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The Determined Society with Shawn French | Mindset, Adversity & Growth
Rick Macci: The Coach Behind Serena & Venus Williams Success
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- [00:00]
Rick Macci
Jack Daniels is proudly served in fine.
- [00:03]
Sean
Establishments, questionable joints, and everywhere in between. So no matter where you go in every bar, you'll always know someone by name. Jack. Jack and Coke shot at Jack.
- [00:17]
Rick Macci
Jack Daniels, please. Right away.
- [00:19]
Sean
That's what makes Jack Jack. Please drink responsibly. Responsibility.org Jack Daniels and old number seven are registered trademarks. Copyright 2025 Jack Daniels Tennessee Whiskey 40 alcohol by volume 80 proof.
- [00:31]
Rick Macci
This episode is brought to you by Wayfair. Podcasts. Follow us everywhere, whether you're cooking in the kitchen, chilling in the living room, or pretending to fold laundry in the bedroom. And with Wayfair, every one of those rooms can tell a story of its own. Their curated collections of furniture styles and prices make Wayfair the trusted destination to turn your home into your happy place. Shop everything home@wayfair.com with free and easy delivery. Straight to your door. With Wayfair, every style, every home. She's always on the attack. The little panther.
- [01:02]
Sean
Oh, that's why you call her the little panther.
- [01:03]
Rick Macci
Yeah.
- [01:04]
Sean
Dive into Vlada a little bit.
- [01:05]
Rick Macci
A good friend of mine, Peter Bodo, he said, rick, there's this little girl from Ukraine you need to take a look at. I seen that movie, like, 10,000 times. You know, Vlada the raca was, like, as big as her. She got on the court. She just had just burning desire. It was personal between her and the ball. This little girl will be number one in the world. And if she doesn't, I did a bad job.
- [01:28]
Sean
There she is. What an honor. Sit down.
- [01:30]
Rick Macci
Her work ethic is unsurpassed.
- [01:33]
Sean
Where do you think that comes from?
- [01:35]
Rick Macci
Just my mind.
- [01:36]
Sean
Love that.
- [01:37]
Rick Macci
I love tennis.
- [01:38]
Sean
You love tennis.
- [01:39]
Rick Macci
She's a little kid that has a lot of potential to be one of the best tennis players in the world. You can correct me. The best I know. Okay. The best in the world.
- [01:52]
Sean
So, Rick, we're here at Rick Macy Tennis center here in Boca Raton. This has been the home of training for so many amazing tennis players. The Williams sisters, Andy Roderick, Jennifer Capriotti, Marie Sharapova. And now right now, you got Vlada. Vlada out there who's a junior, who's gonna, you know, in your opinion, be the next number one in the world.
- [02:18]
Rick Macci
Yeah.
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Sean
Walk me through the journey of this amazing facility you have here, training all these athletes and everything that it's brought.
- [02:24]
Rick Macci
Well, you know, first off, if I can back the truck up a little bit, everybody asked me, like, who's your favorite student of all time? And people might say, Venus Serena Capriotti. Roddick Sharapova, Kenan Pierce. Rude. I coach Rude. Christian Rude. Casper's dad. Not the one that's top 10 in the world, and. But it's who's ever on the other side of the net, that hour, that minute, that second. And that's the way I feel. And when you coach from the heart, that's how you extract greatness. And that's what I do, you know, and the kids can feel that, and I can get them to move mountains. So whether I'm coaching you or an adult player, it doesn't really matter. But obviously, I've been known for the people that went on to achieve greatness. But I don't really change strokes. I, more importantly, change lives. And when they come back.
- [03:17]
Sean
Today in McDonaldland news, Mount McDonald is experiencing thick volcanic shake activity. So try the new Mount McDonaldland shake. When you order the McDonaldland meal with your very own character souvenir kit, they.
- [03:45]
Rick Macci
Don'T talk about the forehand or the backhand or the serve. It's all about never make excuses run for every ball. The harder you work, you'll feel like you're hardly working. I can go on with the Macy Isms, and I love it just as much today at age 70 as I did at age 22. And that's the best feeling in the world, knowing I'm making a difference to people's lives.
- [04:07]
Sean
See, that's legacy, right? You're building that. When you. You said something that spoke to me, you said, who's your favorite? Like, whoever's on the other side of the net. Because that gives a amount of presence to that individual, that player. And they feel that love and they feel that care. So they work extra hard, and they're in that moment with you. You know, it's funny to me because a lot of times, you know, I play. I was a baseball coach for a lot of years, and people always ask me, who's your favorite athlete? It had to have been this one. Who's your favorite catcher? I'm like the ones that were there to work, like, the ones that understood that I'm there to coach them, that I love them and respected them, and to give them a positive experience. I think coaching is a lost art. I think a lot of people view coaching as working with the players that just have great skills. But to your point, it's about every single person.
- [04:55]
Rick Macci
Absolutely. You know, I. I kind of like the ones that are more of a challenge. If someone's a little lazy, I can flip the script and get them to do Their homework better clean their room. At New Balance, we believe if you run, you're a runner, however you choose to do it. Because when you're not worried about doing things the right way, you're free to discover your way. And that's what running is all about.
- [05:31]
Sean
Run your way.
- [05:32]
Rick Macci
@Newbalance.Com Running get off drugs. See, I look at this very differently through a different lens. The tennis part is easy because we're the worldwide leader in Biomechanics. My partner, Dr. Brian Gordon, has his. Did his thesis on this stuff. We're pretty much the worldwide leader in mechanics of how to hit a ball. But the motivation and the stimulation, that's kind of what I do. And I extract greatness and I just expect it from myself. So the ones that maybe have a bad attitude or don't want to work, I kind of like that because now it's that game between Rick and Rick. Now if you get someone that never makes excuses and runs for every ball and goes for the jugular, like Vlada or whatever, then obviously it's. It's easier. But it doesn't matter. I just love helping anybody, anytime, anywhere.
