Bigger Better Tennis - Paul Dale

Visual blocking is a technique you can use to force your opponent to hit the ball where you want them to.   The benefits are obvious.   If you can dictate where your opponent will hit the ball you can anticipate earlier and cover the court easier. It can also be used to expose weaknesses. Several years ago I was watching a player of mine in a match where his opponent was having trouble hitting forehands down the line. In the heat of the battle my player couldn’t see this pattern but sitting off-court in the shade I could! The opponent would return most balls crosscourt and when they did hit the ball down the line it was done very cautiously and without any confidence. Two things could develop from this knowledge that would help my player gain a big advantage in the match (1) we could anticipate that the vast majority of forehands would be returned crosscourt and be under no real pressure because we are essentially only guarding the crosscourt side of the court (2) we

 Never settle for the obvious because the real solution may just be around the corner  In whatever endeavor we tackle, if we never went beyond what is obvious or outside our comfort level, we would never develop at our chosen skill.   Think about the level you have reached in coaching.   At the present moment you think you know a lot about helping players improve their rankings right?   Hopefully in six months time you can look back and say that you are another 15% better than you are now. This should be our goal. The ability to improve your craft over time is dependent on you asking the hard questions of yourself.   Instead of using the same “fix” each time for a particular problem, try another way. In time you will have a variety of methods to solve a problem and you will be able to select which particular fix works for an individual player. Many years ago I attended a coaching seminar and an old friend, Bernard Gusman, presented an on-court session called “L

In his lead-up to the 2013 Australian Open, Bernard Tomic has won every match he has played, including a win over Novak Djokovic during their encounter at the Hopman Cup.   Many are now picking Tomic to blaze a trail of destruction in the Australian Open, some even saying he could beat Roger Federer if they meet, as expected, in the 3rd round. While his early form has been good leading up to the Australian Open, all players have strengths and weaknesses. If his good form continues, many of his opponents will look closer at his likes and dislikes and eventually devise a strategic plan to beat him. Here is my strategy on How To Beat Bernard Tomic, Step By Step. Don’t let the flashy winners fool you, Tomic is essentially a counter-puncher. Counter-punchers need someone to attack them and preferably with pace on the ball. Tomic has been counter-attacking opponents that have played themselves out of position.   He will strike if the ball has the required pace and the gap has o

  It's important to understand what motivates each player, and also what demotivates them   Learning what motivates each player to train hard and compete strongly in competition is critically important to a coach. Understanding what dominates a player’s mindset allows us to “push the right buttons” when needed. I like to assess players based on their motivation for playing in the first place. I look at two forms of stimulation, Task or Ego motivation; their motivation to train and compete will be driven by either their willingness to work hard, Task, or their focus on winning and rewards, Ego. Task-motivated players are the type of players who thrive on working hard towards a goal.   They see a clear link between working hard off-court and being rewarded with improved results on-court. Coaches enjoy working with players who are Task motivated because they have a great work ethic and respond well to instructions.  Most coaches prefer coaching Task motivated

 To Snap or Pronate, Which is Best?  There are two theories on how to hit a serve.   There are people who believe that “Snapping” the wrist is the best way and others who believe that “Pronating” is the best method of serving. The difference between the two options is difficult to detect visually. When you Snap the wrist to execute the serve the racquet-head tends to finish with the tip leading and the right and left edges going through contact almost symmetrically. When you Pronate to hit the serve the left edge (in the case of a right-hander) tends to lead the racquet through the ball. For me, both styles do the same thing when executed correctly. Both Snapping and Pronating, when done correctly, promote a wrist that dominates the arm during the serve. Whenever the arm dominates the wrist during the serve the result will be a serve lacking feel for your target and reduced racquet-head speed. A dominant wrist that Snaps or Pronates will give the serve th

I recently had a player, “James”, who was going through a rough period. James was struggling in practice and in competition. He didn’t seem to be enjoying himself on-court, becoming over-stressed and making poor decisions while executing strokes and tactics. It would have been easy to point the blame at his faltering ground-strokes and poor on-court execution, but I felt that spending time working on the details of his game would not have helped.   It seemed to me that the problem was mental and not technical.   Sometimes players lose sight of the real reasons they love to play tennis and compete. Often I ask players “Why do you play tennis”?   The answers are mostly the same.   Players say they “Like to Win” and “It’s fun”. But if that was true we would all play against opponents that we could beat easily.   Obviously playing against opponents that can be beaten easily would not be satisfying at all, therefore “winning” is not what brings us back to competition. Sometim

 Traveling with players to different countries can be challenging and rewarding As coaches we sometimes forget that the essence of our job is to help players win in competition.   We spend a lot of time on   the practice court but a large portion of our job should involve being with our players at tournaments and helping them translate work on the practice court into results at tournaments. It would be nice if that happened automatically but unfortunately it doesn’t always translate on the match court. It’s difficult during practice however to simulate match-play conditions and to teach a player to create and implement a strategy during the heat of battle.   I have always found that the tournament environment   actually enhances the learning   process because the player is much more receptive to advice.   The player is under pressure and will listen to key instructions on technique and strategy.    Here is a check-list of suggestions for coaches traveling with play

I attended a high performance sport seminar once and one of the speakers asked all the participants how important the mind was in their sport.   He asked what percentage the mind played in their sport compared to technique, fitness, nutrition etc. The representatives from all the various sports estimated the importance of the mind and the answers varied, but not by much.   Everyone estimated the percentage to be between 75-90%. They all thought the mind was the most important aspect. The speakers’ next question was even more reveling.   He asked “what percentage of practice time do you devote to training the mental aspects in your sport”? The answers fell between 10-15%! Why is it that as coaches we devote so little of our time to something that we know to be so important to the outcome in our various competitions?   I think the reason is that we understand very little about the way the mind works and therefore it’s difficult to train.   It’s the “hard” subject we try