Bigger Better Tennis - Paul Dale

In 1988 I landed the job of Chinese National Junior Coach.  A total of 4 boys and 4 girls were selected from players from throughout the country and these players were trained for two months inside mainland China, at a small city called Chungshan.   This was the beginning of China’s emergence back into the international tennis mainstream after decades of isolation.  We later played junior ITF tournaments in Jakarta, Tokyo, and Hong Kong. Also at those same ITF tournaments was a junior Thai team under the management of a local ex-pat named Gordon U.E Martin.  I already knew Gordon from my time in Bangkok and also knew that he was a true tennis fanatic.  Gordon helped put Thai tennis on the map in those early days by bringing professional men's tennis to Thailand and by starting ITF junior events in Bangkok for the first time. Those early ITF Junior events started by Gordon are still held annually each year until this day.  Gordon was particularly interested in the history of Asian t

I encounter many players who have all the strokes and can play really well in practice but during matches can’t re-produce the same standard of play. In matches their game is riddled with unforced errors. It’s always difficult to find the solution to help these players because the cause of the problem can be many things. Humans are complicated and no more so than the mental issues that plague a tennis player who has a chronic problem with unforced errors! I recently had success in helping with a young player who was prone to unexplained errors during her matches. I found the remedy to her unforced errors by first deciding that her problem was mental and not technical. Although most of her mistakes were caused by poor technique, I had seen enough of her using good technique that I decided that working more on her technique would not help her that much in the long term. This is an important decision for you to make because you will have to constantly hold yourself bac

An important coaching tool I use every day is the repetitive use of phrases. T hese common phrases help the student and I stay on the “same page”. They can also be used to set the tone of the lesson in terms of intensity. Here are some common phrases I use and the meaning behind them ' COACH YOURSELF!' Every lesson has a purpose and often that purpose is introducing new techniques or patterns to the player. Once the new technique or pattern has been explained I’ll most likely go straight to live points and challenge the player to reproduce the lesson topic while under pressure. To do this successfully the player needs to recall the key parts of the new technique or pattern and what I tend to do often is gently nudge the player with “Coach Yourself”! I’m asking for self-awareness, self-discipline, and I higher degree of focus from the player when I say this.  'YOU’RE BETTER THAN THAT!' Rather than being a negative statement, I use this phrase to demo

There’s no doubt that we are experiencing a GENERATION WAR IN TENNIS AT THE MOMENT . The old guard of Federer, Nadal, and Djokovic are under threat from the new guard consisting of Thiem, Zverev, Tsitsipas, and Shapovalov.  Recent results in the lead up to the French Open have seen the new guard matching and even beating the old guard in each tournament Most surprising during this time has been the declining form of Rafael Nadal. The former 'King of Clay' has not been able to win any of the tournaments during this early part of the European clay-court season. His chances of winning the French Open this year look bleak. Federer can be excused for not winning any of the lead up tournaments but he has shown us his game is good enough to beat anyone on the day and at this stage of his career he’s probably quietly saving his best effort for the grand slam. Djokovic is the pick of the old guard to go all the way at the French. He’s a proven winner on clay and h

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 ineffective, your

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

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 is