Much has been written on the proper techniques of volleying. Let me share with you some of my favorite teaching cues for the volley: 1. Volleying in doubles—proper court positioning Stand in the middle of your service box when your partner is serving. Stand around halfway between the doubles sideline and the net, and halfway…
"Back in the day,” people were never home-schooled to play tennis. Back a “half-day ago,” it was done by a select few who had a slightly reasonable chance to make a living as a professional tennis player. It was considered putting all of your eggs in one basket. But what about today? Home schooling is…
"Back in the day,” people were never home-schooled to play tennis. Back a “half-day ago,” it was done by a select few who had a slightly reasonable chance to make a living as a professional tennis player. It was considered putting all of your eggs in one basket. But what about today? Home schooling is…
Great tennis players, like great basketball point guards or great quarterbacks in football, are astute field generals who see things differently than average competitors. They are more kinesthetically and tactically aware athletes who recognize the subtly, complexity and nuances of their sport. They visualize the play as it unfolds and have a knack for being…
Several years ago at my sleepaway camp, there was an “incident” which illustrated to me the importance and urgency of switching to “synchronized teaching” at camp. “Synchronized teaching” is a system of instruction where every instructor on every court is teaching the same drills simultaneously. It enabled me to maintain control of our teaching program….
In order to design an effective dynamic warm-up routine, it is important to understand the science behind each component and how it can affect your tennis game in the short- and long-term. Most tennis athletes rarely warm up, or when they do, it is done in an ineffective manner. This can give you a tremendous…
Tennis is a sport for the intelligent. The smarter you are, the better a player you will be. The reason for this is simple … the smart player has the chance to read the opponent’s weaknesses during warm-up and during the first part of a match. Maybe their backhand is weak or maybe they are…
On Sunday afternoon March 11, high school tennis coaches and players took part in the Annual Long Island Scholastic Coaches Conference and Clinic at Bethpage Park Tennis Center. The clinic, run by Bethpage Park Tennis Directors Steve Kaplan and Keith Kambourian, taught coaches how to incorporate different exercises and drills into their routine to help their players…
“Why do I play better in practice than in matches?” It’s probably the second-most popular question I hear from players, exceeded only by some variation of “OMG, I’m nervous, what do I do?” Sometimes, this question comes out as a defiant statement, where the player stubbornly says, “If I played like I did in practice,…
Hitting cross-court or down the line is always the big question for any player at any level. The cross-court shot is the high percentage shot over the low part of the net, while down the line is the lower percentage shot because it is over the high part of the net. There is a tactical…