured out how you might do any of this 938 00:36:05,040 --> 00:36:08,960 or is this just snap your fingers and somehow it's magic? 939 00:36:08,960 --> 00:36:10,120 Which is okay too. 940 00:36:10,120 --> 00:36:11,120 I think it's okay. 941 00:36:11,120 --> 00:36:13,440 Sometimes there's not an answer. 942 00:36:13,440 --> 00:36:15,600 There is an answer to every question. 943 00:36:15,600 --> 00:36:22,680 Here's an interesting concept and we'll kind of 944 00:36:22,680 --> 00:36:23,920 conclude with this. 945 00:36:23,920 --> 00:36:27,280 In certain Asian companies, if the club is not, 946 00:36:27,280 --> 00:36:31,120 if the company's not doing well, let's say they see a drop in stock 947 00:36:31,120 --> 00:36:34,360 and drop in performance, a drop in whatever it is. 948 00:36:34,360 --> 00:36:36,640 They don't fire the employees. 949 00:36:36,640 --> 00:36:37,840 They fire the CEO. 950 00:36:37,840 --> 00:36:42,880 Because they say that it all starts with leadership. 951 00:36:42,880 --> 00:36:46,120 So I believe that at some of these director positions 952 00:36:46,120 --> 00:36:48,840 that are paying upwards of 80, 90,000, 953 00:36:48,840 --> 00:36:53,200 maybe six figure price tags to be able to direct. 954 00:36:53,200 --> 00:36:54,520 A lot of the people in the industry, 955 00:36:54,520 --> 00:36:57,240 so this would be another thing I would change as king. 956 00:36:57,240 --> 00:37:00,480 It would be to teach directors how to be stronger bosses 957 00:37:00,480 --> 00:37:01,840 and mentors. 958 00:37:01,840 --> 00:37:03,840 If you're in a director position, your job 959 00:37:03,840 --> 00:37:07,320 should not just be to be kind of a lookout over the city 960 00:37:07,320 --> 00:37:09,600 and just kind of like make sure all the pieces are moving. 961 00:37:09,600 --> 00:37:11,520 You should be pouring into your pros, 962 00:37:11,520 --> 00:37:12,800 teaching them what you know. 963 00:37:12,800 --> 00:37:14,440 You got there for a reason. 964 00:37:14,440 --> 00:37:18,480 And the industry suffers when we don't have that wisdom passed on. 965 00:37:18,480 --> 00:37:20,800 And so I would take a little bit off the director's cut 966 00:37:20,800 --> 00:37:22,560 and maybe make them earn a commission and say, 967 00:37:22,560 --> 00:37:25,120 hey, if there's a bump in participation 968 00:37:25,120 --> 00:37:26,840 and you get a bump as a director, 969 00:37:26,840 --> 00:37:29,120 but there's a lot of people that are getting paid a lot to do 970 00:37:29,120 --> 00:37:30,040 not much. 971 00:37:30,040 --> 00:37:31,680 And I think that's why the director positions 972 00:37:31,680 --> 00:37:32,680 are so coveted right now, 973 00:37:32,680 --> 00:37:35,480 because you know, you can kind of just sit back in your lazy boy 974 00:37:35,480 --> 00:37:38,080 and let the pros and the courts do all the work. 975 00:37:38,080 --> 00:37:40,120 Hot take and I know that probably ruffles some feathers, 976 00:37:40,120 --> 00:37:41,040 but it's the truth. 977 00:37:41,040 --> 00:37:41,640 I love it. 978 00:37:41,640 --> 00:37:44,880 And I'll ask Bobby, so Bobby, how's your lazy boy's reading it? 979 00:37:44,880 --> 00:37:46,720 Hey, you know, I've worked for a living. 980 00:37:46,720 --> 00:37:48,880 I'm doing a lot of directors, too. 981 00:37:48,880 --> 00:37:51,880 And you know, and again, unfortunately, 982 00:37:51,880 --> 00:37:54,080 we're speaking to somebody who drinks from the same ball 983 00:37:54,080 --> 00:37:56,280 as us. You know, I'm a poor kid. 984 00:37:56,280 --> 00:37:58,520 Finances were the same reason. 