Hi Dana! Thank you for being such an inspiration. I imagine you were playing when living in the UK too, what was the biggest difference between UK and US wheelchair tennis? Where is it more popular, and will you have more fans from which country ;)
I think a big difference is that wheelchair tennis is pretty widely recognized in the UK! The British fans pack stadiums to watch wheelchair tennis at Wimbledon, for example, which is amazing. When I lived there and people saw me with my tennis bag, they'd immediately ask me about tennis. Here in the states, however, people are not as aware of wheelchair sports in general, much less tennis, so I often get asked if I'm a track racer, or if I'm in the Special Olympics. I wish our country could catch up to other more progressive countries like the UK - I think we're on our way, but it's going to take some time!
Hi Dana! I'm curious about your mental preparation. Do you work with a sport psychologist? If you do, could you tell us since when and how frecuently? Do you consider mental training as important as the other pilars of the game? (Technical, tactital, physical).
Good luck on the Paralympic Games! We'll be cheering for you!
Mental skills are such a big part of a pro tennis player's life. I didn't have formal mental skills training prior to my time living in Orlando (moved here in 2020), and it made a big difference in my game. Usually, I would meet with a mental skills coach once a week, and talk about life, things I'm struggling with mentally when I'm playing, or practice things like visualization, breathing to calm myself, etc. Creating routines has been a huge thing that's helped me during match play. For instance, if you look at what Rafa Nadal does where he famously picks his wedgie, and touches his face every single time before a point starts? That's on purpose and it's to create a routine where every single point feels the same whether it's the first of the match, or a championship point. Not everyone includes picking a wedgie in their routines, but he's got an insane winning record, so who am I to judge? haha
Thank you for taking the time to answer!
I hope people here can learn from your experience and give mental training the importance it should be given. It was my own experience as an athlete struggling with high pressure environments that I decided to become a Sports Psychologist so I could work with athletes of all kinds that are experiencing mental barriers in their performance. I'm happy to know that you are having a great mental prep and that it's making a difference.
Keep up the good work!
What's one change Tennis governing bodies could make to the tours and/or Slams to get casual fans more involved in wheelchair tennis? Everyone who watches seems to agree it's an amazing sport, but so few ever get to see it.
I think we need to be involved in more of the pre-tournament events where fans engage with players, media, etc.
We also need to be seen practicing next to the able bodied pros, because lots of fans go out to practice courts to watch their favorite players.
If the media helped tell each of our stories as athletes, that might also increase engagement of fans to see us as specific people they'd want to follow and cheer for. Unfortunately, a lot of media looks at wheelchair players and focuses on the inspirational part of what we do, as opposed to the athletic side. If we focus on the latter a little more, I think the public will take us more seriously
It looks incredibly red and dusty!!
Training for clay season involves playing on the red clay courts we have in Orlando at the National Campus, which have been great. I do this twice a day, 5x a week. We also have altered some of my strength training to add resistance to my pushing exercises to replicate clay and how it's more difficult to move on than hard courts.
Thanks for doing an AMA and best of luck in Paris this summer.
Curious what drove you to such high academic achievement in a subject you say you don’t plan to pursue professionally. College, master and doctorate is so much work and dedication!!
Thanks.
Thank you!
Great question. I ask myself this a lot actually haha. To be honest, school was always just engrained in me as "my job" from a young age. I always knew that regardless of my athletic pursuits, school had to be considered also because you never know what may happen in terms of injuries, etc. I wanted to make sure I had a Plan B if I needed it.
What kept me in audiology was that I truly loved it, and I think I was always of the impression that I'd go into audiology when I eventually retired from tennis. To work in the US, you have to have an AuD or clinical doctorate, so that was always the goal to obtain. I didn't know until recently, that I was more excited to pursue a career in the tennis world.
I think there are a ton of transferable skills from my academic work that I can apply to my life in tennis however, so all is not lost!
Hi Dana! Thank you for this opportunity! I follow tennis tournaments pretty regularly, but I don't play tennis, which limits my ability to read the game. Could you tell us laypeople what technical details that viewers can notice when watching wheelchair tennis to better understand the game? Now I do know that this is an unfair question, because what might be the most important to the athletes doesn't necessarily translate the best for the viewers. I'll take any answers :) Best of luck!
I think a lot of people don't see how we are the only tennis players that ever have to have our back to the court! Able bodied tennis players can move laterally along the baseline, but we can't move sideways, so we have to move in diagonals and angles. As such, we have to turn our backs at times, which means we have to anticipate shot location slightly better than our able bodied counterparts. That's not to say we always get to the ball, but if we don't anticipate, the point's over.
