0:04

Awesome. Kevin Yves so

0:04

good to see you. We used to

0:09

spend every day together, every

0:09

afternoon, you know, and now I

0:12

only get to see you, I don't

0:12

know, every month or so. It's

0:16

just feels like way too long.

0:16

But how have you been how's

0:19

Everything's going

0:19

well in our world, ground zero

0:19

everything going? to one to 100 to 1000, every

0:31

step is someone just texted me

0:39

the other day in a wishing the

0:39

second one year anniversary for

0:42

our cattle business, and I say,

0:42

Oh, I can't even remember that,

0:47

so you keep going. So it's been

0:47

fun. It's been a new adventure.

0:56

Definitely miss, miss the team

0:56

and miss every participant there

1:00

for quite some time. It's

1:00

different, you know, adjusting

1:04

to a different life and

1:04

definitely miss it, but excited

1:06

for further path ahead as

1:08

well. Yeah. Well, it's

1:08

always exciting to chart a path

1:11

forward and try something new,

1:11

as you know, that's what I did a

1:15

couple years ago as well. So I'm

1:15

totally supportive of following

1:19

your dreams. But for those

1:19

listeners who don't know what is

1:24

Padel and what have you created?

1:24

You created a monster, but like,

1:28

what is it?

1:30

So it started in

1:30

Mexico in 1969 and it's a cross

1:35

between tennis, squash,

1:35

racquetball, and actually will

1:40

derive from a score called

1:40

Platform fence, which is pretty

1:43

popular in the northeast, Big

1:43

West and some of the colder

1:45

stakes of the US. It's played in

1:45

a glass court, so the walls are

1:51

all glass. The ball looks very

1:51

similar to tennis ball, and the

1:54

scoring is exact same as tennis

1:54

as well. So playing two and

1:59

three sets, deuce, tie breaker,

1:59

six, all of that. So someone

2:05

that comes from tennis can pick

2:05

it up quite easily. And the

2:08

whole goal is the same, same

2:08

thing as tennis is, you know,

2:11

you're hitting the ball across a

2:11

net. So that's very familiar.

2:14

Ball has to hit the ground

2:14

before it hits the wall,

2:16

otherwise it's out. So a lot of

2:16

that very similar strokes are

2:21

quite similar as well. There's a

2:21

lot of Follies. So anyone from

2:25

tennis or bracket sports

2:25

background tends to pick it up

2:28

pretty quickly. But it's a it's

2:28

a sport that's kind of taken

2:31

over the world and right now,

2:31

taking over the US, as popular

2:34

as Pickleball is growing in the

2:34

US. That's pretty much the same

2:39

growth added as it is in the

2:39

entire world right now, in the

2:42

US is kind of the last to get

2:42

this forward, but it's growing

2:46

pretty rapidly every year. The

2:46

number of facilities, of courts

2:50

double and triple. That's

2:50

amazing.

2:52

And you have two

2:52

facilities. Am I right? Correct?

2:55

Yes.

2:55

So we have, we started

2:55

our first location here in

2:58

Atlanta, over in the Shanley

2:58

area our second location, which

3:02

we started and opened up back in

3:02

May, that's in Louisville,

3:06

Kentucky, and we're currently

3:06

opening up a third location in

3:10

West Midtown of Atlanta.

3:12

I didn't know.

3:12

that's amazing.e

3:14

we're hoping to open

3:14

up by next year, and looking

3:26

into several more locations to

3:26

open up by the end of next year,

3:30

or into the following year as well.

3:32

That's amazing.

3:32

Truly bringing Padel to the

3:36

people. I love it. So for anyone

3:36

listening, if you aren't

3:40

familiar with Padel, you can

3:40

look up Kevin's company. It is,

3:45

what's the website, Kevin? Make

3:45

sure I get it right.

