A Parent's Journey Through Tennis ft. Anirban Dutta

Welcome to Season 13 Episode 42 of the ParentingAces Podcast, a proud member of the Tennis Channel Podcast Network. This week, Lisa talks with former touring pro and current coach, Thomas Drouet. Thomas started playing tennis at a young age when his grandfather introduced him to the sport at age 3. He was naturally drawn to the game and would spend hours hitting against a wall. At age 12, he entered the National Sports Center in France, where the top junior players trained together. At 18, Thomas transitioned from junior to professional tennis, playing for Monaco and later becoming a coach. His coaching philosophy developed as he worked with young players in Monaco, focusing on technique and tactics. He aimed to push the kids beyond their limits, despite their comfortable lifestyle. Lisa and Thomas discussed the recent announcement by the ITF allowing coaching for junior events and the potential impact on the sport. Thomas expressed his support for the decision, highlighting the importance of coaching in tennis and the need for players to have access to it. He also addressed the issue of unequal access to coaching for players who can afford it and those who cannot. Lisa raised the concern about the financial commitment required for junior coaches to attend tournaments, which Thomas acknowledged as a challenge. Thomas emphasized the importance of parents being involved from the beginning and understanding that tennis is a job for the coach, not the player. He shared his experience with his son, who expressed a desire for a better relationship with his father on the court, leading to them seeking the help of a psychologist. The psychologist recommended incorporating games and fun into their training sessions to balance the coaching and fatherly roles. Lisa agreed, highlighting the importance of communication and maintaining a healthy relationship between parents and their children, regardless of their tennis achievements. Thomas recently developed a card game for tennis players, particularly for coaches and young players. The game is designed to improve technique, fitness, mental, and tactical aspects of the sport. It allows players to practice and strategize, providing insights into their decision-making and personality traits. Thomas explained the effectiveness of his card game in engaging young kids and keeping them focused on specific tasks. He highlighted the game's ability to help kids develop mental skills, such as controlling their temper and dealing with stress during matches. The game can be purchased on Thomas's website at https://www.thecardschallenge.com/. To reach out to Thomas for video conferencing or other information, email him at [email protected]. Follow him on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/coachdrouet/. And don’t forget to register for our upcoming trip to Spain! More info at https://parentingaces.com/articles/join-us-for-10-days-in-spain/. The deadline is coming up at the end of November, so don't miss out! If you’re so inclined, please share this – and all our episodes! – with your fellow tennis players, parents, and coaches. You can subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts or via your favorite podcast app. Please be sure to check out our logo’d merch as well as our a la carte personal consultations in our online shop. CREDITS Intro & Outro Music: Morgan Stone aka STØNE Audio & Video Editing: Lisa Stone Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to Season 13 Episode 41 of the ParentingAces Podcast, a proud member of the Tennis Channel Podcast Network. This week, Colette Lewis of ZooTennis joins me to discuss upcoming changes to junior tennis at both the ITF and USTA levels. This episode was born out of an email I received from a member of the ParentingAces community asking about the potential trickle-down effect of a recent ITF announcement that coaching will be allowed at ITF Junior tournaments beginning in 2025. Who better to discuss this topic than Colette who attends several ITF Junior events throughout the year in addition to the Junior Grand Slams. She spends a good amount of her time at those events talking with coaches, federation insiders, and others about the state of junior tennis and what may be coming down the pike. Colette and I discuss the potential impact of allowing coaching at junior tournaments as well as today's announcement from the USTA that it will be using electronic line calling (ELC) at the upcoming National Indoor tournament. There are still many, many unanswered questions, but I hope this conversation will lead to clarification from our governing bodies and better education for all involved. If you aren't already, be sure to subscribe to Colette's daily e-newsletter at https://tenniskalamazoo.blogspot.com/. You can also follow her on X at https://x.com/zootennis. For the article explaining the ITF policy, go to https://www.itftennis.com/en/news-and-media/articles/explained-off-court-coaching-to-be-allowed-from-2025/. For Colette's 2023 article on coaching at junior tournaments, go to https://tennisrecruiting.net/article.asp?id=11269 (subscription required). And don’t forget to register for our upcoming trip to Spain! More info at https://parentingaces.com/articles/join-us-for-10-days-in-spain/. The deadline is coming up at the end of November, so don't miss out! If you’re so inclined, please share this – and all our episodes! – with your fellow tennis players, parents, and coaches. You can subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts or via your favorite podcast app. Please be sure