About this episode
Brian Barker is the guest for Episode 2 of the Tennis IQ Podcast. He formerly coached James Blake (ATP #4 player in the world) and is currently the Director of Tournament Training Programs at Tennis Club of Trumbull. In this interview, we discuss Brian's background as a junior player and his success at the junior level as one of the top players in New England, and then at the collegiate level as captain and standout player at the University of South Carolina. We also get into Brian's philosophy on helping athletes take the pressure off of themselves by focusing on their character and focusing on competing their hardest rather than just thinking about winning and losing. This is the same philosophy that Brian used while he was coaching James Blake and his brother Thomas on the ATP Tour. Interview highlights: 6:18 - Developing the mental side of the game as a junior. 15:44 - James Blake's rise as a junior and professional tennis player, and how his improvements on the mental game helped him improve as a player. 20:22 - How most junior players feel very high levels of pressure, so the goal for parents is to help their children relax as they compete, to prioritize enjoying the sport, and to put less pressure on their kids. 24:42 - Whether he is coaching someone at the ATP level or a junior player the goal is to have players focus on doing their best rather than getting caught up in winning or losing. 30:44 - The importance of failing and losing, and how the biggest winners in any sport, like Michael Jordan, aren't afraid to fail. He discusses how even the best players in the world still lose a high percentage of matches so being able to lose and keep going is a critical skill for tennis players of all levels. 36:00 - In the age of COVID-19, junior players are performing better now that their parents aren't always watching them and putting pressure on them. He also discusses the uncertainty that junior players are experiencing, and how this experience can help them become more mentally tough if they can view it in the right way.