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History & Coaching Philosophy
I began playing tennis in 1975 as 7 year old, and started playing
competitively at age 17, at this time I had been competing in many
different sports and I was looking to be a professional athlete but
could not find the sport to give me what I needed, I loved mixed
martial arts above all and excelled in 4 different disciplines, and
after mixing my time between sports my father convinced a friend at
work who played tennis and was cleaning dishes to make a living, to
hit with me twice a week, he was a Philippine National, and was rich
in his country, he had once been a professional player but lost his
job and property due to a political uprising so he fled his country
to come to America & for 2 years we played, he showed me some
techniques and inspired me to play tennis, this is when tennis took
a more dominant role in my life and was my passion above all other
sports, he was someone I respected and admired, he was a soft spoken
person who never raised his voice and always made training hard &
fun, after our 2 years together he left to go back to his family in
the Philippines and I never saw him again, he was the only tennis
coach I ever had.
Years later at the age of 22 I
was teaching part time to get court time and was training myself,
being around other likeminded players and friends who wanted to turn
pro we all pushed ourselves for 3 years when at the age of 25 in
1993 we were ready to play the professional circuit, after planning
and saving cash to travel for a few months we were one month away
from our dreams being realized when my life changed forever, I was
in a horrific motorcycle accident which left my left leg broken in
over 20 places. After the accident I had plenty of time to reflect
and think about my future, I loved tennis so much, and after
spending a month in the hospital, I was watching a special on
professional player Thomas Muster, the story was about his comeback
from a tragic accident just after he had won a match at a tournament
in Miami, he was putting his bag in the trunk when another car
smashed into him crushing both his knees, doctors told him his
career was over (the same as mine did) and I watched as they showed
his determination to come back and play again, I cried for first
time since my accident. His story inspired me to hear only one
voice, the one inside me that said I can, that day I vowed to come
back & I spent the next 2 years rehabilitating and fighting to gain
my strength and ability to first be able to walk then run and
finally compete & win again. I used my experiences in tennis as the
motivation factor to spirit my way back to reach an ITF/USTA
Professional Open World Ranking as a Top 500 USA player & retiring
in 2006 as the USPTA Eastern Men’s 35 #1 Ranked player of the year.
I had originally become a coach to help myself, but years later I
realized my time as a player and my life experiences outside of
tennis were very inspiring and helpful for others, so I chose to
commit myself to being a full time coach and educated myself to the
highest standards as a USPTA P1 Professional Coach. As I moved from
club to club searching for a better player development facility that
not only would help my students but better me as a coach, I met a
man who I respected as a player and
competed with for years and he asked me if I would think about
working for him, as content as I was working in my current facility
I realized he had a lot more to offer for the future so I agreed and
to this day that was the best career decision I had ever made.
Through the next 10 years I evolved as a coach with a better belief
in myself and my abilities to make a lasting difference, and became
a three time USTA Eastern Zone National gold coach.
My philosophy as a coach has
always been true to my character and personality, I have a very
positive & peaceful warrior spirit, “I
believe in embracing life for what is this moment, to have goals in
life to strive for but more importantly to enjoy the journey that
takes you there”.
I look to developing a successful person first with a warrior spirit
that lives for the moment, playing a fearless game that is based on
the trust of their own game style, weapons and abilities, with this
being established fist, a better focus on how to be a winning player
can be developed. I believe in defining success by the effort given
and not the results, I believe if you are trained well & do what you
are trained to do, to the best of your ability the results will take
care of themselves, I tell my students “you
have a choice to live in fear or to believe in the best version of
yourself.”
I believe in a work hard ethic
that you come willing to learn, work hard and have fun doing it and
in this cooperation there will be accountability for actions not in
good standing with the representation of a code of conduct and
standards set by the coach and the club for which you represent. I
see a great opportunity in competition as a true test of what values
this sport teaches you, to think for yourself, be self-reliant and
to believe in your abilities to solve problems and grow with each
match till the fear subsides and your true ability reveals itself. I
also believe in an open and free communication with the parents &
especially with my students, their opinion matters to me and I want
them to be able to freely express themselves so we can set the role
for all involved & have realistic goals so we will be able to
cooperate together and not be driven just by what the coach or
parent would want but more to what the student’s needs are, so they
can be self-driven, with the priorities of school and family first
and tennis after, I will fill the needs of the player as they become
more self-driven and mature enough to travel the path that is paved
before them.
Overall I look to be the best
mentor & roll model for my students, to guide them through the
experiences this sport provides, so as there life goes on beyond
tennis they have the tools to better deal with life’s challenges &
decisions, and knowing I was able to make a positive difference will
define me as a successful coach.
- Nick Hummel USPTA P1
Professional, USTA High Performance Coach & 3 Time Eastern Zonal
National Gold Coach
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U.S.T.A. National Coach