to check out our logo’d merch as well as our a la carte personal consultations in our online shop. CREDITS Intro & Outro Music: Morgan Stone aka STØNE Audio & Video Editing: Lisa Stone Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to Season 13 Episode 40 of the ParentingAces Podcast, a proud member of the Tennis Channel Podcast Network. This week, two guests join Lisa to discuss the value and importance of journaling matches. Those of you who have been following the pod for a while are familiar with coach JY Aubone. As he mentioned in our last episode together, he has created a hard-copy journal for junior players that incorporates a range of questions, tips, and suggestions to help players reflect on and record thoughts about their matches. Mike Rogers is a life-long tennis player who has recently decided to train for and play Senior Tournaments. As part of his preparation, he realized the value of keeping notes on each match and each opponent which he was doing via an Excel spreadsheet. It occurred to Mike, though, that it would be much easier to have an app on his phone where he could record his thoughts immediately following a match, so he brought in developers to create Match Recall. The Match Recall app will launch November 1, 2024, but our audience can take advantage of a 50% discount with a 30-day free trial by visiting the Match Recall website and clicking the button on the top right for the pre-launch offer any time prior to November 1st. For more information on JY, visit his website at https://www.aubonetennis.com/. You can reach him via email at [email protected]. He’s also very active on Instagram at https://instagram.com/aubonetennis. From JY about the journal: Since 2018, my sole focus has been on guiding competitive tennis players to greater success in tournaments. I’ve seen firsthand that having the right strategy is essential, but without a coach by your side, it’s easy to lose focus during high-pressure moments. That’s where this journal comes in—it gives you the tools to stay calm, confident, and fully prepared when you step on the court. Here’s What This Game-Changing Journal Offers: Stay Focused Under Pressure: In the heat of competition, the journal helps you regroup, reset, and keep your mental edge when it counts. You can't talk to a coach in the middle of a match, but you can read your journal! Handwriting Magic: Writing by hand is proven to sharpen a person's focus and memory. The simple act of putting pen to paper will help players retain their strategies and prepare mentally, creating a deep connection with their game plan. Mindfulness & Calm: This journal isn’t just for match analysis; it’s a space for a player to clear their mind, reduce pre-match nerves, and boost their confidence. ParentingAces members will receive a 30% discount on any purchases. Simply contact me at [email protected] to access your offer! In the meantime, check out these links! For more information on Mike and Match Recall, visit his website at https://matchrecall.com. You can also follow him on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61557152754456 and Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/matchrecall. Mike is available via email at [email protected]. And don’t forget to register for our upcoming trip to Spain! More info at https://parentingaces.com/articles/join-us-for-10-days-in-spain/. If you’re so inclined, please share this – and all our episodes! – with your fellow tennis players, parents, and coaches. You can subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts or via your favorite podcast app. Please be sure to check out our logo’d merch as well as our a la carte personal consultations in our online shop. CREDITS Intro & Outro Music: Morgan Stone aka STØNE Audio & Video Editing: Lisa Stone Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to Season 13 Episode 39 of the ParentingAces Podcast, a proud member of the Tennis Channel Podcast Network. This week, Lisa chats with John O'Sullivan and Jerry Lynch, authors of the newly-released book, THE CHAMPION SPORTS PARENT. Jerry Lynch and John O’Sullivan are leadership, performance, and team culture specialists. Their work has received global acclaim in youth, high school, collegiate, and professional athletics. They are highly sought after by teams, schools, and sport governing bodies around the world for their work in athletic performance, coach education, and parent engagement. Jerry and John cohost the Way of Champions Podcast, as well as the Way of Champions Transformational Leadership Events, and both are national advisory board members of the Positive Coaching Alliance. Their first book together, The Champion Teammate: Timeless Lessons to Connect, Compete and Lead in Sports and Life received international acclaim and is used by high-performing teams and athletes on the youth, high school, college and professional levels.  