Every tennis player is different. Some have stronger forehands, while others prefer their backhand. Many like to run around and hit groundstrokes, and every once in a while you run into that aggressive net charger. Regardless of the type of player, there are a few basic ideas that will likely determine your level of…
I never really understood the importance of the follow through in a tennis swing. Once the racquet and the ball make contact, how much difference can it possibly make if the racquet ends up in a different place at the end of the swing? The answer is, it can make all the difference in…
Being a tennis coach for 20-plus years has taught me much about the game and about life. It is an ongoing learning experience … one that never ends as each new student is different and teaches you something new about the game. The coach will face difficult and challenging situations when dealing with developing players,…
Anyone who is considered a good competitor hates to lose. I can’t tell you how many times I have felt this pain following a loss. One of the tough things about tennis is that you are going to lose a lot. You will lose points, you will lose games, you will lose sets, and…
Tennis can be a very complicated game. Over the years I have been trying to simplify my coaching and instruction so that the execution during an actual point is more likely to be successful. When serving, think one, two and three: one is the starting position, two is the toss and the racquet moving…
Practicing groundstrokes seems to be the main focus of most players. Rather than just standing in the middle of the baseline and starting the rally with a feed straight ahead, use your serve and return of serve to start the point. Hit the serve very slowly at first and hit the return of serve…
This is the time of year when many players start to venture outside for their tennis matches. The wind tends to make tennis quite challenging, especially in the early spring. In addition, those of you going from indoors to outdoors have to adjust to all of the imperfections when playing in the elements. There…
I have written about this before, and I am sure you have heard the term “play within yourself”. But what exactly does this mean? Basically, playing within yourself is using what you recognize as your strengths to give you a better chance of hitting the shot well, using the right strategy, and hopefully winning…
What is high-performance tennis and how can it be tackled by a coach and a player who is persistently seeking that ultimate success? First, it is critical to analyze a player’s inborn physical abilities related to on-court efforts. We as coaches must study our player throughout prior to suggesting and later adapting to a…
“I don’t know.” As a coach, this is my least favorite answer when asking students something about their game, the drill we are doing, or any of the other litany of questions that come up during a normal tennis practice. In some instances they may actually not know! But more often it is the…