April and May have been fantastic months here at STA! Not only did we have 2 highly successful Easter camps with some great kids and parents in attendance, but STA player Andrew Fitzpatrick won his 4th successive British tour event, a reward for his month long hard work over here in February, and we had 3 top 100 ATP Doubles players Freddie Nielsen, Johan Brunstrom and Jonny Marray all accessing STA from the UK, Sweden and Denmark before going on to win their ATP tournaments. It was great for our younger guys players to be surrounded by `professionals` in the truest sense of the word.
This has inspired my choice of topic for this months blog….
From Business to the Court….
Bill Gates and Roger Federer…. Surely these guys are different. One portrays a swagger and ‘coolness’ about him from the minute he steps into the public eye. The other a ‘geekiness’ about him. I aim to explore a couple of the similarities between success in business and success on the court.
As with any successful entrepreneur in any field of course they need a phenomenal drive and determination to succeed as well as an inner belief, but there is more to it then that. Maybe these guys are not the best examples as they have obviously got ‘it’ , whatever ‘it’ is; they are extremely unique individuals who have risen to the top of their fields without even a question.
So let’s explore a tennis player who has reached the top 100 in the game after years of trying and a marketing director who has made their way through their business pathway at a reasonable rate and arrived on the board of a blue chip company -my comparison to top 100 in the world, pardon my ignorance!
I gained a degree in Marketing whilst studying at the Louisiana State University in Business and Marketing and one of the big keys to successful marketeers was the system they had in place and the checklist called the 4 Ps:
- Price
- Place
- Product
- Promotion
This sits at the core of any Marketing company with obviously more detail underneath. It is clear, it is easy to remember and ensures all are on the same page.
Now let’s take a tennis player.. How many ‘talents’ go astray? How many players ‘make it’ and are seen as `not the most talented`? Are we maybe concentrating on the wrong traits while looking for ‘talent’?
At STA we were recently fortunate enough to have Freddie Nielsen (Denmark Davs Cup Player), Johan Brunstrom (Swedish Davis Cup Player) and Jonny Marray (GB Davis Cup Player) who all have been or are in the top 100 in the world. All are in and around 30 years old and are ‘making it’- they are making a good living from the sport through their playing level! Being around them for a couple weeks and it was obvious why they had ‘made it’. Not through their hitting ability which is of course great, but because of the 4 Ps of tennis
- Professionalism – a very broad term I know, this starts the minute you wake up in the morning till the time you go to bed at night. From what you eat to how you rest, the way you look after your equipment and many more…
- Perseverance – these players are all in and around 30 years old, the road has not been easy but they `got there` and are still going… The average age of a top 100 ATP player is currently 27 and for WTA 25, you WILL go through some tough times.
- Precision – attention to detail from warms up to nutrition to a 321 first rally of the clay court season which is what I counted with Johan and Freddie. Are you taking care of EVERY shot you hit?
- Purpose- training and playing with an objective each and every time they go on court. What is your game style? How can this drill suit the way I play? What motivates me to get up every day to trin for 6 hours?
As well as the most obvious P…Practice Practice Practice!!
These are all clear, they are easy to remember and it sets out a simple system to stick to… Becoming a professional player is a Business, so we need to treat it the same.
Maybe these are the guys we should be following if we want to become a `professional` tennis player, as the pathway is more realistic than Roger Federer and Bill gates!?
Play to Win!
Dan Kiernan
Director, SotoTennis Academy
Inspiring Excellence | Tennis Academy Spain