I went through most of the WTC5 sessions and ended up with way more notes than expected.
💡Brilliant content, worth rewatching, rewinding, rethinking and sharing.
For context: World Tennis Conference 5th Edition was a four-day virtual event held in March 2025, organized by the SEGAL INSTITUTE and GPTCA AG, and supported by the ATP Tour. It featured 74 speakers — including top coaches like Toni Nadal, Gilles Cervara, Louis Cayer, and Rick Macci — along with sports scientists and performance experts.
Here is my curated overview of WTC5 — a collection of 20 remarkable talks, presentations, and live panels, with 📌 key takeaways and 💬 quotes.
Hopefully, you’ll find a few talks here that grab your attention too.
Day 1. Live on Circuit ATP/WTA
🎾 How to Prepare Physical Capabilities on Court for a Future Grand Slam Champion
👤 Gilles Cervara – Coach of Daniil Medvedev
🔗 Watch Part 1 – Analysis
🔗 Watch Part 2 – Implementation
📝 Unbelievably professional and deep approach to the training process. Everything is personalized, structured, measured — this is how top athletes like Cristiano Ronaldo or LeBron James in other sports do it. Huge respect to Gilles for being this transparent — you rarely see this kind of insight shared so openly.
📌 Key Takeaways:
- Physical development isn’t separated from tennis — it’s fully integrated into a personalized game model.
- Cervara introduces a five-level vision scale, from individual points to full Grand Slam tournament demands.
- He categorizes player movement by neuromuscular load — using real-match examples to show intensity, acceleration, and deceleration.
- Hybrid points — long rallies with repeated high-intensity actions — are a key area of focus in training.
- The team uses actual Grand Slam data to prepare for worst-case scenarios, like 24 hours of play across 7 matches.
💬 Quotes:
- “The body is your tool — but it has to be the right tool for your game.”
- “Hybrid points are where physical and tactical stress hit together — those are the real battleground.”
- “There’s no ‘typical’ match — every opponent creates a different physical profile you need to prepare for.”
🎾 How Tennis Analytics Can Help as a Competitive Coach
👤 Liam Smith – Coach of Borna Coric
🔗 Watch the Talk
📝 Analytics is powerful, but at the top level, it’s all about balance. Even legends like Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic use different approaches — Federer relying more on feeling, Djokovic wanting detailed patterns.
Federer: “I just go with the feeling... where he was serving, was he making them, was he missing them?”
Djokovic: “I want to know about particular shots — spin, slice, flat — so I can read his game if needed.”
At the same time, Liam reminds coaches that giving wrong or overloaded information can hurt the player more than help.
Simplicity is key — always.
📌 Key Takeaways:
- Different players need different levels of analytics input — not everyone needs tons of data.
- Focus on major goals: rankings, seeding, tournament timing — not just weekly results.
- Double-check every stat you share with players — wrong info is worse than no info.
- Simplicity in strategy and communication wins matches more often than overloading players with data.
- Be mindful: execution often matters more than whether the strategy was 100% perfect.
💬 Quotes:
- “You've got to think about the win-loss ratios, how is it affecting the rankings, seedings... how are we going to prepare the player to be at their best physically in the most important tournaments?”
- “Was it the wrong strategy or was it just poor execution? Because younger players often abandon the right plan too early.”
- “You have to triple-check that any information you're sharing is correct — because if you tell them a pattern that doesn’t hold up, you're in trouble.”
- “Simplicity is the key to execution. If you tell your player 10 or 15 things... good luck executing that.”
🎾 My Views to Create Effective Training Systems
👤 Kristof Vliegen – Coach of Zizou Bergs, ex-ATP Top 30 player
🔗 Watch the Talk
📝 One of the most authentic talks about building tennis players, not just athletes. Kristof emphasizes working with what each player has, adapting training to their real qualities, and focusing on long-term development, not quick fixes. Very grounded, experience-based philosophy.
📌 Key Takeaways:
- The modern game demands physical strength, but tactical and mental skills are just as critical.
- Building mindset and confidence means exposing players early to top-level competition.
- Coaches should simulate pressure in training, but avoid overloading players before matches.
