Bigger Better Tennis - Paul Dale

If you can’t hold serve, you can’t win the match. That’s how important the serve is in tennis. Players with average ground-strokes but great serves have done well in tennis, particularly on the faster surfaces. The serve is not a complicated stroke, but it can be prone to breaking down under pressure in matches. Therefore, it’s important to understand the key elements of the serve so that, under pressure, you can focus on one or two things that will make it work for you. Here are the 2 key elements I recommend you focus on when under pressure in matches. If done correctly, each of the two elements will cover any problems you may be having with your serve. THE FRONT FOOT The front foot is the 'Bridge' for your serve. It’s the transfer point for your forward movement during the serve. Soon, the player's left foot  will begin to dominate the  service action and supply  timing and power to the wrist  If this 'Bridge' is weak or ineffecti...

My favorite player growing up was Rod Laver.  What I admired most about the "Rockhampton Rocket" was that he was just a very normal guy, humble, down-to-earth, and hard-working. He gave normal people like me the idea that it was possible to achieve great things if you could apply yourself to something 100%, like Laver did. During his career, Laver was known for his ability to play his best tennis when it mattered most. He hardly ever lost a five-set match. There was a saying amongst the other players during that era "Laver never loses in the 5th set". He was that good at closing out tough matches! Here are 3 ways you can learn from Rod "Rocket" Laver: #1 Stay focused in the present   Allowing your mind to get too far ahead in a match, or beating yourself before you get on the court can be disastrous . Avoid the internal mind games that are flowing around in your head by sticking to your match tactics and not allowing yoursel...

    Master the Two-Handed Backhand: 4 Essential Tennis Techniques for Control and Power By Paul Dale | The 3AM Method Complete guide to developing a versatile two-handed backhand with professional-level control, spin, and directional accuracy The two-handed backhand can be one of tennis's most reliable and powerful strokes when executed with proper technique. However, many tennis players struggle with consistency and versatility because they focus on rigid grip positions rather than understanding the fundamental mechanics that create control and power. These five essential elements will transform your two-handed backhand from a defensive liability into an offensive weapon. By mastering hand positioning, power generation, and directional control, you'll develop the backhand versatility needed for competitive tennis success. 1. Bottom Hand Positioning: Controlling Your Contact Zone Length The bottom hand grip position directly plays a part in the length of your two-handed backha...

You would think that Novak Djokovic hardly knows what it's like to lose. After multiple Grand Slam and ATP titles, he must enter each tournament with a high degree of confidence that he will win. Maybe not! Last year, 2018, Djokovic was the best player in the world. The combined percentage of points won overall matches he played during the year was 55%! This was his average for the entire year, which he dominated! That's a lot of losing for the best player in the world.  You have to realize from this surprising statistic that in tennis, you will lose a lot of points, even if you are the better player, as Djokovic was in most cases. But here's the problem... many players can't handle losing many points! Like most players, you probably go through a roller coaster ride with your confidence levels during a match. The momentum in a game can swing back and forth often. It's these momentum swings that test our perseverance and our resolve du...

A coach can only do so much with a player who is experiencing destructive mental issues related to tennis competition. Players who find competition mentally too much to handle and suffer from choking, low levels of self-confidence or an inability to close out important matches are generally the victims of their environment. They reflect the environment they live in daily when they compete in matches. Prolonged and repeated negative mental issues in matches when competing as a junior player also continue to be a problem for the player much later in life, even though the environment that caused the mental issues in the first place might have changed for the better. Considering a majority of competitive junior players suffer from an almost crippling mental war inside their heads, it would be fair to say that this is why  a majority of players never fully reach their true potential. It, therefore, becomes clear that the environment we grow up in when we start our tennis...

The Korean guy in the front row was losing control.  It was 1991 and Beijing was the venue for the Asian Games.  We were playing for at least a Mixed Doubles bronze medal and Thailand hadn’t won an Asian Games medal in tennis for almost 40 years! Personally, this was the biggest match of my tenure as Thai National Tennis Coach.   The Thai team of Wittaya Samret and Orawan Thampensri were in a match with a typically tough Korean team.  You can always count on Koreans to make it a battle.  They are always in great shape physically, mentally very strong, and always 100% committed.   I had encountered the Korean attitude in many events prior to this. Players from Korea could sometimes overstep the boundary of what was considered good sportsmanship.  This didn’t make them any friends on the tennis circuit and I had even witnessed Korean coaches physically abusing players several times. I’m not sure whether or not the guy in t...