The aspects of life on the road often go overlooked by people pursuing their athletic peak.
To better understand the extent that these outside factors can impact performance, I brought in Lauren Embree. As a junior, Lauren was ranked Number 1 in every age division in the US. She is a two time NCAA Champion and 5 time All-American at Florida and was recently inducted into the 2023 Florida Hall of Fame, She left college ranked #1 in the country, and as a pro, she was ranked top 250 in the world.
She has played all around the world, and has a first person understanding of the challenges on the road. Since retiring from professional tennis, she coached college tennis, and now has transitioned her focus to functional medicine and nutrition. All aimed at helping athletes create better systems for their health. In this episode we touch on what makes an effective coach at all levels, the challenges associated with going up each level of sport, and how diet and stress could be the biggest kryptonite or secret weapon for aspiring athletes.
Timestamps
- 00:02:17 – How do sports change as you go up in level?
- 00:04:53 – The role of coaching
- 00:07:05 – How Parents Can Be Good Coaches
- 00:11:39 – Keeping Parenting and coaching separate
- 00:15:22 – What did Lauren Love about Tennis?
- 00:17:41 – Challenges of Life on the Tour
- 00:23:27 – Off Court Variables
- 00:30:09 – Walking Away From Professional tennis
- 00:31:56 – What got you there?
- 00:33:56 – What Would You Have Done Differently?
- 00:40:17 – Transition into coaching
- 00:46:26 – Coach in College Vs tennis Coach
- 00:49:58 – Biggest Surprise Athlete to Coach
- 00:53:01 – How Should You Evaluate Coaches
- 00:59:48 – Transitioning to Nutrition and Functional Medicine
- 01:05:46 – How Do Stress and Nutrition Impact Sports Outcomes
- 01:10:11 – what are athletes overlooking diet wise
- 01:12:56 – Role of the gut microbiome
- 01:16:44 – Favorite meal for athletes
- 01:18:37 – What is so important about protein?
- 01:20:50 – Hypothetical 1: Tennis Player vs football player
- 01:21:41 – Hypothetical 2: Designing a Program for a Tennis Player
Links and resources
Lauren’s Links
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lembree888/
Website: https://www.embreewellness.org/
Research:
– Praising effort over outcome – https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6176062/