- Managing the team around a player (parents, staff) is crucial — the coach must stay the “director.”
- Focus on building the player's full career path, not chasing short-term rankings or results.
💬 Quotes:
- “Pressure is not an opponent. You need to take it with you and use it.”
- “A player isn't better because he's ranked 45 instead of 52. It's the process that matters.”
- “If a player feels at home on the tour, he will find his place. If not, you have to help him find it.”
🎾 Technical Solutions for Tactical Situations
👤 Brett Hobden – Co-Founder and CEO of Gotta Tennis
👤 Gordon A Uehling III – Founder of CourtSense & Co-Founder of Gotta Tennis
🔗 Watch the Talk
📝 A really fresh and detailed look at how technique and tactics must be taught together, not separately. Brett and Gordon argue that technical coaching without tactical awareness creates players who look great in practice but can't solve real match problems. Their "question and answer" model of coaching is a brilliant way to approach the complexity of modern tennis.
📌 Key Takeaways:
- Traditional stroke-based teaching often fails under real match conditions — tennis is a game of constant adaptation.
- Every ball a player receives is different — speed, height, spin, depth — and technique must adapt accordingly.
- Courts are divided into 5 tactical zones, each requiring specific technical responses.
- Understanding the "mode" (defense, challenge, attack, etc.) right before contact is crucial for shot selection.
- Building a “golf bag” of shot types allows players to answer the questions the match is asking.
💬 Quotes:
- “Technique is a consequence of the tactical situation — not something separate.”
- “If you don’t understand the question, you can’t give the right answer.”
- “If you train only in predictable drills, you’ll be a good hitter — not a real player.”
- “You’re the whole team on court — server, returner, baseliner, volleyer. You have to have all the shots.”
🎾 My Coaching Philosophy Applied to High Performance Tennis Players
👤 Sascha Bajin – Former coach of Naomi Osaka, WTA Coach of the Year 2018
🔗 Watch the Talk
📝 This talk is all about what it really takes to guide high-level players. Sascha’s approach blends technical understanding with deep awareness of emotional and mental needs. You’ll hear as much about building trust, managing pressure, and helping athletes off the court as you will about drills or tactics. It’s a real masterclass in modern coaching leadership.
📌 Key Takeaways:
- Coaching is about putting the player first — “It’s not about me.”
- Long-term player growth requires a mix of short-term goals (fitness, prep) and long-term goals (mental strength).
- Mental toughness is trained by building pressure into practice — not avoiding discomfort.
- Great players “master boredom” — they do things until they get it wrong, not just until it looks right.
- Leading a team means using “we,” not “I” — and respecting everyone’s role, including parents.
💬 Quotes:
- “Champions don’t get bored — they get consistent.”
- “It’s not enough to be right. You have to connect with the player before your knowledge means anything.”
- “Before Naomi won the US Open, I bought her a TV — because she needed to mentally disconnect more than she needed one more tactical tip.”
- “Mental toughness is the result of training uncomfortable situations, not motivational speeches.”
🎾 Next-Generation Tennis Analytics: A Deep Dive into Some of the Best Players on the ATP Tour
👤 Tom Corrie – Head of Performance at TennisViz
🔗 Watch the Talk
📝 I personally love what TennisViz is doing. It's great to see how they're constantly improving and adding more layers to traditional tennis stats. Really happy with the way TennisViz and TDI are setting new benchmarks — it’s pushing the whole tennis analytics industry forward, including ITF, Challengers, college tennis, and even amateur levels.
📌 Key Takeaways:
- Traditional stats are limited — explaining performance needs deeper metrics like Shot Quality.
- Shot Quality measures speed, spin, depth, width — scored from 0 to 10.
- “In Attack %” shows how often a player transitions into an aggressive position based on context.
- Comparing players against themselves (not just opponents) reveals hidden strengths and weaknesses.
- TennisViz aims to expand analytics access beyond pro tours — into academies and grassroots levels.
💬 Quotes:
- “Tennis needed new insights that tell fans, players, and coaches why a player is winning — not just what happened.”
- “We don’t just compare players to each other — we compare them to themselves, to tournament averages, to season trends.”