In this episode, you'll hear John and Jerry discuss the importance of sports parent education and support. Their latest book not only imparts great wisdom but also gives parents the opportunity to go through some simple exercises to put the lessons into practice. If you've been a listener of our podcast for any length of time, you'll recognize most of the concepts but will also learn alongside Lisa some new and innovative ways to implement them. In fact, if you are interested in reading the book then joining Lisa online to discuss it, send her an email to [email protected]. Jerry has offered to join the online discussion as well. This is a great opportunity to convert knowledge into practice! To purchase the book, visit https://amzn.to/4eDFy1y (NOTE: ParentingAces may receive a small commission from the sale). For more information on John's and Jerry's great work in the youth sports arena, visit their respective websites: www.changingthegameproject.com and www.wayofchampions.com. To follow on social media: Instagram: https://instagram.com/CTGProjecthq X: https://x.com/CTGProjectHQ And don’t forget to register for our upcoming trip to Spain! More info at https://parentingaces.com/articles/join-us-for-10-days-in-spain/. If you’re so inclined, please share this – and all our episodes! – with your fellow tennis players, parents, and coaches. You can subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts or via your favorite podcast app. Please be sure to check out our logo’d merch as well as our a la carte personal consultations in our online shop. CREDITS Intro & Outro Music: Morgan Stone aka STØNE Audio & Video Editing: Lisa Stone Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to Season 13 Episode 38 of the ParentingAces Podcast, a proud member of the Tennis Channel Podcast Network. This week, we take an inside look at Intennse, a new team format that was recently showcased as a junior event in the Atlanta area. Lisa chats with two of the players, Sadira Ouyang and Connor Mowrey, as well as their parents about their experience. NOTE: To watch/listen to our earlier podcast with Intennse founders, go to https://parentingaces.com/podcasts/its-time-for-time-tennis-ft-charles-allen-yannick-yoshizawa/ Intennse is a new way to compete in our sport. Per the Atlanta event website, 18 participants (9 boys and 9 girls) were selected by WTN to compete in this event. Participants were divided into 3 teams of 3 boys and 3 girls; each team had a professional coach who was present on court during play. There were round robins in the categories of Boys' singles, Girls' singles and Mixed Doubles. Each team played each other once in each category and accumulated points. The winning team received medals and a trophy. Players from all teams will be invited to attend or participate in the Intennse college level rivalry event to be held October 26th. Matches consisted of two 15 minute halves; there was no second serve and the server continued serving as long as they held serve. Like college matches, lets were played; clean winners count two points, and teams can take one time out and make one substitution per half. Live coaching was allowed. Here is what the one-day event looked like, schedule-wise: 09:00 - 10:00.  Arrival 10:00 - 10:30.  Presentation / Rules and Schedule overview 10:30 - 10:45  Coaches introduction and Announcement of Teams 10:45 - 11:30  Teams warm up / practice and discuss strategy 11:30 - 12:00.  Break   12:00.  A Boys v. B Boys 12:30.  B Girls v C Girls 01:00.  C Mixed v A Mixed 01:30.  B Boys v C Boys 02:00.  A Girls v B Girls 02:30.  C Mixed v B Mixed 03:00.  A Boys v C Boy 03:30.  C Girls v A Girls 04:00.  A Mixed v B Mixed   04:30   Winner Presentations & Prizes 05:00   After Party As you'll hear from both families, this is a format they'd like to see included as a regular option on the junior competition calendar. If you'd like more information on Intennse and how to bring an event to your community, visit their website at https://news.intennse.com/ or reach out to Charles Allen at [email protected]. Their social media channels will be live very soon. And don’t forget to register for our upcoming trip to Spain! More info at https://parentingaces.com/articles/join-us-for-10-days-in-spain/. If you’re so inclined, please share this – and all our episodes! – with your fellow tennis players, parents, and coaches. You can subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts or via your favorite podcast app. Please be sure to check out our logo’d merch as well as our a la carte personal consultations in our online shop. CREDITS Intro & Outro Music: Morgan Stone aka STØNE Audio & Video Editing: Lisa Stone Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to Season 13 of the ParentingAces Podcast, a proud member of the Tennis Channel Podcast Network. This week, we address the topic that seems to be discussed over and over among junior tennis parents and coaches: CHEATING. What if we shifted our mindset around what is commonly called Cheating? What if we recognized it for what it is in the majority of cases: a mistake? That's the crux of this week's episode. As a top junior and professional coach, JY recognizes that bad line calls are part and parcel of the game, at all levels of the game from juniors to college to pro. As he took a deeper look into it, he came to realize that it's not the bad line call itself that is the problem but rather the player's response to it that can change the outcome of a match. In this episode, and in a new blog post on his website, JY outlines specific tools junior players can use to keep their focus even when they think a line call error has been made. He and I also discuss how parents can do a better job of choosing language when talking with their player(s) after a match where questionable line calling may have been a factor. For more information on JY, visit his website at https://www.aubonetennis.com/. You can reach him via email at [email protected]. He's also very active on Instagram at https://instagram.com/aubonetennis. Toward the end of the episode, you will also hear about the new player journal JY has created. For more information and to order a copy, go to https://www.aubonetennis.com/matchjournal. A discount for ParentingAces followers is forthcoming so please check the Community Discount page on our website