- [06:25]
Sean
I think the key though, to where everything you just talked about is we're talking about getting kids to clean the room, better, do their homework better, stay off or get off drugs. That is impacting someone's life. Coaches a lot of times get in a place where they're just trying to go win championships or to take credit like I coach that person. When you can make an athlete's life better just for them, but also it helps the parents out at home and they can be good citizens and give back to the world positively. That's the real win, in my opinion.
- [06:54]
Rick Macci
No, absolutely. And people ask me all the time, why don't you go sit in the box? You know, and I do this differently. I go to Publix, buy it on aisle four, put it in the oven. I bake it, I put the icing on it. I'd rather build the box than sit in the box. Now if that happens, that's great. But I'm a busy guy. I still teach 50 hours a week, maybe with Vlada, because I coach her and represent. This episode is brought to you by Amazon Prime. From streaming to shopping, prime helps you get more out of your passions. So whether you're a fan of true crime or prefer a nail biting novel from time to time, with services like Prime Video, Amazon Music and fast free delivery, prime makes it easy to get more out of whatever you're into or Getting into visit Amazon.comprime to learn more than her. That could be a little different dynamic when she goes pro. But at the end of the day, that's kind of how I've always been put together, you know, and when you talk about coaching, it's such a vague word because the art of coaching is how to say it, when to say it, why to say it, when to say it, how loud to say it, how soft, how to talk to an 8 year old opposed to someone on the pro tour and taking the temperature, you know, I can feel the temperature every second with the player. How to navigate this even on their worst day. I can get the most out of anybody because instead of just mailing it in like a lot of people do, and I could, you know, with everything I've been fortunate to accomplish, but I've never been put together like that. And anybody listening to this, if you're always trying to get better, to me that's the leader in the clubhouse because getting better is a lot better than getting worse. And I prefer better.
- [08:46]
Sean
Absolutely. There's a lot of selflessness in coaching. Well done, the right way. Right. So, you know, that's really what the deal is. When you say wiring in the box, I want to bake it, I want to put the icing on it, but I want to be in the box, I want to build it. And that is true coaching. Because you realize it's not about you. You're there as a vessel to help somebody bring their gifts out, to make their life better so they can operate in their own genius. I think that's amazing.
- [09:12]
Rick Macci
Absolutely. You know, even when I took on the project with the Williams sisters, I took a risk, I took a gamble. I could have been wrong. I knew I wasn't going to be, you know, I mean, there was arms and legs and hair and beads flying everywhere.
- [09:25]
Sean
Yeah.
- [09:25]
Rick Macci
You know, before that whole thing, I had Jennifer Capriotti and she was poetry in motion, racket back in the parking lot, low center of gravity, great fundamentals by the late, great Jimmy Everett. And she was top 10 in the world at 14. She won the national 18 as a 12 year old, a record that still stands today. Are you kidding me? 12 years old, winning the 18. Okay, so at the end of the day, you know, this is kind of what coaching is all about for me. You know what I mean? Just trying to help anybody anywhere, you know, and it's not where you start. I always look at this as a bigger picture and I have a vision and I can evaluate talent just like the Williams sisters. I. I didn't see it at first. And then we started playing competitive points after about an hour. When I was in Compton, I was going, what? What the heck am I doing in Compton? You know, looking back, I'm the only guy that says their best vacation ever was Compton.
- [10:24]
Sean
I read that somewhere. You have to explain that one.
- [10:26]
Rick Macci
Yeah, no, well, but. But back to the Venus and Serena. Once we started competing, okay, we were doing drills at first, and it was a train wreck. I mean, Serena, a plane would drive, fly over, and she'd wave at it. I'm going, whoa. I'm not thinking. This girl is going to be the greatest of all time. And we start playing competitive points, and the whole landscape changed. They started popping the popcorn, extra butter. The preparation got better. But there was a rage. There was a rage inside these two little kids I haven't seen my whole life until the little Ukrainian. I never saw that. I never saw that. And when you're all about the competition, and that was 9 and 10, baked in double crispy from birth before Rick Macy. I knew they'd handle pressure better. I'm not saying any. Every. They'd be bulletproof because everybody gets nervous. They would be almost bulletproof because when the bell rung, they were very different. It was all about the competition, and that's how you handle pressure. So that's what I saw in vw. And I told Richard, I send this in the movie. After I saw this for 20 minutes, I go, richard, come here. Let me tell you something. You got the next female Michael Jordan on your hand. And he puts his arm around me, goes, no, brother man. I got the next two, you know, And I go, I like the way you think, you know, But Serena wasn't that mature. But I was picturing both of them 6ft 165, 11, a buck 45. Big, strong, fast, quick. Where women's tennis in the late early 90s. If you were big and strong, you weren't nimble. They were going to bring a whole different element to the sport. So not only that, I think they could be number one. With the right coaching and financial help, I think they could transcend the sport. This is all in video and articles. And, you know, I was almost, like, psychic and the way I felt. So to go all in and buy him a $92,000 motorhome and a golf cart and a condo on the golf course and my time and hitting partners and taekwondo and boxing and ballet, Disney tickets, you know, seafood buffet, the whole enchilada to go all in. Like that is be. When I believe, I just achieve.
- [12:51]
Sean
I pick up little things, man, like very little things. I. I'm picking up a light switch mentality. Right. As soon as the disco lights come on, I'm using baseball terms now. Disco lights come on, we're dancing disco lights. It's done. You know, either you can play with the lights on or you're sitting over here. So what I'm hearing, there was a certain gift that they had mentally, that the moment the competitiveness started, it was a different individual. Right. And then. And then you're going into another conversation about ballet in taekwondo. This is for the audience here and the parents that are taking their children, because you and I talked about this off air a little bit about, you know, crazy sports parents, things like that. When you have a child that is playing a sport and you think they have all the promise in the world, there's too many people, in my opinion right now that are specializing their children too soon, not exposing them to other movements. You mentioned boxing, taekwondo and ballet. They're tennis players. Why is that important?
- [13:50]
Rick Macci
Well, first off, another great question. They were already athletic. Venus was like an Olympic sprinter with a racket in her hand. And Serena was built like a cornerback in NFL.
- [14:01]
Sean
Yep.
