When I was young I used to complain about how useless the subjects in school would be to my life. “Why do I need to know when the Magna Carta was written?” was a thought going around my immature mind. OK, so now that you are home, learn domestic skills that I guarantee you…
If everyone in your home has a “reserved” seat at the dinner table, you understand the value of friendly habits. Familiarity provides comfort. It’s why serving rituals in which we bounce the ball the same exact way before starting our motion is so important. If you are a young person schooling from home, it’s…
In 1999, a young Novak Djokovic sheltered in place, huddled in a basement while NATO bombed his hometown of Belgrade, Serbia for over two weeks. He credits this difficult time with changing his life by making him stronger. When he resumed playing tennis, it was a joy. There was no pressure because he realized…
This is a difficult time for everyone. For young tennis players it’s frustrating, scary and confusing. But maybe it’s also an opportunity to learn, grow and mature. Education is a shared responsibility, and for the moment that’s an imposed reality. We can sit in isolation and feel like victims or we can rise above and take action to empower…
The inaugural Laver Cup, pitting Team Europe against Team World, was a huge success and the best idea to reinvigorate tennis in a long time. This was the tennis version of Golf’s Ryder Cup, and it was fast-paced, exciting and highly-competitive. I’m no fan of tennis exhibitions, because it is not real competition as the…
Maria Sharapova is back and better than ever. She is practically unstoppable. With this year’s U.S. Open behind us, it’s now time for the “Maria Sharapova Image Rehabilitation Tour.” Maria has a tell-all, say-nothing book about the profound difficulties of being a beautiful, wealthy, incredibly successful tennis star who was rightfully convicted of cheating. The…
The U.S. Open is about to bring the tennis world together into our backyard, but here on Long Island, the local tennis scene is anything but cohesive and it’s worth a discussion. Self-promotion is a great way to grow your program, but sadly, I see many examples of some going too far with dishonest representations,…
Imaging playing great to get to the finals of the biggest stage in tennis. Here is your chance for immortality, your shot at striking out Babe Ruth or slamming on Michael Jordan and you get flattened over by a runaway freight train. You might just cry. Marin Cilic did and who can blame him? The…
How would the best male tennis player do against the best female tennis player? The man would win. What if the man were pregnant and the woman had the superpowers of Jessica Jones? The woman would win. What if the man were ranked better than 700th in the world and he played Serena Williams? The man would…
The two big stories at this year's French Open are the coming out party of Jelena Ostapenko and the total domination of the men's field by Rafa Nadal. The 20-year-old Jelena Ostapenko did more than just fill a void at the top level of women's tennis. She played with the heart of a champion and…