In this fast-moving episode of the Atlanta Tennis Podcast, we sit down with Justin Yeo, an Australian tennis coach currently based in Puerto Rico who has worked with players at every level—from juniors to pros. In just 10 minutes, Justin shares invaluable insights that cover the 5 core elements of tennis success: physical, mental, technical, tactical, and emotional. Whether you are a developing young kid trying to build a great foundation, or an adult player trying to gain an edge mentally, Justin's tips will help raise your level.

About Today's Guest: 

• Justin Yeo - Originally from Australia and now living in Puerto Rico, this highly acclaimed tennis coach has been developing players of all levels over the years, from Juniors Development to Professional Athletes. He is known for his hands-on holistic approach, which looks at all areas of the player's game: physical, mental, tactical, technical, and emotional.

You'll Learn:

• Physical Tips: Why it's so important for juniors to create an athletic base with multi-sport, and how adults can maintain physical health for long-term performance.
• Mental Tips: Importance of independence of the junior players, and how best adults can optimize their mental routines to stay focused on the court.
• Technical Tips: How feeling the ball with your hands and understanding elasticity can change your stroke technique.
• Tactical Tips: The importance of tactical awareness both in training and match play, and how you can develop your own game style for maximum effectiveness.
• Emotional Tips: How to keep your emotions in check on the court, including tips on Federer’s transformation from a fiery player to one of the coolest champions in the world.

This episode is filled with practical advice you can take home and implement right away, whether you’re training for your next tournament or simply looking to improve your weekly matches.

Listen Now: Click the play button above to join this insightful conversation with Justin Yeo and discover 10 ways to improve at tennis in 10 minutes!

YouTube Replay: https://youtube.com/live/Ymvnu0D1fzA

Shaun Boyce USPTA: shaun@tennisforchildren.com

https://tennisforchildren.com/ 🎾

Justin Yeo: https://www.instagram.com/yeocoach/

Bobby Schindler USPTA: schindlerb@comcast.net

https://windermerecommunity.net/ 🎾

Geovanna Boyce: geovy@regeovinate.com

https://regeovinate.com/ 💪🏼🏋️

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[Music]

Welcome to the Atlanta Tennis Podcast.

Every episode is titled "It Starts with Tennis" and goes from there.

We talk with coaches, club managers, industry business professionals,

technology experts, and anyone else we find interesting.

We want to have a conversation as long as it starts with tennis.

[Music]

Hey, hey, this is Shaun with the Atlanta Tennis Podcast,

powered by GoTennis. While you're here, please hit that follow button.

And after you listen, please share with your friends and teammates.

Also, let us know if you have questions or topics you would like us to discuss,

and we will add them to our schedule.

With that said, let's get started with 10 minutes of tennis.

[Music]

Good morning. This is 10 minutes of tennis with Justin Yeo,

World renowned, tennis coach, Australian in Puerto Rico.

Today's topic is called "Environment is Everything."

I got to say everything like that.

When it's in all capital letters, you got to go, "Environment is Everything."

That way. Exactly.

So, Justin, what do you mean "Environment is Everything?"

Is that literal? It's the trees, it's the wind,

it's the soil, it's the courts.

Hey, is it really everything?

There really is everything. I like that little one.

You're brought in the elements of what is your surroundings is everything.

But it really is. You can go all the way to staying off your cell phone before you get on the court.

You know, your environment is everything and your environment will shake

and can definitely affect the match.

So, the reason why it's such an important statement

and everything's in capital letters is that sometimes

you're not aware of certain things around you in your environment

that is affecting you that you can change your mental state.

You can change the way you play. You can change the way you

finish this match crappy and then when the next match,

because you recognize things that were in your environment that affected the last match.

You know, environments like I say to kids all the time,

let's make sure the discussion is focused and positive and comfortable

on the way to the way to the match.

Because otherwise, if it's apparent and it didn't air all out each other,

there's you might as well not turn it to the top.

You know, because it makes it really tough for

there's just a really tough kid and they still pull out the match.

But it is very important for parents, children, adults,

everyone to understand that your environment,

what you're around all the time before after it's during,

is everything to your match.

You know, if we put it, you know, that job, which, you know,

talks a lot about your mental state and that you realize a couple of things

and switches his mind and switches the way he's thinking and born.

His result changes.

So when we're talking tennis,

the environment is a lot, you know,

Chip, let's just talk about your US Open.

Bansy trying to play a United States American player

in the US Open, in our garage.

Good luck.

Because your environment is going to get claps on a double falls or between serves.

It depends on what time of the day you played,

whether the honey content is going to be quiet or not.

I mean, come on, man.

So yes, your environment is everything.

That makes me think of years ago when I was watching baseball.

And I would listen to the Atlanta Braves going into New York

and going in whether it was the Metz,

the Yankees didn't matter.

Walk in and all you hear is Larry.

Right. I mean, just given the players all kinds of hell and it's just New York.

And I mean, Australia is one thing because you got the Aussies and they're a unique breed.

And the French expect you to act a certain way.

And Wimbledon's got its own thing.

In New York, you just got that if you don't have the Medvedev kind of thick skin,

like you're going to give it back to the New Yorkers.