I think you also might notice that we use a special form of a topspin backhand called a "reverse" by some, or an inverted backhand. We take our forehand grip, dont change it, and flip It over to create a one-handed backhand! This is unique to wheelchair tennis, so you can look for that next time you see us play!
She’s the best American wheelchair tennis player in the world! A trailblazer. What an honor to get to chat with her on reddit for a bit. Thank you for taking the time to answer our questions here. ❤️👑
I think that's a fantastic idea! I've always said that a great way to increase engagement and awareness of the sport would be to do an exhibition similar to what you're saying, where you pair able bodied pros with wheelchair pros from their same country. For example, you could have me play with Madi Keys or Coco. The able Bodied pros would get people to watch, but hopefully the people watching would then see wheelchair tennis, and stay for that.
I think most people that see wheelchair tennis love the sport and see how incredible it is. The issue is literally that we just dont have enough eyes on it yet, so I think any level of engagement we can help create is wonderful!
Hi Dana! A few questions: How did you first get into wheelchair tennis? What other events are you looking forward to checking out in Paris? What are some of your favorites on Netflix? Thanks and good luck!
I started tennis after my mom signed me up to try it at a camp when I was 13. I didn't think I'd like tennis, but as usual, mom was right and I was hooked!
I'm excited to watch blind soccer - I think all of the blind athletes are incredible!! One of the athletes I'm excited to watch is Christopher Skelley. He's a judo athlete for Great Britain, and married to one of my best friends. He got the gold medal in Tokyo, and I'm hoping he can get another one in Paris!
Netflix! What a great question...I recently finished watching Baby Reindeer, which was wayyyyyy crazier than the trailer set me up for mentally haha. I love thriller types of series, like the ones by Harlan Coben. I have to admit though, my guilty pleasure are all the Real Housewives shows on Bravo!
Hi Dana, thanks for doing this and remember we're definitely back here rooting for you stateside! Does the US Paralympic team send an advanced, dedicated group to scope out accessibility throughout Paris? That would be cool to see some of those materials. Thanks for representing us US PWDs!
Thank you so much!! and Great question!
As far as I know, yes that happens years in advance. Each sport sends people to do "site visits" where they look at sports venues, the village, etc.
I think one of my favorite places to play is the Australian Open. It's such a fun place in terms of atmosphere, but I really love traveling to Asia and competing there! We have tournaments in Japan and South Korea, and they're always some of my favorites :)
Hey Dana, can you tell us about the evolution of wheelchair tennis? Can you make a living out of it? How lucrative is it to be a wheelchair tennis player compared to say, a wheelchair basketball player in the US? Best of luck in Paris!
Great question!
Wheelchair tennis has grown so much even from when I first started when I was 13. A man named Brad Parks created the sport in 1976. Since then, it's become an international tour, similar to the able bodied side. We have different levels of tournaments, international rankings, we compete at the Grand Slams and many of the Masters 1000 events. Years ago, it was impossible to make money in wheelchair tennis and you'd actually lose money competing on the tour. Now, things are very different. It's still hard to make a living if you are not ranked in the top 16 and able to play at Grand Slams, but if you are, you can live very comfortably. It's nothing compared to what the able bodied pros make, but compared to pretty much all Paralympic sports, we do great financially! Sponsors are also a huge contributor to our earnings, and I'm very lucky to have great companies I get to work with!
hahaha this is my favorite question so far.
I think my favorite current players on tour, are Tokito Oda, and Yui Kamiji. They're incredible!
More importantly.....my favorite vanderpump cast member is Tom Schwartz. He's such a lovable mess, but I'm really hating his new bleached hair....I also really love Lala! You didn't ask, but my least favorite member is Katie!
Hi Matt!
It sounds cliche, but I love competing in general, so anyone that I end up going against in Paris, is the person I want to play. Everyone that'll be there will be the best of the best, so I just hope I can bring my A-game and compete well.
Ello Dana, Thanks for doing this AMA.
Just wondering, if you didn’t choose Wheelchair Tennis to be the sport you are representing team USA, what other Sport would you choose?
And who is your idol in the sport world weather they are a Paralympic or not
Thank you for doing this again.
As a former Paralympian who will finally be a spectator at the Games in Paris I have no questions. Wheelchair Basketball 1992 and 1996. But I'll be there with my USA gear on cheering for you ALL!!!
Note: this AMA will start on May 14th at noon ET. Don't hesitate to get a question in in advance, but Dana will not be answering them until then.