- “Our goal is to create a 'personal best' culture, where players measure improvement beyond just wins and losses.”
🎾 Day 1 Closing Presentation with Anton Dubrov and Fernando Segal
👤 Anton Dubrov – Coach of Aryna Sabalenka
👤 Fernando Segal – Segal Institute Founder & CEO, World Tennis Conference Director
🔗 Watch the Talk
📝 A lot of valuable insights into the reality of coaching elite players today. Especially for a No.1 player in women’s tennis, you need to be a great manager, therapist, and the director of the whole orchestra. It's not only about forehands and tactics anymore — it’s about leading the person, the athlete, and the full team around them.
📌 Key Takeaways:
- Emotional management is key, especially working with female players at the highest level.
- Integrated preparation: Technical, tactical, mental, and physical training are never separated — they are trained together.
- Pre-match preparation focuses more on a player's own strengths rather than obsessing over the opponent’s weaknesses.
- In-match coaching must be simple: few words, clear cues, helping players self-manage pressure moments.
- Mental resilience isn’t motivational talk — it’s trained daily under simulated pressure in practice.
💬 Quotes:
- "For me, it's always human first, athlete second."
- "Champions don't magically have mental toughness — they develop it through work, especially in practice."
- "Managing a No.1 player is managing energy — theirs, the team's, and your own."
- "If a player feels emotionally stable and supported, performance can rise 30–40% without changing a single technical thing."
- "In the big pressure moments, it's not about thinking how important the point is — it's about focusing on what you need to do."
Day 2. Technical Concepts
🎾 Building Tactical Confidence in Tennis
👤 Haroldo Rodolfo Zwetsch Junior – Head Coach at CFTRP, Former ATP/WTA Coach
🔗 Watch the Talk
📝 A very practical and video-rich presentation showing how to develop tactical awareness early. Haroldo focused on helping players read the game better, understand court positioning, and make faster decisions under pressure. Great example of how structured repetition + thoughtful feedback can turn tactical understanding into instinct.
📌 Key Takeaways:
- Tactical confidence is built around four pillars: strategic awareness, decision-making, mental toughness, and adaptability.
- Teaching players to read racket angles, body language, and court geometry is crucial for better shot selection.
- Video feedback is a must — players need to see how they react under pressure, not just how they practice.
- Serve-return drills and match-simulation exercises are key to embedding tactical decision-making under stress.
- Long-term development should focus on player autonomy — building players who can coach themselves in matches.
💬 Quotes:
- “Tennis is a mental game where decisions depend on technique, physical condition, and the situation.”
- “Knowing how to respect the ball but not being afraid to make the right shot is a big part of tactical confidence.”
- “Teaching players to control the controllables — serve, return, mindset — is key to long-term development.”
- “Our work is to develop foundations so that the player becomes a better person first, and then a better athlete.”
🎾 Doubles Coaching Concepts and New Projects
👤 Hunter Reese – Former NCAA Doubles Champion, ATP Doubles Player & Coach
🔗 Watch the Talk
📝 Doubles often doesn't get the attention it deserves — from fans, media, or even some coaches. Hunter Reese really emphasized the unique demands and beauty of doubles: fast rallies, constant tactical shifts, quick decision-making. As we’re building a new doubles analytics dashboard at Tennis ComStat, this topic feels even more relevant.
Hunter also shed some light on the Intense concept — more details about it were provided later by Charles Allen during Day 4.
📌 Key Takeaways:
- Coaching doubles starts with understanding the players as people — relationships and trust first.
- Tailoring communication to player personalities is essential, especially in high-pressure moments.
- Doubles demands adaptability: partnerships thrive on constant feedback, not rigid planning.
- Time-based structures like Intense (10-minute "bolts") push players to stay mentally sharp and adjust quickly.
💬 Quotes:
- “Coaching is about building trust — if the player believes you’re in it for them, real growth happens.”
- “In doubles, communication isn’t optional — it’s survival.”
- “Continue to be a student of the game forever — tennis keeps evolving, and so must we.”
