CRAIG CIGNARELLI CHECKS IN FROM THE TENNIS CONGRESS

Written by: on 10th October 2015
Tennis Congress
Left to right. P.J. Simmons on microphone. Unknown , John Austin, Owen Davidson, GiGi Fernandez , Tim Mayotte , Emilio Sanchez  |
2015 Tennis Congress

 

What if you had a dream… to come back from injury and become an athlete again, to beat the club champion, to win a national title? What type of event would propel you toward your goals? Vic Braden said, “If you are 65 years old, you have thirty years to work on your game.”

 

As the sun rose into pink skies this morning, hundreds of aging athletes rolled bleary-eyed from the bedroom into the breakfast hall. There, amongst the walls and chairs, someone set up a massive tennis court, complete with cameras, microphones, and the sort of seductiveness one might expect from Mae West peering through bedroom doors (reference is demographically appropriate J). On court, Mark Kovacs and a world-class fitness team coached the athletes through a professional warm-up before sending the group to the courts for their 4.5 hours of tennis.

 

US TENNIS CONGRESS-DAY TWO

 

I was fortunate enough to be stationed on court twelve today, adjacent to elite Spanish coach, Emilio Sanchez and caddy corner to former Top Tenner, Tim Mayotte, both of whom had players soaked to the bones. Today was diagnostic, where coaches spent several hours assessing technique, tactics, movement, psychology, etc., followed by an afternoon fitness evaluation with long term-solutions. In between, Grand Slam winner GiGi Fernandez gave an on-court seminar on doubles tactics, via Powerpoint, demonstration, and some seriously insightful comments.

Left to right. P.J. Simmons on microphone. Unknown , John Austin, Owen Davidson, GiGi Fernandez , Tim Mayotte , Emilio Sanchez

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And then the evening entertainment. Thirty-five grand slams upon the stage answering questions about the thoughts of champions, the practice habits of champions, the idiosyncrasies of champions and how they all pursued their life’s dreams via tennis. Laughter, camaraderie, honesty, and in John Austin’s case, a moment of courage as he opened up about a life-changing illness.

 

Descriptions here include, “Blown away by the amount of information,” “Best weekend of my life and it’s only been one day,” and “How in the hell did PJ put this together?” And that’s really the question. How does a guy with no tennis background other than a passion for the game, gather many of the world’s top coaches, 250 enthusiastic athletes, and an unbelievably talented fitness team, and keep them all smiling for the weekend and begging for more. The answer requires us to return to the beginning, “What if you had a dream….”

Topics: , ,








10sBalls Top Stories

In Case You Missed It

EUGENIE BOUCHARD NAMED 2018 TENNIS CANADA FEMALE PLAYER OF THE YEAR / EUGENIE BOUCHARD NOMMÉE JOUEUSE DE L’ANNÉE 2018 DE TENNIS CANADA thumbnail

EUGENIE BOUCHARD NAMED 2018 TENNIS CANADA FEMALE PLAYER OF THE YEAR / EUGENIE BOUCHARD NOMMÉE JOUEUSE DE L’ANNÉE 2018 DE TENNIS CANADA

Tennis Canada announced on Wednesday that Eugenie Bouchard is the winner of the 2018 Excellence Awards in the Female Player of the Year and Singles Player of the Year categories.
TENNIS NEWS • CALIFORNIA CHAMPIONSHIPS • TOMMY HAAS, TAYLOR FRITZ, STEVE JOHNSON, MARDY FISH AND MORE thumbnail

TENNIS NEWS • CALIFORNIA CHAMPIONSHIPS • TOMMY HAAS, TAYLOR FRITZ, STEVE JOHNSON, MARDY FISH AND MORE

Time to get tickets to watch! Surly you have heard about The Largest Open Tennis Event in America!
TENNIS NEWS • RAFA NADAL CONFIRMS RETURN TO PRACTICE, EYES ABU DHABI EXHIBITION AND AUSTRALIAN SUMMER thumbnail

TENNIS NEWS • RAFA NADAL CONFIRMS RETURN TO PRACTICE, EYES ABU DHABI EXHIBITION AND AUSTRALIAN SUMMER

According to Uncle Toni, Rafael Nadal was supposed to be back at practice on either Dec. 4 or 5. Well, better late than never!
Conchita Martínez prepara la temporada 2019 de Karolina Pliskova en Tenerife thumbnail

Conchita Martínez prepara la temporada 2019 de Karolina Pliskova en Tenerife

Española y checa ya trabajaron juntas durante el pasado Open de Estados Unidos
ALEJANDRO’S FAVORITE PHOTOS FOR 10SBALLS FROM SOME OF THIS YEAR’S TOURNAMENTS thumbnail

ALEJANDRO’S FAVORITE PHOTOS FOR 10SBALLS FROM SOME OF THIS YEAR’S TOURNAMENTS

Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia hits a forehand to Kaia Kanepi of Estonia during her second round match at the Nature Valley International tennis tournament in Eastbourne, Great Britain, on Tuesday, June 26, 2018.