- [14:01]
Rick Macci
I mean, she had muscles on muscles at 10 years old, but she wasn't that good. And when she got good, people said steroids. No, she was just put together that way. But. And that's one of the things Richard liked about me. Even though they were so athletic, my goal was simple. Triple down, make them more athletic. Cross training, but make it fun. They'd go around the court with a cone on their head, doing a hula hoop, taking two pound dumbbells and doing curls. They threw the football because the serve is like a throwing motion. They threw the football more than anybody. Okay. There was so much cross training to make it fun because, listen, kids could be dead tired, but when you make it fun, whether they play tag or whatever, they're going to get better. But so many parents, it's about repetition. They drive the kid into the ground and they don't understand that this is a journey. It's junior development, not junior final destination. And while we're on the cross training, this is, this is an epic story. Serena loves this. We go, we have a sand pit, okay. And the kids all go in the sand pit and they play tag. You know, you go and you chase someone, tag them. Serena, when she was it, she's the only person I've had in the history of my career that Played tag with a closed fist. Okay, that was that Compton street fight coming out. I go, whoa, whoa, whoa. Serena, Serena, wait, wait. We got. Listen, I don't want to get sued here, punching people. I know you got to play with your hand open. You know, she. She loves that story. We talked about it at the after party. She just was on the ground crying. But. But that's the competitiveness, and that's what I saw in them. And that doesn't mean you're going to be number one in the world. You can be competitive and work at Burger King. Okay? It doesn't matter. But then when you start checking boxes, speed, quickness, strength, you know, dedication, bulletproof competitiveness. When you got some of that in your pocket. It's Rick Macy's job to put Humpty Dumpty together, technically and strategically of how to play a game that's going to go into the next, the future. And that's what I'm doing with Vlada. Vlada is going to play very different because six, seven years from now, the game's going to be quicker and faster, and we're going to be ahead of the curve.
- [16:20]
Sean
So I just met her out there. You know, you took me out there and watching that. Was she 9, 10? Like, how old is she?
- [16:27]
Rick Macci
She's 9. She's. She's getting up there like me. She's 9 years old. She's. She's almost 4 foot 6, 65 pounds.
- [16:36]
Sean
Unbelievable athlete. Like every. Like everything.
- [16:40]
Rick Macci
Like everything.
- [16:41]
Sean
You can hit whatever at her, and she's going towards the ball, towards the opponent. And you mentioned something out there that. I thought it was a very good point. She's not playing the opponent. She's playing the ball. Explain to the audience what that really means. Because. And I want to. I want to clarify it, because I'm a baseball guy, and I saw a clip of Barry Bonds with the greatest hitter of all time, in my opinion. Say whatever you want about the steroids or whatever the dude can hit, right? He said, I wasn't trying to get a hit. I was just trying to beat the pitcher. So. Meaning I was trying to put the ball in play. He simplified it that much. And if I hit the ball and play, I win. And so it triggered that. When you told me about Vlada about going and playing the ball, that's what the great one, Barry Bonds, did. So explain to them in tennis terms what that really means.
- [17:35]
Rick Macci
Well, I probably. It's. It's a mindset, and this is what I do with the players. You know, I look and I have them look at things through a different lens. And I tell people all the time, what you may see is different than Rick may see, okay? So that's amazing, right? There you go.
- [17:52]
Sean
I'm hearing all of them. They're good.
- [17:54]
Rick Macci
They're good. Listen, it's your. Your. I haven't played the ball because, you know, you are playing a person, and you should know what. Whether you're a batter and a pitcher, you know what they can and can't do. And all the dirty work is done before the match. You know the strengths and weaknesses in the game plan. But when you go out there, you're playing the ball. You're a performer, okay? You're playing the ball. It's about you. You're playing a faceless person. And I got to train the person, if they buy in, to think like that, because greatness thinks different. Everybody's good, okay? Great is rare air. I train great. I've helped build it. I've seen it. I've seen it go right, left, up and down. And I know how this is done. And you got to buy in so you can see Vlada no matter what comes. Sure, sometimes you got to go back and you got to be on your back foot, but it doesn't matter. She's programmed to go to the ball, okay? So with that being said, it doesn't matter size, strength, or what anybody's bringing at her someday, whether it's Coco Sabalenka, whatever, she's playing the ball. And that's been put in her head at 8, 9. And as we go down the yellow brick road here, and you're playing the ball, okay? And she's already cleared that hurdle, okay? And a perfect example is the Williams sisters. No one saw when they went into pro tennis. People hit on the run with firepower and flip the script and go from defense to offense. Because usually when you're in a little bit of trouble, you go upstairs and live another day. They looked at as an opportunity on the run, I wanted them to attack where the rest of the world might lob. See, it's all about the art of coaching now. You got to have the thoroughbred to win the derby. I get that. But they still got to buy in. You know, it's. You're. You want to eat chicken, not be a chicken. And I train different because everybody under pressure, I don't care. NBA, NFL, everybody's going to get a little tight. They go into prevent defense. They try not to lose. So I do it 360 the other way, attack Swarm in the face, cut the court, play the ball early. And if you look at some of the girls that I've had that went on for greatness, Venus, Serena, Capriotti, Sharapova, Kenan, Pierce, Moskina, all these people that won grand slams, they play kind of the same. They cut the court, they hold the baseline, they take the ball early. They're dealing the cards and running the show, and they're the ones dictating time. They're playing on their terms. Then if you got to use your speed to counter punch, that's easy. So this is kind of how I train. And no one's bought in more than a little panther. I don't call her Vlad, I call her the panther. She's always on the attack, the little panther.
- [20:45]
Sean
Oh, that's why you call her little panther.
- [20:47]
Rick Macci
Yeah.
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Sean
Dive into Vlad a little bit.
- [20:49]
Rick Macci
Tell.
- [20:49]
Sean
Tell the audience about who she is, where she's come from and I mean, obviously know what track she's on.
- [20:56]
Rick Macci
But yeah, no, you know, I've. It's a unique situation. A good friend of mine, Peter Bodo, Senior Writer, Tennis.com One of the best writers in tennis history, he said, rick, there's this little girl from Ukraine. They're up here in Vermont, New York, you need to take a look at. Okay, well, I seen that movie like 10,000 times, you know, like I get that all the time.
