Bigger Better Tennis - Paul Dale

From Talented Amateur to Tennis Pro: The 3 Non-Negotiable Mental Shifts By Paul Dale | The 3AM Method The gap between talented players and elite professional tennis players isn't talent—it's how they think, train, and compete every single day. Here are my three non-negotiables that separate professional athletes from the rest. 1. Every Ball Counts Elite Player Mindset Elite tennis professionals don't have an "on/off" switch. They treat every ball with the same intensity. This isn't just about effort—it's about mindset. Over many years, I have observed that top players never switch off or hit aimlessly. I find myself telling young players daily to focus on their fundamentals, to stay aware of the adjustments needed for each ball, reminding them that “every ball is different,” and asking them not to “save their legs” on difficult shots. When you practice casually, you're training your brain to remain calm in high-pressure situations. Y...

Why 95% of Tennis Coaching Accidentally Creates Chokers Why 95% of tennis coaches are accidentally creating chokers (and the 3AM method that fixes it) By Paul Dale | 50 Years of International Coaching If you're still teaching players to "slow down, relax and breathe their way through stress," you're using the same outdated methods that have created generations of practice champions who can't cope with pressure and crumble at competition time. Here's what most coaches need to realise: Every breathing technique, every ritual, every "stay calm" instruction is actually making your players weaker under pressure. We're approaching the topic of stress and pressure all wrong. Players don't need to learn avoidance strategies to conquer their mental meltdowns; they need to see pressure as a motivator and something to be embraced. Avoidance of pressure and stress is a very Western way of dealing with the problem.  The Practice Champion Problem (Yo...

Visual Blocking – Dictating Your Opponent's Next Shot By Paul Dale | The 3AM Method

I'm in a Match-Now What? The 5 Elements of Match-Play You’ve trained for days, maybe weeks. You’ve worked on technique, movement, fitness, and strategy. Now, you’re standing alone on the court on match day, and it hits you — this is it . All the advice, all the drills, all the repetitions have led to this moment. But here’s the truth: without a clear plan, all that work can slip through your fingers. A player who walks into a match with a plan — even a simple one — will beat 85% of the opponents they face. So, what should your plan be? Forget complicated tactical charts and overthinking every situation. Your job on match day is to make sure five critical elements are in place from the first ball to the last. This is where your focus goes immediately. Without these five working for you, winning becomes more difficult, and at higher levels, almost impossible. The Five Elements of Match Play 1️⃣ High Percentage of First Serves Start every point with the advantage. Missing too...

"What Will You Work On Today?" — Avoiding the Deaf Ear By Paul Dale | The 3AM Tennis Method In many tennis lessons around the world, the routine is familiar: players show up, coaches deliver instructions, and students follow along. However, this top-down approach often creates a dangerous by-product — players who become passive learners. They nod, they drill, they respond politely, but mentally, they're not invested. They become robots , going through the motions without actual ownership of their development. One powerful phrase can shift that dynamic instantly: "What will you work on today?" It's a simple question, but one that flips the responsibility back onto the player. It invites reflection, focuses attention, and builds accountability. In this blog, I  aim to explore the  "What will you work on?"  approach and provide you  with  practical ways to integrate it into your coaching sessions. Why This Phrase Matters When players aren...

The Blue Elephant: Helping Players Stay Focused When Distraction Strikes (เวอร์ชันไทยด้านล่าง) By Paul Dale | The 3AM Tennis Method In my years working with competitive junior players, one of the most common — and frustrating — challenges I face is helping talented tennis players translate their practice performance into real match results. These players can strike the ball cleanly, move well, and execute drills as well as anyone. But when tournament day comes, something unravels. Their game becomes shaky, inconsistent, and the confidence we thought we’d built seems to vanish. One recent case brought this issue sharply into focus. Meet Kevin: A Case of Potential vs. Performance Kevin was one of those players coaches love to have. Technically solid, smart on the court, and coachable. After working together for a few months, his confidence rose, and his results reflected it — finals in two consecutive tournaments. It felt like we were finally turning a corner. Then came the setbac...

  Coaching Beyond the Obvious By Paul Dale – The 3AM Tennis Method Every coach has been there: watching a player make the same mistake repeatedly, offering correction after correction, trying drills, gimmicks, analogies—only to see the problem stubbornly remain. It’s tempting to think the player just isn’t “getting it.” But what if we’re the ones not seeing it clearly? Years ago, my colleague and mentor, Bernard Gusman, introduced me to a concept that transformed my coaching approach. He called it  “Coaching beyond the obvious.” It’s a phrase that sounds simple, but it holds a profound truth. In tennis coaching, the real issue is often hidden beneath the surface. What we first see as the problem is rarely its root cause. If we settle for addressing only what’s obvious, we risk misdiagnosing the issue entirely and wasting a significant amount of time. A Serve Problem That Wouldn’t Go Away I once worked with a young girl whose serve was falling apart at the most cruci...