Tennis IQ Podcast

In this episode of the Tennis IQ Podcast, Josh and Brian discuss how tennis players should approach various stages of a set/match through a sport psychology perspective. These stages of a set/match include the start of a match, being ahead by a break, being behind by a break, closing out a set, and starting a new set after winning or losing the previous one. To learn more about Josh and Brian's backgrounds and Sport Psychology businesses go to TiebreakerPsych.com and PerformanceXtra.com. If you have feedback about the show or questions on the mental game in tennis, email us at TennisIQPodcast@gmail.com or on Twitter, use the hashtag #tennisIQ. Don’t forget to subscribe on YouTube or your podcast platform of choice to stay up to date on future episodes!

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.

In the first episode of the Tennis IQ Podcast, Josh Burger of Tiebreaker Psych LLC and Brian Lomax of PerformanceXtra introduce themselves and explain how they each discovered the theme of tennis being “90% mental” through their own experiences. They discuss the concept of Tennis IQ and the importance of tennis players training the mental side of the game. Josh and Brian also talk about the psychological challenges that tennis players are facing as the sport emerges from the COVID-19 pandemic, with a focus on the ATP and WTA tours reopening including the upcoming US Open and French Open. Lastly, they discuss a few notable examples of top professional tennis players who have displayed exemplary mental toughness when it matters most. Videos of moments referenced in this episode: Djokovic-Federer 2011 US Open Semi-Final https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=azQemcdCwH4 Nadal-Thiem 2018 US Open QF https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y9fqjhGooKk Rafael Nadal Press Conference 2018 https://youtu.be/T4wJIa9C5qk Nadal-Federer 2006 Rome Final https://youtu.be/eBxOUGw0GIM 5th Set Tiebreaker https://youtu.be/SaPNX0GpHhw Andreescu-Serena 2019 US Open https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GCzsODijnqw&t=1s Monica Seles Clutch moments 1991 US Open Semifinal vs. Jennifer Capriati - https://youtu.be/t_F-kaemhTc 1993 Australian Open Final vs. Steffi Graf - https://youtu.be/IcWAwd0G0s8 If you’d like to learn more about Tiebreaker Psych LLC go to TiebreakerPsych.com, and to learn more about PerformanceXtra go to PerformanceXtra.com. If you have feedback about the show or questions on the mental game in tennis, email us at  TennisIQPodcast@gmail.com or on Twitter use the hashtag #tennisIQ.