3:48

Play PATL.com,

3:52

play, PA TL.com,

3:52

awesome. That's amazing. So that

3:56

was a little advertisement for

3:56

you, Kevin. I were just talking

3:58

about how that. You know, this

3:58

is a new podcasts. I don't have

4:01

any advertising sponsors yet. I

4:01

think in order to qualify, you

4:05

have to have 1000 downloads in

4:05

one month. You know, we're

4:09

getting close. We're getting

4:09

there, but, but that was our

4:11

little advertising. That's how

4:11

we do it here. We just kind of

4:14

piece things together. And you

4:14

know, it's amateur hour here at

4:17

the playbook for parents. But

4:17

anyways, our podcast is about

4:22

coaching. And Kevin, you have

4:22

been a coach for most of your

4:27

life. Now, really, you have

4:27

coached youth, you have coached

4:31

College, and now you're coaching

4:31

adults with Padel imagine, or

4:35

coaching all ages, of course. So

4:35

tell us a little bit about all

4:39

of your coaching experiences?

4:42

Yeah, so in college

4:42

every summer, some some college

4:47

kids go back and they coach

4:47

other academies or locally

4:51

during summertime. So that's

4:51

kind of what I did with the

4:54

younger kids coming up and I

4:54

graduated. I started as Amy here

4:58

in Atlanta, which is where I

4:58

grew up playing tennis, and

5:02

actually had to make that

5:02

decision, I think, between there

5:04

and coaching for you, Amy.

5:07

I didn't like the

5:07

decision you made at one point,

5:09

but you came back to me.

5:10

He goes there for

5:10

about between college and after

5:15

college, about 10 years or so,

5:15

so coaching Junior Tennis there

5:20

Head of Development with a

5:20

junior program. We coach some

5:24

adults as well. So anywhere from

5:24

a little four year old, tiny

5:28

talks all the way to 7080, year

5:28

old adults, so everything in

5:32

between. So that's kind of where

5:32

I got my coaching career

5:34

started. And then Amy, I think

5:34

we talked back in 2000 to 17, I

5:40

believe. And so Amy brought me

5:40

back on as a part time volunteer

5:47

coach for several years. And

5:47

that's how the college career

5:51

coaching started, when I coached

5:51

five years part time and then

5:56

two years last two years full

5:56

time at Emory, and then

5:59

transition now, actually just

5:59

got our coach approved for his

6:03

visa space coming over on

6:03

February. So since then, I've

6:06

been de facto title coach.

6:08

Wow.

6:10

New sport. I'm still

6:10

learning all the ins and outs of

6:14

it, but with all the coaching

6:14

background, it's been, been an

6:18

easy transition into that just

6:18

just new subject, is all Sure.

6:23

So what do you see as

6:23

the main difference between

6:26

coaching youth, starting at the

6:26

tiny tots, to coaching College,

6:31

and then I want to hear your

6:31

thoughts on college and adults

6:36

as well.

6:37

Yeah, that's good

6:37

question. So with the kids, I

6:40

think the general overall

6:40

consensus, just coaching,

6:44

General is making sure whoever

6:44

you are coaching to have a good

6:47

experience. Think that's the

6:47

most important thing. Otherwise,

6:50

what's the point of playing that

6:50

sport or doing activity? So I

6:54

think the roots of the

6:54

foundation of it is making sure

6:57

that they're having fun. They're

6:57

getting a good experience out of

6:59

that. With the tiny talks,

6:59

again, it's about having fun,

7:03

getting their interest involved

7:03

in the sport, you know, coming

7:06

home, wanting to play it again.

