Written By Todd Widom
As the Orange Bowl Boys and Girls 16’s and 18’s International Tournament in South Florida is coming to a close, and the Boys and Girls 12’s and 14’s are getting underway, it is important to note there are some players that come from different climates to play in this prestigious event. I coach players who come to South Florida from the northeast that have to learn to adapt their games to be able to succeed outdoors. This is also going to be true for all the players that are heading out to Arizona for the winter nationals that are coming from indoor tennis training. I am seeing a lot of similarities in the way these junior players are playing and constructing points, and if they do not make the necessary adjustments from indoor to outdoor tennis, they are not going to be too 
successful in an outdoor climate.
The students I train know my tennis background and know that I was trained by some very tough Argentine disciplinarian coaches, who produced some of the best professionals and also some of the best amateurs in this country over the past thirty plus years. In this day and age of technology, YouTube videos, and over coaching are what players may use to learn how to adapt to tennis outdoors. This article is about the different issues I see with the players coming from indoor tennis and trying to adapt to outdoor tennis, which tends to be very difficult. Remember, everything that these young players do, whether it is good or bad is a habit, so this transition from indoor tennis to outdoor tennis is not easy for many kids. (more…)
Written By Todd Widom
At sixteen years old I was one of the top juniors in the United States. My dream from when I was a young boy was to be a professional tennis player. I had dreams of playing in front of big crowds on television and on the best stages in the world. I was starting to grow and I was getting stronger due to some very intense physical and tennis training that I was doing on a daily basis.
In 1999 I was preparing for an important junior tournament, I booked my airline ticket, a rental car for my mom or coach to drive and a hotel room. (more…)
Written By Todd Widom
The vast majority of your children are not going to do what this article is discussing. To be elite in this sport, you have to be different than the rest, and it is the small things that make the biggest difference if you want to be special. If you do not go above and beyond the call of duty, you will be like the rest. It all depends what your child wants out of their tennis.
This past December I had a discussion with a young touring professional who was having trouble sustaining his level of fitness during matches on the ATP tour. He had some very good chances to win matches against good players, but he would run out of gas and not be able to sustain his level of play. After telling me his physical issues during his matches, he asked me if he should be doing fitness during tournaments. My quick response was, of course!
Included in this article is information on fitness for those who are trying to become elite junior tennis players. The norm for a junior tennis player is to warm up for their match, play their match, maybe stretch 5 to10 minutes, get food, maybe play another match or go to the movies, or hang out with their tennis friends for the rest of the day. If the junior tennis player trains well for a tournament, they should be physically fit entering each and every tournament. The reality is that if this player does not keep up their level of fitness during tournaments, they will be out of shape when they come back to train once their tournament is complete. For every day they skip doing some physical fitness during a tournament, they will lose a bit of their physical conditioning, which will have to be boosted up again when they come home to train. (more…)
Written By Todd Widom
In 1999 I had a good Easter Bowl finish in the boys 16 and under division. Due to my results, I was invited by the USTA to go on a trip for three weeks to Europe and play some of the best 16 and under European tournaments on red clay. I was very excited to say the least. These players in the draw of these three tournaments were mostly from Europe and they were very good, especially on red clay. I thought I was great on clay because I grew up on clay in south Florida and I was coached by Argentine coaches my whole life. Being good on green clay in the United States and being good on European red clay are two very different things. (more…)
Written By Todd Widom
Since there is so much information on the internet about how to perfect this or that tennis technique, I thought it would be very interesting for my audience to get an inside look at what really takes place in order to be an elite amateur in the United States.
I started working with Kyle Mautner just before he started his junior year of high school. Kyle was about to go through some changes to his game by being more physical and agressive so he could attain his goals and dreams as a tennis player. Based on each player’s long-term goals and dreams, I then work with them set a plan on how to achieve those goals. This is not a short-term development plan. It is a strategic, concise, involved long term planning effort. Everything that a young athlete does is a habit and some habits are tough to break; however, if that young person wants to achieve their goals, they need to be comfortable with being uncomfortable. (more…)
An Interview with Keith Parmenter: The Man in South Florida Who Keeps the Top Tennis Players Injury Free
Written By Todd Widom
I thought it would be very interesting for you to read about how athletes cure some ailments and how the bodywork specialists can get these athletes cured at an extremely fast rate compared to general medicine. Being the son of a foot and ankle surgeon, when I was younger I would watch ESPN SportsCenter before school and be amazed how quickly some of the athletes could recover from injuries that looked quite severe. While I was on the ATP Tour, I was often told by doctors to have an MRI, rest, ice, have injections, wear a boot on my foot, or have surgery. This advice was from the top surgeons in South Florida that see elite athletes in all sports. As a professional athlete, there is no time to waste guessing what an injury is and sitting at home resting while taking anti-inflammatory medications or having injections to mask the pain in hopes of recovering after a certain number of weeks. (more…)
Written By Todd Widom
Junior tennis travel and playing in tournaments are very costly and everyone’s financial situation is different, which is why implementing a strategy for your child to play competitive tournaments without spending an exorbitant amount of money is imperative for many families. One aspect that surprised me when I started coaching was the amount of tournaments the juniors players were playing. Some of the juniors were playing as many tournaments as I did when I was a professional. This is detrimental to the player.
A junior tennis player is much different than a professional player because a junior is still developing many skills in their game. If the player is competing in tournaments too often, their development as a tennis player will come to a screeching halt.
Written By Todd Widom
There is a new trend in tennis development with coaches convincing parents that pulling their child out of regular school and putting them into an online source of education is going to progress their child’s tennis at a more rapid rate. Tennis is a big business and more hours for your child on the court equates to more money for the coach or academy. However, more hours on the court does not mean that your child will progress faster or even progress at all, and it could even mean that your child regresses. It is all based upon the quality of the training. (more…)
Written By Todd Widom
I think there is a misconception in the tennis world that you need to be playing with higher level tennis players, junior or professional, in order to become a higher level tennis player. Level does not equal level.
If you want to maximize your potential, you need to put your blue-collar work ethic on and get to business. (more…)
Written By Todd Widom
If you have read some of my previous articles, I speak about how tennis is a never ending pursuit in trying to become the best you can be day in and day out. The best tennis players I have ever been around go through this process in a disciplined manner each and every day they step on the court. To go one-step further, there are players that are process based and there are others that are results based during the development phase of tennis.
Everyone loves a winner. In order to consistently win at tennis, you have to continually improve, (more…)