1-on-1 with DP – 93.7 The Ticket KNTK - What College Tennis is all about, coaching in this sport: February 5th, 2026, 11:25am

Episode Date: February 5, 2026

What College Tennis is like. Coaching and making adjustments. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Back to one-on-one with D.P. Sponsored by the Downtown Lincoln Foundation on 93-7 the ticket. I don't know if my phone's correct. Bach, I'm going to need Weatherman Bach to come in and answer the discretion. Because my phone just told me a thing that I'm not sure I know how to respond and react to. But Bach, what is the current temperature? It looks like 53 of my app. Yeah, I'm just like the weather nature is just showing off.

was in the 40s and now it's in the 50. I'm just saying, well done. We need an outdoor outdoor show now, you know. We can broadcast from the patio. We've done that. We've actually broadcast from the street. Okay. Which is weird. You have this

really nice studio and we went outside on a table and folding chair. But it's a lot of what we do. And as a matter of fact, how many, do you know how many home matches you have left? We'll have Let me pull it up. Maybe seven, seven left.

The big 10. Yeah, I think the next few out of conference are all out of town. We have quite a few more out of town. So we're away this weekend. We have a weekend off and we're away in South Carolina. Two matches there. And then March, April, we're here. So I think we have seven matches left, I think, in conference, if I'm not mistaken.

Yeah, it is, you know, you've got. So we have some good teams coming up. or western Illinois, I think Ohio State, Penn State. Illinois comes in back to back. It's Illinois Northwestern. Then you go to Michigan for Michigan and Michigan State. Washington and Oregon show up here. You go to Purdue and Indiana.

Ohio State and Penn State and Iowa. Back to back to back come here. Maybe during one of those, maybe I'll have to get nose-to-nose with Troy Danin and ask if there's a way that, even if we don't broadcast the match that we could be in the room. Yeah. Like away from the court, but we can still see it.

Yeah. And just talk while we're doing that. Like, while the games are going on. I think it could have a good idea. Yeah. I mean, that may be a way just to get people in the building so folks can get an idea about what this program is. The reason why I ask is those things.

my players are always called them D.P. And there were things that I would often say to my players. The things that I would, it was the work ethic, discipline those things, right? How to handle situations and otherwise. So, coach, what are those things that your young ladies hear the most?

What are the things you say to them that kind of identify what Husker women's tennis is. Yeah, there's a few words we talk about tennis-wise. I always kind of started with when we're starting in practice, it's like, hey, let's win the day. You know, I always say win the day. Just to kind of feel like, hey, just do the best you can today

and leave it all out there, you know. I talk about hustle, hustle and practice. I mention intensity a lot. You know, sometimes in practice, you tend to not have the same intensity level than a match requires. So we're constantly reminding them to pick up the intensity of energy,

you know, the hustle. We talk about being a team that hustles a lot. And they have a few words that I always say when we're playing. One is absorbed. When the players are hitting balls on the ground, we tell them to absorb is to kind of like, hey, just like be tough and gritty, get down on the ground,

hit the ball, you know, like not lose balance on your shots. I don't know. I don't know if I have a specific ones that kind of cut the attention or some. In critical moments. So let's say it's a match point. Balls in the hand of your one, your top player. What are you saying to her? You know, I tried to give her confidence.

I usually say, hey, you can do this, you know, trust your game. You know, if I, if I, sometimes we talk strategy right then. I'll be suggesting where to serve and where to hit the first ball sometimes. Sometimes they want the guidance and sometimes they know what you do. And sometimes you be like, hey, start to the back end, you know, first ball, go to the open core. And sometimes we always say, hey, trust your game. You know, I always say, I believe in yourself, you can do this. You know, you got this, you know.

