Today we’d like to introduce you to David Smith
Hi David, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
As a writer, and as a successful tennis coach and teaching professional, (and a love of the written word), I began writing articles for the world’s Top-Rated Tennis Teaching website, (TennisOne.com) after I had written a rebuttal to one of their articles. That simple response led to the site asking me to write more articles, which led to me becoming the Senior Editor for the site for over ten years and contributing over 350 instructional articles and commentary on the greatest players in the world of tennis.
I started my tennis competitive career in Southern California where I set nearly every high school tennis record at my alma mater, Garden Grove High School. I’d go on to play many of the world’s best tennis players as well as playing my college stint at California State University, Fullerton where I did beat a number of nationally-ranked college players.
As a coach, my father, (CIF Hall of Fame Inductee and National Coach of the Year runner-up), Bruce Smith, and I coached the most successful High School Tennis Team in the country in Southern California, together winning over 600 team wins, (399 consecutive over 12 years at one point), against less than 10 losses. I continued this success in Arizona and more recently, in Utah, where I never lost a team region match at any level for five years while coaching at Desert Hills High School in St. George. Not only winning the Girl’s State Title in 2019, our Desert Hills girls tennis team is the only team to win the Stephen Wade Invitational four times in a row, winning the Spanish Fork Tournament two times in a row, and winning over 60 consecutive varsity and JV region matches.
I was inducted into the National High School Tennis Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 2019.
I was hired to be the Head Tennis Professional at the Green Valley Spa and Tennis Resort in 1999. I helped make the club become one of the top-5 best tennis resorts in the U.S. After nearly three years, I left Green Valley to open my own Tennis Academy (St. George Tennis Academy) and then helped build the Summit Athletic Club where I not only was the Director of Tennis, but I also became the General Manager of the club.
I wrote my first book, (Tennis Mastery) which became one of the most highly respected and successful tennis instructional books. I wrote two more tennis books, (Coaching Mastery, becoming one of the top-50 all-time best-selling tennis books), and High School Coaching Mastery, (considered the best coaching book for HS coaches), in addition to publishing many articles in worldwide publications, including USPTA’s ADDvantage Magazine and Europe’s “Tennis and Coach.”
Having always wanted to write more than just instructional books, I came up with the idea of a book that would become the famous “Hidden Mickey” novels…an action-adventure mystery about Walt Disney. (I worked at Disneyland in California, near where I grew up and while in college.) This book became five books in a series. I was contacted by Jerry Bruckheimer (producer of The Pirates of the Caribbean and other major motion pictures), interested in the Hidden Mickey story. (To date, I’ve not had any feedback yet!)
Currently, I am in the process of building the largest combined tennis, pickleball, and fitness club in the US here in St. George. It will be home to national tennis and pickleball destination learning and training programs, professional tournaments, local and regional leagues, and a host of high-performance tennis and pickleball training.
In addition, I play bass guitar in the Riverhouse Band. We average nearly 70 shows a year, being one of the most in-demand bands in the southern Utah region. I have played in several successful bands including The Carlie Wall Band, Vinyl Fusion, and Reciprocity. Riverhouse Band has performed at such venues as Big Shots Golf, Balcony One in Virgin, The Hive, Zion Brewery, Bumbleberry Playhouse, Bluez Katz, Wing Nutz, Bit n’ Spur, Black Desert Resort, Sun River, Silver Reef Brewery, Black Bird Bar, Best Friends Animal Sanctuary Resort, and many others.
In addition to tennis, I coached girl’s golf in Arizona and Utah. I trained my daughter, (Kyla Smith) in both tennis and golf…the latter sport becoming her love. She became one of the all-time best Utah golfers, helping her team at Desert Hills win four of their nine consecutive State Championships. She also shot the lowest Utah High School tournament score, in her senior year, and received a full D-1 scholarship to play at Southern Utah University in Cedar City. In her four years at SUU, she became a world-ranked golfer and helped her university set several women’s golf records. My daughter and I coached together the girl’s golf team at her alma mater, Desert Hills where we helped the girls finish second at the state tournament in 2021.
to date, I’ve written a total of ten published books. In addition to the Historical Fiction “Hidden Mickey” novels and three tennis instructional/coaching books, I wrote the non-fiction book, “In the Shadow of the Matterhorn” with never-before-published stories about the inner workings of Disneyland and highlighting my six years of working in the Magic Kingdom. I’ve also published the book, “Junior Golf…a Parent’s Guide to Junior Golf Development” designed to help parents navigate the world of junior golf and help their children reach their potential.
