I am asked all the time from competitive tennis players … is the game more mental or physical? In my life-long adventure through the world of competitive tennis, I have found that the mentally tough players win more than the physically gifted. When I was a young player in the juniors, most of my problems…
Grips matter because they are the most intimate connection between you and the racket. A poor grip, not within an acceptable parameter, will limit performance. Grip improvement is often a difficult, disruptive and time intensive task, and I’ve seen plenty of attempted grip adjustments in my 40,000-plus hours instructing players that are too often…
Disclaimer: This article is written of my own volition and experience. At no point has the USTA, Carefree Racquet Club, nor any individual helped, endorsed, or in any way, influenced my articles. As always, my contact information is at the end of the article and any readers whom are so motivated may use it for…
It’s summertime and the living is easy (at least I hope so). Summer is the time to relax and get away from the grind of work, work and work. There is no better way to back off from life then to find some great books to get into. Tennis has always been a game that…
Do you love your serve? I certainly hope so because it is the most important shot in the game of tennis. It would make sense that anyone who loves the serve should love the overhead as well, but that’s not necessarily true. One thing that is certain … if you don’t love your serve, you…
There are several rules in competitive tennis, some are on-court rules and some are off-court rules, but the rules are in place to protect the integrity of competition. What happens though when the rules are used to gain an advantage over your opponent? This behavior is not unfair, but it can be said that that…
Imagine the scenario: You are watching your child play, and it feels like you’re the one playing. Your palms are sweaty and your feet are tapping with the immediacy of how Rafael Nadal awaits the coin toss. You look across the way and see your opponent’s parents pacing up and down, burning a hole in…
In the last issue of Long Island Tennis Magazine, Coach Tim Mayotte of 360 Tennis spoke about the importance of the split-step and its three components in his article, “Wow … What a Great Split-Step.” They were: 1. Width of base and posture 2. Timing of the split 3. The height of the split At…
I was privileged to speak at the First Annual New York Tennis Expo in April, along with an esteemed panel of tennis experts. This was not only the biggest grassroots tennis event ever in the metropolitan area, with attendance numbers that reached nearly 3,000, but it was also a gathering of the most sophisticated tennis…
Many years ago, I wrote a piece on the three characteristics of great coaches. I had just done research on John Wooden, Vince Lombardi, Woody Hayes and Doc Counsilman of Indiana University. What I said was that great coaches shared three traits: ►They all knew the game well and could teach it; ►They all were…