Coaching

With 25 teams competing in nine different leagues at my local club, it seems like there is always a match to play. Playing in a game to prepare for a match and then playing in a match may improve your match play, but it is a difficult scenario to add new shots to your repertoire. Even clinics,...Read more

The underhand serve , if executed properly, will get people out of their seats, up off the couch, and add tremendous excitement to the sport of tennis. Like the behind the back pass in hockey, or the alley-oop dunk in basketball, the scissor kick over the shoulder in soccer, these are exciting...Read more

An estimated 17.9 million people play tennis in the United States, according to the Tennis Industry Association (TIA), making it one of the most popular sports in the country. Unlike many sports that have set duration times, tennis matches can go several hours. The sport demands much from its...Read more

What's the most difficult thing to do in tennis? I'd have to say it's the ability to balance efficient learning with optimal performance. The best players present a growth mindset to maximize learning and improvement and shut down that mindset to perform. Learning is premeditated, performing is...Read more

I was playing golf recently with a friend who also happens to be an avid tennis player. As we walked down the seventh fairway and approached our drives, he asked me a seemingly simple question: “Tom, how do you teach tennis players to finish off their opponent and go on to win?” Indeed that does...Read more

Unfortunately, over the last few years, the Long Island High School Team Champions are the schools who have most of its strongest players participate and not necessarily which high school has the best players. After speaking with some high school coaches, I realized that the athletic director sets...Read more

I believe there are three main components that must be present in a tennis players arsenal in order for them to say they are “Mentally Tough.” The first of these components is the toughest to obtain and maintain: Awareness. What I judge awareness to be is the ability of a player, in any moment...Read more

As coaches and teaching professionals, we are constantly trying to help our players develop good habits, but how often do we look at our own habits as teachers? This article will portray simple actions and behaviors that can make us better professionals. On-court teaching As someone who spends most...Read more

In order to maximize the development of players over the long run, the best plan is to adopt a four-stage training model developed by Dr. Istvan Balyi. The four stages are: 1. FUNdamental Stage 2. Training to Train Stage 3. Training to Compete Stage 4. Training to Win Stage Stage 1: FUNdamental...Read more

In my career as a tennis coach, I’ve learned that when you start working with a young tennis player, it’s not enough to just focus on the quality of the technique, you must also take into account what happens outside the court. Children play many roles … they are sons and daughters, students,...Read more