- [21:19]
Sean
Yeah.
- [21:19]
Rick Macci
So I said, listen, send me a video. He sent me a video. I saw some good stuff, but it wasn't like whoa, just like the Williams's. When I saw it, it wasn't like, whoa, okay. I said, listen, if they ever want to come to Florida, they can come. I'll check her out, see what's going to happen. So a couple months later, they decided to drive all the way down. And they came and they came on a Saturday, just like yesterday. They came on court six. I was on the court giving a lesson to a 12 year old boy. Met the mom and dad, super nice people. Vlada, the racket was like as big as her. She got on the court and right off the bat, after hitting a few, we start playing. Once again, competitive points because I wanted to get right to the competitor within five minutes. I saw the speed, I saw the quickness, I saw this is the coach. I saw how tall she's going to be with the mom. I saw the athleticism, the focus, okay? And she just had just burning desire. It was personal between her and the ball already. And I'm sitting there going, I need to change her forehand. Her backhand, her shirt. I need to show her how to hit the ball at the highest level, okay. Biomechanically. I mean, she was in the neighborhood, but not the neighborhood it takes to be elite, right? But all the internal stuff was there. Then the more I got to know her, as the morning went on, it was a home run, okay? And so at the end of the day, I talked to the parents, I said, listen, if you want to come here, I'll give you a scholarship, you can train in the academy, so on and so forth. That was it. So they said, we're coming. We want to be around Rick Macy and the environment. That was it. No contract. So then she's here a month now I'm seeing it every day live and in color. And I'm saying, you know what, maybe even at this stage of the game I can really help this family because she needs me, you know, I'm out there teaching 50 hours, you know, so I don't have a lot of time to give to her, especially for free like I did with the Williams's. And she needs hitting partners and maybe boxing and, and stretching. So we started talking, they said, listen, we would feel honored to do a contract. So went back and forth for a while. So I entered into a contractual relationship the second time in my life. The only other time I did anything like this was with the Williams, right? And signed a 20 year contract. And I'm going to represent her besides coach her. And I'm helping out the family. Obviously they need, they need help and hopefully I'm around to see the end game. But at the end, it doesn't matter, right? I'm making a difference, Sean, in someone's life and making this little girl's dream come true. And as you just saw, Humpty Dumpty's been put together. She just has to grow, have fun, you know, she couldn't even speak that great of English now she's like the master.
- [24:25]
Sean
Well, how long has she been here? Because I, I couldn't even tell.
- [24:28]
Rick Macci
20, 23 December.
- [24:32]
Sean
Okay. Wow.
- [24:33]
Rick Macci
And she takes English and you know, so it says it's taken on a life of its own. Her accomplishments. No one's improved so fast so quick for 12. She plays 12 and under. She's already like three in Florida, top 10 in the nation, seven point something UTR. But that doesn't matter. I don't care if she wins or loses every day. Gotta get better. And I don't look at her as 4 foot 6, 65 pounds. I look at her just as I would teach a pro. I expect her to make every ball. I expect her. It's what Rick Macy expects of himself. I expect her to do everything right during. Perfect. Even though I know 3 more inches, 20 more pounds, the whole landscape changes, changes big time. It's a whole different animal then. Okay. And the great thing about this, she came here at age 8, so I don't have to rush. I can go in the front door, the side door, the back door, the basement, the chimney to figure it out if I got a tweak and modify and I know how to put this together, because the game is probably going to be a lot different eight years from now. Quicker, faster, better technology. But the game that I'm putting together on the Panther people, it's going to blow their mind, barring injury, because you never know what that could happen. That could happen, sure. Of course, I have no doubt this little girl will be number one in the world. And if she doesn't, not going to happen overnight. If she doesn't, I did a bad job. That's what I expect of myself because I believe in her as much as I believe in myself.
- [26:12]
Sean
It's amazing, you know, just. Just hearing that because, you know, when you talk about the game changing in eight years, is there any way with tennis to predict the potential changes? Like, I know you mentioned faster, stronger, better technology. Are you able to stay ahead of that or. Or think and think in terms of. Okay, based on your experience? This is what I could see would be coming up in order for me to help her be better.
- [26:35]
Rick Macci
Yeah, I'm. I'm Elvis because I'm a visionary. I always look at the bigger picture. I know where this. I know where this is going to go with her and the speed of the game, you know, but she's already. She's playing the ball. They're not going to change the court or whatever. Yeah. So I've already got her to buy in, you know, like a boxer. No one backs you up. You just stay in there, you know, like Joe Frazier. You just stay in there and keep punching, you know, and she'll be able to cut the court. So, yeah, I'm. I'm way ahead of this thing. And obviously, with my partner and biomechanics, there's always going to be adaptations, modifications. You can see sinner, when he hits the ball, it, like, comes off his racket. Very different. He has, like, two pronations on the forehand. I don't want to get too deep here. The way people hit the ball now is very different. Than 10 years ago. A very different so. But I know this stuff inside out. And there's not a wrong way or a right way. There's a better way, and I'm going to find a better way for the little panther.
- [27:39]
Sean
The little Panther. I love that nickname. I love it. It's always on the tack.
- [27:42]
Rick Macci
A little panther, but a big heart.
- [27:44]
Sean
Yeah, she'll be a big panther soon.
- [27:46]
Rick Macci
I have an idea. Come here.
- [27:49]
Sean
There she is. Wow, what an honor. Sit down. How you doing?
- [27:54]
Rick Macci
Ask her a few questions. She has to go do homework.
- [27:56]
Sean
All right. You have homework to do, right? All right. So talk to me about how you view tennis.
- [28:03]
Rick Macci
Like, how you view tennis. What do you think of tennis? Whatever you want to say. Talk into the microphone. Oh, wait, there's a microphone. I love the competition, and I love to play. Kids like. And I like to hit and.
- [28:20]
Sean
Yeah, I love it.
- [28:21]
Rick Macci
So do you like to run? I love to run.
- [28:24]
Sean
So you love to do the work?
