We lost an icon when Jim Loehr recently passed away. I was lucky enough to know Jim and have followed him since the 1970’s when he began working with Tim and Tom Gullikson. Dr. Loehr was the first person to use sports psychology on the professional tennis tour. He was able to get his players…
Tennis players like to think that they will walk out on the court and play the best they can possibly play in their upcoming match. The truth is, that rarely happens. Even the best players in the world have many matches where they underperform. However, the better the player is, the better they are at…
Many tennis coaches still focus on teaching their players how to hit ten plus balls in a row. The theory is that if a player can consistently do this, their opponents will make a lot of mistakes, resulting in a winning formula for the match. This may still be true if the players are not…
The standard doubles position used to be one player on or slightly behind the baseline when returning or serving, and the other player on the service line (receiver’s partner) or in the middle of the service box (server’s partner). This has changed somewhat because players are hitting the ball harder and with more spin, in…
I have written about playing tennis in the wind before. Today, I gave a lesson with 15 mph winds with gusts up to 30 mph. It was also less than 40 degrees when we started and barely got to 50 by the end of the lesson. This reminded me of some of the things that…
Almost everyone has one side (hand and arm) that is dominant. When playing tennis, your non-dominant hand can be very helpful. First of all, you should use that hand to help get yourself back to the ready position. After hitting a forehand, make sure your other hand gets back on the racquet. This will help…
Tennis is an extremely difficult sport, possibly the most difficult to excel at. Combining hitting the ball, movement, strategy, mental toughness, and the competitive aspect can be extremely challenging. In my opinion, being able to execute all of this over a two, three, four, or five hour period puts professional tennis players near the top…
I learned a lot about coaching during a match from my seven plus years of experience with my brother, Paul, on the ATP Tour and during his earlier development. One of the most interesting things about this is that I had a very difficult time using what I had learned in my own matches. I…
Every time I watch clips of Roger Federer, the smoothness of his swing jumps out at me. It just seems that he is so effortless from start to finish. Part of the reason he can hit the ball like this has to do with his incredible footwork. He gets himself very close to the same…
Tennis is a very difficult sport. Most people cannot just walk out on the court and be good at it. Learning the fundamentals and working on repeating similar swings over and over again can be frustrating and complicated. Since there are many different things that contribute to being a good tennis player, there are no…
