Coaching

  There are basically three ways to win a point in a tennis match. The most common, and also most difficult idea to execute, is to hit a winner. This means hitting a shot that the opponent cannot return and it requires a high level of expertise to be successful during match play. I strongly…

  I have often talked about how we tend to gravitate towards whatever is comfortable on the tennis court. Many times, this means serving, returning and then recovering to the middle of the court about a few feet behind the baseline to exchange groundstrokes. A good opponent is likely to try to take you out…

  After playing a tennis match, it is natural to critique your play and assess how things went. Since every match is different, it is likely that your positives and negatives will change from match to match. It is a great idea to come up with exactly what you are going to do before you…

  Many players tend to try to hit all of their shots away from the opponent during a tennis match. Try to use this idea instead: keep your shots deep and towards the middle at the beginning of a point. There are many reasons to start the point this way. Serving to the middle of…

  It can be very difficult to convince yourself that starting the point in the middle of the court is a good idea. Most of us use getting the player on the run, or hitting it far away from wherever the opponent is, to win the point. In addition, if you hit the ball down…

  Almost every player has one side that is better than the other. Usually, a player’s forehand is stronger but as the level of play gets higher, many players prefer their backhand. Once you have determined which side is better, try attacking the weaker side with your first shot—either the serve or return of serve….

  Having the discipline to play an opponent’s weakness over and over, and to adjust one’s patterns of play to exploit that weakness, is important at every level of play. If you can cause your opponent to hit on his/her stronger side (usually the forehand) as little as possible, like once every 15 minutes, chances…

  Two of the best game improvement tools you should use on a regular basis are the backboard and the ball machine. Most world-class pros have used both of these resources in their careers and both are tremendous tools for your conditioning, footwork, consistency and form. Unfortunately, both of these resources are mostly underutilized. The…

  Many problems in a tennis match occur because of indecision. A player is faced with many choices when they are about to reply to a shot that’s hit to them. Direction, speed, depth and spin are just some of the decisions that need to be made in a very short period of time. My…