for the code. And don't forget to register for our upcoming trip to Spain! More info at https://parentingaces.com/articles/join-us-for-10-days-in-spain/. If you’re so inclined, please share this – and all our episodes! – with your fellow tennis players, parents, and coaches. You can subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts or via your favorite podcast app. Please be sure to check out our logo’d merch as well as our a la carte personal consultations in our online shop. CREDITS Intro & Outro Music: Morgan Stone aka STØNE Audio & Video Editing: Lisa Stone Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to Season 13, Episode 36, of the ParentingAces Podcast, a proud member of the Tennis Channel Podcast Network. This week, Lisa chats with the mom behind Raising Happy Champs, a UK-based enterprise to help parents in all youth sports as they navigate through the obstacles of their children's chosen passion. Jen Harris was sitting at her daughter's gymnastics meet when another parent asked her for advice with her own child. After chatting with the parent, Jen realized that with her psychology training and degree, she might be able to offer something to other sports parents that wasn't available in the UK. She decided to go back to school to pursue a Master's degree in sport and exercise psychology. For her final dissertation she developed and tested an approach to sports parenting she calls the Super-P approach. Jen is now pursuing a PhD so she can further refine and test Super-P. Says Jen, "It is very important to me that my support program was designed using sport psychology research." What will you gain from the Super-P program? You’ll gain valuable insights and tools to improve communication with your child athlete. Effective communication is key to building a strong relationship with your child athlete. In this workshop, you'll learn proven strategies to improve communication and strengthen your bond with your child. You’ll get science and psychology backed approaches to parenting child athletes. Super-P is based on the latest research in science and psychology, ensuring that you have access to the most effective and up-to-date strategies for supporting your child athlete. The Super-P Approach will improve your child's performance through practical strategies to keep your child calm. This will help your child athlete perform better in competitions and events. Jen is close to finishing her PhD program and continues to work with parents across a range of youth sports. If you're interested in learning more about her Super-P program, you can check out her website at www.raisinghappychamps.com. To reach out to Jen directly, email her at [email protected]. You can also follow Jen on either Facebook or Instagram: Facebook: Raisinghappychamps Instagram: Raisinghappychamps Jen has graciously offered exclusive discounts for the ParentingAces community. SUPER-P 25% DISCOUNT: 25% off the SPEEDY SUPER-P Course - Jen's research-based education program designed for sport parents. CODE: ACES25. LINK to BOOK: https://www.raisinghappychamps.co.uk/challenge-page/speedy PREMIUM PARENTING PLAN: 50% DISCOUNT!!! For those of you looking for the full parenting support package - check out Jen's PREMIUM PARENTING PLAN for both parent and child support. 3 courses for one incredible price - SUPER-P, Anxiety Busting, and Learning How to Have the Best Competition Experience with her NINJA-P course. Already 35% off and all listeners can get a further 15% discount with this exclusive code. CODE: ACES15. LINK to BOOK: https://www.raisinghappychamps.co.uk/plans-pricing If you’re so inclined, please share this – and all our episodes! – with your fellow tennis players, parents, and coaches. You can subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts or via your favorite podcast app. Please be sure to check out our logo’d merch as well as our a la carte personal consultations in our online shop. CREDITS Intro & Outro Music: Morgan Stone aka STØNE Audio & Video Editing: Lisa Stone Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to Season 13, Episode 34, of the ParentingAces Podcast, a proud member of the Tennis Channel Podcast Network. This week, Ben Shapiro of Atlas Tennis shares their inaugural European tennis trip and plans for the 2024-25 school year. Atlas Tennis creates youth tennis camp experiences for teenagers to travel, compete, and grow both on and off the court. Its trips are designed to maximize player and personal development through travel and different tennis environments. The team behind Atlas Tennis includes not only Ben as the Director, but also former top ATP pro Eric Butorac, president of TopNotch Management Sam Duvall, former WTA pro Megan Moulton-Levy, and Andrew Chmura of Grand Slam Tennis Tours. Among them, they have decades of experience developing young tennis players, managing player travel and other needs, and competing themselves on the world stage. We have published a first-hand account of one junior player's experience on our website at https://parentingaces.com/articles/my-experience-with-atlas-tennis. For more information: Website: https://atlas.tennis Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/atlastennis/ Newsletter: https://eepurl.com/iGsOF6 If you’re so inclined, please share this – and all our episodes! – with your fellow tennis players, parents, and coaches. You can subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts or via your favorite podcast app. Please be sure to check out our logo’d merch as well as our a la carte personal consultations in our online shop. CREDITS Intro & Outro Music: Morgan