THE 3AM THEORY

AS A COACH THE LANGUAGE I use is important. Something said the wrong way on the court can harm the player, while compliments tend to have a more positive effect. I use the 'TIMES SIX principle' when talking to players on-court or whenever they have just finished their match.  The 'TIMES SIX principle' means that anything you, say either as a parent or as a coach, is magnified by six times in the head of the player. It is therefore always important to filter your comments through the TIMES SIX 'filter' and imagine how your comment will be perceived if multiplied six times. An example could be if, as a coach or parent you remarked that the player had missed many first serves in the match (which could be completely correct), and told the player this soon after their match. The result of that comment could be disastrous (remember the TIMES SIX Principle) because the player could take the comment as a personal attack on them and their ab...

I’m not a fan of using repetition to practice when training players. I use repetition drills very rarely. Repetition drills are when a player has to hit many balls one after the other, either from a basket feed or with someone at the other end giving you the same ball. Repetition drills contain very little that is similar to match-play. I understand it looks good to people watching the lesson from a distance outside the court and on Instagram posts but repetition drills offer very little to players wanting to develop a new technique or pattern for their next match. Often coaches feel that they have done their job by showing the student the new technique and then drilling it many times through repetition. They believe the transfer of information (the new technique being taught) from the practice court to match court should happen automatically and is the players' responsibility. This is false. It’s the coach’s job to introduce the new technique AND to creat...

Let's be clear from the start, you need both options! Open and closed stances have advantages and disadvantages, and you need to adopt both stances during a match if you want to play tennis at a high level.  Here’s when it’s best to hit an open stance ground stroke and why… แน่นอนตั้งแต่เริ่ม — คุณจำเป็นต้องใช้ทั้งสองท่า! ท่าเปิด (Open Stance) และท่าปิด (Closed Stance) ต่างก็มีข้อดีและข้อเสียของตัวเอง และหากคุณต้องการเล่นเทนนิสในระดับสูง คุณต้องสามารถใช้ทั้งสองท่านี้ได้ระหว่างการแข่งขัน ต่อไปนี้คือสถานการณ์ที่เหมาะกับการใช้ท่า  Open Stance  และเหตุผลที่ควรใช้: OPEN STANCE 1.  Better for higher balls because you can generate more power and maintain balance. With a higher ball , generating power on the shot is sometimes tricky. Adopting an Open Stance allows you to achieve back-swing and follow-through by utilising upper-body rotation.  2.   It c an help you disguise your intentions on certain balls, such as a mid-court put-away. You want to ...

By Paul Dale | www.3amtennis.com The Long Last Step: The Hidden Movement Secret Behind Every Great Groundstroke By Paul Dale | The 3AM Method Watch any top player, and you will see it as a barely perceptible, almost elegant lengthening of that final stride before contact. Most people watching miss it completely. But once you understand what it does, you can never unsee it. And more importantly, you can start using it yourself. There is a moment in every groundstroke — a fraction of a second before contact — where everything either comes together or falls apart. It is not about grip. It is not about your swing.  It is about your feet. Specifically, it is about one foot and one critical step. I call it the Long Last Step , and it is one of the most underrated movement skills in the game.  When  you watch the top players, you see them try to execute their groundstrokes under enormous pressure, often in the most demanding moments of a match. This post will explain t...

By Paul Dale | www.3amtennis.com The top players have few weaknesses in their games, and, as I have said many times, to reach the top, you must work to eliminate any weaknesses you may have. Weaknesses in your game eat away at your confidence and are usually worse when you are under the most pressure, at the most unwelcome times. The big picture when developing players for the future should also include working on strengths.  Young players should be well-rounded and be equally skilled in dealing with defensive and offensive situations. Here are my 4 top choices when developing the offensive game of a young player: #1 OWN A GREAT SERVE Owning a great serve is a massive asset in tennis. If you can hold serve or even put your opponent on the defensive at the start of each point you will win a large percentage of your service games. HERE'S WHAT TO DO... https://thetenniswhisperer.blogspot.com/2015/01/the-two-must-have-service-techniques.html #2 HAVE...