That's an environment that the professionals worry about.

And they've got to deal with we're more of,

okay, my kids are on the playground and my husband's over there on the grill working on things

or my wife's there walking waving with the baby walking by in my case with my one-year-old.

And trying to play tennis match and trying to stay focused.

Some of it is blocking it out.

But how much of that do we want to bring in and take that deep breath and say,

okay, I'm going to take the wind.

I'm going to take the humidity.

I'm going to take the sun and use it to my advantage.

How much can we pull in and actually use, like I said, to our advantage?

Yep.

100%.

And you're again, so the whole theme of today was your environment is everything.

It really is everything.

Everything you bring, everything you're doing, everything you're doing, everything you're doing.

Afterwards, to me, it's absolutely critical.

The matter of play is go, I play like crap.

I wasn't my day or I was so involved.

No, what did the tree play well?

What affected you?

Did the wind affect you?

Did the sun affect you?

Was the chord affected?

I mean, I played some chords.

Many chords where I'll make the fall of the chord is definitely

for whatever reason, whether it's irrigation or whatever.

But the fall of the chord is different.

So you're playing uphill.

I want to end up playing downhill on the other end.

I mean, there's so many things that the reason why everything is in papillettes is because it is

everything.

And it's very important to understand it.

Because when you do, you grow as a player, you're better as a player.

And you're actually sometimes turned things into your advantage,

but learning more about your advantage.

Yeah, and I think bringing that into the advantage is one of the things I've tried to do with my own

life just beyond tennis.

It's being able to say, oh, you know what?

This could be a difficult thing or this could, I can take this in a negative way.

But I'm just going to embrace what's happening.

Whether it's a windy day, I think of, I don't know, how many years ago I'm watching Andy Murray play in

the wind and Roger didn't like the wind and actually neither did Rafa, which I found interesting.

But Andy was the kind of guy just kind of do, oh, you know what?

This is going to be a weird match.

I've got this and everybody else was frustrated and he just leaned into it.

And I think in especially the amateur level, the juniors, to be able to walk in and not find

an excuse to lose because of everything's going on, find those things to your advantages.

That is that kind of the advice that you would say when the environment is everything.

Maybe I did bad conversation with my mom in the car on the way to the match.

Maybe my last match I came off the court in a bad mood or got, you know,

got into it with my father about double fault something.

How can I, as the amateur player, as every player be able to go out and forget what happened before

and forget what happened after, what's going to happen after and just take my environment,

focus on it and use it to my advantage.

How can I do that?

You need to work on your own nonsense.

You know, I've asked Dr. Gavitch and say, "Well, I put my headphones on and I focus on some exercise

and I've visualized what I'm going to do or I've visualized what my coaches have told me from the

data that we've already received against the opponent up the other end.

And my game name, my game B, and maybe as a game C, that will happen when I come out.

But my game name, my game B, I'm visualizing how I should start the first set, how I should start the

first three games. What's so critical about winning the first two points because we've seen that

in data like my percentage of odds are, you know, if I win the first two points.

So he will create all the visualizations before he goes on the court.

He'll also, to his advantage over everybody else's advantage is, you know, what the stadium feels like.

You know, it's what it sounds. You know, it's what feelings like. You know, it's what a final is

compared to a semi-final or a quarterfinal. I mean, these are all the advantages that Dr.

Rich has over all the plates. He also knows they're all coming after him.

And so he's got to keep learning how to keep, you know, taking care of business.

So, uh, the environment, I mean, you're saying about mindset.

Mindset is everything again. And the environment is the more you're in it, the more you learn about it,

the easier it is to handle it. And that's probably the easiest way to finish about

environment is everything. He's that puts yourself amongst it. I'll give you a quick example.

I won't say a name. If you have only about 11, 12-year-old, when I met her,

it was Chinese girl in Melbourne, Australia. And a dad was an international chess player.

And he was like, Justin, he had put him amongst every condition.

And so in freezing cold, we put her out there in short-field t-shirt to play tennis, right?

In the freezing cold. If it was raining, we'd get her on the net doing ballies with wet,

heavy balls. When it was, we did all different conditions, put the lights on, right? And so they're

in her inner eyes. You know, he gave her all conditions, but she went from, you know,

like just the average tennis player at 9/10 in debates when I got it. So the number one in the

country, 12, you know, because nothing affect them. She was like, "Ice." So, anyway, that's a quick

example of the dreams. Get yourself prepared. The more experience the better, face your fears,

all that, all the players with the head, headsets on and being able to go in and just say,

"I'm ready. I'm focused. I got my game plan. I'm in the moment. I have a look for a comes, be it

wind, rain, storms, New Yorkers, Aussies, yellin' at me. I'm focused. I'm ready to play. Justin

Yel, thank you so much. I appreciate it. And if you really want to learn some match play,

come to Puerto Rico because they allowed us something to see in the world. Okay, we'll check it out.

Loudest in the world. They got the little ice cream guy. They've got the rick-a-ton in the background.

The screaming at every single thing and it's like, "Wow." Well, there you have it. We want to thank

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[Music]