
In my middle age, 2 of the things I have been fascinated by are:
(a) how we learn during the course of our lifetimes;
(b) the special relationship between coaches and students.
One of the things that keeps teaching tennis interesting for me is my own selfish self-improvement. In other words, always pondering the question: "How I can be a more effective coach?" (when to use games & fun, rewards vs. punishments, the practice of routines, relationship-building, the mental game, etc.)
In my own self-improvement journey, I figured that 2 formidable tennis coaches, whom are arguably some of the most well-known tennis coaches of all time, were worth investigating:
Nick Bollettieri - Documentary "Love Means Zero" trailer, full movie
Patrick Mouratoglou - "The Playbook" trailer, episode 4 on Netflix. (credit to Coach Mike Jessup for the find 🙏🙏!)
Watching the 2 movie/videos were thought provoking for me (as a tennis player, tennis coach and as a life-long learner). I don't want to ruin these 2 great videos, but here are teasers to explain a bit why these are worth watching:
How Boris Becker used Brooke Shields to beat Andre Agassi mentally
How Boris Becker read Andre Agassi's body language to read and beat Becker's serve during the US Open
Nick's coaching secret to producing champions, from his players; also, how cruel and lacking in empathy he was as well.
The time Coach Patrick lied to Serena Williams and the impact on Serena during Wimbledon. (ask me when I do this 😆) & the time Coach Patrick slapped Serena / how Serena reacted (I don't do this ever 😁)
Why "emotion is the worst advisor" (I think you need to be extremely careful about how to use your emotions during a match)
Why the ability to get fired became Patrick's superpower
As a young child, how Coach Patrick developed his superpower to read body language