I don't give them a little confidence to kind of be like, hey, you know, like, even if I mess up, you know, my coaches. supporting me. I don't think I gave enough respect to the amount of thought that goes into a game point serve. I talk to, talking to Henry, it became this thing that in the space, what's the conversation in your head? And we were joking that we're not sure that being in the mind of a tennis player is a good place to be. Like, we're not sure. Like, we're not sure. There's a lot of weeds in there. There's some things happen. Gosh, a lot of thoughts.

Sometimes the thoughts control you. Sometimes you want to control them. You know, I always try to say, hey, like, don't listen to the ball. You know, like, you can talk to yourself. Tell yourself what to do, you know? Talk to yourself and not the ball is, would be spectacular. But there's so many things. You can be like, hey, I can serve to, you know, to the forehand.

And anybody returns to this side. I can hit it to this side. But then if, like, I can serve on volley, I can, like, you try to have a few plays that. you can know that you can execute on the pressure. And then you go more with the kind of what you know what you do. You don't want to do something you haven't done forever in that moment. You'd be like, hey, I haven't served a volley ever.

So I'm going to serve a ball at this much. Kind of like, you know, if you don't know what you do. So you try to be like, hey, if you have a set play, two or three plays that you feel like you can trust and execute, then you try to do those. So if I feel like the players that a little foggy mentally, be like, I'm nervous. what to do, I usually will ask them to serve at a place where I feel like they can serve it, and then hit that first ball, maybe the first two balls, I feel like it's a high percentage shot, and then they can execute it. Would you know, you know, what shot you want them to hit?

How many of your players know what you think their best shot is? Yeah, we talk about it. I think we kind of know what their best shot is and what I think they're best shot is and what I think their best shot is. Yeah. And sometimes they can discredit that, depending how they feel. Sometimes like, oh, today, I don't want to. It's not working.

Yeah, today is like, oh, today my bike is not working. But I'll be like, well, not your bike and it's your best shot. You trust in it, you know? So it's a little bit of like that kind of like, do they believe it, you know, that they can execute it. And then, and then what we're asking them to execute, you know? And then sometimes it's just like, we talk this a lot about it. It's like, oh, it's the game plan, you know?

that it was good and then the execution wasn't as good or is it the game plan that wasn't as good and the execution was okay then you need to change how you execute your game plan or if you're executing it but you're not working then then we can change the game plan just a little bit of like we always talk about it's like you don't need to change too many things too often you need to try to stick with one thing and try to execute it multiple times right and then if it works then then keep doing it. If it doesn't, then it's like, oh, is it an execution that is not working or the game plan, you know, that they're beating you because the game plan is not right. Then you try to adjust the game plan and try to execute a new one.

If no, if you're the game plan is good, but you're not executing and you're missing by, you know, by small margins, then you need to work on your execution. And the game plan might be a good one, you know? Sometimes the players, in tennis happens a lot, but I know the sports happens too. Once they feel like one thing it doesn't work, then they want to switch it right. way. And like, and then once you're switching too many things and then you're like, then you kind of, you get lost. I would imagine that there's some interesting. There's less conversation in tennis with between player and coach. Because the players just out there.

Yeah. Like, they're just out there. Football, basketball, you can kind of inject things into it. Like each play, basically. Right. Like you can call plays. Right. You can do those things. Bach will tell you, I have this thing that I do less better. Like there are times when you need to simplify what you're doing, do the things you do best better. I think it's been research that players, I think most sports, but in tennis specifically players, you know, only process about maybe 20, 30% of the things you tell them

in the changeovers or things, just because there's so much information, right? That is a fascinating step. You know, so they don't process. everything. You don't want to tell them 10 things that are doing wrong or 10 things they need to do. Right. Because then they're like, well, it's too many things going on. Right. So then we tried, you know, I try to be a specific and give them just one or two things, even though there might be more things to work on. But if you tell them too many things, they get too foggy. So you try to be sure and precise. And then making sure you sprinkle

some positivity with some constructive criticism and then a little more positive thing. so they feel like, you know, there's, even if they're maybe doing their best. You know, sometimes the better to do in a match, the less you tell them. If it's working. If it's working, right, we try to keep them dead and just try to go reassure that they're doing a good job or try to tell them, you know, that pick up a few little things here and there. But other than that, you just try to be like, you want to let them keep that momentum going. You know, you don't want to, you don't want to make their mind a little more foggy than they maybe already is.

