MUSKEGON TWP. - For young athletes, sometimes the most painful, embarrassing moment can turn out to be the most valuable, if it's mentally processed in a positive way and important lessons are learned.
Reeths-Puffer tennis standout Ethan Frang had that kind of experience on the court a year ago, and as difficult as it was, he chose to reflect on it, learn from it and use it to his advantage.
It occurred at the 2024 Great Muskegon Athletic Association Tournament, when Frang was competing in the championship match of the No. 1 singles flight.
The match was not going well for Frang, and the pressure and frustration were clearly getting to him. He uttered some comments and did some things that were clearly unsportsmanlike, and R-P head coach Ryan Hankinson finally decided he had seen enough.
Hankinson pulled Frang from the court and forfeited the match, ending his chance of winning a GMAA individual title.
R-P's Ethan Frang
Frang was very angry with his coach at that moment, and said some things he would never have said in normal circumstances. It was an ugly, awkward scene, to be sure.
Happily, the story did not end there. Frang, then a junior, went home and spent the rest of the night and the following days and weeks reflecting on the incident, and how his temperament and behavior on the court had caused it to occur.
He came to understand that Hankinson had sent him an important message, and given him a crucial opportunity to adjust his behavior before it was too late.
Frang decided to make a conscious effort to keep his emotions in check going forward, no matter how he was playing or whatever was happening in any particular match.
“I spent that evening trying to figure out what went wrong, and how I could change the future and change myself,” he said.
Frang confers with R-P head coach Ryan Hankinson.
“It was a wake-up call that I couldn’t just push to the side, and say, well, I can work on my mental game once I perfect my physical game. I got kicked out of a match. I realized I had to start focusing on my mental game, right now.”
Frang has been very successful with that this fall, and it’s made a world of difference, both in the way he’s perceived by teammates, coaches and opponents, and in the level of success he’s had on the court.
He’s having a great senior season with numerous victories over some very talented opponents. He was a runner-up at the GMAA Tournament and the O-K Green Conference Tournament, and has a real chance to qualify for the state finals for the first time in his career when R-P competes in Division 2 regionals on Wednesday.
“He was known as someone who couldn’t control his emotions, and this year he’s much more even keel and emotionally mature,” Coach Hankinson said. “It’s like night and day.
"He talks to his opponents, even after a loss. He will be there at the end of the match to shake their hand. He’s just a much more positive kid. You can see that in the way he supports his teammates, too.”
Talented athlete with a short fuse
Frang is a 6-foot-4 natural athlete who usually does well at whatever sport he chooses to play.
He had never played tennis at all before the eighth grade, but he joined the R-P varsity as a super intense freshman and was determined to be the best.
He started out playing doubles in his freshman season, but that didn’t last long. He had some issues with his partners, according to Hankinson, and decided he wanted to play singles.
He showed immediate potential at No. 4 singles, posting a very nice 16-7 record as a ninth-grader.
Frang hopes to earn a spot in the state finals at Wednesday's Division 2 regionals.
As a sophomore he moved back to doubles, started out with one partner that he could not blend with, but ended up teaming with Holden Earnest on a great No. 1 doubles team that earned All-Area honors..
Frang was determined to play singles again as a junior, and he challenged his teammates and won the elite No. 1 spot in the lineup for the 2024 season.
He did reasonable well, using his powerful serve, and posted a 15-12 record. But he wasn’t living up to his potential, because he only beat the kids he was supposed to beat, and struggled against other talented opponents – the guys he most wanted to beat.
One example was in last year's regional semifinals against top-seeded Karan Deol of Forest Hills Northern. A victory would have earned Frang a berth in the state finals, and he won the first set, but lost the next two and his season was over.
“Those 12 losses all came against really good opponents,” Hankinson said. “He didn’t lose to anybody who was not as good as him, but he couldn’t figure out how to beat the kids who were a little bit better than him.”|
Frang plays with a lot of intensity, but has learned how to keep it positive.
His on-court emotions, and his inability to keep them in check, had a lot to do with that, according to Frang.
In a very difficult sport like tennis, where the pressure is constant and unforced errors are common, frustration sets in easily. Frang sometimes vented that frustration in angry ways, outwardly or within himself, and it only made tough situations worse.
He definitely gets that now.
“It was my mental game,” Frang said. “When you are playing against people who are really consistent, it becomes a mental battle. It’s about how mentally strong you stay. It makes a big difference.
“Negativity on the court is always going to impact you negatively. You have to push past that, no matter what happens, regardless of your temper or whatever you are feeling at the moment.”
A lot of great moments as a senior
Frang approached his senior season with an entirely new mindset.
He took advantage of an opportunity that Hankinson set up for him by playing on a regular basis over the summer against former R-P varsity coach Tom O’Brien, a very good player who can beat most high school players.
Frang learned a lot from O’Brien, and reached the point where he was beating him on a regular basis.
Frang also improved a lot of aspects of his game over the course of the season, according to Hankinson. Instead of just relying on his booming serve and immediately charging the net, he became a more patient competitor who was able to stay on the baseline longer, play points out and wait for opportunities to hit winning shots.
Most importantly, Frang learned how be more relaxed, have more fun and keep his anger in check, so it didn’t become a bigger enemy than his opponents.
Frang has learned to patiently stay on the baseline more this year and let points play out.
He said he counted on Hankinson and R-P assistant coach Michael Greeby to monitor him on the court and help him keep his cool.
“I have a very strong relationship with them,” Frang said about his coaches. “I feel I can handle a lot of the physical things in my game, but a lot of the mental stuff is all on them. They recognize a lot of my triggers, things I can’t see happening.
“Michael checks in on me when I’m playing and helps me focus on where I am going wrong. He will come up to me and say ‘You need to stop obsessing on your forehand and find another way to win.' He helps me control my temper so I don’t lose it.”
With all the improvements, Frang has soared to a 20-8 record so far this season, and that includes a lot of matches against really good opponents, because R-P plays a pretty brutal tennis schedule.
Frang's powerful serve has become a trademark of his game.
He has beaten most of the local No. 1 singles competition, including North Muskegon’s Kaden Bartolomeolli (three times), Whitehall’s William Burger, Grand Haven’s Max Walters, Western Michigan Christian’s Reid Staal and Fruitport’s Remy Parker.
He defeated three tough O-K Green conference rivals – Caledonia’s Hudson Derengowski, Jenison’s Elijah Kin and Byron Center’s Terrance Hann.
He has also downed several very good players from distant schools, including Dewitt’s Santino Jacobson, Traverse City Central’s Alex Lamphier and Maple City Glen Lake’s Hawthorn Sutherland.
His most impressive victory had to be his 7-5, 7-6 win over Hann, a two-time state qualifier, because he demonstrated the ability to overcome severe agitation and get the job done.
Frang returns a low shot in his match against Caledonia.
Frang broke the strings on his racket and had to use one he was not comfortable with. He also said he felt “off” that day and was not playing his best tennis.
There was also a difficult point late in the match that could have turned ugly. Frang had already won the first set 7-5, and the second was tied 6-6, and had to be won by two points.
Frang called one of Hann’s next shots out, and Hann disputed it. In the past, that might have been fuel for some harsh words in a temperamental moment, but Frang handled the situation beautifully.
“Ethan proceeded to do the most gentlemanly thing I have ever seen him do,” Hankinson said. “He set the ball down where he said it landed. His opponent said ‘Yeah it's in.’ Ethan said ‘Come over and look, it was fully out.’ The player walked over and looked and walked away still complaining about the call.
“So Ethan agreed to play the point over, then he won the point again, and the subsequent one, to send us home early.”