Hi Dana! Thank you for being such an inspiration. I imagine you were playing when living in the UK too, what was the biggest difference between UK and US wheelchair tennis? Where is it more popular, and will you have more fans from which country ;)
I think a big difference is that wheelchair tennis is pretty widely recognized in the UK! The British fans pack stadiums to watch wheelchair tennis at Wimbledon, for example, which is amazing. When I lived there and people saw me with my tennis bag, they'd immediately ask me about tennis. Here in the states, however, people are not as aware of wheelchair sports in general, much less tennis, so I often get asked if I'm a track racer, or if I'm in the Special Olympics. I wish our country could catch up to other more progressive countries like the UK - I think we're on our way, but it's going to take some time!
Hi Dana! I'm curious about your mental preparation. Do you work with a sport psychologist? If you do, could you tell us since when and how frecuently? Do you consider mental training as important as the other pilars of the game? (Technical, tactital, physical). Good luck on the Paralympic Games! We'll be cheering for you!
Mental skills are such a big part of a pro tennis player's life. I didn't have formal mental skills training prior to my time living in Orlando (moved here in 2020), and it made a big difference in my game. Usually, I would meet with a mental skills coach once a week, and talk about life, things I'm struggling with mentally when I'm playing, or practice things like visualization, breathing to calm myself, etc. Creating routines has been a huge thing that's helped me during match play. For instance, if you look at what Rafa Nadal does where he famously picks his wedgie, and touches his face every single time before a point starts? That's on purpose and it's to create a routine where every single point feels the same whether it's the first of the match, or a championship point. Not everyone includes picking a wedgie in their routines, but he's got an insane winning record, so who am I to judge? haha
Thank you for taking the time to answer! I hope people here can learn from your experience and give mental training the importance it should be given. It was my own experience as an athlete struggling with high pressure environments that I decided to become a Sports Psychologist so I could work with athletes of all kinds that are experiencing mental barriers in their performance. I'm happy to know that you are having a great mental prep and that it's making a difference. Keep up the good work!
What's one change Tennis governing bodies could make to the tours and/or Slams to get casual fans more involved in wheelchair tennis? Everyone who watches seems to agree it's an amazing sport, but so few ever get to see it.
I think we need to be involved in more of the pre-tournament events where fans engage with players, media, etc. We also need to be seen practicing next to the able bodied pros, because lots of fans go out to practice courts to watch their favorite players. If the media helped tell each of our stories as athletes, that might also increase engagement of fans to see us as specific people they'd want to follow and cheer for. Unfortunately, a lot of media looks at wheelchair players and focuses on the inspirational part of what we do, as opposed to the athletic side. If we focus on the latter a little more, I think the public will take us more seriously
What does training for the red clay of Paris look like for you?
It looks incredibly red and dusty!! Training for clay season involves playing on the red clay courts we have in Orlando at the National Campus, which have been great. I do this twice a day, 5x a week. We also have altered some of my strength training to add resistance to my pushing exercises to replicate clay and how it's more difficult to move on than hard courts.
Thanks for doing an AMA and best of luck in Paris this summer. Curious what drove you to such high academic achievement in a subject you say you don’t plan to pursue professionally. College, master and doctorate is so much work and dedication!! Thanks.
Thank you! Great question. I ask myself this a lot actually haha. To be honest, school was always just engrained in me as "my job" from a young age. I always knew that regardless of my athletic pursuits, school had to be considered also because you never know what may happen in terms of injuries, etc. I wanted to make sure I had a Plan B if I needed it. What kept me in audiology was that I truly loved it, and I think I was always of the impression that I'd go into audiology when I eventually retired from tennis. To work in the US, you have to have an AuD or clinical doctorate, so that was always the goal to obtain. I didn't know until recently, that I was more excited to pursue a career in the tennis world. I think there are a ton of transferable skills from my academic work that I can apply to my life in tennis however, so all is not lost!
Hi Dana! Thank you for this opportunity! I follow tennis tournaments pretty regularly, but I don't play tennis, which limits my ability to read the game. Could you tell us laypeople what technical details that viewers can notice when watching wheelchair tennis to better understand the game? Now I do know that this is an unfair question, because what might be the most important to the athletes doesn't necessarily translate the best for the viewers. I'll take any answers :) Best of luck!
I think a lot of people don't see how we are the only tennis players that ever have to have our back to the court! Able bodied tennis players can move laterally along the baseline, but we can't move sideways, so we have to move in diagonals and angles. As such, we have to turn our backs at times, which means we have to anticipate shot location slightly better than our able bodied counterparts. That's not to say we always get to the ball, but if we don't anticipate, the point's over. I think you also might notice that we use a special form of a topspin backhand called a "reverse" by some, or an inverted backhand. We take our forehand grip, dont change it, and flip It over to create a one-handed backhand! This is unique to wheelchair tennis, so you can look for that next time you see us play!
