How to Use Stats to Help Your Player Improve

Summary

Coach Joey Blake, a former top US junior player (US Open juniors doubles champion, NCAA indoors winner as a freshman) turned longtime coach, makes a passionate case for using match statistics as a development tool rather than a scouting weapon. Blake argues that stats serve three critical functions: they give parents a productive activity during matches (replacing emotional reactivity with focused observation), they provide coaches with objective data to guide training between tournaments, and they give players evidence-based confidence that they are improving. He traces his stats background to CompuTennis and his mentor Dr. Leo Levin, and shares a formative story about using match data to help a young Paul Goldstein upset top seeds at the Easter Bowl.

Guest Background

Joey Blake grew up in Las Vegas, was ranked top 10 nationally in every junior age group, and was a three-year member of the US Junior Davis Cup team alongside Patrick McEnroe, Luke Jensen, Jay Berger, and others. He won the NCAA indoors as a freshman at Arkansas (first since John McEnroe), turned pro, but suffered a career-ending wrist injury roughly 18 months later. He began coaching at Bob Pass’s Four Star Academy in the Mid-Atlantic, working with future Stanford coach Paul Goldstein and future Georgia coach Jamie Hunt. Blake now runs Joey Blake Tennis in Las Vegas and the Spin Master Sports Foundation, a nonprofit helping underprivileged kids find their sport (not limited to tennis).

Key Topics

• Stats as development tool, not scouting report: Blake emphasizes stats are about tracking player progression, not figuring out how to beat opponents — a mindset shift most coaches and parents need to make
• Parent engagement through charting: Parents who chart matches stay focused on process rather than outcomes, reducing emotional reactivity and giving them something concrete to discuss with coaches afterward
• Coach-parent communication bridge: Stats provide objective language for coaches and parents to discuss development without emotional bias; a parent’s “terrible backhand” observation can be checked against actual data
• Coach insecurity around data: Many coaches feel intimidated by stats because poor numbers might reflect on their coaching; Blake argues coaches should embrace data as evidence of progression rather than judgment
• Paul Goldstein Easter Bowl story: Blake used CompuTennis data to identify an opponent’s predictable short-angle pattern, gave Goldstein a simple tactical directive, and Goldstein upset the top seed — demonstrating how even basic pattern recognition from stats can be match-changing
• Emotional bias vs. reality: Blake recounts a parent who identified three causes for their child’s loss, none of which matched the actual match data — the “terrible backhand” had only 2 unforced errors vs. 11 on the forehand
• Stats for high school tennis: Blake sees stats as a tool to help under-resourced high school coaches keep kids in tennis by giving them simple, actionable feedback (e.g., “let’s work on first serve percentage”)

Actionable Advice for Families

• Parents should learn to chart matches using any available app; charting occupies hands and brain, reducing emotional reactions during matches
• After matches, send the coach a PDF of match stats rather than subjective impressions; this gives coaches actionable data even when they cannot attend tournaments
• Focus on trend lines across multiple tournaments rather than single-match results; a five-percentage-point improvement in first serve percentage over three months is meaningful validation
• When calling the coach after a match, lead with how the match went and what the player did well, not whether they won or lost
• Stats can reveal that a player’s perceived weakness (what parents fixate on) is not actually what lost the match — data corrects emotional perception

INTENNSE Relevance

• Data-driven development thesis: Blake’s advocacy for stats as a development tool directly supports INTENNSE’s position on analytics in junior tennis development
• Coach-parent communication gap: The stats-as-bridge concept addresses one of the most persistent friction points in junior tennis — misalignment between coach developmental priorities and parent outcome expectations
• Technology adoption barriers: Coach insecurity and intimidation around data is an adoption barrier that mirrors broader sportstech resistance patterns INTENNSE tracks
• Foundation model: Blake’s Spin Master Sports Foundation (multi-sport, underprivileged kids) is a grassroots model worth monitoring alongside SBTA and similar programs
• CompuTennis/RacketStats lineage: The historical thread from CompuTennis to RacketStats to modern match-charting apps maps the evolution of tennis analytics at the junior level

Notable Quotes

“Stats are not about trying to figure out how you’re going to beat your opponent. I think everybody gets lost in that.” — Joey Blake

“Do not call me to tell me you won or lost. If the first words out of your mouth are ‘I won,’ great. That’s not what I asked.” — Joey Blake, on what he tells his players

“They gave me three things that were so far in left field that you may as well have watched a different match.” — Joey Blake, on a parent’s post-match assessment vs. actual match data