- [28:26]
Rick Macci
Yeah.
- [28:26]
Sean
Because you realize the work's gonna make you great, right?
- [28:29]
Rick Macci
Yeah. So her, by the way, her work ethic is unsurpassed.
- [28:35]
Sean
I love that.
- [28:35]
Rick Macci
It's unsurpassed.
- [28:36]
Sean
I love that.
- [28:38]
Rick Macci
I love. She's. The size of this microphone. It's unsurpassed. You know what I mean? Big, though.
- [28:42]
Sean
She plays big.
- [28:42]
Rick Macci
If she didn't have that work ethic, we wouldn't be here.
- [28:44]
Sean
Where do you think that comes from?
- [28:49]
Rick Macci
Just my mind.
- [28:50]
Sean
Love that. I love that. So you get her at 5am every day.
- [28:54]
Rick Macci
Yeah.
- [28:55]
Sean
And it is now 2:50.
- [28:58]
Rick Macci
Yeah.
- [28:58]
Sean
So you've been here almost 12 hours.
- [29:01]
Rick Macci
Yeah.
- [29:01]
Sean
And it looks like you're lit up like a Christmas tree, just happy as can be. Right.
- [29:05]
Rick Macci
I love tennis.
- [29:06]
Sean
You love tennis. You love how important are your parents and. Yeah. Yeah. Do you think that they've given you any type of edge with the work ethic and that mindset that you have?
- [29:18]
Rick Macci
Yes.
- [29:18]
Sean
Yeah. You got great parents.
- [29:19]
Rick Macci
Thank you. You've been running on the beach with your mom since how old? Didn't you. Or five. Yeah. Her mom does a lot of the exercises with her. Her parents are, like, unbelievable. And there's such balance in her life, you know? Listen, she's a little kid. She's a little kid.
- [29:38]
Sean
Yeah.
- [29:38]
Rick Macci
Okay. That has a lot of potential to be one of the best tennis players in the world. You can correct me. The best. I know. Okay. The best in the world.
- [29:47]
Sean
I love it.
- [29:47]
Rick Macci
No, I love it. And. But she's a kid, and the parents understand that, and that's why I love the parents, because there there's balance. Listen, she has to do homework. She has to get A's. She has to get better in English. She has to be around other kids. She has to go to the water park. She has to be a little kid.
- [30:03]
Sean
Yeah, this.
- [30:04]
Rick Macci
Listen, but we're on the court. We're all in, and we're going for the jugular.
- [30:08]
Sean
Go be a kid, do your homework. But when you're on the court, get after it. Right?
- [30:12]
Rick Macci
Yeah.
- [30:13]
Sean
That's awesome. Well, so nice to meet you. And I'm glad that you got to sit in a little bit. I'm glad I got to see you hit a little bit as well. That's pretty awesome.
- [30:20]
Rick Macci
And I'll see you tomorrow at five. Yep. All right, buddy.
- [30:22]
Sean
Nice to meet you.
- [30:23]
Rick Macci
Go do your homework.
- [30:25]
Sean
That was awesome. You could just see the. One of the things that. The main thing. What do you love about it? The competition. That is. That is. That is so. Listen, that is so different because most kids that age, if you ask, what do you love about tennis? What do you love about soccer? I like to play. And I'm not saying those children don't grow up to be your professional athletes, but that's greatness. I love the competition.
- [30:58]
Rick Macci
And that came from the heart. And remember, that's exactly. Listen, you can. You can. That's what this is all about.
- [31:05]
Sean
Yeah.
- [31:05]
Rick Macci
And for any coach or parent listening this, the best advice is I can give anybody. Your job is not only to support, but to get your kids to the. Be the most brutal competitor you can. Okay. Because when you're all about the competition, as I said, like the Williams says, you're not going to disappear as much. Roddick was like that. This guy was a ruthless mosquito. The guy kept bothering me all the time. All he wanted to do is compete, compete. It didn't matter. And when that is the wild card you just saw, that came from the heart.
- [31:38]
Sean
Yeah.
- [31:39]
Rick Macci
She loves to compete. Because when you cut out all the stuff, it's me and you. Showtime. Let's go. Let's get it on. It's about competing. It's not about, oh, I want to be a pro. I want to win trophies or money. It's a great life. Or I like this. Sure, you love to play, but you got to be all about the competition. And that's what I try to instill to all the kids. Anybody, anytime, anywhere. And if you do that, you'll handle pressure better. Yeah.
- [32:08]
Sean
I think that any coach or parent always wants to see their kid just compete. Right. It's like you can't Roll over. You have to compete, you have to get after it, right? So it's funny because my, my, my six year old, she could be really good at gymnastics. And the coach goes, hey, she's a really sweet girl. We got to get her to be a little more ornery on the mats. We got to get her to compete a little bit more. But I don't want to take the sweetness. And I'm like, hold on, I got this. Because that's what you want to see. You want to see a competitive spirit. Anybody who's great, I don't care what your profession is, you have to compete. You have to.
- [32:46]
Rick Macci
No, absolutely. Listen, and that's why I said that's the number one thing that I look for. And when I talk to coaches or I do other podcasts, interview, that is the most important thing. It's not the forehand, not the backhand, it's not to serve, it's not the genetics. All these things are important. But when you, when you keep score, okay, and that's what you do in life, okay, it's all about how you're going to compete. And are you going to stay in there for the entire fight? You're going to fail. The more you fail, the more you're going to succeed. The more you try, the more you're going to fail, okay? You got to try. Trying is the best thing in life. You're going to lose. No one's going undefeated. I tell kids all the time, listen, I can get you never to miss a volley. Just stay home. You know, I can get you to never. I could never. Just stay in bed and you won't get ahead. Don't get up and this is the way. But kids don't look at like that. And parents want to protect, especially parents nowadays, they're more helicopter, they're more on top of the thing. They want their kid to be rough and tough and be a great competitor, but. And they yell and scream at them and they lose. Then they go to the mall and buy them a Gucci bag. I mean, what is that all about? You know, you got to understand what this is all about. But the parents, these parents already knew that. And I've had many others and obviously Richard Williams and that was hardcore on everything, you know, because he's from the streets of Compton and from Louisiana. So this has a lot to do with it. But this family understands the whole picture. And that's what I love about the family. Because to make anybody great at anything, at the end of the day, she has to Deliver. But it's a team effort.