🎾 My Life Developing Top Players
👤 Rick Macci – Legendary Coach of Serena & Venus Williams, Andy Roddick, Maria Sharapova, USPTA Hall of Fame
🔗 Watch the Talk
📝 As always, tons of wisdom from Rick. I absolutely love his storytelling and the way he builds his narratives. A real humanistic approach: remember — they're "kids first, tennis players second.” His passion and energy after decades in the game is truly inspiring, and you can see how much he cares about developing the whole person, not just the athlete.
📌 Key Takeaways:
- Coaches must lead by example — bringing energy, positivity, and acting as a life coach, not just a tennis coach.
- Building tactical and technical skills is crucial, but developing competitiveness is the real secret for long-term success.
- Every player is different — coaching is about feeling, adapting, and constantly adjusting.
- Success is not just about talent: work ethic, attitude towards pressure, and resilience are what set champions apart.
- Continuous self-improvement as a coach is non-negotiable — "You either keep learning or you start falling behind."
💬 Quotes:
- “I'm just as much a life coach as a tennis coach.”
- “Remember — they're kids first, tennis players second.”
- “A smart coach knows he’s not that smart — you gotta learn every day.”
- “Pressure is a privilege — you want the target on your back.”
- “Tennis is not rainbows, lollipops, and sunshine — and neither is life.”
🎾 Live Panel: Junior Tennis
👤 Sandy Mittleman – Player Development Consultant | 👤 Victor Pinones Haltenhoff – Academy Director at Giammalva Racquet Club | 👤 Ico Humic – Founder of Humic Tennis Education | 👤 Robert Brkljač – National Team Coach, Croatia
🔗 Watch the Talk
📝 A super valuable session for anyone involved in junior development. Sandy stressed how too many young players (and their families) focus purely on wins, rankings, and outcomes — while real development is often neglected.
Victor, Ico, and Robert added important points about using video and analytics not just to show mistakes, but to highlight and celebrate strengths, which helps players build confidence alongside skills.
📌 Key Takeaways:
- Sandy: Junior tennis often becomes "outcome-based" instead of "development-based." Wins don’t always mean real growth. Coaches should focus first on mentality, emotional stability, and movement before technique.
- Victor: A successful academy must have player evaluations, consistent feedback, strong parent communication, and a clear identity for every player.
- Ico & Robert: Video analytics should celebrate what players do well, not just expose their mistakes — boosting self-esteem and tactical awareness.
💬 Sandy:
- "Being comfortable being uncomfortable."
- "The technical side is the last thing that should be assessed — mentality and emotional stability come first."
- "Every kid strikes the ball differently — technique always needs work, but it’s not the starting point."
- "Most juniors can have good results without actually developing."
💬 Victor:
- "An academy must have a strong identity for the players — not just train but shape who they are becoming."
- "We must evaluate players consistently: video analysis, mental strength, physical development — it’s not only about winning tournaments."
💬 Ico & Robert:
- "Show the player how good he is — not only what to improve."
- "Build confidence by showing strengths through video — not just weaknesses."
- "Self-awareness is the biggest gift you can give a young player."
Day 3. Sports & Science
🎾 Tennis Analytics
👤 Oivind Sørvald – Technical Director, Norwegian Tennis Federation
🔗 Watch the Talk
📝 This one really echoed with my own thoughts on the forced vs unforced error debate but Oivind prefers to keep it simple: “a forehand error is a forehand error.” Period. I also loved his “TecMet” framework — not just a good name, but a very solid approach to how analytics can truly impact coaching. What stood out is how deeply player-centered his method is — focusing on ball control, positive reinforcement, and long-term development.
It’s also great to see such a spectrum of ideas and philosophies around tennis analytics at the same conference.
📌 Key Takeaways:
- Start with what the player does well. Show video of strengths first — this builds motivation and understanding.
- Data is just the start — the real value comes from translating it into practical, focused coaching actions.
- The quality of practice and feedback is more important than the quantity — better one meaningful point than ten vague ones.
- TecMet framework: gather evidence → engage players → customize feedback → translate into tailored practice.
💬 Quotes:
- “Positive reinforcement makes people change and learn quicker.”
