Coaching

Anyone who is considered a good competitor hates to lose. I can't tell you how many times I have felt this pain following a loss. One of the tough things about tennis is that you are going to lose a lot. You will lose points, you will lose games, you will lose sets, and you will lose matches. Then...Read more

Tennis can be a very complicated game. Over the years I have been trying to simplify my coaching and instruction so that the execution during an actual point is more likely to be successful. When serving, think one, two and three: one is the starting position, two is the toss and the racquet moving...Read more

Practicing groundstrokes seems to be the main focus of most players. Rather than just standing in the middle of the baseline and starting the rally with a feed straight ahead, use your serve and return of serve to start the point. Hit the serve very slowly at first and hit the return of serve so...Read more

Over the many years that I have coached top juniors, it's clear that some players dwell on failure more than others. Some move on after a small or even large setback, while others make excuses and remain stuck in place. No matter how good a player you may be, the simple fact is that there is no...Read more

It has been widely circulated that during this life-changing pandemic people have started evaluating what is important to them. While family is certainly number one, the circumstances of COVID has gotten me to appreciate something that I knew all along: Tennis is that friend who is always there for...Read more

Playing tennis is easy, right? Most people can hit the ball over the net a few times. Some people can direct the ball to certain areas of the court in order to make their opponent run. More experienced players can even execute strategic patterns of shots based on a game plan that is designed to...Read more

This is the time of year when many players start to venture outside for their tennis matches. The wind tends to make tennis quite challenging, especially in the early spring. In addition, those of you going from indoors to outdoors have to adjust to all of the imperfections when playing in the...Read more

I have written about this before, and I am sure you have heard the term "play within yourself". But what exactly does this mean? Basically, playing within yourself is using what you recognize as your strengths to give you a better chance of hitting the shot well, using the right strategy, and...Read more

Everything keeps happening faster on the tennis court. A player often feels that there just isn't enough time to do what they want to do. The speed that you hit your shot can make the opponent feel this. Also, hitting the ball away from them can have the same effect. Another idea is to hit the ball...Read more

The single most crucial factor for a good hit in tennis is contact. If you start with a goal of exactly where you would like to hit the ball in relation to your body, you may focus on efforts to get into this position. While the preparation and finish for different players will vary, the contact is...Read more