- [34:30]
Sean
Yeah. You know, there's, there's a lot of talk about it's you versus you. There's no competition. I think there's only part of the truth. Right. I really, truly feel that no matter what you do, like, even, even in my profession, I, I, I know who I'm after. I know who I'm going for right now. Every single day, I gotta be better than I was the day before. And every interview's gotta get better. But at the same time, I'm coming after your ass. Like, I'm coming like that. You can't shut that off in me. It's, it's impossible to do that. There's zero people on this planet that can turn the competitive spirit off of me, because I'm gonna keep coming until I win. And then when I get and I'm winning, I'm gonna go even harder so you can't catch up.
- [35:11]
Rick Macci
And that's what the great, that's the mindset. And see, you, you've established that mindset for a long period of time. And now that you got into that routine, you know, Sean has become a machine. You know what I mean? And that's, that's what this is all about. Just like when you ask me what time I get up and my routine is like, yeah, no, it's like, I know that's, that's insane. I'm a different animal.
- [35:32]
Sean
You listen, an animal.
- [35:33]
Rick Macci
I feel great, but I'm in that routine.
- [35:36]
Sean
Yeah.
- [35:37]
Rick Macci
You know what I mean? And so that's how you get the most out of yourself. That's how you feel better about yourself instead of being all over the map. Yeah, but I like what you said about, I'm coming after you. You know what I mean? Because your biggest competition is the mirror. But you got to have an idea who's ahead of you. More importantly, who's coming for behind. And that's what I was saying about the little panther. Sure, you got Coco Golf out there, you got other people, because they'll probably still be playing. Yeah, that's important. But I want to know the next little panther and the next little panther back there. And that's why we're going to be ahead and develop a very different game, because this child deserves it. Someone that was born with this discipline and this athleticism and quickness. I just feel compelled to make this beyond special. And maybe I'm saving my best for last.
- [36:33]
Sean
The prophesizing there. The last.
- [36:34]
Rick Macci
The last.
- [36:36]
Sean
Well, you know, I, I think that all those things you say are true and you know, you mentioned, you know it is, you know, you are your biggest competition. You look in the mirror, that's the guy, right? Or that's the girl. I think from that standpoint, it's, it's those maybe demons or limiting beliefs or negative thoughts that we fight every single day to, to get through, right? So we can chase where we're going, but also knowing what's behind us. Like I just firmly believe that acknowledging all three of them is critical daily. Like you have to know who's behind you. You have to know where you're at and you have to know who's in front of you. And if you step on the gas and go hell bent away from the one behind you, through the one in the mirror and towards the one you're chasing, are you going to lose?
- [37:22]
Rick Macci
No. Great point. And you're right. See it's, it's so important every day that like everybody wants, motivated, everybody wants nice things said to them. Say nice things yourself, motivate yourself, talk to yourself. I mean, I don't know if I do that in public too much, but you, I do that all the time. When I'm waiting in the parking lot doing a zoom video with someone from Belarus at 3:30 in the morning. You know, it's like I do this all the time. You got to tell yourself how good you are. You got to inspire yourself. You gotta talk like that to yourself. People, unfortunately, they let the situation control them. They don't control the situation. Greatness controls the situation. I don't mean like a control freak, but they control friends, what they hear. Everybody's like a little aware of what maybe they put in their mouth, but they're not aware what they put in their brain. They should be, look, listen to motivational speakers, YouTube be around. But some people like the gossip, they like the train wreck, they like the negativity. And they're on that hamster wheel and they can't get out of it. You know, and that's why when people come here, as I told you, I don't change strokes, I change lives. You know, and like you said, I can probably extract more out of the kid than their parent. It's a different voice. And obviously with the platform and pedigree that I've had over my career, if they're not going to listen to me, the parents can play the Rick card over and over and over again because I've been there, done that and put it together. So everybody should motivate themselves every day. But we let Everything control us. And nothing controls me. Nothing. Okay? And I deal. Listen. We both deal with the same problems. Listen, I might have 100 problems a day, but nothing bothers me. It's how you deal with it. There might be a lot of garbage. When I come into work, I pick it up because it's exercise. I don't look at like, why don't someone pick up the garbage? I flip it on my mind because that's what greatness does. They always take a negative. They turn into positive. Just like Michael Jordan. You want to boo 20,000 people at Madison Square Garden, Boom. Me. Okay? He takes as a compliment and drop 64.
- [39:37]
Sean
Exactly.
- [39:38]
Rick Macci
This is what Kobe and all these people do. And Djokovic does this. They flip it in their mind.
- [39:44]
Sean
Yep. They flip it as an opportunity.
- [39:46]
Rick Macci
As an opportunity.
- [39:47]
Sean
As an opportunity. Man, that's. That's a great point. We've, we've talked about, you know, William's sisters, the dad, and we haven't talked about the movie yet, but. So there was a. The movie King Richard and the actor nailed you, man. Like, he had to lose, what, 30 something pounds? Even talked like you walk, walk us, walk the audience through the movie and, and kind of how you felt seeing your part played out and what. It seemed pretty accurate from what I've seen, what I've heard from you. But talk to us about that.