I am also a professional magician having performed close-up and stage magic for fifty years. I have taught magic classes and still enjoy doing close-up magic, usually during shows with my band, (adding I hope, to the experience our music brings to our audiences!)
As a Master Tennis Professional and Elite RSPA professional, I speak at regional and national tennis conventions. Over the last couple of years, I’ve spoken in California, Colorado, New Mexico, Kansas, Illinois, Nebraska, Florida, Washington, and Utah. I also speak at writer’s groups and have been a Keynote Speaker for various groups including the National Honor Society and the National Dentist’s Association.
My life story is one of passion and perseverance. I’ve never considered myself a master of anything. Yet, I worked hard in each endeavor and believe that most all people can achieve their goals and dreams through hard work and dedication.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
I’ve led a charmed life, I believe, with few roadblocks. Yet, not being a great natural athlete, or professionally trained in writing or in music, I sought to learn as much as I could about everything I wanted to do. The challenge of simply sticking with a skill long enough to master it was the secret to overcoming the challenges associated with each.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
From an artistic perspective, I had to work very hard to become a quality musician and magician. Not having a natural ‘ear’ for music, I studied the art of playing guitar and bass until I could play rhythmically and within the pocket of playing with other musicians. Magic, like music, requires dedicated practice to make the ‘magical’ look natural. Magic requires dexterity within fluid and natural movements, combined with ‘acting’…to do more than just “tricks” but to weave a story to make the magic meaningful to audiences.
My experience working at Disneyland in California gave me a foundation to be comfortable with large audiences. I believe that has helped me be comfortable on stage, be it speaking at a conference, playing music with my bands, or performing magic for audiences.
We’d love to hear about how you think about risk taking?
Risk-taking is not just a concept of overcoming fears, it is the core of personal discovery. I have a saying in my tennis books: “If we avoid that which we are trying to achieve, we will only achieve that which we are trying to avoid.” This sentiment touches on risk-taking in that if we avoid associated risks of anything new or difficult, we will lead a relatively boring life of mediocrity and always ask ourselves, “What if…?”
Today, society seems to discourage challenging or experiencing failure and the associated scorn or embarrassment of failure. Many parents overprotect their offspring, not allowing them to overcome loss or failure. Instead, we have participation awards. We allow kids to abandon things that are difficult instead of sticking with something and finding ways to finally succeed.
I’ve always been a risk-taker and feel proud of overcoming prior failures. (I remember losing a softball game in junior high and being made fun of by my teammates. I was also told by a prior girlfriend I was not a good guitar player, (She didn’t last long as my girlfriend!) But both those perceived failures in the eyes of others made me want to show them I could become successful.
My idol in life is Walt Disney. He is associated with huge numbers of successes. Yet, he experienced a great many failures in his life. He was told he would fail with Snow White, Disneyland, Mary Poppins, and other projects. He lost the creation of Oswald The Lucky Rabbit, and came to California with only $50 and a few drawings in his briefcase. He never let others dissuade him or hand his head in shame. He also never got mad at those who didn’t believe in him. Instead, he believed that they “didn’t see things the way he saw them.”
His belief in himself motivates me every day to believe in the project I’m working on. Jumping in with both feet and planning, researching, and doing my homework…and then know I and moving in the right direction makes me feel confident things will always work out.
Pricing:
- Coaching Mastery $29.95
- Tennis Mastery $24.95
- High School Coaching Mastery $24.95
- Hidden Mickey 1-5 $15.99
- Junior Golf $24.95
Contact Info:
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=620093151
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@hiddenmickey1/videos
