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…
Everything keeps happening faster on the tennis court. A player often feels that there just isn’t enough time to do what they want to do. The speed that you hit your shot can make the opponent feel this. Also, hitting the ball away from them can have the same effect. Another idea is to…
The single most crucial factor for a good hit in tennis is contact. If you start with a goal of exactly where you would like to hit the ball in relation to your body, you may focus on efforts to get into this position. While the preparation and finish for different players will vary,…
“Necesito el ritmo,”—“I need (the) rhythm”—is a common phrase heard on the tennis court in Spain, both from players and coaches. Rhythm, cadence, timing, and control are essential aspects of the Spanish style of training. What is rhythm and why is it important in Spain? How do you achieve good rhythm? Let’s explore Spanish…
Beginning this year, tennis teaching certification and coach education will move into the largest change seen in the United States in over 10 years. The United States Tennis Association (USTA), the national governing body for the sport of tennis in America, has taken the reigns in creating a scaffolding of sport science-based parameters that…