Coaching

Most players prefer either their forehand or backhand. Human nature is to try to stay away from the shot that is your opponent's strength. However, sometimes playing the ball to their strength allows you a bigger area to attack their weaker side. Many players with a very good forehand or backhand...Read more

The local tennis community boasts some of the top coaches in the world, and with this wealth of talent available, Long Island Tennis Magazine took the opportunity to pick the brains of some of these coaches. These coaches share their thoughts on a wide variety of tennis topics and issues, ranging...Read more

The best tennis players are very focused on serving and returning serve. If a player can develop a good serve and/or a good return of serve, they can control more of the points and take advantage of the opponent's weaker shots. It is a great mentality to think that after serving or returning , you...Read more

“Squeeze the middle!” “Nobody gets beat with a cross court passing shot in doubles!” “If you aren’t beaten down-the-line in your alley at least once a set, you aren’t doing a good job covering your alley. You are doing a bad job of not covering the middle!” These are coaching nuggets I’ve been...Read more

Life has a unique way of bringing us back to where we are supposed to be, and no matter where you travel to; oftentimes you can end up returning home. That certainly applies to Ken Feuer, the Director of Player Development at SPORTIME Syosset, the Long Island Annex of the John McEnroe Tennis...Read more

Many people don’t realize that tennis is a brutal game of psychological warfare. Far from the country club, genteel reputation of the sport, real competitive tennis is full of legal and illegal psychological manipulation and outright cheating. Why is this so? Three main reasons: The tennis rules...Read more

Tennis is a game of timing and rhythm. Shots can be hit fast, slow, flat, with more spin, and with all kinds of other variables. My advice is to keep your shots similar. This means, hit your shots with similar speed, spin, and trajectory. Hitting your first and second serve similarly will give you...Read more

Moving forward in singles has become more difficult. In addition, many players are not sure how to move in and what to do once they are in a volleying position. The first step is to try to hit your approach shot deep and towards the side of the court you are already on-usually this is down the line...Read more

I have discussed this several times in different ways when presenting my tips. Hitting the ball and actually playing a point are two very different things. Hitting the ball well helps you play the point better. However, just randomly hitting the ball against a good player will not be very effective...Read more

John McEnroe is a multiple time Grand Slam Champion and a tennis icon. His tennis mantra is, “Don’t Beat Yourself!” To most casual observers, he was an overly aggressive player who just “went for it” all the time. And it was his talent that allowed him to “get away with it”. But that could not be...Read more