There's so many things going on. So if they are struggling, then you try to go in and try to guide them maybe in a different direction. But without trying to overwhelm them, you know, you don't want to give them too much. Maybe they might need that, but not at that time. Right. And here's the thing. Not everybody's going to receive what you say the same way anyway. No, I have players before.

You tell them 10 things. And the one thing to repeat to you is the one negative you might have said, you know? And they take that and hold on to that. You're like, well, but that's one thing. being out of 10, I told you, you know? And then you're like, so you try to be more specific and you be like, hey, we're not moving as well, you know, or the energy is not as good. Or hey, we're not executing these because you need to step in more. And then they try to execute that. And then you're like, you know, like extend the point or extend the rally or I don't know.

Sometimes you're like, they miss a shot and you're like, hey, your attitude is not as good. You know, and then you like, you need to be more positive whether things are working or not. So it needs to be sure and precise more than long and kind of like, you know, you know, know, a lecture. Yeah, it is that that percentage number is, is a game change. Because, quite frankly, it applies to most things. It does. You're surprised. I talk to all the coaches too because I asked them, you know, in all the sports. And sometimes they say the same things. You know, it's like, you know, they don't process everything you tell them all the time. And sometimes they, depending how they're feeling, they're going to process, you know, different pieces of what you say.

And sometimes they want to hold out to that, depending what it will. You told me I wasn't doing this well. And be like, well, in a context of all that I told you, that's like the least thing, you know, sometimes you want to be more sure and precise. But I also give them some information that you feel they need at that time. It is, we used to talk about the menu that why somebody shows up, so as a player showing up to the coach. And they will tell you what they need. You just have to read it. But you have to be able, coach has to receive and then has to be able to give back.

And it doesn't always work. It doesn't. And it's a two way. Some players like feedback, a lot of feedback. And they want to tell you a few things how they feel too. And some others just don't say much. And then they want you to say a few things and that's it. You know, and then it's okay.

I think it's not a one, one fit. One is all. I think it's our job as coach is to try to adapt our communication style to each. player, you know, and I think each one likes different information at different times, you know, some you can be a little harder on, some you need to, you know, just be a little more careful what you say, and some just need support and guidance, and some need more specific plays, and some others just need more kind of like a, you know, a pep talk, you know, and that's our job, you know, as coach, is to adapt a little bit to that, you know, and then we still have some things that we want to be

as a team, identity or some standard expectations, how we want them to compete. But then when we get to the need and gritty, you know, we as coaches need to adapt a little bit to their way of play and their way of competing and the way we say things, you know, I mean, every changeover is almost different to every player I go to, you know? And it's like, it's tough because you have six different matches going on at one time and each one is their own match. And each pocket of three games that you're dealing with in each match. Absolutely. So it's not like a whole one team versus another team.

It's also like 16s versus another teams, you know. But each player plays different. Each player behaves different. Each player needs something different. So yeah, it's our job to kind of try to pick up some things that they don't see. And we try to let them know. And sometimes, you know, like each conversation could be different and different times the changeover.

So it's a little different puzzles of the pieces of the puzzle that we try to put together. And sometimes we get a riot, sometimes we don't. You know, so that is the coach's life. That is, that is the mind and the heart of a coach. We'll go to break. We'll come back. We'll close out this conversation with Hermanda Magra, Huskers, and the Senate Bach, D.P.

One-on-one. We'll be right back. Watch live on Facebook, YouTube, or Twitch. You're listening to one-on-one with D. on 937 the ticket and the ticket FM.com.