One of Volkl’s most treasured VIPs, Jane Forman, recently announced that she’s slated to be inducted into her high school’s hall of fame. For the most part, though, she’s imparting her wisdom that she’s acquired over her countless years as a player dating back to high school and for the past 30 years as a leading coach in South Florida.
A star student-athlete representing Clemson back in the day, Forman’s focus shifted after her illustrious professional career had its swan song in the early ‘90s. At that point in her career, her focus shifted from being a pro athlete to teaching juniors and amateur players what she knows best: how to win and have fun while doing just that.
“It kind of morphed into me developing a company,” says Forman about her tennis consulting business, which has been a part of Volkl’s family for a handful of years and counting.
“I would say that one of the things that has kept me relevant over the years is because while things change and styles changed, I could easily see that things needed to change in my business and coaching styles,” says Forman about her unique ability to adapt depending on the environment within the sport. “I would morph based on the needs of my clientele; at the end of the day, tennis doesn’t change all that much but styles have changed and the needs have, too.”
While many coaches of Forman’s pedigree tend to turn their attention toward developing junior tennis players whether that’s through the USTA player development program or their namesake academy, Forman an has opted instead to focus primarily on the ‘weekend warriors’, whose main goal as a tennis player is to somehow pave their way to USTA sectionals and then maybe even have a shot at advancing to nationals.
“I have such a unique situation with what I’m doing,” says Forman about the large amount of predominantly recreational women’s tennis players she coaches day in, day out. “I brought my experience as a competitive tennis player to them, and they get ‘bitten’ by that — that’s the attraction.”
The attraction to Forman’s coaching is so great, that Forman convinces her players who ordinarily would opt out of competition that they too can be in the same boat of competitive action as Forman once saw herself in.
“And this is the person who said they’re not competitive,” says Forman, who has lead groups of women to nationals as well as the next generation to realize their full potential.
Not only does Forman inspire recreational players, she also has room in her ever-busy schedule to help junior players since 2010 at the Riviera Prep.
“It was on my bucket list, I had not coached a high school team or had been involved with a school team. They immediately hired me and the rest is history.”
Regardless of playing level or age or aspirations within the sport, the V-Cell 8 285g-armed coach has placed Volkl racquets in the hands of her students; and the conversion rate is incredibly high at 75 percent, according to Forman!
When discussing the racquets, she says the following: “I feel like it’s crisp and solid — it’s good feel all the way around.”
Crisper than usual, and as she says, being on team Volkl is like always having the so-called ‘a-ha’ moment.