- [40:16]
Rick Macci
First off, the movie was so spot on. The walk, the talk, the nuances, the subtleties. I told Will Smith at the after party, I said, you were better than Richard, you know, and he, he said that meant more to him than anything because I was in there. It was me, you know, I was there. So it was crazy. The clothes, the bus, you saw the one liners. Hey, Rick, we won't get you shot. Hey, we got Rick, Macy and Compton. It was crazy because Eisha, the oldest sister, she was there every day. VW and Serena, they were 10, 11, 12, 13, 14. So they looked at it through teenage eyes where the older sister was there and she had a more accurate assessment of what's going on, the interaction between me and Richard and just kind of how this all played out. But the movie, I don't know about everything before, you know, I came into the, the movie part, but when I came in, everything was 100% accurate. It. It freaked me out and I never freaked out. The only difference was one thing. John Bernthal, he had this bushy mustache. Like, it was like this bushy mustache. I had this little piece of astroturf that took me like 30 years to grow other than the mustache. It was crazy. And I talked to John many times. He studied video. He read my book. He went into this with like over a thousand other people who he said, try it out. And when he walked up, the producers said, what is this guy trying to do? He was like £200. I'm like 170. And he was. Played the Punisher. He was on Wolf of Wall street. You know, he played all these rough and tough guys and he was on a mission because it was about fatherhood, love of family. When he got to know my character and did background, he said, rick, I wasn't going to be denied. We talked on the phone a lot and bang, he. He nailed it. And I knew right away, once I saw the first screening, I said it loud and clear on every interview. Will Smith will win an Oscar. No, no. You have. No, listen, he played Ali, Men in Black, and here I am. It was amazing. And. But people don't realize they weren't there. They don't know really Richard during those years. And I'm there. It freaked me out.
- [42:44]
Sean
Yeah. Wow.
- [42:44]
Rick Macci
He and Will told me it was during kind of the pandemic. They did some of this shooting. He would go home in costume with all the stuff on his face and stuff, and he talk to his kids and still be practicing talking. Like Richard Williams.
- [43:01]
Sean
He got lost in it.
- [43:02]
Rick Macci
No, no.
- [43:03]
Sean
This is stuff.
- [43:03]
Rick Macci
Listen, people don't understand. When someone's playing someone's role, all they see is what they see on the big screen or on tv. People have no idea how deep they get into the character. And since we're talking about this, people have asked me about this. Then when he won the Oscar, that whole fiasco, when he got up, slapped Chris Rock, like, what the heck was that all about?
- [43:26]
Sean
Wild.
- [43:27]
Rick Macci
I know exactly what happened. This guy when he heard that Richard Williams was such a staunch defender of his family. And you saw it in one of the interviews that was in my office that Richard got up and said, you know, this is a 12 year old little girl. She has a lot of confidence. Your ass is going to be in the ground, Mary. That was in the movie. And Will, during that episode, I think he was Richard when he, he just like, he reacted. Who, who would do that on the biggest night of your career to do something like that? He's gonna win an Oscar. He gets up and slaps the guy. He was not Will Smith. He was Richard. There's no other explanation. He still had Richard inside of him in that moment.
- [44:20]
Sean
I don't get lost for words. Because that's an explanation that I haven't heard. And I believe it. I believe it because remember Heath Ledger.
- [44:30]
Rick Macci
Yeah.
- [44:31]
Sean
Come on. Stop taking words out of my mouth. We're vibing. So, like, that's the thing. Like, Heath Ledger couldn't get out of the Joker, and it. And it killed him.
- [44:40]
Rick Macci
There you go.
- [44:41]
Sean
And so that makes sense. Like, wow. Because, you know, as. As somebody watching that shit go down, I'm like.
- [44:51]
Rick Macci
What.
- [44:52]
Sean
What did Will Smith like, Did that really just happen? And I'm waiting. I'm waiting for the punchline. I'm waiting for the joke, and it didn't come. And I'm like, something's going on with that man. Something crazy. He's going through some type of episode, but he was caught. He. He was stuck in a. In a character.
- [45:10]
Rick Macci
No, this mental loop, I guarantee that's what happened. That's. And that's why when I. When I. When I said that to other people, just like you're responding, they could see how that makes sense. And I brought up, you know, the Heath Leather Ledger thing. So that's the only explanation, because who would do that? No matter what anybody says on the biggest night of your career, people thought it was a fake. They thought it was, like, co. The whole thing was a setup.
- [45:37]
Sean
Yeah. I mean, because if you watch it. I mean, again, you've seen it.
- [45:41]
Rick Macci
Yeah.
- [45:41]
Sean
But, like, there's nobody in the world that has watched Will Smith from the Fresh Prince of Bel Air to where he is now in the success. Success that he's had would ever imagine that would happen.
- [45:56]
Rick Macci
Yeah.
- [45:57]
Sean
And if you did happen.
- [45:58]
Rick Macci
Yeah. And if you watch that clip in the movie, I don't know if you remember, like, they're interviewing Venus because she's going to play in that tournament. And it's this axiom. My office. And the guy goes, do you think you can win? And Venus goes, I know I can win. And the guy goes, you say that with a lot of confidence. Venus goes, I am confident. Then the guy goes, why are you so confident? And right then and there, Richard got up because he was in the background, blew a gasket, got in the guy's face, and it's on the movie. And the real clip is. Is on YouTube. You can see.
- [46:37]
Sean
I've seen the real clip. I remember.
- [46:38]
Rick Macci
I remember it, and I just think. And Will has even talked about Richard being such a staunch defender. You got to understand, he was a fierce protector of his family. It was crazy. That's the only explanation that I can come up with. And I think that's the leader in a clubhouse.
- [46:56]
Sean
Wow, that's interesting, man. That's pretty, that's pretty crazy.
- [46:59]
Rick Macci
Yeah, pretty deep.
- [47:00]
Sean
Pretty deep.
- [47:01]
Rick Macci
You.
- [47:01]
Sean
So you and, you and Richard were friends, right?
- [47:03]
Rick Macci
You guys still what now?
- [47:04]
Sean
Yeah. You and Mr. William still friends, you guys? Yeah.
- [47:07]
Rick Macci
Look at that. That's at his house in West Palm Beach. You know, I, I, when, when I went up to visit him, me and my daughter Ginger, we get out of the car and I'm walking up, this guy had, you think I got one liners. I mean, this guy get out of the car, I'm walking up. He goes, rick, Rick, thank you so much for getting us out of the ghetto. This guy is so hilarious. We go, the ghetto. Okay. I used to call Venus, Cinderella, Cinderella ghetto. And, but we just, this is our, our relationship, you know, Fun, loving, happy. But when the bell rung, we both were on a mission and we weren't going to be stopped. And we played basketball all the time. Like when they end up leaving and he, he end up coaching him. We didn't talk for a while. But when the movie, he's come here to the academy. He's talked to the kids. I've been up there to visit him many times. Just a great, great friend. But more importantly, the most unbelievable father.
