For Tennis Parents by a Tennis Parent

Wimbledon, that quintessential example of tradition in our sport, begins today at the All England Club. While I have never attended in person, I spend countless hours each year watching the matches and commentary on tv, reading analyses online, and following the junior players as they vie for the ITF Title.

Each year on the middle Sunday of the 2-week event, the schedule of play goes quiet. This year, ParentingAces is taking advantage of that day off to bring our Premium Members a webinar with two gentlemen who will be busy the rest of the fortnight working with their competitors in the grass-covered trenches.

Does your junior or college player struggle with staying focused on the court? Is anger management an issue? What about choking or the challenge of closing out matches? I don’t know about you, but I certainly could have used some guidance on these “mental toughness” questions when my son was still competing!

In this, our 2nd webinar, entitled What is Mental Toughness and How to Become a Top Athlete, we will cover:

• Simple rule of mental toughness
• Doubts and insecurities
• Know what you are signing up for – the real story of becoming a top athlete
• Q&A

In order to participate in the interactive session on Sunday, July 7th, at 12:00 Noon EDT, you must first become a Premium Member of ParentingAces.com. Once you have joined, you will receive the webinar registration link with instructions via email.

In addition to being a guest on the Webinar, David Sammel has offered to give a signed copy of his best-selling book, Locker Room Power, to one lucky winner! To enter to win, simply post an action photo of your junior player on the tennis court to Instagram, Facebook, and/or Twitter with hashtag #ParentingAces and tag @ParentingAces. Entry deadline is July 15, 2019. I will announce the winner July 31!

Here is a little more info on our Webinar Guests:

David Sammel has coached 17 players to representing their country and worked with top athletes in a variety of sports. He is still mentor to several ex-athletes who have moved onto business after their retirement and is the author of the best-selling book Locker Room Power: Building an Athlete’s Mind. 

“Athletes, coaches and parents come to me because they don’t know how to mentally navigate the complex world of performance sport and need honest answers … they trust that I know the answers and can advise them……based on real International Junior and Tour experience,” Sammel told me. “The journey from 14 to College or Tour or both has growing mental strength needs and my system caters for the different obstacles and stresses as they arise and allows players to tackle them mentally with great confidence, because they have a growing Champion mind-set. The huge advantage is the effects are immediate. I challenge anyone to come off their first webinar and not feel amazingly challenged yet optimistic about their future.”

One of the players David Sammel worked with is now working alongside him to help others achieve their highest potential. Marius Barnard turned professional in 1989, reaching a career high of 44 on the ATP world doubles rankings. During his professional career, Marius won six tour titles and was a finalist 8 times. He reached the Quarter Finals at Wimbledon and the Australian Open and notable career victories have included World No. 1’s Roger Federer, Andy Roddick, Marat Safin, Juan Carlos Ferrero, Yevgeny Kafelnikov, and World No. 2 Goran Ivanišević, twice.

I hope to see you online this coming Sunday! If you have any questions or want more information, please Comment below.