An Evening With An Indelible Gift: At the Launch of Mountains Within by Jack Groppel

Unequivocally, it was an evening of genuine fellowship and support for all of Jack’s friends in attendance.  For those of us who have worked with Jack Groppel, PhD, FACSM, FACN, in the tennis world, the January 8th book signing in Fort Myers was just one more achievement that Jack was willing to share.  Many of us in the tennis industry for five decades have marveled at the contributions that Jack has made and continues to make to Sports Medicine,  Science of Human Performance, the college and professional sports world, and humankind globally. It was a proud gathering and an assembly of Groppel believers and comrades.

It was a group that strongly appreciated our friend Jack’s gifted intellect.  Dr. Jack can come down to the mind level of the person or group with whom he is working.  He likewise has the wonderful gift of elevating his listeners up a level. And that is very appreciated within a private conversation or a standing room only audience.  Not seeking an ounce of sympathy from his Mountains Within readers or his one-on-one conversations or assembly of listeners, “Our Guy” takes the high road.  Jack personally knew that it would devastate him to witness or know that someone was feeling the pain from his story.

Jack Groppel, PhD, is a Fellow in the American College of Sports Medicine as well as a Fellow in the American College of Nutrition. Dr. Groppel is a Board-certified nutritionist, a former Research Associate to the U.S. Olympic Training Center, and he served as Vice President on the National Board of Directors of the United States Professional Tennis Association. He served 16 years on the United States Tennis Association as Chairperson of the National Sport Science Committee.

Dr. Jack and his long-time great friend, Dr. Jim Loehr, a world-renowned performance psychologist, co-founded The Johnson & Johnson Human Performance Institute in  Lake Nona, Florida.  It has been a landmark of non-stop success.  The program has worked with elite performers, including Olympic gold medalists, Military Special Forces, Hostage Rescue teams, surgeons, and Fortune 500 CEOs to achieve sustained high performance.

It was great to have in attendance Lisa Pugliese-Lacroix,  Kyle Lacroix, and Paula Sheb represent our Racquet Sports Professionals Association and United States Tennis Association. All three have had a strong friendship and a career relationship with Dr. Jack.

It was a great enlightenment for this veteran tennis professional and tennis journalist to spend the evening with Caroline Rivera, who has served as Marketing Consultant for twenty years. Jack found a way to address his colleague.  “It was so wonderful to have you involved in my book launch, Caroline Rivera!  You are, in addition to being a dear friend, an amazing marketing mind! Thank you!!!

Jack Groppel opened up the minds of many of us in the tennis coaching  world.  His innovation in using a scientific approach to performance has influenced tennis and racquet sports to their current status.

It was a relief to know that when I asked Dr. Jack how long he had been in tennis and racquet sports?  It was just the answer that we wanted to hear. Jack said, “As long as I am breathing!”

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Written by: Dave "Koz" Kozlowski. Kozlowski is one of the USPTA (now RSPA) first 17 Master Professionals in the world. His television show was previously broadcast on The Tennis Channel and he was named the USTA Broadcaster of the Year. Top photo credit:Photo by Moises Alex on Unsplash