- [48:12]
Sean
Wow.
- [48:12]
Rick Macci
And listen, I've met more people than a lot of people I've ever met. People don't. This should have been in a movie. Every day on the court when the, when the work was over with at 5:30, Venus and Serena would always say, rick, thank you very much and give me a hug. And Richard would give me a hug every night and say thank you.
- [48:33]
Sean
Yeah.
- [48:33]
Rick Macci
Now he might have been jock. He's a cagey guy. He might have been jockeying for position like, hey, a new can of bald or something, I don't know. But no. And he made the girls bring their books to the court every day. And if it rained, go up in Rick's office. See, that should have been in a movie.
- [48:50]
Sean
Yeah.
- [48:50]
Rick Macci
Education was so important because he, he knew they could be great in tennis. But he, he was all about these kids and the best dad, always making it fun. You know, move your feet, I'm going to come over there and tickle you. You know, he would do all this stuff, but he, he was serious. A man on a mission. Hugging, kissing, just unbelievable, dad. Because he put a lot of helium in a balloon, he would blow a lot of smoke. They were almost legendary. Listen, they did over 200 media stuff before they even played tennis. I had NBC abc, espn, people around the world doing stories on these two little girls from the ghetto that Rick Macy saying they're going to be number one in the world and better than Jennifer Capriotti. Because I had the credibility, sure. But then when they came and they saw this, they said, oh, there's a lot of potential. Two little African American girls going into a predominantly white sport, and they have all this ability. And this was before she even made that debut. But this guy was the master of balancing, you know, being a father and having his foot on the gas pedal, just like Vlad, his parents. This is the art of the deal. If you're too hard one way, I've never seen it work.
- [50:14]
Sean
See, that's something that. You're right. It's left out of his story completely because there's a lot of conversation about him being the staunch, you know, protector, very hands on and controlling. Controlling and in driving the work. But there's nothing out about that. So I'm glad you.
- [50:34]
Rick Macci
That's the most important thing. I think it is, too. Listen, the parents have to push. You got to give them the opportunity. You got to know when to push. But you've already heard me say he knew when to hug. Listen, I got Venus, that wild card into the $500,000 tournament in Oakland to make her debut. I told Richard, here's the plan. Got to play a few more matches. I gotta ramp it up a little bit. So the next day at practice, he doesn't show up. I go, where you at? He goes, oh, I decided to go to Disney World for a week because he knew this was gonna go bang because now she's gonna make a debut. But you gotta understand, this guy was.
- [51:12]
Sean
He knew when.
- [51:12]
Rick Macci
No, but he. And so the kids would run through a wall for him. Just like Vlada. You just see, it's like. And you know, they. They love to play, they love to compete, but they. They knew there were kids first and tennis players second. And Richard never wanted to rob these girls of their. Of their childhood and being with. Being little girls and, you know, they're out there hitting with people. 400 in the world, or they're boxing with the state champion, and then they're in the car playing with. With a doll.
- [51:44]
Sean
That's awesome.
- [51:46]
Rick Macci
You know, and I respect the guy so much for that because I saw his interaction every day. People probably just thought he was a. He was push. Listen, you keep pushing and pushing and pushing. If it doesn't come from within, they're going to get a boyfriend, driver's license. And you're left at the altar at 18 years old. I've seen that movie.
- [52:05]
Sean
Yeah.
- [52:06]
Rick Macci
No, she said it best. Vlada. It's about the competition. Venus and Serena just love to knock you out. That's the first thing. That's the first thing. Everything. Once you have that and you're all about that, you handle pressure. Oh, too much pressure on them, all this media. Why are you saying that? Listen, you want a target on your back. You want a target on your back, you want people. Listen. Me saying this little girl's going to be number one. That's the way I feel. Yeah. She can't handle the pressure. No problem. Life is bigger than tennis, okay? She's going to be great no matter what because of what her parents have put into her and the wiring she's got. Being around Rick Macy, whatever. She's going to be great at whatever. But it's going to be tennis, which.
- [53:02]
Sean
Is going to be tennis. Just so you guys know, watching and listening, it's going to be tennis. Well, look, man, it was, it was a pleasure chatting with you and thank you for giving so much insights of Lada and all the amazing athletes of the Williams sisters, Ron at Capriotti, all the great people that you've, that you've coached. But most importantly, what I really enjoyed about you was that you're changing lives and you understand coaching for more than the layperson. It's not about the. The athletic part. It's about what you can create in someone's life and how you can enrich their experience. So I appreciate that about you, man. I really do.
- [53:33]
Rick Macci
If I could just add one more thing that, you know, it's like through teaching. Because you talked about coaching. I don't try to do that. That's just part of the smorgasbord or that's what's on the menu with Rick Macy. It's not just. It's one stop shopping. It's everything. Mental, technical, footwork. It's the whole thing because you're building a person, you know, when, when you get someone to really believe. Because let's face it, confidence comes from winning and doing other things. But I can get confidence in someone before they get confidence. So I'm looking at the bigger picture. But no, at the end of the day, that's the art of coaching.
- [54:10]
Sean
It is.
- [54:11]
Rick Macci
I love being with, being with you. And we'll definitely do it again.
- [54:14]
Sean
I would love that, man. Thank you so much. And for you guys watching and listening, please share this episode with someone you know love and trust and until next time. Stay determined. It's been so long.
- [54:28]
Rick Macci
How have you been?
- [54:28]
Sean
Hello? I'm doing well, Dave.
- [54:31]
Rick Macci
Why. Why are you talking that way?
- [54:32]
Sean
Please say one for a compliment or two for a question.
- [54:36]
Rick Macci
Yeah, this is weird. I think I'm gonna go. Talking with an automated phone tree can feel pretty ridiculous. That's why when you call Pacific Source Health Plans, you'll get a real person to answer all your important questions. Questions? Pacific Source Health Plans. This is a real person. How can I help you? Human service, not automated phone trees. Find a plan at pacificsourcemembersfirst.com.