Stone aka STØNE Audio & Video Editing: Lisa Stone Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to Season 13, Episode 33, of the ParentingAces Podcast, a proud member of the Tennis Channel Podcast Network. This week, we dive into a new way to play our sport that is time-limited, team-based, and provides a guaranteed income with benefits for players at the pro level. Time Tennis seeks to rethink the game to make it more fan-friendly, more player-friendly, and more tv-friendly. This is how it works . . . Players are drafted onto co-ed teams where they can compete in singles, doubles, and mixed doubles. Each match is 30 minutes of play, with a two-minute half-time show for entertainment and fan engagement. Coaches are allowed on court and may make one player substitution per half. The scoring is simple point accumulation: 1, 2, 3, 4, ... making it easier for casual fans to understand; clean winners are worth 2 points. At the end of 30 minutes, whoever leads is the winner, with a sudden death point played in the case of a tie. At the professional level, players are paid an annual salary with full benefits. The league season is 6 months with players expected to help run events and engage in their local communities during the off-season. Why? Because the way tennis is currently structured eats into players' mental health, financial stability, and family life. Time Tennis seeks to provide a way for professional players to build a quality life in the community they represent while giving fans that feeling of cheering for the home team. At the junior level, Time Tennis provides a structure for more team events in a time-limited setting, making it more attractive for tennis facilities to host competitions while preserving the physical and mental health of our young athletes. Juniors would compete as part of a co-ed team in all formats (singles, doubles, mixed doubles) and, hopefully, attract local fans to come out and cheer them on. For more information on Time Tennis, visit their website at https://www.timetennis.com/ and follow them on Instagram at https://instagram.com/timetennisintl, Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/timetennisintl, X at https://x.com/TimeTennisIntl, and LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/timetennisintl/. If you are interested in bringing a Time Tennis event to your area, email [email protected]. If you’re so inclined, please share this – and all our episodes! – with your fellow tennis players, parents, and coaches. You can subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts or via your favorite podcast app. Please be sure to check out our logo’d merch as well as our a la carte personal consultations in our online shop. CREDITS Intro & Outro Music: Morgan Stone aka STØNE Audio & Video Editing: Lisa Stone, August Allen Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to Season 13, Episode 32, of the ParentingAces Podcast, a proud member of the Tennis Channel Podcast Network. This week, tennis parent and entrepreneur, Anirban Dutta, shares his journey through junior tennis with his twins, Maya and Jai, and the creation of Tennis Wizard. This episode all started with a Facebook post (see below) Anirban made in one of our groups about his recent experience at Junior Wimbledon as Maya competed there. As he and Lisa spoke, he was able to share details about the differences in his two kids' pathways, which are both leading them successfully to play college tennis. Anirban Dutta has been a tennis player, coach, administrator, and entrepreneur. As a player, he played DI and DII college tennis and represented India in Junior Team events. As a coach, he was a junior development coach at Midtown Tennis Club in Chicago, Canyon Creek Country Club in Dallas and The Sports Club at Four Seasons, Irving. He was also DI men’s assistant tennis coach at Chicago State University. Recently, he helped coach his daughter Maya Dutta to 94 ITF and son Jai Dutta to DI tennis at Indiana University, Indianapolis. Anirban is also a founding investor at a Birch Racquet & Lawn Club owned by the Taylor Dent family. He was a board member and committee chair at USTA TX and is a Co-founder of an Inc 5000 award-winning software company called CompuMatrice. Currently he is focused on growing Tennis Wizard, a tennis journey acceleration platform for junior tennis players. Tennis Wizard provides junior tennis players with 1-on-1 accountability partnership, tennis journey guidance, college tennis guidance, and a wellness management program. They are offering a 30-day free trial at https://tenniswizard.com. We hope you find it helpful to get an inside look at this family's approach to junior tennis, how they budgeted and allocated that budget for each child, and the challenges of maintaining healthy parent-child relationships along the way. Anirban has set up a discount for our community to purchase Tennis Wizard. If you'd like to chat with Anirban further, he has generously offered to share his contact info: [email protected] (email), 817-403-5214 (cell). Anirban's Facebook post: https://www.facebook.com/groups/450459995340631/posts/2128048374248443 If you’re so inclined, please share this – and all our episodes! – with your fellow tennis players, parents, and coaches. You can subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts or via your favorite podcast app. Please be sure to check out our logo’d merch as well as our a la carte personal consultations in our online shop. CREDITS Intro & Outro Music: Morgan Stone aka STØNE Audio & Video Editing: Lisa Stone Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices