Tennis IQ Podcast

In this episode, Brian and Josh discuss how tennis players can prioritize learning and developing their game instead of just focusing on results. The co-hosts talked about how tennis players can take pressure off of themselves by focusing on being the best player they can be rather than focusing too much on results such as rankings, UTR ratings, etc. Additionally, they discussed how tennis players...

In this episode, Brian and Josh discuss tennis as a fighting sport and as a combat sport. This conversation was inspired by The Fighter’s Mind, a book by Sam Sheridan that outlines the mental demands of various combat sport athletes. The co-hosts outline how tennis is a battle between two (or four in doubles) people with a similar goal of winning a match and how they must utilize fighting/combat s...

Brian Teacher is a former top professional tennis player and coach as well as the founder of the Full Court Tennis app. As a player, Brian won the 1980 Australian Open and had career highs of #7 in the world for singles and #5 in the world for doubles. He has coached top players including Andre Agassi, Greg Rusedski, Daniel Nestor and Max Mirnyi. In this conversation we discuss Brian’s playing and...

In this episode, Brian and Josh discuss how tennis players can utilize visualization as part of their overall training. Previously, in episode 18, the co-hosts reviewed on-court methods of using visualization, so in this episode the focus was on how visualization can be trained and utilized off-court by tennis players of all levels. Various strategies were discussed to build visualization skills i...

Max Newlon is the President of BrainCo USA. Max spent several years working in top hospitals conducting research on the impact of neuro-technology and mind-body approaches to wellbeing and performance. After graduating from Harvard Graduate School of Education, he joined BrainCo as a research scientist in 2016. Now he leads the US company towards its vision of unlocking human potential with brain-...

In this episode, Brian and Josh discuss how tennis players can focus more on who they are becoming as a way to take pressure off of themselves. The co-hosts discuss moments when tennis players focus on who they were in the past (typically when coming back from injuries and slumps) as well as situations where tennis players tend to focus on who they are at the moment instead of focusing on the type...

In this episode, Brian and Josh discuss whether club players and juniors should emulate professional tennis players. Topics discussed include how to learn from watching pros play on television, developing better decision making in points, and learning from how pros handle their time between points. (Mentioned in the episode) - Patrick Mouratoglou recent video on the mental game - https://youtu.be/...

In this episode, Brian and Josh discuss self-compassion. Self-compassion is a process that tennis players can/should embrace during matches, practices, and throughout their tennis development. Topics discussed in this episode include: awareness/mindfulness, maintaining perspective during the countless ups and downs that tennis players face throughout their careers, and the inevitability of having...

Mylène Steinhardt is a NASM & PPSC certified health coach who specializes in helping high-school and college tennis players make the cut by rounding out their off court training protocols - primarily through nutrition and strength training. The struggles that Mylène faced as a D2 college athlete have led her to find a passion in helping others work through or even avoid these same problems tha...

In this episode, Brian and Josh discuss the careers of Serena Williams and Roger Federer. Both players have recently announced their retirements from the sport and they are both consistently ranked among the greatest tennis players of all time. The co-hosts reflect on their legacies, the mental qualities that led to their greatness, and certain matches in their careers when they exemplified mental...

In this episode, Brian and Josh discuss the 2022 US Open. Iga Świątek defeated Ons Jabeur 6-2, 7-6(5) to win the women's singles championship while Carlos Alcaraz defeated Casper Ruud 6-4, 2-6, 7-6(1), 6-3 to win the men's singles championship. The co-hosts reviewed various sport psychology themes and talked about how the finalists and champions exhibited certain mental qualities that helped them...

For this milestone episode, Brian and Josh answered various questions from listeners of the podcast and shared feedback from listeners in different parts of the world and tennis community. Additionally, they reflected on the origins of the Tennis IQ Podcast, discussed what it means to reach the 100th episode of the podcast, and talked about how athletes can move on and continue to grow after reach...

Dr. Natalie Durand-Bush is a sport psychology professor in the School of Human Kinetics at the University of Ottawa. She specializes in mental skills training and assessment, mental health, and coaching psychology. As a Mental Performance Consultant for the past 27 years, Natalie has helped athletes and coaches of all ages, sports, and levels achieve their performance and well-being goals. A relen...

