Throughout my travels to junior and professional tennis events, I have seen some pretty crazy things that players have to deal with, so much so that I could write an entertaining book about it all. For example, I once saw a player who was behind 0-3 in the first set, launch all three balls into…
Wow! What a day in the world of tennis. I am a big news talk radio guy, and on my bike ride to teach my lessons for the day at Sea Island, the sports report mentioned breaking news in the world of tennis. The last time there was a tennis report on this particular station,…
Spain is known for its extremely high work ethic, both for the players and the coaches. Players work like beasts, suffering hours each day performing long sets of basket drills and high intensity shorter exercises as well. But one aspect of Spanish training that is often overlooked is injury prevention and overtraining avoidance. The legendary…
What it takes to be an elite junior player It all starts with the love and passion for the game. It is accomplished by hard work, parent/family support and great coaching. Elite junior players begin as recreational players, usually in small classes of between three and six students. At this stage, players work on coordination…
To get the best out of your students, tennis pros need to build a detailed curriculum just like school teachers. This ensures that players will more likely get the most out of their lessons. This doesn’t mean that lessons cannot change on the fly if the pro notices some glaring problem, but “winging it,” as…
Having problems with the backhand? Here some easy cures that will it improve. We’ll begin with the one-handed backhand. If you have read my column often enough, you already know that all groundstrokes should have some degree of spin on the ball for control of your shots, the spin could be either topspin or backspin….
As a coach, you learn fast that in tennis, every student is different in style of play, character and body type. However, there are still many things that are similar among most young players (such as the love to play points in practice over doing repetition drills). Over the years, I have noticed that most…
In addition to talent, skills and technique, an athlete brings many attributes, values and characteristics to the court. These attributes can be thought of as the fuel that drives and motivates the performance. It’s essentially the player’s “X Factor.” When you bring “Who you are” to “What you do,” more happens because you will be…
I have been watching the campaign for delegates for the presidential nomination in both major parties with great interest. One day Donald Trump throws accusations at his opponents, and the next moment, Hilary Clinton does the same. I am not going to take political sides for the purpose of this article as this is not…
I am often asked “What is the very best way to improve in the sport of tennis?” There are many aspects of a growing and developing game. The ability to be consistent is always essential. The work done on your shot placement can give your game a boost, as well as adding some pop to…