On Nadal & Nerves

Over the weekend Rafael Nadal lost early again in Miami, the 2nd straight tournament he has lost early. He admits to suffering from nerves. Every player suffers from nerves to some degree or another. I know in my long ago playing career, I had bouts with nerves that I had to address. Below is what one of the greatest competitors I have ever seen has to say about tennis & nerves. Hope his struggles can help you out when you run into a patch of competitive anxiety.




“It’s a tough issue to fix, but I’m going to keep trying,” said Nadal. “I am trying my best. I am practicing with the right attitude.”
The World No. 3 said the “anxious” feelings he has on court started at the beginning of this season.
“It's not the question of tennis, [It’s] the question of being relaxed enough to play well on court,” the 28 year old said. “Today my game in general improved since a month and a half [ago]. But at the same time, [I’m] still playing with too many nerves for a lot of moments, in important moments.”
A four-time runner-up at the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 in Miami, Nadal exited the BNP Paribas Open early last week as well, losing to Canadian Milos Raonic for the first time in the quarter-finals after holding three match points.
“I have been able to control my emotions during 90 per cent, 95 per cent of my matches of my career… But I’m going to fix it,” he said. “I don't know if [it’ll be] in one week, in six months, or in one year, but I’m going to do it.
"It’s something that I need to fix for myself and with my team. I need the help of my team, but especially I need the help of myself. That's what I am trying to do. Nobody’s going to change the situation for you."
“At this point in my career, I’ve won enough things to say I don't need to win more, but I want to do it,” said Nadal. “I want to keep competing well. I want to keep having the feeling that I can be competing for every tournament I’m going to play, and I have the motivation to do it. Obviously clay is [a] surface that I’ve had some success, and I hope to be ready for it again.”
It is now clay court season and that just might be what Nadal needs to regain his competitive edge.

All the best

~Coach Rodgers

Alums & Emmie

Sush flew to FL as a Spring Break surprise, and then trekked back to CR with everyone.  Noah on the right.

As an Asst Coach at Augustana, we see Scott annually.  He, Jess and daughter are doing well!

VK was waiting for us on the Saturday of our return from FL.

Top Ten List

Men's Career Wins

1 Nick Barnes(04)     200
2 Johnny Watson(01) 198
3 Nick Frank(03)       187
4 Curtis Newman(13) 181
5 Ryan Yao(07)          177
6 Jon Turbett(96)        166
7 Scott Stegemann(11)157
7 Greg Janssen(10)      157
9 Phil Williams(04)       156
9 Noah Sprinkel(15)   156*

Women's Career Wins

1 Tai Lucero(14)               187
2 Michelle Schupbach(13) 182
3 Molly Fiala(09)               175
4 Andrea Schupbach(10)   159
5 Hannah Jensen(11)          152
6 Jordan Ferree(15)         138*
7 Elizabeth Hoffmann(14)   122
8 Hillary Allen(10)              120
9 Jennifer Temps(96)            96
10 Laura Birky(16)            94*

 * player still active
Stats current as of 3/24/15

Mid-Season Update

Time flies when tennis season is in full flight! Apologies for the scarcity of posts.

This weekend will close out the second month of regular season play, leaving just April remaining in to prepare for the post season events in the month of May. (Technically the Women's post season commences on April 25th when they host the IIAC AQ tournament)

The month of March began with the 13 match Spring Break trip to the Orlando, Florida area. Best weather we have had in 12 years! Excellent progress was made by both Teams as each team embraced very challenging schedules.

Once back in the Midwest, the Men's Team made the trek north to play #17 Gustavus-Adolphus this past Saturday and despite excellent straight sets wins by Noah and Brady, the #37 Kohawks fell 7-2. The Men return to action this Saturday hosting Luther College in the annual Iowa conference showdown which has decided the Conference Championship for the past decade.

The Women were a bit more successful in their return to indoor tennis, winning two matches in the Clark Racquet Center yesterday. An exceptional win over a very skilled Augustana(IL) College squad, highlighted by a doubles sweep and two hard fought singles wins by Jordan and Diannah. Later in the day, Coe swept past St Ambrose Univeristy by a 9-0 count. 

Spring Break

Spring Break thus far.....

13 Men.  11 Women.  3 Coaches.  Altamonte Springs, FL.  8 Days.  13 Matches.

TENNIS:  

Since this is a TENNIS trip, I figured we should cover the on-court happenings first.  

The Men played twice on Saturday, and had one match per day since.  The 38th ranked Kohawks stand at 3-2 on Spring Break; with competitive losses to D1 Valparaiso and #20 Texas-Tyler, and a quality win over McMurry.  Ryan "Frosted Flakes" Hickman earned some respect in the D3 Tennis world (Player of the Week article).  Complete schedule and box scores here.

The Women played twice on Sunday, and twice Tuesday.  They stand at 2-2 with wins over Oglethorpe and College of Wooster, but losses to #40 Texas-Tyler and St. Marys (of Notre Dame).  In both of the losses, we had some tight Doubles, and 3 set Singles battles within that tested us on multiple levels.  The Women have shown noticeable growth as competitors, and most importantly, as a TEAM, because of it.  Complete schedule and box scores here.

As for competition ahead, the Women play rival Wheaton and PSU-Berks on Thursday.  The Men play 13th ranked NAIA Aquinas College and possibly, PSU-Berks, on Thursday.

OFF-COURT:

The Alumni Association at Coe hosted a luncheon for the Men and Women following play vs Texas-Tyler on Tuesday.  This was especially appreciated by the Women given needed food, and a quick-turnaround / travel between matches.  Thank you!

Our SID at Coe made an appearance at the Texas-Tyler match also, and captured some great action photos.

The following alums came to see us:

Malcolm Gilreath '90 - Former Head Coach of USD Women's Tennis)

Daken Starkenburg '14 - Physics genius now studying at the Univ of Florida.

Yasushi Inoue - Recent one-year International Student.  Noah was in on the surprise; Sushi will be spending the next 12 days with us in FL, and back at Coe.  Here is a video that we had put together for Sushi during his time with us.

With a day off today, we already have players at Universal.  Others are headed to a large Outlet Mall later today.  Friday is typically a "Beach Day" for the entire crew.

All in all, many positive memories thus far, and more to come!

#kohawksflyinghigh

Men's Tennis - Spring Break Expectations

A new video from D-Dub:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HkkxTIipoSU&feature=youtu.be

Quote(s) of the Week

Two of my favorite quotes from this past week:

With an approaching 21st birthday, Mark stated the following:
"The most important decision is where I'm going to eat dinner on my birthday.  I'm thinking Granite City.  I freakin love their meatloaf."

At practice:
Haley:  I'm so Hungarian.
Amy:  You're what?
Haley:  Sorry, Jamie says that when she's hungry.
Amy:  Oh, then we better Russian over to the cafeteria after practice.

A picture from not too long ago:

Lastly, we have a video for you today.  Those who know Kohawk Tennis will appreciate the feat within (it only took us 2 1/2 years):

Thursday Morning Motivation

(thanks Cody)

National Rankings

National Rankings were updated, and released yesterday.

http://www.itatennis.com/AwardsAndRankings/Rankings.htm

The Men are ranked #38 in the country.

The Women are ranked #39 in the country.

This marks the first time in history (to the recollection of Coach Rodgers at least) that both teams have been in the National ranks at the same time.

Departure for Spring Break in less than 30 hours!!!

#enjoythejourney