In this episode, Brian and Josh discuss taking a strengths-based approach to tennis. This episode was inspired by a paper titled “The Strengths-Based Performance Profile (SBPP): A Method for Strengths-Spotting and Application in Single-Session Consultations with Athletes” (link below). The co-hosts review the importance of having a clear understanding of one’s strengths and weaknesses as a startin...

Universal Tennis Rating, more commonly known as UTR, has become ubiquitous in tennis over the last several years, and it has been especially prominent in the world of college tennis. In this episode, Brian and Josh discuss how aspiring college tennis players can handle UTR and the pressures that come along with it. The co-hosts review the challenges of expectations and pressure that can increase w...

In this episode, Brian and Josh reflect on a quote by golf legend Jack Nicklaus: “The worse you’re performing, the more you must work mentally and emotionally. The greatest and toughest art in golf is ‘playing badly well.’ All the true greats have been masters at it.”   The co-hosts discuss how this applies to all tennis players who will inevitably, at some point or another, have days when th...

In this episode Brian and Josh discuss how to handle playing an injured opponent. The co-hosts review various mental challenges related to playing an injured opponent including how to handle injury time-outs, how opponent injuries can cause a loss of rhythm, and how to handle distractions that injuries can present. Additionally, they consider how utilizing mental skills like self-talk, visualizati...

In this episode, Brian and Josh discuss how to integrate mental skills into practice. A number of strategies are covered that players and coaches can utilize in order to practice in a deliberate way and best prepare for matches. The co-hosts reviewed specific games and drills that can be used to enhance mental skills such as focus, hitting targets on the court, and building in-between point routin...

Howard Bryant is an award winning author and journalist who has been a senior writer for ESPN since 2007. Although he writes about a number of sports and topics within sport, he is an astute observer of tennis and he always brings a unique perspective with his analysis of matches and issues within the game. Howard also plays tennis and therefore has first-hand knowledge of how difficult the sport...

In this episode, Brian and Josh discuss the 2022 Wimbledon Championships. Elena Rybakina defeated Ons Jabeur 3-6, 6-2, 6-2 to win the women's singles championship while Novak Djokovic defeated Nick Kyrgios 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, 7-6(3) to win the men's singles championship. The co-hosts reviewed various sport psychology themes and talked about how the finalists and champions exhibited certain me...

"If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster And treat those two impostors just the same" This quote appears above the door leading to Wimbledon's Centre Court and it is a challenge to all players who step on to that most famous court. In this episode, Josh and Brian discuss the excerpt from Rudyard Kipling's poem 'If-' and relate it to the difficulties players encounter during a tennis match. Addit...

In this episode, Brian and Josh discuss the concept of mini-wins and mini-celebrations. Tennis players can look to celebrate controllable sources of “mini-wins” that they successfully complete in practice and matches. These could include performing a stroke correctly during practice when they are trying to make a technical adjustment, celebrating successfully completing their pre-match routine, an...

In this episode, Brian and Josh respond to a listener question about playing in the extreme heat. Topics discussed include the importance of preparation, the need to control the controllables, and how understanding your body and limits prior to a match gives you a better chance to perform at a high level. Additionally, they review the importance of maintaining perspective and connecting to a deepe...

In this episode, Brian and Josh discuss self-talk strategies to handle Automatic Negative Thoughts (ANT’s). Certain strategies mentioned were inspired from the book Chatter by Ethan Kross including distancing from the problem (seeing it from an outsider’s perspective), journaling, and using one’s own voice when communicating through self-talk. Additionally, the co-hosts reviewed the importance of...

In this episode, Brian and Josh review the 2022 French Open. They discuss Iga Swiatek and her performance in the tournament which culminated with a 6-1 6-3 victory in the championship match over Coco Gauff. This victory furthered her current winning streak to 35 matches and is her second Roland Garros title and second major title. Additionally, the co-hosts chatted about Rafael Nadal’s victory in...