7:06

That is up to, up to the coach

7:09

to make sure they have that

7:09

experience and have that, that

7:12

good time when they're out

7:12

there, you know, as they start

7:14

to develop more focused on it

7:14

and spending more time

7:18

developing a little bit more on

7:18

the technique side footwork and

7:21

pulling in on those two aspects

7:21

side by side to develop their

7:26

game. And as they kind of reach

7:26

into kind of middle school era,

7:31

I think they're usually more

7:31

singular, focused on on a

7:36

specific sport, and in that

7:36

side, guiding them through

7:40

tournaments, guiding them

7:40

through coaching on court off

7:45

court, and working on their game

7:45

a little bit more specifically,

7:49

but also coaching them a little

7:49

bit through middle school social

7:53

era as well. Think there's a lot

7:53

going on for them as school

7:58

picks up, social life picks up

7:58

and and having to navigate all

8:01

that all at once to be somewhat

8:01

tough, and then they get into

8:06

the high school era, looking at

8:06

colleges as you know, that's

8:09

that's your expertise nowadays.

8:09

It's a lot about guiding through

8:15

a little bit more from that

8:15

independence and adulthood and

8:18

having a little bit of a balance

8:18

in their life. Not everyone's

8:23

watching you anymore to find out

8:23

how to manage their time, their

8:27

social life, manage their school

8:27

life, a lot, a lot going on at

8:31

once, and feel that the coach

8:31

helps them through that as well.

8:36

So just throughout different

8:36

stages of their lives, I think

8:39

that coincides with their tennis

8:39

game too.

8:42

Absolutely, and how did

8:42

the parents kind of fall into

8:47

this coaching and development

8:47

piece from the young ages all

8:52

the way through to college?

8:53

Yeah, what I've seen

8:53

kind of the biggest difference

8:55

in the youth and the college, I

8:55

guess parenting, besides the

9:01

course or age, I feel that when

9:01

they get to college, parents

9:06

tend to be a little bit more

9:06

hands off. When they're throwing

9:09

up playing tennis, they tend to

9:09

be a little bit more hands on.

9:12

And I think with the separation

9:12

of possibly distance, you know,

9:16

I think that could help that as

9:16

well as a lot of responsibility

9:19

is taken off, at least from the

9:19

tennis side, off of the parents,

9:23

onto the coach, more. So, you

9:23

know, not taking tournaments,

9:26

not having to describe practice,

9:26

all of that. So I find that when

9:30

they come and watch and support

9:30

more, not that they're less

9:34

important as a kid, but I feel

9:34

that, you know, they can be

9:37

there just to cheer, kind of at

9:37

the sidelines and really enjoy

9:40

watching the kid. But, you know,

9:40

when I see, when I was coaching

9:44

Junior Tennis, I mean, as you

9:44

know this, I think the there's a

9:49

little stigma around, you know,

9:49

having a crazy tennis Bryant and

9:51

all that, which I feel that

9:51

sometimes it can be difficult to

9:54

separate that responsibility of

9:54

the parent as they are very

9:58

involved a lot of time if they

9:58

want their kids fast forward and

10:02

want them to seed. So I think

10:02

there's a little bit extra

10:05

pressure on on both of them to,

10:05

you know, have a little success

10:09

in the junior days, because

10:09

there is a time commitment

10:12

process. And I think that's why

10:12

you start the crazy, quote,

10:15

unquote crazy parents, where

10:15

they start to become little

10:18

overbearing or little pressure

10:18

on the kids. And I think it's

10:22

tough at times to have that

10:22

border kind of be crossed a

10:26

little bit. You know, it can be

10:26

tough in those regards.

10:29

So part of the reason

10:29

that I started this podcast was

10:32

because I saw lots of those

10:32

crazy parents that you

10:36

mentioned, because we see them a

10:36

lot in tennis, and I really

10:38

wanted to create something that

10:38

could help parents to make a

10:44

choice to become the supportive

10:44

parent that I know we all as a

10:49

parent myself, we all want to

10:49

be. And sometimes we cross that

10:53

line, like you're talking about,

10:53

and we chastise ourselves later,

10:57

but in the moment, you know, we

10:57

just get all caught up and we

11:00

become that crazy parent. It

11:00

happens, you know, in a snap of

11:05

the fingers, like we don't even

11:05

expect it to happen in it, and

11:08

we try, but, but I think that if

11:08

we are really aware of what it

11:15

looks like to cross over into

11:15

the dark side, then we can take

11:22

the steps to prevent it. So with

11:22

that in mind, tell me about the

11:27

craziest parent you've ever

11:27

seen. No names here.

