Trying to make the academy self sufficient within a few years.

Whats up everybody!

Last time I write a blogpost was just before the grass court season. A few months of a life span and I feel the need to reflect on the blog again. 

Stan made a great run at the US Open. Falling to Medvedev in the quarters with a taste of a bit more. Very happy with the nearly 3 weeks in the big apple. Unfortunately Stan got sick in the end of the tournament and had to pull out from St Petersburg, a tournament he loves and also the Asian swing because an injury to the foot. Now the focus is to be healthy for the last 3 events this year. Lets see how it goes.

Im very much looking forward to the end of the season and 2020 together with Stan and his team. 

The academy is going very well as a facility and as an academy. There are a lot of hard work behind the scenes and many people are doing an amazing job led by our Head of Sport, Mikael Tillström. Not many people realize what’s going on behind the scenes but its a constant work in all areas. The satisfaction is to create the best possible environment and to create possibilities for our players. The reward is off course to see the happiness when players are performing well. But it can also be an positive feedback from a parent or someone else. And it’s not about winning its about something much bigger than that.

Good to Great Tennis Academy is a proud sponsors to the Champions Bowl junior tournament where the world finals takes place in Umag, Croatia. This year we had a team of 4 players representing Sweden and the academy in the finals. Thanks to the players and their respective tennisclubs. Thanks to our coach Jens for planning and organizing.

The fitness testing period is done for the fall. Great insights and I believe we have some of the best testing protocol for tennis together with Aim-X tennis. and 1080 Motion. We are testing power in all planes of motion as well as power endurance on court and mobility. All the thing that are important to tennis. Actually the testing and training protocol is available to all tennis players. Just get in touch with Aim-X and come to the academy. You don’t need to be training with Good to Great to enjoy this great stuff. Anyway, together with measuring training load I think we have a very good set ut on the fitness side trying to maximize performance and minimize injury.

We also started to work with a mental coach for the first time. It took some time to find the right fit but we really found what we are looking for and looking forward to grow this important side as well! We welcome mental coach Jon Hasselqvist to our development team.

The outside courts are now soon finished and they will be going strong in the beginning of the 2020 clay season. We are installing solar panels on the roof of the building generating our own energy from the sun trying to make the academy self sufficient within a few years.

Another thing that we have developed over the last months is our own Livestream and Video on demand service on 5/7 indoor courts. We hope that this will help coaches in their work as well as a nice thing for parents to be able to watch match sessions. This device will be available to everyone playing in Catella Arena (the home of Good to Great Tennis Academy). Next step here is also to keep developing our own smart court. We think that this will be ready in a few weeks. The prototype promises perhaps the best system I’ve seen out there. Very user friendly and measuring the ball, the player and zones.

Few weeks ago week we were also organizing an ITF mens future in the academy. Busy week with the training going on at the same time. We also had a health and lifestyle lecture with Jonas Colting, PRO am and Studio Catella Open live on Facebook everyday next week!

During the Catella Open we had an auction of the Stan Wawrinka 2019 US Open racket and match shirt. 100% of the money went to the Mikael Stripple Future Generation foundation.

We had a Team at the Legends Cup in Mallorca. Coach Tomas Romera went with 2 girls and 2 boys. Thanks for the invitation and we hope to be back!

Rebecca Peterson, Team Catella, won her first WTA titel together with her coach and father Mart and closing in on top 50. We are happy for you Beccs. We have been following Rebecca and her father from the sidelines for some time and been waiting for this moment to come.  The focus and dedication was always there. Battling through some tough injuries together with fitness coach Ali Ghelem but never lost motivation. Last 2 years we have been a bit more involved on court and we will for sure miss those tough sessions together in Järfälla, at the academy and like on the picture in Indian Wells this year. It was nice to break that top 100 together. Rebecca is now making her own career. With the addition of Thomas Hogstedt, as a coach and mentor in her team from now on, we are sure to have many successful moments in front of the TV and a continued rise to the top. A BIG thanks to partner Catella for making this journey possible!

Well well, thats that about coaching. In the last few weeks Ive decided to put a hold of my Triathlon career for now. My knee knee needs a little bit of rest at the moment. All those hours of pounding the ball, twisting and turning. Starting and stopping has taken its toll. It started with the hip and now the knee has told me its time to rest a bit. Im going to go through a bit of pain and time to heal. But hopefully I will be back with some new personal challenges!

I wish you all the best for the upcoming autumn and winter.

Magnus