985 00:37:58,520 --> 00:38:01,560 You know, I look at how much better I've gotten over the last 30 986 00:38:01,560 --> 00:38:04,200 years. Well, I played more tennis than I ever did when I was 987 00:38:04,200 --> 00:38:04,720 growing up. 988 00:38:04,720 --> 00:38:08,600 You know, tennis was, at best, a two day a week sport, 989 00:38:08,600 --> 00:38:10,760 when I was busy, you know, when I was playing it a lot, 990 00:38:10,760 --> 00:38:12,800 because finances played such a big role. 991 00:38:12,800 --> 00:38:14,800 So I will never stop a lot. 992 00:38:14,800 --> 00:38:17,440 If a kid wants to keep going and I have the time, 993 00:38:17,440 --> 00:38:20,920 I will never stop a lesson because I want them to walk out 994 00:38:20,920 --> 00:38:23,680 of their fulfilled and feeling like, you know, 995 00:38:23,680 --> 00:38:24,680 how do I get back? 996 00:38:24,680 --> 00:38:27,640 And I think what Nate says and how do we implement it? 997 00:38:27,640 --> 00:38:31,160 And of course, I always judge a good podcast, 998 00:38:31,160 --> 00:38:35,560 a good conversation by what Pandora's Box, it opens, 999 00:38:35,560 --> 00:38:38,000 and it goes back to and any alluded to it. 1000 00:38:38,000 --> 00:38:40,920 And we try to not to ruffle fans either, 1001 00:38:40,920 --> 00:38:44,800 but there is a lack of leadership in our industry. 1002 00:38:44,800 --> 00:38:46,480 And that lack of leadership hurts us. 1003 00:38:46,480 --> 00:38:48,360 Here's a way to stop it right away. 1004 00:38:48,360 --> 00:38:49,480 We talked about it. 1005 00:38:49,480 --> 00:38:53,320 Make a governing body so powerful or so respected. 1006 00:38:53,320 --> 00:38:54,320 That's not even so powerful. 1007 00:38:54,320 --> 00:38:56,400 Let's say, respect it that you call. 1008 00:38:56,400 --> 00:38:58,680 So when you're hiring that director, 1009 00:38:58,680 --> 00:39:00,440 you should go to that organization and say, 1010 00:39:00,440 --> 00:39:03,840 who would be the best fit for what we're trying to accomplish? 1011 00:39:03,840 --> 00:39:07,920 So we can continue to perpetuate a positive message 1012 00:39:07,920 --> 00:39:09,720 of doing what we're talking about here. 1013 00:39:09,720 --> 00:39:13,360 Because like you said, I'd rather have 10 people working 1014 00:39:13,360 --> 00:39:15,400 under me than two. 1015 00:39:15,400 --> 00:39:18,200 So I want it to be, and if you would think, 1016 00:39:18,200 --> 00:39:20,920 if I got 10, that means that a lot of people are playing tennis. 1017 00:39:20,920 --> 00:39:24,080 So we're covering a lot of bases like that. 1018 00:39:24,080 --> 00:39:26,960 So how do we get the organizations where, you know what? 1019 00:39:26,960 --> 00:39:29,440 If you're not, as we're doing with the GPTA, 1020 00:39:29,440 --> 00:39:32,560 if you're not a GPTA member, you should not 1021 00:39:32,560 --> 00:39:35,760 be hired in the Atlanta metro area. 1022 00:39:35,760 --> 00:39:38,440 That's the way, because now we're going to say that we have value, 1023 00:39:38,440 --> 00:39:42,000 and that's going to be a way to raise what we do. 1024 00:39:42,000 --> 00:39:46,120 And like Nathan said, if you don't do it, 1025 00:39:46,120 --> 00:39:47,520 then you get fired. 1026 00:39:47,520 --> 00:39:50,560 But if you're going to aspire to be within this organization, 1027 00:39:50,560 --> 00:39:52,840 you're going to aspire to try to grow the game mentor, 1028 00:39:52,840 --> 00:39:55,000 do all the things you're supposed to do, 1029 00:39:55,000 --> 00:39:57,200 which should make you the money. 1030 00:39:57,200 --> 00:39:59,760 Well, there's a ramification if you don't. 1031 00:39:59,760 --> 00:40:04,720 So like I said, I love when an answer brings up more questions. 