Many junior players have powerful strokes in practice, but they can hardly bring them out effectively in real matches. One common reason is that they tend to take a brief “mental and/or physical break” after a good shot. They wait to see whether the ball is coming back, where it is coming, then start running….
Rob Glickman presents his Top 10 tips to improving your on-court game … 1. Work hard Enjoy the process of learning and competing. 2. Keep your eye on the ball Try to focus on the ball as it enters your strings. 3. Bend your knees on ground strokes You cannot be too low. Imagine that…
It has recently been discovered that an un-swallowed taste of replacement drink versus placebo can spike the performance of one athlete over another. The anticipation of fuel can stimulate the areas of the brain which appear to have allowed their muscles to work even harder. Until recently, physiologists thought muscles fatigued because of biochemical reactions…
The biggest fear of many tournament players that I have encountered is of “choking” or performing poorly due to the emotional and mental strain of a match. Indisputably, there is a strong psychological component to breaking down and choking, and while so-called mental weakness is a contributing factor to this problem, I would like to…
Using The 1/3 Rule for drilling and competing Competition allows you to work on shot selection, tenacity and focus. Drilling allows you to concentrate on pure execution of a particular skill (volley, serve, approach shot, etc.). Both drilling and competing are necessary to improve your game. Competition time can be further improved using “The 1/3…
Conventional wisdom amongst many coaches and players suggests that the key to mental “toughness” is to talk and think positively at all times; especially when it comes to match play. While this seems to make sense at first glance, let us examine and explore a little beneath the surface. The truth is that when a…
In the 30-plus years since I first began coaching tennis, society has seen many changes in the way people communicate and interact. Technology has not, however, altered basic human nature, and in this example, the inevitability of self-serving, immediate gratification-seeking behavior of junior players, coaches and parents. Many aspects of the system of junior tennis…
Robert Glickman, a USPTA pro for the last 30 years on Long Island, recently took his lessons on the road to Sans Souci Resort in Jamaica. In April, in exchange for a stay at Sans Souci Resort in Jamaica, Glickman taught tennis to guests of the resort. “It was a wonderful experience, and I look…
Through my years as a tennis professional, I have found a bounty of benefits in pairing a student's private lessons and group work with tennis specific physical training. After what we've seen over the last decade in professional tennis, its effectiveness should come as no surprise. Anyone who watched this year's French Open listened while…
For those who think being a tennis coach is easy … think again! Being a tennis coach is a full-time job in which, on top of the obvious time spent practicing, there are countless additional hours spent with parents and college coaches. Then, of course, there’s also the tournaments and travel. One coach who takes…