Posts

3 UNSPOKEN SECRETS THE PROS WON'T TELL YOU ABOUT

Image
       If you've ever been lucky enough to attend a professional tennis tournament and watched the pros playing up close and personal you've probably marveled at how good they are.  You can't help but be impressed with the effortless way they generate power and the degree they throw themselves into every rally is hugely impressive. Like most people you probably left the tournament hugely impressed by what you just witnessed.  I've been around players like those for many years and I can tell you that the pros are different from us, at least in the way they approach their tennis. Here are some of the things I have observed about our top players. 1.    GET YOUR S#@$ TOGETHER  The pros are completely dedicated to performing at their best for every match. That involves everything from the food  they consume to how they schedule their days. Eating the correct diet is an important  ingredient of a players day The days, weeks, and months, o...

DOES TENNIS NEED TO BE IN THE OLYMPICS?

Image
The Olympics come around every 4 years. As a young boy, the Olympics always felt special to me. They allow everyone to watch the best in the world perform for two weeks under the spotlight. W e are seeing many of the competitors for the first time and for the athletes themselves, this could be the pinnacle of their careers, they may never get the opportunity to represent their country at the Olympics again. So why can't  I care less  about  watching the Olympics?   The only sports I will watch over the next two weeks in Tokyo will be the traditional Olympic sports such as track and field, swimming, weightlifting, and Judo, etc.  For me, it's a time for traditional Olympic  sports to shine on the world stage, particularly the Marathon and the 100-meters. The IOC has begun to get greedy. They know the popularity of the Olympics is dropping and are now including non-traditional Olympic sports, like tennis, to help boost their ratings. The Olympics are a Market...

DOES HEIGHT MATTER IN TENNIS?

Image
A mentor of mine told me years ago "A good big man will always beat a good small man". What he was saying was that all other things being equal, size plays a big part in the result of a tennis match.  Today, I'm not so sure he was correct. There's no doubt that you need to be tall to play in the NBA, and for that matter to qualify for the Olympics in the High Jump. But while being tall may play a significant part in other sports, thankfully in tennis, we don't solely rely on height. We have mobility, strength, endurance, speed, flexibility, mental strength, and strategy as other necessary attributes.  Tennis requires a long list of attributes than many of the other sports. Currently, a lot of the new players making their mark on the game are tall. A quick look at the heights of the new generation of players shows us that many of the top players are well over six feet. Where tall players do have an advantage, is on the faster surfaces such as grass and indoors.  Ba...

THE LOST ART OF UNDERSPIN: Rediscovering Tennis's Most Undervalued Technical Skill

Image
THE ART OF UNDERSPIN: Rediscovering Tennis's Most Undervalued Technical Skill By Paul Dale | The 3AM Method IS UNDERPIN MAKING A COME-BACK? Is there a resurgence in the use of underspin in tennis today? Having witnessed years of topspin domination and underspin neglect, we're finally seeing underspin getting the recognition it deserves from top male and female players. Here's what most tennis players need to understand: Every failed volley, every floating approach shot, every defensive slice that sits up for easy winners stems from fundamental underspin technique errors that have been ignored for decades. We're approaching underspin training all wrong. Players don't need more slice practice—they need systematic technical foundations that create consistent underspin under match pressure. Your next breakthrough in net play and defensive skills doesn't come from hitting more slice shots. It comes from mastering the underspin fundamentals that separate recreati...

THE VOLLEY IS THE WORST TAUGHT STROKE IN TENNIS

Image
As a coach, I've always believed in allowing my students to develop their own games naturally as much as possible. I often provide the lead but later I like to see my players find solutions to their own problems. I design the lesson plan, create the most appropriate drills for the topic and provide feedback whenever necessary.  However, once all this is successfully taking place on the practice court it's often best for me to literally take a step back and allow players the freedom of self-discovery. The only time I seldom let this happen is when I'm teaching the Volley. I find that most players have a warped idea of how the Volley should work. Perhaps this is because they've watched the pros volley on TV and feel they now understand how it should be performed and can easily imitate what they saw.  If left to their own devices the vast majority of students would flounder around in lessons trying to perfect their volley game over a long period of time.  Because of the ...

WHY STARBUCKS CAN SELL DRINKS AT DOUBLE THE PRICES OF THEIR COMPETITORS

Image
Starbucks knows its coffee-drinking customers much better than any of its competitors. How else do you explain why Starbucks customers happily purchase its products at inflated prices, and yet their stores are always full of contented patrons? If you know me at all you know that I'm a huge Starbucks fan, it's my go-to place to work and relax. But I don't like coffee! Often as I make my way to a Starbucks coffee shop (Starbucks operates 372 stores in Thailand, most of them located in Bangkok), I can't help but notice the other empty coffee shops within the exact same mall. The difference is stark and anyone interested in marketing or improving their own business should be looking at this phenomenon and trying to understand what's going on here. The stores of Starbucks competitors in the same mall look great and their drinks taste great too, probably in some cases even better. Why then are Starbucks still able to do so well in the face of so much competition? The answ...