TFP 041: Coaching Elite Junior Tennis Players with Adam Blicher

On Episode 41 of TFP I had the pleasure of speaking with Adam Blicher about coaching elite junior players and high-performance tennis principles. I first heard about Adam when I searched for tennis podcasts on iTunes. The Adam Blicher Show popped up, and ever since, I have learned a lot from Adam and the fantastic guests he has had on his show. Adam focuses on dissecting and deconstructing the minds of world-class performers & leading specialist in our sport. This is something that I love doing as well, so it is not surprising that we connected and did an episode that will help you all improve your tennis games. Adam also has a really cool show called Adam's Advice that will be up around the time of this episode. I highly encourage you to check out Adam's podcast and his show to further immerse yourself in the world of experts so that you can improve your tennis game! Time-Stamped Show Notes [2:33] How did you get to where you are today in your tennis career? [3:51] What is it about tennis that inspires and motivates you to get up and coach your players every single day? [5:01] What are 3 things most of the world doesn’t know about Adam Blicher [5:57] In your bio, it mentions that you dissect and deconstruct the best tennis performers and athletes so that you can teach others; How does one go about doing this type of in-depth study to improve themselves? [8:55] If you could go back and talk to yourself when you were a junior, what advice would you give yourself? [10:25] Pressure is a huge part of tennis; what type of mental exercises or training do you have your players go through to help them with this part of their game? [13:01] What type of advice do you give your players before they step out on the court? [15:25] What are your thoughts about meditation? [18:26] How can a player break through a losing streak? [20:22] If a player constantly gets tight on big points, what advice would you tell that player to help him/her perform optimally in critical situations. [22:10] What is a typical day of coaching like for you? [23:37] What are three keys to successfully coaching juniors in the 14-16 age group? [25:43] How much traveling do your players do, and do they ever have issues coping with the travel? If so, how do you help them with this? [28:00] What are some mistakes that you see other coaches making that inhibits the growth of their players? [30:48] What should a player do if they have to make a big technical change to a stroke (i.e. how much tournament play should they be doing)? [34:20] What type of fitness regimen do you put your players through? [39:22] Who are a couple of your high-performing junior players and what about them makes them so successful? [42:18] What did you learn from interning at the Patrick Mouratoglou Academy? What is it about coach Mouratoglou that makes him a great coach? [45:41] Which interview on The Adam Blicher Show is your all-time favorite, and why? [48:52] What was the best piece of advice your podcast guest gave on the show? [50:16] I understand you are planning to release Adam’s Advice; can you tell us about it? [51:12] What are three books that you would give as a gift to your tennis players? [52:37] Do you have a morning routine, and if so, what is it? [53:47] Adam’s favorite type of coffee [54:33] Where can our audience find you online and in person? [56:20] Upcoming podcast episodes [57:50] Key piece of advice to improve your tennis game Many thanks to Adam for coming onto The Tennis Files Podcast and providing our audience with a lot of great advice and tips to help you improve your tennis game! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices