October Blog
The month of October is in the books, unlike my exams - I still have three to go (trying no to throw my laptop out of the window). Anyway, October wasn’t exactly loaded with tennis action. Since the goal here isn’t to walk you through my daily routines (or throw around economic jargon), but to share experiences and perspectives from life on the road, I won’t beat around the bush and will keep this entry short. I did, however, spend a week at a tournament in France, which I’ll get into a bit. Specifically, how a week on the women’s tour - helping out Céline Naef - gave me some new perspectives on what "coaching" really means.
I spent the first October days in Reims (FRA) at the ITF Women’s 25k with Céline, who has asked me previously to help her out while Leandro is tied to crutches. It wasn’t just any offer; I already had an idea of what Céline had been working on over the past few months, so the chance to support her was exciting. Plus, every week I spend with other players—male or female—broadens my perspective on tennis’s mental side and teaches me more than any official coaching course ever could. Or in the words of Seneca, representing my quote of the month:
While we teach, we learn.
Prior to the week, Céline hadn’t won back-to-back matches since May, and there were a lot of reasons for that, some also completely beyond her control. When an athlete is going through a tough time, it’s pretty rare for them to open up to someone who hasn’t been around through it all. But Céline did just that, which helped me a lot to help her also. Poetic I know. I saw my main role in that week as a listener, offering views and suggestions, without interfering too much in her bigger picture. It was tricky. I asked myself a lot “How can I keep the coaching simple so she knows exactly WHAT to do, HOW to do it and WHY she is doing it?”.
Fast forward, she competed brilliantly, only falling short in the semifinal in a terrific match. If I’m completely honest, I couldn’t have cared less about how her level of play was. I was just very focused on how she reacts to things during a match. How she plays the game between the points. Her tennis was never lost.
Ironically, after the week she thanked me for my help, not realizing that it was thanks to her - opening up, that I was able to have any sort of little impact. During the drive home, she asked me if I ever missed competing since I’m still young. Of course, it crosses my mind, and sometimes I struggle to accept that I’m not out there battling it out myself anymore. But when she said “I’ve never experienced such an impactful tournament week... you know, I don’t remember enjoying myself that much during matches, not worrying about the outcome.” and “I’m already looking forward to go on court next week and work on these (new) things regardless of the challenge in front of me”, those words really stuck with me. This kind of feedback makes me realize, that maybe I’m not in such a wrong place after all. Helping players find joy in a competitive job that can sometimes feel discouraging—that’s the biggest success I could ask for right now.
As mentioned, the rest of the month had not so much to do with tennis. It was definitely not an eventful month and I was looking forward to better times ahead. I also played more golf than tennis and had more screen time than sleep time (I would lie if I said, only due to academical reasons - but Insta reels do be hilariously funny and stupid sometimes).
Next month, I will reflect on the last 11 months on and off tour, and how the other side of the game, as a coach, has influenced how I think of this whole “coaching”thing.