I was privileged to visit a very well attended Monday at the USPTA World Conference at the Westgate Las Vegas Resort & Casino. What made my day right at the start of Monday morning were dozens of participants coming up to me and encouraging me to continue holding USTA/USPATA/ITF feet to the fire - despite my oftentimes critical stands in regards to our governing bodies' leadership decisions.

Unfortunately, I was only able to attend one day and I had chosen the Monday, September 23 because of the Trade Show in the afternoon. It was so crowded, it seemed that all of the 1,000+ registered attendees were present that day. Kudos to the USPTA for attracting such a quality lineup of speakers. In between meetings with some of our readers and potential advertisers I was able to listen to Dr. Allen Fox, Kalindi Dinoffer, and Roger Crawford.

I also saw snippets of Craig O'Shannessy's presentation and Don Henson's and Amanda Fink's on-court actions in one of the ballrooms. The program lists a large number of high-profile speakers the rest of the week, like Sarah Stone, Michele Krause, Marianne Werdel, Frank Giampaolo, Jorge Capistany, Dick Gould, Gil Reyes, Andre Agassi, Mark McMahon, Emma Doyle, Julio Godreau, Ajay Pant, Jeff Salzenstein, and many more. I was particularly impressed by San Diego's Elite professional Amanda Fink. Not only did she sing like a rock star during her presentation, but she also received a well-deserved USPTA U30 award. (Amanda was our Female Pro of the Month in April)

ALLEN FOX, Ph.D.

Allen's presentation is both insightful from a professional perspective and funny. The expert on the mental game says that "the enemy in tennis is stress" and this stress creates many challenges. The three biggest challenges players face in a game are ANGER, DISCOURAGEMENT, AND CHOKING. I found his light-hearted parody how a coach can help a player with anger issues quite hilarious. It went something like this:

In other words, anger issues can be easily fixed. So can discouragement issues because the antidote for discouragement is hope. Allen reminded us that choking cannot be fixed so easily, if at all. "Choking does not make you lose." All we can do is avoid focusing on the outcome but rather on things that'll help you function.

ROGER CRAWFORD

Stated on Wikipedia about the man with four impaired limbs: Roger Crawford is the first and only person in American history to be a United States Professional Tennis Association athlete and play a Division I college sport with a severe disability. Today, he is a motivational speaker, author, and is still a certified tennis professional. Several famous individuals and corporations, such as Marriott Hotels, Nike, Chris Evert, and Ronald Reagan have acknowledged Crawford for overcoming handicaps. He was also featured in Chicken Soup for the Soul and in the NBC Emmy-Award winning movie In a New Light.

On center court, Sports Illustrated has recognized Roger as "One of the most accomplished, physically challenged athletes in history!" He's also the recipient of the ITA Achievement Award, presented by the International Tennis Hall of Fame.

Roger's 'Play To Win' presentation is all about overcoming obstacles in life. CHANGE YOUR MINDSET - CHANGE YOUR RESULTS is his overarching theme and he has plenty of stories from his own life to support that strategy. And he also has funny anecdotes, like the one that's described in more detail in the bestselling book 'Chicken Soup for the Soul.' In a nutshell, he was playing football, ran the ball within 10 yards of the endzone, and was tackled. Unfortunately for the player who grabbed one of his legs, that leg was a prosthesis and it came right off, allowing Roger to score a touchdown hopping into the endzone.

Overcoming adversity, succeeding despite great physical obstacles, these are the kinds of encouragements and inspirations Roger dispenses from a stage with great success.

KALINDI DINOFFER

Oncourt Offcourt's Vice President of Marketing is passionate about growing the game of tennis and helping coaches and players across all sports be the best version of themselves. Her LinkedIn profile states, 'My journey has also led me to develop an ever-growing enthusiasm for everything holistic health as I've pursued training and certification in everything from Myofascial Release Therapy, Reiki and yoga to plant-based nutrition and mindfulness meditation. Bringing my newfound expertise in wellness to sports has enabled me to better support coaches, athletes and non-athletes alike on and off the court. I host monthly holistic wellness workshops in the Dallas area and also have a blog MindfulKalindi.com to share my journey and mindful living insights.'

Kalindi's presentation was titled FIFTY CREATIVE MARKETING TIPS and she reminded us that marketing is communication, story-telling. How many times do people need to hear a message before they react? 6-8 times. That time is necessary in order to build AWARENESS which leads to TRUST and subsequently to ACTION. [One of the reasons why we here at TENNIS CLUB BUSINESS don't accept one-month advertising. Our minimum is always 12 months so we can create a large number of touchpoints and have a good chance at building awareness and trust.]

Kalindi emphasized the need to communicate more and talk less. "Make your words count." In regards to email marketing, her advice is "be consistent, mobile-friendly, make it personal. Play with subject lines, use balanced content and measure results. And don't forget one of the most important segments nowadays: Social media influencer marketing.

TRADE SHOW

The annual Trade Show is quite the marketplace for tennis professionals. I didn't count the number of companies present but I'm guessing that number to be around 60-70. Many of the established players in the tennis industry were present, such as HEAD, Wilson, Netknacks, Oncourt Offcourt, Fromuth. But there were also a whole bunch of new businesses and ideas present, such as

• HAVANA BOB'S (Tennis Apparel, Trophies & Gear) - presenting sponsor of the World Conference.
• HAWAIIAN SOL NATURAL SUN & SKIN CARE (Natural, eco-safe, biodegradable)
• FAST-DRY COURTS, 'South Florida's premier court builder'
• THERAGUN PERCUSSIVE THERAPY (deep muscle treatment)
• TENNISBUILDER.COM - the tennis grip guide
• INTENNSITY FITNESS - Michele Krause and PlayYourCourt
• THE PICKUPWALL - automated ball machine return system
• MARC PRO -'replacing icing and other outdated treatment methods'
• BALLBUTTON - court and club management solutions
• TENNISFOLDER.COM - team organization, court reservation system
• HOPE COLLEGE - Professional Tennis Management program
• SHINY SHOTS - shock absorbers that light up on contact
• SUPERSPEED TENNIS - 'fastest way to increase your stroke speed'
• POCKET RADAR - speed tracking technology
• TENNIS VENTURES - tennis vacations to Grand Slam tournaments
• LEGACY BUILDING SOLUTIONS - custom fabric buildings
• PLAY YOUR COURT - mobile tennis club and online community
  

SUMMARY
I enjoyed being at the USPTA World Conference. It showed me again that most of the tennis professionals are just the nicest people, enthusiastic, knowledgeable, put on this earth to help others excel. The event was very well organized and I felt welcome everywhere - from the registration staff to the trade show vendors.