Lessons from former World No. 23 and US Open Quarterfinalist Tim Wilkison on preparation, confidence, communication, and bringing your best every day.
Meet Our Guest: Tim Wilkison
Tim Wilkison has spent a lifetime around high-level tennis.
A former World No. 23 and US Open quarterfinalist, Tim competed against some of the biggest names in the game during his professional career. Known for his toughness, tenacity, and all-out style of play, he earned one of tennis’s more memorable nicknames – “Dr. Dirt.”
Today, he’s on the other side of the game as a coach.
His coaching experience stretches from young players and high school athletes to some of the top players on the ATP and WTA Tours. For more than a decade, he’s also worked with a high-performance program in Shanghai, helping develop some of China’s top players.
That combination of playing and coaching experience gives Tim a unique perspective on what high performance really means.
And for him, it doesn’t start with the player.
It starts with the coach.
About the Episode
When Tim started talking about being a high-performance coach, he made an important distinction.
Most coaches will never have the opportunity to work with a player who reaches the highest levels of professional sports. Tim has.
But that’s not really the point.
“Let’s not worry about the players. Let’s worry about the coaches.”
Tim’s message is that you can bring a high-performance approach to coaching regardless of the level you’re coaching.
That means showing up ready to give your best. Having a plan. Building confidence. Communicating with your athletes. Knowing when to teach and when to listen. And continually looking for ways to make practice better.
Whether you’re coaching an aspiring professional, a high school athlete trying to move up the lineup, or a young player picking up a racquet for the first time, they deserve that same commitment from you.
5 Lessons for Coaches
1 – Bring Your Best to Practice Every Day
Tim calls this the coach’s number-one responsibility.
“You have to bring your very best to practice every single day.”
And he means every athlete – from a player pursuing professional tennis to a high school athlete trying to make the team or a five-year-old coming to camp for the first time.
Whatever you need to do to bring that energy and be mentally ready, do it.
Your players deserve your best.
2 – Have a Plan – and Be Ready to Change It
Tim is a big believer in coming to practice with a written plan.
Know what you’re working on, how you’re going to organize the players, and what you want to accomplish.
Then be ready to adjust. Maybe six players show up instead of four. Maybe you have two courts instead of four.
Being prepared doesn’t mean everything goes according to plan. It means you’ve done your homework and you’re ready when it doesn’t.
3 – Build Your Players’ Confidence
Tim remembers how hard tennis was even when he was playing professionally, and how much it meant when a coach he respected gave him encouragement.
Coaches naturally spend a lot of time correcting what’s wrong. Tim believes they also need to intentionally build up what an athlete believes they can do.
“It’s really important to take the time and, on purpose, try to build your players’ confidence.”
Sometimes a specific, one-on-one conversation from a coach can stick with an athlete for a long time.
4 – The Better the Player Gets, the More Coaching Becomes a Conversation
Tim doesn’t coach a beginner the same way he coaches an experienced player.
Younger or less experienced athletes may need more direct instruction. With advanced athletes, Tim says coaching becomes “more of a conversation instead of commands.”
He shared an example of suggesting a serving strategy to a top professional player. The player explained why he approached it differently, and Tim listened.
Coaches can still teach and make suggestions. But as athletes develop, listening, asking questions, and giving them some ownership becomes increasingly important.
5 – Make Practice Look More Like Competition
Tim’s practice ideas keep coming back to one thing: prepare athletes for what they’ll actually experience in competition.
That means creating realistic situations in practice and also watching athletes compete. A player can look great hitting in a drill, but a match reveals more.
How do they move? What decisions do they make? How do they respond when they fall behind or the pressure changes?
Tim also doesn’t consider a practice wasted just because an athlete is tired or isn’t playing well. Those days can become opportunities to figure out how to compete when everything isn’t working.
A bad day can still be a really good day to learn how to compete.
One Point at a Time
When Tim was asked about helping athletes with the mental side of competition, he kept his advice practical.
Before a match, have a basic game plan.
Then prepare yourself for what might happen.
What will you do if you fall behind?
What will you do if you get ahead?
What happens when it’s close and the pressure starts to build?
Tim’s answer to all three is essentially the same:
One point at a time.
If you’re behind, don’t try to get the whole match back at once.
If you’re ahead, don’t start thinking about winning.
And if you’re deep into a close match, stay with the point that’s right in front of you.
It’s simple advice, but Tim believes athletes need to practice thinking that way before they’re in those situations.
The Standard Starts with the Coach
One of the best parts of Tim’s message is that “high performance” doesn’t have to describe the athlete you’re coaching.
It can describe the way you coach.
You may never coach a professional athlete. You might be working with a high school team with different ability levels, limited courts, and 90 minutes to practice.
Tim’s challenge is still the same.
Come prepared. Bring your best. Build your players’ confidence. Listen. Communicate. Keep learning.
And don’t measure the importance of your coaching by the level of the athlete standing in front of you.
They deserve your best either way.
