Learn Like the Pro's

This past January I bought a book called Everyday Millionaires. For me it is not about having a million dollars. What I was interested in is what are the habits that your everyday people did to manage their money so they were prepared for the future and to be able to give. I tell you this because in our lessons  we teach the students the skills, habits, and technique that the professional tennis players use.  I do not go into this with the idea I am training professional tennis players. I just want to teach them the habits and skills so they can be successful. I should define successful also. Successful is looking good, loving the feel of the ball on the strings, being able to participate in different levels of play, and being able to teach their skills to some one else. 

The reason I always tell our students to love the feel of the ball on the strings, is because that has to be a WHY. It may not be your big WHY, but if you don't love the feel of the experience at some point you will quit. On that note, we release that tennis is not about the competition, it is a practice. It is not just going to practice, but a practice. When you think about the professional tennis players, we only see the tournaments on television. That is only 10% of the professional's practice. What is the other 90%? I like the way EXOS breaks down the habits into four pillars, Nutrition, Movement, Mindset, and Recovery. The first habit is nutrition. We have to eat well to perform well, regardless of what we are doing. We not only need to practice our technique and skills on court, but we need to work on our movements off court. The professionals do a lot of specific conditioning, but we can go for bike rides, hike, play frisbee at the park, take your pet for walks, or go swimming. Professionals also take time to recover. They get massage, foam roll, and stretch through yoga or specific programs. We can do the same thing, even some days are active rest. Last, professionals work on their mindset. This can also be a part of our recovery as well. Meditation, visualization, mindfulness, and positive affirmations are all apart of the setting a mindset for success.  In our classes we teach our students STAR breathing and the art of noticing. As they notice, they are always in the present. As they learn to STAR breath (Stop, Take a breath, and Relax with the mantra,"I got this." ) 

In closing, I find that it is important to model after the professionals, not because we want to be at that level, but that it gives us a framework to be successful at our practice.