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

No matter how good a coach or player you think you are, you would be nothing without the help of a substance called myelin. The better you are as a coach at creating myelin in your players, the better their results will be. The more myelin your players have, the better they perform. It's as simple as that! Think what could happen if you understood how to train to create myelin and were able to even increase the production of myelin each and every practice session. Do I have your interest yet? Let’s start by explaining what myelin is first.  Myelin is a substance inside your body that coats itself around the neurological pathways and assist with any activity that you do often or repetitively . Instead of having to re-learn a tennis fore-hand every-time you went out to play, the body creates myelin to help you “remember” the process. It creates a neurological "super highway". Someone who plays tennis only on week-ends will have less myelin around the “tenni

  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

Several years ago I was on a practice court with Tamarine Tanasugarn. She was part of a team that had traveled with me overseas to compete. It was 7am and everyone was taking time to adjust to the unfamiliar conditions. Everyone except Tamarine that is! This was our first practice session after the long flight. Tamarine was striking the ball as cleanly as ever.   Her timing was perfect from the first ball until the last. What created her ability to adapt so well to the conditions and thrive? Later Paradorn Srichaphan, who reached a career high of #9 ATP had the same adaptability. I began to ask myself what this quality was and more importantly whether I could actually teach it to my students on-court. I began to formulate what I called 'The 3am Theory', the ability to play your best tennis at anytime, anywhere, on any surface, any, any… even at 3am in the morning.   Imagine you were woken from a sound sleep at 3am and asked to play a tie-break against a tough o