- “A forehand error is a forehand error. I never differentiate between unforced and forced.”
- “I never tell a player they’re doing something wrong. I say, ‘Maybe you haven’t learned it yet.’”
- “Coaching is the art of putting science into action.”
🎾 Holistic and Individualised Performance Analytics for Tennis Players
👤 Shane Liyanage – Founder, Data Driven Sports Analytics | 👤 Stephen Huss – Former ATP Player & Coach | 👤 Amir Takla – Physiotherapist, Sports Science Specialist | 👤 Nicholas Busuttil – Coaching Scientist, Movement Institute | 👤 Fabrice Sbarro – ATP/WTA Performance Analyst
🔗 Watch Part 1
🔗 Watch Part 2
📝 Everyone talks about how important a holistic approach is — but Shane and the team really know how to implement it. This presentation brought together coaching, biomechanics, data science, and physiotherapy into a real, actionable system. It’s not just about measuring things — it’s about connecting the dots across different disciplines and making analytics truly serve the player.
📌 Key Takeaways — pick your favorites from below:
- Analytics is no longer just post-match — it's part of daily, on-court coaching and injury prevention.
- Data should be used differently by each team member: coach, physio, analyst, movement specialist.
- Individualization requires more than custom drills — it requires tailored interpretation of every metric.
- Balance tracking and center-of-mass monitoring are being used to assess performance and stability in real match play.
- Collaborative models (analyst + coach + specialist) unlock insights that wouldn’t emerge in silos.
- Coaches are asking for KPIs in practice matches, not just competition — that’s a shift in mindset.
💬 Shane Liyanage: “There’s no one system or provider that can do it all. Coaches need to understand the ecosystem, stay product-agnostic, and use the right tool for the right problem.”
💬 Stephen Huss: “Sometimes my thoughts are confirmed by the data, and sometimes I get it wrong — that's why we test everything.”
💬 Amir Takla: “What do we do to recover faster, and what do we do in the next training or match? That’s where analytics supports our thinking.”
💬 Nicholas Busuttil: “Understanding player movement in static versus dynamic scenarios gives us a better picture of performance biomechanics.”
💬 Fabrice Sbarro: “I’m not saying it always changes everything, but it gives clarity — whether we’re going in the right direction or need to adjust a few details. At this level, it’s all about 1% here, 1% there — that’s how you find an edge.”
🎾 Master the Return of Serve
👤 Ted Sichelman – President of Golden Set Analytics
🔗 Watch the Talk
📝 Absolutely love this type of content — deep datasets, a lot of numbers, and a challenge to outdated coaching assumptions. Ted dives into return data from over 35,000 matches and shows how the typical advice (“just aim for the middle” or “stand inside the baseline on second serves”) often doesn’t hold up. The findings are relevant not just for pros, but juniors and rec players too — with a big reminder to adjust by level.
📌 Key Takeaways:
- Standing well inside the baseline isn’t always better — return success often improves a few feet behind.
- The return of serve is often undercoached — even though many points are decided within the first four shots.
- Small adjustments in return stance and placement can have outsized effects on match outcomes.
- This type of large-scale data helps test what actually works — not just what feels right or looks good in drills.
- Coaches should be careful applying pro-level tendencies to juniors — the dynamics are very different.
💬 Quotes:
- “Contrary to common wisdom, middle is the worst return on second ad for men’s pros.”
- “If you can improve your ability on second serves — deeper or to the corners — you’ll massively increase your win percentage.”
- “Even for girls under 12, a lot of points end within four shots — the return is crucial.”
- “Perfecting your return to the corners will help at any level of tennis.”
🎾 Data-Driven Training & Long-Term Athletic Development
👤 Ali Ghelem – Strength & Conditioning Coach
🔗 Watch the Talk
📝 A practical and honest take on what physical performance actually means in tennis. Ali has tested 600+ players and built a testing framework that reflects what really matters — integrated movement, not isolated gym metrics. I especially liked his approach to separating raw capacity from sport-specific performance and using a 1–100 scale to track fitness/ranking balance across ages and levels.
📌 Key Takeaways:
- Traditional fitness tests like VO2 max or isolated strength don’t correlate well with tennis ranking.