1032 00:40:04,720 --> 00:40:07,200 So it's exciting. 1033 00:40:07,200 --> 00:40:09,880 And Nathan's young enough where he can keep it rolling 1034 00:40:09,880 --> 00:40:12,680 as I get closer and closer to retirement. 1035 00:40:12,680 --> 00:40:15,880 And one more quick second-hawk take would be that there's 1036 00:40:15,880 --> 00:40:22,680 a lot of phenomenal instructors that should never be directors. 1037 00:40:22,680 --> 00:40:27,520 I think you should pay those instructors that are very good on court. 1038 00:40:27,520 --> 00:40:28,280 They love it. 1039 00:40:28,280 --> 00:40:29,600 They live in the jungle. 1040 00:40:29,600 --> 00:40:31,720 And they love the jungle of teaching. 1041 00:40:31,720 --> 00:40:35,520 Let them be there and pay them their weight and gold 1042 00:40:35,520 --> 00:40:38,520 and have them mentor other coaches to be as good as they are. 1043 00:40:38,520 --> 00:40:39,960 Don't make them directors. 1044 00:40:39,960 --> 00:40:40,800 Absolutely. 1045 00:40:40,800 --> 00:40:42,640 A very specific position that requires 1046 00:40:42,640 --> 00:40:45,440 in the poor and to all people help other people get better. 1047 00:40:45,440 --> 00:40:48,720 So I think there's a lot of past great instructors 1048 00:40:48,720 --> 00:40:51,160 that have become directors and not to their own fault, 1049 00:40:51,160 --> 00:40:52,760 because there's not a lot out there for them. 1050 00:40:52,760 --> 00:40:55,360 They haven't been taught how to lead teams. 1051 00:40:55,360 --> 00:40:57,640 So they're telling you you need to leave better, 1052 00:40:57,640 --> 00:40:58,480 but they don't know how. 1053 00:40:58,480 --> 00:41:01,040 So there could be more even some of those governing bodies 1054 00:41:01,040 --> 00:41:05,200 to be able to teach directors how to pour into their people. 1055 00:41:05,200 --> 00:41:08,000 And also the idea that a great player translates 1056 00:41:08,000 --> 00:41:10,720 into a great mentor, great coach. 1057 00:41:10,720 --> 00:41:15,400 The greatest coach in the history of football played the cross. 1058 00:41:15,400 --> 00:41:16,400 [LAUGHTER] 1059 00:41:16,400 --> 00:41:17,400 Yeah. 1060 00:41:17,400 --> 00:41:19,760 The tennis, you say that, it's absurd. 1061 00:41:19,760 --> 00:41:21,560 You know, like, well, what do you mean? 1062 00:41:21,560 --> 00:41:25,240 His story, I think, if somebody can correct me, 1063 00:41:25,240 --> 00:41:32,200 I would say the only champion that really maintained that culture. 1064 00:41:32,200 --> 00:41:35,040 And he played-- and this is way before Y'all's time-- 1065 00:41:35,040 --> 00:41:37,920 but Bill Russell, to me, is the Boston Celtics, 1066 00:41:37,920 --> 00:41:40,000 went from being the leader of the team 1067 00:41:40,000 --> 00:41:41,200 where he coached a couple years. 1068 00:41:41,200 --> 00:41:43,200 But he even transitioned, I think. 1069 00:41:43,200 --> 00:41:44,920 And he's a little bit-- I was alive. 1070 00:41:44,920 --> 00:41:48,080 But beyond when I was cognizant, I 1071 00:41:48,080 --> 00:41:50,160 think he was a player coach the first couple years. 1072 00:41:50,160 --> 00:41:52,520 So he was able to continue to set the example. 1073 00:41:52,520 --> 00:41:53,400 But I agree. 1074 00:41:53,400 --> 00:41:56,360 The biggest problem in our culture, a great salesman 1075 00:41:56,360 --> 00:41:58,520 does not make a great sales manager. 1076 00:41:58,520 --> 00:42:02,000 A great coach does not make a great director. 1077 00:42:02,000 --> 00:42:03,440 It's a different set. 1078 00:42:03,440 --> 00:42:06,160 A great player does not necessarily make a great coach. 