11:36

In those regards, I

11:36

wouldn't say from college, but

11:39

more in the senior days, I

11:39

remember one, one parent. It

11:45

wasn't it was in a player mind,

11:45

like it was an opposite player.

11:48

The little girl was playing a 10

11:48

and under tournament on the

11:52

short court with orange dots,

11:52

and barely anyone knew what was

11:56

going on, you know. And both

11:56

parents were there. So the

12:02

opponent's parent, the kid I was

12:02

coaching her parent, her dad,

12:06

was there as well. They're still

12:06

trying to figure out what's in

12:10

and out as well. So there's

12:10

gonna be a lot of balls that may

12:15

be in that are called out and

12:15

vice versa, and that can

12:18

sometimes drive parents a little

12:18

bit mad and crazy. And so as

12:23

that was happening again, part

12:23

of the coach coaches jobs, also

12:26

coaching the parents as well.

12:26

And that's something I focused

12:29

on your coach to be like, Should

12:29

we call that boss? We get the

12:36

ref. Is not on purpose. They're

12:36

still figuring out they need to

12:43

call line drives. They clearly

12:43

talked about this with the kid

12:46

as well. And then remember, the

12:46

opponent's kid went to the

12:50

bathroom. You know, it's hot,

12:50

dead of summer, maybe 95 degrees

12:54

out there. And so my kids dad

12:54

shout out to her, make sure, you

12:58

know, drink some water, give

12:58

them a shave. There's your

13:01

weight, and the other parent

13:01

freaked out. They freaked out

13:04

like you can't be coaching

13:04

there. This is, this is a

13:07

violation, yada yada. It got

13:07

escalated so badly that it

13:11

almost

13:12

got to a fist fight.

13:12

I've just fight over 10 and

13:14

under tenants correct, the

13:14

closest

13:16

I've ever seen someone

13:16

get to a fight over a tennis

13:19

match, and 10 and others as

13:19

well. So and this was, and this

13:22

was a parent telling his kid to

13:22

drink water, or telling the

13:25

other kid to drink water,

13:25

telling his kid to drink water.

13:28

Because either way, yeah, either

13:28

way, it's like, it's a behind

13:31

gesture, but people wannamake

13:31

sure the kids not gonna pass

13:35

out. So I think somebody's

13:35

trying to get kind of caught up

13:38

in the game and the rules

13:38

sometimes, and sometimes it can

13:41

be lashed out in other ways as

13:41

well. ,

13:46

So, well, I mean, let's

13:46

think about it like if I were to

13:49

tell you to go drink water on a

13:49

bathroom break, what could that

13:52

be code for? I mean, we lose

13:52

parents lose their minds. It's,

14:01

it's unbelievable. And then 10

14:01

and under tennis, that's absurd.

14:05

Okay, so that's, you know, great

14:05

story. I think that's helpful

14:09

for the parents listening to

14:09

just maybe take some deep

14:13

breaths if they feel like

14:13

there's some coaching going on,

14:16

or you don't want your opponent

14:16

to remind their child to drink

14:20

water. Take some deep breaths.

14:20

If you feel yourself elevating,

14:24

you know what I love. And I

14:24

started doing this when I was

14:27

coaching Kevin, you might

14:27

remember I wear my Apple watch,

14:31

and you know how it it, it

14:31

tracks your pulse. So if my

14:36

pulse rate went up, then I knew

14:36

I was getting to that state of

14:40

like, okay, I might snap on on

14:40

my college players and so I

14:45

would take some deep breaths

14:45

there to make sure that I didn't

14:49

lose it. So that could be a tip

14:49

for parents as well. Maybe set

14:53

up your your iPhone to ding when

14:53

your heart rate escalates. But

14:59

okay, so, so that was a good

14:59

what not to do. Example, give us

15:04

an example of a time when you

15:04

saw parents really doing the

15:09

right thing.

