127. POPPING OUT ONCE AGAIN! – Reality Tennis

As I have mentioned before, one of the benefits of travelling on the pro tennis tour with a player is that I get to meet all sorts of interesting people, all of whom have a similar interest in tennis as myself.

These people might be players (current and former), coaches, parents, equipment suppliers, sponsors, organisers, officials or commentators and presenters. Each and everyone is a delight to speak to as they all have stories to tell from the tour, and it is always nice to catch up with people and make new connections from around the globe.

One such commentator, whom I have know for a few years now, is Candy Reid – a former tennis player, coach and CNN sports anchor – who is now one of the main faces/voices at all the top level tennis events.

Candy is well known on the tour and is a delight to speak to. She has a wealth of knowledge from her own personal experiences but is always keen to find out more from the people she meets.

Candy and I met about 10 years ago when she was playing County Cup for Surrey in the UK. My player was also on the team and hence the connection was made. Fast forward a few years and our paths have crossed many times but most recently at Wimbledon, SW19, and it was then that she invited me to be a guest on her Podcast, ‘Diary of a Professional Tennis Coach’. She had read some of my blogs and was keen to know more.

So a new podcast came about (link below) and I have to say, it was a fun thing to do as it gave me (another) chance to chat about the realities of life on the pro tennis tour (from a parent’s perspective) and of course, promote my Blog to listeners who may not have yet found it!

Doing things like this have been a welcome offshoot from my series of blogs and illustrate how one thing in tennis can easily lead to another. The same can be said for the players themselves as there are quite a number who have featured in adverts, modelling shoots, on podcasts or in Netflix and YouTube programmes. A link to the most recent LTA ‘Beyond the Baseline’ Series is below, and if you look closely you may even see a blogging parent in a few frames.

So it’s not all intensive training, matches and travelling on the tour. There are fun interludes as well and doing the podcasts has been one of them for me. Hopefully if you are reading this then you will also take the time to ‘click on the link(s)’ and have a listen to hear some of the good, the bad and the realities first hand!

#realitytennis