1079 00:42:06,160 --> 00:42:06,800 You're right. 1080 00:42:06,800 --> 00:42:08,080 It's a different skill set. 1081 00:42:08,080 --> 00:42:10,400 And it's the easy way out. 1082 00:42:10,400 --> 00:42:12,760 And again, that's where I think the governing bodies, 1083 00:42:12,760 --> 00:42:16,080 if there was a pathway, we could facilitate it a little bit 1084 00:42:16,080 --> 00:42:19,400 where people felt comfortable with a first phone call. 1085 00:42:19,400 --> 00:42:22,600 So I would love to see that as a continuation as well 1086 00:42:22,600 --> 00:42:23,960 from what you're saying in Nathan. 1087 00:42:23,960 --> 00:42:26,200 So again, that's what-- I love it because we've just 1088 00:42:26,200 --> 00:42:27,880 opened up more questions. 1089 00:42:27,880 --> 00:42:29,380 We've probably opened up, like you said, 1090 00:42:29,380 --> 00:42:30,480 a pan-dorers botanical. 1091 00:42:30,480 --> 00:42:33,480 You've got the cat-a-words, but now people talk about it. 1092 00:42:33,480 --> 00:42:34,840 But it needs a discussion needs to be had. 1093 00:42:34,840 --> 00:42:37,560 You are doing so great here. 1094 00:42:37,560 --> 00:42:40,720 Hopefully a lot of people come and tap into what you are doing. 1095 00:42:40,720 --> 00:42:43,600 This is such a great way for people to get good information. 1096 00:42:43,600 --> 00:42:44,920 We appreciate your contribution. 1097 00:42:44,920 --> 00:42:47,160 We appreciate everything you do with us. 1098 00:42:47,160 --> 00:42:48,480 And we're going to keep it going. 1099 00:42:48,480 --> 00:42:50,840 Evidently, we're going to have to do this again and follow up. 1100 00:42:50,840 --> 00:42:52,240 Say, we're just going to have to do a King of Tennis 1101 00:42:52,240 --> 00:42:53,240 follow-up. 1102 00:42:53,240 --> 00:42:54,800 And we'll take that out. 1103 00:42:54,800 --> 00:42:56,080 Nathan, I appreciate your time. 1104 00:42:56,080 --> 00:42:57,480 Bobby is always-- 1105 00:42:57,480 --> 00:42:59,080 We will do it again soon. 1106 00:42:59,080 --> 00:43:00,360 And thank you, sir. 1107 00:43:00,360 --> 00:43:01,120 We'll see you next time. 1108 00:43:01,120 --> 00:43:02,120 Thanks, Nathan. 1109 00:43:02,120 --> 00:43:02,760 Thanks, Jonathan. 1110 00:43:02,760 --> 00:43:04,120 Great to see you, brother. 1111 00:43:04,120 --> 00:43:07,280 See you, Bobby. 1112 00:43:07,280 --> 00:43:08,680 Well, there you have it. 1113 00:43:08,680 --> 00:43:11,680 We want to thank reGeovinate.com for use of the studio 1114 00:43:11,680 --> 00:43:13,840 and signature tennis for their support. 1115 00:43:13,840 --> 00:43:15,680 And be sure to hit that follow button. 1116 00:43:15,680 --> 00:43:17,360 For more Racket Sports content, you 1117 00:43:17,360 --> 00:43:19,880 can go to LetsGoTennis.com. 1118 00:43:19,880 --> 00:43:22,480 And while you're there, check out our calendar of events, 1119 00:43:22,480 --> 00:43:26,200 great deals on Racket Sports products, apparel, and more. 1120 00:43:26,200 --> 00:43:28,800 If you're a coach, director of any Racket Sports, 1121 00:43:28,800 --> 00:43:31,560 or just someone who wants to utilize our online shop, 1122 00:43:31,560 --> 00:43:34,520 contact us about setting up your own shop collection 1123 00:43:34,520 --> 00:43:37,320 to offer your branded merchandise to the Racket Sports 1124 00:43:37,320 --> 00:43:38,080 world. 1125 00:43:38,080 --> 00:43:39,720 And with that, we're out. 1126 00:43:39,720 --> 00:43:41,000 See you next time. 1127 00:43:41,000 --> 00:43:44,040 [MUSIC PLAYING] 1128 00:43:44,680 --> 00:43:48,000 [MUSIC PLAYING] 1129 00:43:48,000 --> 00:43:50,000 [Music]