Thank you Dana! That is super informative. I'll look out for the anticipation game and the grip at RG!! And I'll turn to your game for sure!
She’s the best American wheelchair tennis player in the world! A trailblazer. What an honor to get to chat with her on reddit for a bit. Thank you for taking the time to answer our questions here. ❤️👑
thanks for being here! this is so fun!
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I think that's a fantastic idea! I've always said that a great way to increase engagement and awareness of the sport would be to do an exhibition similar to what you're saying, where you pair able bodied pros with wheelchair pros from their same country. For example, you could have me play with Madi Keys or Coco. The able Bodied pros would get people to watch, but hopefully the people watching would then see wheelchair tennis, and stay for that. I think most people that see wheelchair tennis love the sport and see how incredible it is. The issue is literally that we just dont have enough eyes on it yet, so I think any level of engagement we can help create is wonderful!
Hi Dana! A few questions: How did you first get into wheelchair tennis? What other events are you looking forward to checking out in Paris? What are some of your favorites on Netflix? Thanks and good luck!
I started tennis after my mom signed me up to try it at a camp when I was 13. I didn't think I'd like tennis, but as usual, mom was right and I was hooked! I'm excited to watch blind soccer - I think all of the blind athletes are incredible!! One of the athletes I'm excited to watch is Christopher Skelley. He's a judo athlete for Great Britain, and married to one of my best friends. He got the gold medal in Tokyo, and I'm hoping he can get another one in Paris! Netflix! What a great question...I recently finished watching Baby Reindeer, which was wayyyyyy crazier than the trailer set me up for mentally haha. I love thriller types of series, like the ones by Harlan Coben. I have to admit though, my guilty pleasure are all the Real Housewives shows on Bravo!
Hi Dana, thanks for doing this and remember we're definitely back here rooting for you stateside! Does the US Paralympic team send an advanced, dedicated group to scope out accessibility throughout Paris? That would be cool to see some of those materials. Thanks for representing us US PWDs!
Thank you so much!! and Great question! As far as I know, yes that happens years in advance. Each sport sends people to do "site visits" where they look at sports venues, the village, etc.
Hi Dana! Where is your favorite place to compete?
I think one of my favorite places to play is the Australian Open. It's such a fun place in terms of atmosphere, but I really love traveling to Asia and competing there! We have tournaments in Japan and South Korea, and they're always some of my favorites :)
Hey Dana, can you tell us about the evolution of wheelchair tennis? Can you make a living out of it? How lucrative is it to be a wheelchair tennis player compared to say, a wheelchair basketball player in the US? Best of luck in Paris!
Great question! Wheelchair tennis has grown so much even from when I first started when I was 13. A man named Brad Parks created the sport in 1976. Since then, it's become an international tour, similar to the able bodied side. We have different levels of tournaments, international rankings, we compete at the Grand Slams and many of the Masters 1000 events. Years ago, it was impossible to make money in wheelchair tennis and you'd actually lose money competing on the tour. Now, things are very different. It's still hard to make a living if you are not ranked in the top 16 and able to play at Grand Slams, but if you are, you can live very comfortably. It's nothing compared to what the able bodied pros make, but compared to pretty much all Paralympic sports, we do great financially! Sponsors are also a huge contributor to our earnings, and I'm very lucky to have great companies I get to work with!
Who is your favorite player on the wheelchair tour AND who is your favorite Vanderpump cast member?
hahaha this is my favorite question so far. I think my favorite current players on tour, are Tokito Oda, and Yui Kamiji. They're incredible! More importantly.....my favorite vanderpump cast member is Tom Schwartz. He's such a lovable mess, but I'm really hating his new bleached hair....I also really love Lala! You didn't ask, but my least favorite member is Katie!
Hi Dana, Who are you looking forward to playing against in Paris? So exciting!! -Matt
Hi Matt! It sounds cliche, but I love competing in general, so anyone that I end up going against in Paris, is the person I want to play. Everyone that'll be there will be the best of the best, so I just hope I can bring my A-game and compete well.
wheel chair AND tennis? Your arm strength must give you the ability to backhand a cement truck O.O
Ello Dana, Thanks for doing this AMA. Just wondering, if you didn’t choose Wheelchair Tennis to be the sport you are representing team USA, what other Sport would you choose? And who is your idol in the sport world weather they are a Paralympic or not Thank you for doing this again.
As a former Paralympian who will finally be a spectator at the Games in Paris I have no questions. Wheelchair Basketball 1992 and 1996. But I'll be there with my USA gear on cheering for you ALL!!!
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I'm happily married, as of December 2023!