Patrick Mouratouglu, the coach of Serena Williams and promoter of the Ultimate Tennis Showdown, is gaining headlines by warning, “We need a revolution or tennis is dead.” His plan for this revolution centers on attracting new fans to the game includes events like his where players will be “miced up” so that they can “express…
Continuing with our topic from last week about how important it is to have a consistent contact point, this week I will like to bring your attention to an essential element needed for a solid contact: having “a steady racquet” that moves as much as possible in the direction of the incoming ball before impact. By…
At 88-years-old and in the midst of a global pandemic, Nick Bollettieri should be content to shelter at home and continue his work providing wisdom and inspiration remotely. But that’s not how he works. Nick collapsed on the court and was taken to the hospital with a kidney infection recently. Reports are that he is doing…
Editor’s note: This blog was written before Governor Cuomo announced that outdoor tennis would be permitted statewide beginning Friday, May 15. While golfers get to experience “Farfegnugen” driving golf balls, tennis is closed and the question is why? Both sports can be played with social distancing and modifications to make them relatively safe. The risk is that…
The tennis community governs itself for the most part, and in the best of times is a fiercely competitive market-driven economy that has created a thriving and highly successful system. These are not the best of times, however. With a void of real leadership and high levels of stress, what we should avoid are frustration and resorting to…
Every ball comes at you in different heights and angles. So, keep the picture frame between your hip and shoulder and get the ball into that frame for a consistent contact point. Some facts to show you the quality of our game: In an hour-and-a-half long match, there are an average of 500 shots…
Congratulations to our collegiate All-Americans from Long Island, in every division. I’d like to give a special shout out to two of my long-time students, Jackie Bukzin, a sophomore at Amherst College, and Alexa Goetz, a freshman at Emory University, for their selection as Division III All-Americans in both singles and doubles at two of the…
Recently, I’ve been watching many local webinars about the state of the industry, and I was reminded about my days back in elementary and junior high school about what makes a good group project presentation: It should have a coherent central theme. The theme should be introduced. It should be presented in a logical…
In evolving announcements that would put a Rube Goldberg machine to shame, the USTA has announced that “our plans to stage the US Open on our scheduled dates at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in New York with fans remains on-going.” Except, we “have been aggressively modeling many other contingencies, including…
When watching the best tennis players in the world hitting the ball, we see that they do it in so many different styles, yet the ball still travels very fast and with a high level of precision. All these movements have something in common and it is superb biomechanics.In sports, biomechanics refers to the study…