- Movement-based tests — speed, explosiveness, rotational power — show a much stronger link to performance.
- Three core areas identified: serve mechanics (throwing/jumping), change of direction, and stroke power (rotational).
- Juniors should aim to reach pro-level fitness before hitting pro-level rankings — not the other way around.
- Fitness gaps can limit development or increase injury risk, especially for players “overachieving” their physical profile.
💬 Quotes:
- “There are two main movement patterns in tennis — moving your mass, and rotating around your center of mass.”
- “If you can't create speed in your hands or move efficiently, it's going to be very hard to win matches.”
- “Your fitness should always stay ahead of your playing level — that’s how you protect long-term development.”
- “We use data to stay honest. If the player’s not improving, the program’s not working — and we dig deeper.”
🎾 What and How to Learn from Mistakes
👤 Jim Loehr, EdD – Performance Psychologist, Mental coach to top ATP/WTA players
🔗 Watch the Talk
📝 One of the most powerful sessions of the conference. Dr. Jim Loehr breaks down the myths around mistakes, frustration, and pressure — and replaces them with real, science-backed mental habits. His delivery is calm, thoughtful, and deeply effective. It’s not about never making mistakes — it’s about how well you recover from them.
📌 Key takeaways
- Emotional skills must be taught and trained, just like technical ones.
- Most players believe three myths: that visible frustration helps, self-punishment reduces errors, and full mistake accountability is always possible.
- The brain automatically processes mistakes — extra self-blame just interferes.
- What players can control: effort, attitude, inner voice, and response.
- Mistakes don’t mean you’re weak — they mean you’re still baking.
- Top players succeed because they’ve trained how to recover from errors.
💬 Quotes
- “You cannot be normal and be a great player.”
- “Every player needs a mistake management routine — and it must hold in tough times.”
- “Positive, optimistic emotions are the fuel of high performance.”
- “Punishing yourself is like putting on a shock collar — it doesn't help the dog, and it won’t help you.”
- “Mistakes are just a ‘no’ in your brain’s learning process — not a reason for self-condemnation.”
- “You didn’t make that double fault on purpose. So stop treating it like you did.”
Day 4. Human Development & Organization
🎾 Accelerated Point Production: A New Coaching Cornerstone and the New Frontier for Fan Engagement
👤 Charles Allen – CEO of Intennse
🔗 Watch the Talk
📝 Having known Charles for quite a long time, I’m definitely biased — I love the INTENNSE project and I’m genuinely excited about what Charles and his team are doing in the tennis landscape. I don’t like the word “revolutionize” — it’s become a buzzword in the world of tech and startups — but Intennse might actually mark the beginning of a new era in tennis. This talk goes beyond introducing the format. It outlines a broader vision and reflects on the real structural problems tennis is facing: long matches, limited fan engagement, and lack of cohesion between development and entertainment.
📌 Key Takeaways:
- Intennse is building a pro team tennis league with fast-paced rules aimed at making tennis more engaging.
- The format rewards aggressive play and faster points — training athletes to play decisively under time pressure.
- Accelerated Point Production is not just a format quirk — it’s a lens to rethink how we develop players.
- Charles connects the dots between professional structure, junior development, and global fan experience.
- The presentation reflects a broader mission to modernize tennis without losing its competitive essence.
💬 Quotes:
- “Intennse is a brand of tennis anchored by a professional team tennis league and delivering a new engagement model for the sport.”
- “I will focus on Accelerated Point Production as a cornerstone for a new frontier in fan engagement — and then speak to the benefits for coaches specifically.”
- “Our pro teams are facing each other for the first time, learning the nuances of the format and working on strategies.”
🎾 The Art of Coaching in the World of AI
👤 Marie-France Mercier – Director of Coach Education, Tennis Canada
👤 Alastair Millar – CEO of The Supreme Court, Junior Development Specialist
🔗 Watch the Talk
📝 Everyone is talking about how AI is changing coaching, but this session cuts through the hype. Marie-France and Alastair bring clarity and structure to the discussion. They walk through the Five Cs framework — Culture, Character, Confidence, Connection, and Competence — and explain how it keeps the human at the center of development, even as tech evolves. A calm, grounded reminder that while tools change, the core role of the coach doesn’t.
