Bio

Coach Pete Scales, Ph.D. is an internationally known developmental psychologist and expert in positive youth development (www.drpeterscales.com), a U.S. Professional Tennis Association-certified tennis teaching pro, long-time high school boys and girls tennis coach, mental strength consultant to college tennis teams, award-winning mental game author, and regular mental game columnist for Racquet Sports Industry Magazine.

Coach Pete is the author of the award-winning book, Mental and Emotional Training for Tennis: Compete-Learn-Honor (Coaches Choice, 2019), which the National High School Tennis Coaches Association called “one of the best books ever on the mental game,” and which sold out at the 2019 U.S. Open. His LATEST BOOK , also published by Coaches Choice, is The Compete-Learn-Honor Playbook: Simple Steps to Take Your Mental & Emotional Tennis & Pickleball Game to a New Level. The Playbook is being praised as "masterful," "remarkably comprehensive," "an amazing approach, "a masterclass in the mental side," "easily-digested," "very practical and instantly applicable," and "builds skills that will serve you throughout your life."

Not playing tennis until age 42, Coach Pete won numerous club league championships in his 50s, appeared in five tournament finals, winning one, won the bronze medal in singles at the 2007 St. Louis Senior Olympics, and with his wife Martha (a certified pickleball instructor), won the silver in mixed doubles in pickleball ages 70-74 at both the 2021 and 2022 Senior Olympics.

Coach Pete has coached boys and girls JV tennis at Parkway South High School in Manchester, Missouri since August 2008, has been a mental strength consultant to the Washington University in St. Louis Women’s and Men’s tennis teams, and has written for and appeared on numerous podcasts of the U.S. Tennis Association. U.S. Professional Tennis Association, Better Pickleball, Positive Coaching Alliance, Parenting Aces, the National Alliance for Youth Sports, TrueSport--U.S. Anti-Doping Agency, Way of Champions, and the Tennis Channel Podcast Network, among others.

Coach Pete is certified as a Double-Goal Coach (striving to win, while teaching life lessons through sports) by the Positive Coaching Alliance, and is certified by USTA Net Generation as a tennis provider. From 2008-2016 he was a lead instructor in the annual Parkway Schools Summer Tennis Program for players from 4th grade-college. From 2016-2019 he was on the teaching staff of the FILA-sponsored Washington University in St. Louis Junior Bears Summer Tennis Camp. He currently focuses summertime on giving individual lessons for JV and Varsity players. Coach Pete led the Parkway South High JV Boys tennis team to back-to-back undefeated seasons in 2017 (9-0) and 2018 (11-0), the only time in South High’s 48-year history that any tennis team, JV or Varsity, has accomplished that feat.

Coach Pete & Seniors May 2018_edited.jpg

What People Are Saying About The Compete-Learn-Approach And Books…

“Peter’s program represents a remarkably comprehensive set of best practices for building competitive strength in sport. I really like this approach. Another significant contribution!”

Dr. Jim Loehr, Renowned Performance Psychologist & Coach of 17 World #1’s across sports, including golfers Mark O’Meara and Justin Rose; tennis players Novak Djokovic, Jim Courier, Monica Seles, and Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario; boxer Ray Mancini; hockey players Eric Lindros and Mike Richter; and Olympic gold medal speed skater Dan Jansen.

“An inspiring & effective book that will benefit any coach and truly help tennis players of all levels. I see value in the Compete-Lear-Honor approach in all my life's roles. Dr. Peter Scales has formulated an amazing approach that can be applied to any of life's endeavors.”

Kelly M. Stahlhuth, Athletic Director, Bayless (MO) High School, Former Head Women’s Tennis Coach, Washington University in St. Louis

“A great book. A game-changer if you read every day—yes, every day!—and apply Pete’s ideas and concepts.”

Rick Macci, Legendary Tennis Coach of 8 Grand Slam Champions and World #1s, including Venus & Serena Williams, Sofia Kenin, Andy Roddick, Jennifer Capriati, and Maria Sharapova

“One of the best books ever written on mental training.”

Scott Enge, Founder, National High School Tennis Coaches Association

“A fantastic book which dives into the top principles we must develop in our junior players so that they can be great tennis players but also great people. You’ve done an exemplary job!”

Mehrban Iranshad, Founder and Host of TheTennisFiles.com podcast, part of The Tennis Channel Podcast Network, and organizer of The Tennis Summit, the largest online tennis conference in the world

The Compete-Learn-Honor Playbook is an incredible resource for passionate tennis and pickleball players of all levels. Coach Pete has done a masterful job of weaving together very practical, instantly applicable action steps for your very next match alongside training for the rarely focused on 'soft skills' that are critical for peak performance.

Ian Westermann, Founder and Head Pro of EssentialTennis.com and Host of the Essential Tennis Podcast, the #1 rated tennis podcast on iTunes

"Coach Pete lays out the CLH principles in an easily-digested format, putting the power into the hands of the players to make the mental and behavioral changes necessary to achieve their goals. If you want to become your best self on and off the tennis court, if you want to be a leader in your sport and in your community, if you want to build skills that will serve you throughout your life, you need to purchase and use the Playbook starting NOW!"

Lisa Stone, Creator and Host of ParentingAces.com and the ParentingAces – Junior Tennis and College Tennis Podcast

"We LOVE Coach Pete! He takes a complex subject and breaks it down into bite-size pieces. We use the framework he’s developed and his Compete-Learn-Honor books to help the thousands of students we teach each year learn to focus on what matters most. That’s given them the tools they need to improve their results but, more importantly, their relationship with the game. Coach Pete’s easy-to-apply concepts can be learned by anyone intent on improving their mindset and, in doing so, improving their results and enjoyment of the game. As we like to say, the table of contents alone is a masterclass in the mental side of pickleball!"

Tony Roig & CJ Johnson, founders of WeArePickleball.com, the immersive learning community in pickleball, Hosts of the Global Virtual Pickleball Summit, and the Pickleball Therapy Podcast

“Coach Pete’s philosophy of Compete-Learn-Honor provides a roadmap that helps coaches in any sport build their athletes’ characters…outstanding coaching resource and a wise life guide.”

Ruben Nieves, National Director of Training, Positive Coaching Alliance

“Brilliant in its simplicity and rich in practicality. Highly relevant for all levels of coaching in all sports."

Dr. Jerry Lynch, World-renowned Sports Psychologist, Founder of Way of Champions, and consultant to dozens of college national champions and pro sports teams, including the NBA Champion Golden State Warriors

“A must read for all coaches. Full of gems.”

Marianne Werdel, Former Top 25 WTA player &

President of the WTA Players’ Association, Australian Open Semi-Finalist (1995), U.S. Fed Cup Team Member, USTA/USPTA High Performance Coach

“I love the emphasis on sportsmanship. Practical and hands-on. After you read it, you will think, how could I ever have not read this book?!"

Angelo A. Rossetti, USPTA Elite Professional, holder (with brother Ettore) of the Guinness World Record for the Longest Tennis Rally (25,944 strokes), enshrined in International Tennis Hall of Fame

Bio

​

​

​

​

​

​