I have a natural skepticism of many things, and two of my personal favorites are the social crusades of celebrities and tennis politics. When these forces mix, the results can range from the sublime to the ridiculous. The watershed moment between Billie Jean King and Bobby Riggs in the "Battle of the Sexes" is a glorious example of…
He is the holder of 14 Grand Slam doubles titles and recently became the oldest Grand Slam winner at the age of 40. Pete Sampras had a losing record against him in singles too. He has old school volleys in the age of power with great precision, a deft feel, uncanny anticipation and incredibly quick hands. Nevertheless,…
The Internet is abuzz about the USTA considering ranking points for high school tennis matches. The talk is that this will encourage top players to join the school team. It won’t. Instead, it’s a way for the USTA to boast membership numbers. Here’s why … Top players usually choose to focus their participation on: 1. What is best…
Stacy Allaster, head of the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA), just announced that the WTA player’s are "ready and willing" to play five sets at Grand Slams. "All you have to do is ask us." The ongoing debate over the match format was heightened by Andy Murray, as well as by French player Gilles Simon, who said…
Rafael Nadal won his 13th Grand Slam title at the U.S. Open over Novak Djokovic last Monday and is now just four Grand Slams behind Roger Federer and catching up fast. While the speed and power of the game was astounding, it was equaled by something very special. I have never seen a level of sportsmanship and…
Forty years after Billie Jean King beat Bobby Riggs in the "Battle of the Sexes," new reports have surfaced that the match was fixed and Riggs tanked it to pay off mob debts. This is a plausible story as it was just an exhibition match, albeit a landmark event. I say, who cares how that…
When dieters keep a log of everything consumed for a week or two, they are often surprised at how many empty calories appear. Try keeping a tennis training diary and be highly detailed. You might not be optimizing your time. I’ll bet most junior players, even those spending long hours on the court, recognize at least…
It was just a short time ago that Roger Federer was the number one player in the world. Today, many tennis experts have said his days look numbered, and they could be right in saying that the best player to ever swing a racket is slowing down. His best chance for one more Slam is…
The most exclusive achievement in Men’s professional tennis is membership in the career Grand Slam club. Just five players in the modern era, Rod Laver, Roy Emerson, Andre Agassi, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal have won the Australian, French, U.S. Opens and Wimbledon in their career. The likes of Sampras, Connors, Lendl, Becker, Courier, Wilander,…
While much has been written about split steps as magical movements unique to tennis, split steps in functional performance are just another way to describe simple " stops and cuts." More specifically, split steps are the transition movements from linear or straight acceleration to multidirectional movements with the goal of managing uncertainty. All movements have…