📌 Key Takeaways:
- AI is now accessible to more coaches thanks to open-source tools and cost reduction — but how you use it still matters.
- Coaches must balance interpretation of AI-driven insights with building trust and emotional connection.
- The “Five Cs” remain foundational in Tennis Canada’s coach education, even in a high-tech environment.
- The art of coaching in the AI era means mastering both planning and communication.
- Emotional intelligence and adaptability are becoming even more essential coaching skills.
💬 Marie France Mercer:
- “Since the year 2020, due to the current technological revolution, especially the open source, the cost of AI has dramatically decreased.”
- “Coaching is both a science and an art and the two aspects are often intertwined.”
💬 Alastair Millar:
- “The importance of the coach's ability to interpret and apply data-driven insights from AI tools is essential.”
- “The art of coaching in a world of AI is going to require two key areas of mastery. Number one is the ability to interpret and plan. And number two is building trust and communication.”
🎾 How Performance Mindset Becomes an Advantage in Everything You Do
👤 Jason Stacy – Performance Coach of Aryna Sabalenka
🔗 Watch the Talk
📝 Jason brings a grounded and deeply human approach to performance. What stands out is how he blends mental and physical preparation into one integrated system — no separation, no fluff. His philosophy is simple but powerful: understand the person first, the athlete second, and only then the competitor. This was one of the most relatable and practical talks for coaches who work with diverse personalities and age groups.
📌 Key Takeaways:
- Performance is never just physical or mental — they’re fully connected and influence each other in every moment.
- Culture, background, and personality all shape how an athlete responds to training and feedback.
- The coach’s job is to meet the player where they are — not just to push them somewhere else.
- Breathing, movement, and mindset are a single loop — what affects one, affects them all.
- Athletes aren’t just athletes — they’re humans with context, and performance begins by honoring that.
💬 Quotes:
- “So I don't look at the mental side or the fitness and the physical side as separate things.”
- “The more you can understand the person that's in front of you, then I could better figure out how to meet them where they're at.”
- “So for me it's person first — the general athlete — and then the specific part of it, like their level and style of play.”
🎾 Unforced or Forced? A Smarter Way to Classify Tennis Errors
👤 Mikhail Haurylchyk – CEO & Co-Founder at Tennis ComStat
🔗 Watch the Talk
📝 I’ll try to stay humble here — but I think this was a solid presentation on a topic that’s underdiscussed in tennis. Classifying errors may seem simple, but it gets messy very quickly. The reality is that “forced” and “unforced” are far from objective. Our S.C.O.R.E. framework was designed to bring clarity — and hopefully, it can also become a shared language for coaches, analysts, and developers alike. I might do a separate post just on that.
📌 Key Takeaways:
- Forced vs. unforced error stats are way more subjective than you think. Even top analysts regularly disagree.
- The Tennis ComStat S.C.O.R.E. framework aims to fix that, with 5 key factors: Shot impact, Court control, Offense, Randomness, and Environment.
- Understanding errors in context helps explain not just outcomes — but decision-making.
- This classification system can power better tagging, analytics, and match interpretation.
- It's not just about tagging matches — it’s about building shared language for coaches, analysts, and tech teams alike.
💬 Quotes:
- “Most points aren’t won with winners or aces — they’re lost through errors.”
- “Only 5 out of 30 rallies had full agreement on error type. That tells you something.”
- “Every forced error for one player equals a provoked point for the opponent.”
- “The goal is simple: bring consistency, nuance, and structure to one of the most-used tennis metrics.”
🎬 Wrapping it up
That was my very subjective selection from the conference — just a personal snapshot of the talks that stood out most to me. But I highly recommend browsing through the full WTC5 agenda. There’s a lot more to explore, and you’ll definitely find topics and speakers that resonate with your own interests and work.
👏Huge thanks once again to Fernando Segal and SEGAL INSTITUTE for putting this all together. Bringing so many minds into one space — even virtually — is truly impressive.