15:10

Yeah, I think that

15:10

happens more often times.

15:16

That's what we want to hear

15:17

Those stories with you

15:17

know, a lot of parents, you

15:22

know, being able to, I don't

15:22

think there's like, one big

15:25

specific thing, but a lot of

15:25

them, you know, just being very

15:31

supportive and being there, just

15:31

making sure that, you know, win

15:35

or lose, there's a current, but

15:35

also a little constructive, not

15:39

crisis, but constructive help

15:39

move forward, what to improve as

15:43

well. I think that's kind of the

15:43

biggest key, besides just

15:46

encouraging, right? So if you

15:46

want to see a path forward for

15:48

the kid as well, and so I think

15:48

that's one of the biggest

15:52

things, I think, leading into

15:52

that topping that conversation

15:56

in terms of how parents can be

15:56

supportive, is, I see a lot of

16:00

times the parents like to try to

16:00

coach the kid different ways.

16:03

And, you know, sometimes I can

16:03

be confusing for the kid too,

16:07

especially when there's thoughts

16:07

and ideas coming from different

16:11

mouths. It's kind of like

16:11

analogy, kind of too many cooks

16:14

in the kitchen. That path or

16:14

becomes a little bit confusing

16:18

to me, a little bit misguided as

16:18

well in terms of which path to

16:22

go. And so then when that

16:22

happens, it's, you know, you're

16:26

working on 10 different things

16:26

at once, and it's really hard to

16:30

accomplish anything at that

16:30

point because it becomes so

16:33

overwhelming for the kid. So I

16:33

would say, finally, the best

16:36

advice is, if they want to help

16:36

in those regards, it's really

16:39

important to be on one page with

16:39

the coach, but also just kind of

16:44

creating that support

16:44

environment to make sure, again,

16:47

the kid has a good experience.

16:47

Back to that quote crazy parent,

16:50

when they're putting a lot of

16:50

pressure, but lot of ways to

16:54

have to perform, and I think

16:54

that ultimately creates a little

16:59

bit fear, and doesn't let the

16:59

kid at their best either. So,

17:04

you know, at the end of the day,

17:04

it's just making sure you do

17:06

there for them. I think the most

17:06

important thing

17:09

that's great. I

17:09

think that's so key. And you

17:12

know, I typically recommend that

17:12

parents don't try to coach their

17:16

kids, especially parents that

17:16

know the sport, because then the

17:21

young athlete tends to try to

17:21

impress or make their parent

17:26

happy, and they there gets to be

17:26

this whole, like you said,

17:30

confusion surrounding love and

17:30

success and how they achieve

17:37

their parents Love by achieving

17:37

success versus just being a kid

17:42

and getting the love because

17:42

they're a kid. So, yeah, I tend

17:46

to, I tend to recommend to my

17:46

families that they they stay

17:50

step away from coaching and lead

17:50

the coaching to the experts like

17:55

you, for sure. That's in the

17:55

best interest of these student

17:58

athletes. And then the other

17:58

thing too. I mean, you know, you

18:01

touched upon this, but burnout

18:01

is a real thing, and when, when

18:05

we're coaching these kids at

18:05

such a young age, by the time

18:09

they get to be in high school or

18:09

college, sometimes they're just

18:13

over it. You know, whether they

18:13

start their sport too early,

18:16

whether they specialize in the

18:16

sport too early, whether they

18:20

are ready to be involved in

18:20

other things that they had to

18:24

sacrifice for years because they

18:24

were putting all of their energy

18:29

into their sport, and whatever

18:29

it is there is such a risk of

18:36

your child just giving up their

18:36

sport prematurely, if, if we

18:41

coach them, and if we place too

18:41

much pressure on them. So I

18:44

think that's really important

18:44

for families to remember.