Fine sees the GROW Model as a powerful change agent that enables both individuals and organizations to effectively focus on "the critical variables" of decision-making. "By focusing on each stage of the GROW Model, we gain greater awareness," he says. "This in turn accelerates our ability to become what Stephen R. Covey calls 'response-able.' In the final analysis, this ability to avoid internal distraction and act consciously is what drives genuine change."

Fine discovered at a tender age the barriers that internal performance inhibitors can create. He was a painfully shy child with severe asthma. Despite these inhibitors, his brother entered him in a school tennis tournament in elementary school when Alan was 11 years old. Though Fine had been on a court only a few times in his life, he recalls, "Somehow I got to the final, and found myself playing against the 13-year-old school jock; he was captain of the rugby team and already had facial hair."

Leading 6-4, 4-0, Fine heard a voice in his head saying, "You have to win only two more games, and you are the school champion." He froze and did not win another game. This experience and others like it became latent seeds that ultimately bloomed into a profusion of performance insight within him. Tennis and coaching became fixtures in Fine's life. He began coaching at 13, and received remuneration for his efforts at the early age of 15.

"Coaching was an easy and natural thing for me to do," Fine says. Eventually he began working with regional and national coaches; he used what he earned to pay his way through college as a tennis player and coach. Fine went to college with the intention to become an optometrist, but he was so focused on playing and coaching tennis that he dropped out in his second year and started his own coaching practice, complete with pro shop and sporting goods store, in his home town of Cardiff, the capital of Wales. He was the first full-time tennis coach in Wales. With scant resources, Fine and fellow Welsh native Paul Daly built their club into a hub of Welsh tennis, attracting and developing national-caliber players.

"It was an exciting time for me, one in which I saw first-hand the benefits of coaching," Fine says. "We were able to create a culture that seemed to excite a high level of energy and enthusiasm about tennis, which translated into a fairly high level of skill in the region."

As Fine worked with promising students who struggled with pressure and learning challenges, he developed a growing interest in sports psychology. "The impact of internal processes on performance rose to the forefront of my awareness during this time," he says. Fine's interest in sports psychology led him to explore Tim Gallwey's The Inner Game concept. He developed a long-time friendship and collaboration with Alexander and Whitmore. The three worked together for three years in the early 1980s before co developing the G.R.O.W .Model that has had such a lasting impact on the world of athletic and corporate coaching.

Fine sees the GROW Model as a powerful change agent that enables both individuals and organizations to effectively focus on "the critical variables" of decision-making. "By focusing on each stage of the GROW Model, we gain greater awareness," he says. "This in turn accelerates our ability to become what Stephen R. Covey calls 'response-able.' In the final analysis, this ability to avoid internal distraction and act consciously is what drives genuine change."

Fine discovered at a tender age the barriers that internal performance inhibitors can create. He was a painfully shy child with severe asthma. Despite these inhibitors, his brother entered him in a school tennis tournament in elementary school when Alan was 11 years old. Though Fine had been on a court only a few times in his life, he recalls, "Somehow I got to the final, and found myself playing against the 13-year-old school jock; he was captain of the rugby team and already had facial hair."

Leading 6-4, 4-0, Fine heard a voice in his head saying, "You have to win only two more games, and you are the school champion." He froze and did not win another game. This experience and others like it became latent seeds that ultimately bloomed into a profusion of performance insight within him. Tennis and coaching became fixtures in Fine's life. He began coaching at 13, and received remuneration for his efforts at the early age of 15.

"Coaching was an easy and natural thing for me to do," Fine says. Eventually he began working with regional and national coaches; he used what he earned to pay his way through college as a tennis player and coach. Fine went to college with the intention to become an optometrist, but he was so focused on playing and coaching tennis that he dropped out in his second year and started his own coaching practice, complete with pro shop and sporting goods store, in his home town of Cardiff, the capital of Wales. He was the first full-time tennis coach in Wales. With scant resources, Fine and fellow Welsh native Paul Daly built their club into a hub of Welsh tennis, attracting and developing national-caliber players.

"It was an exciting time for me, one in which I saw first-hand the benefits of coaching," Fine says. "We were able to create a culture that seemed to excite a high level of energy and enthusiasm about tennis, which translated into a fairly high level of skill in the region."

As Fine worked with promising students who struggled with pressure and learning challenges, he developed a growing interest in sports psychology. "The impact of internal processes on performance rose to the forefront of my awareness during this time," he says. Fine's interest in sports psychology led him to explore Tim Gallwey's The Inner Game concept. He developed a long-time friendship and collaboration with Alexander and Whitmore. The three worked together for three years in the early 1980s before co developing the G.R.O.W .Model that has had such a lasting impact on the world of athletic and corporate coaching.