Bigger Better Tennis - Paul Dale

In his lead-up to the 2013 Australian Open, Bernard Tomic has won every match he has played, including a win over Novak Djokovic during their encounter at the Hopman Cup.   Many are now picking Tomic to blaze a trail of destruction in the Australian Open, some even saying he could beat Roger Federer if they meet, as expected, in the 3rd round. While his early form has been good leading up to the Australian Open, all players have strengths and weaknesses. If his good form continues, many of his opponents will look closer at his likes and dislikes and eventually devise a strategic plan to beat him. Here is my strategy on How To Beat Bernard Tomic, Step By Step. Don’t let the flashy winners fool you, Tomic is essentially a counter-puncher. Counter-punchers need someone to attack them and preferably with pace on the ball. Tomic has been counter-attacking opponents that have played themselves out of position.   He will strike if the ball has the required pace and the gap has o

No matter how good a coach or player you think you are, you would be nothing without the help of a substance called myelin. The better you are as a coach at creating myelin in your players, the better their results will be. The more myelin your players have, the better they perform. It's as simple as that! Think what could happen if you understood how to train to create myelin and were able to even increase the production of myelin each and every practice session. Do I have your interest yet? Let’s start by explaining what myelin is first.  Myelin is a substance inside your body that coats itself around the neurological pathways and assist with any activity that you do often or repetitively . Instead of having to re-learn a tennis fore-hand every-time you went out to play, the body creates myelin to help you “remember” the process. It creates a neurological "super highway". Someone who plays tennis only on week-ends will have less myelin around the “tenni

  It's important to understand what motivates each player, and also what demotivates them   Learning what motivates each player to train hard and compete strongly in competition is critically important to a coach. Understanding what dominates a player’s mindset allows us to “push the right buttons” when needed. I like to assess players based on their motivation for playing in the first place. I look at two forms of stimulation, Task or Ego motivation; their motivation to train and compete will be driven by either their willingness to work hard, Task, or their focus on winning and rewards, Ego. Task-motivated players are the type of players who thrive on working hard towards a goal.   They see a clear link between working hard off-court and being rewarded with improved results on-court. Coaches enjoy working with players who are Task motivated because they have a great work ethic and respond well to instructions.  Most coaches prefer coaching Task motivated

Several years ago I was on a practice court with Tamarine Tanasugarn. She was part of a team that had traveled with me overseas to compete. It was 7am and everyone was taking time to adjust to the unfamiliar conditions. Everyone except Tamarine that is! This was our first practice session after the long flight. Tamarine was striking the ball as cleanly as ever.   Her timing was perfect from the first ball until the last. What created her ability to adapt so well to the conditions and thrive? Later Paradorn Srichaphan, who reached a career high of #9 ATP had the same adaptability. I began to ask myself what this quality was and more importantly whether I could actually teach it to my students on-court. I began to formulate what I called 'The 3am Theory', the ability to play your best tennis at anytime, anywhere, on any surface, any, any… even at 3am in the morning.   Imagine you were woken from a sound sleep at 3am and asked to play a tie-break against a tough o

A few decades ago coaches made a big deal about the grips a player used.   The first step in any lesson would usually revolve around learning the correct grip.   Back then the grip was god. The function of the grip for beginners and intermediate level players is primarily to provide strength and security between the hand and racquet. For advanced players the primary job of the grip is to allow the racquet-head to perform its purpose. This article deals with eliminating the contamination that can occur when a faulty grip doesn’t allow the racquet-head to perform its desired task. If a certain forehand grip doesn’t allow the racquet-head to hit a high bouncing ball cleanly , that player has a weakness that can be exploited by their opponent. He/she must find a new grip position or find a technique that helps them adapt to high balls on the fore-hand better. Often tactics that help you beat an opponent are based on an opponents inferior grips that fail to adapt to speeds a

 To Snap or Pronate, Which is Best?  There are two theories on how to hit a serve.   There are people who believe that “Snapping” the wrist is the best way and others who believe that “Pronating” is the best method of serving. The difference between the two options is difficult to detect visually. When you Snap the wrist to execute the serve the racquet-head tends to finish with the tip leading and the right and left edges going through contact almost symmetrically. When you Pronate to hit the serve the left edge (in the case of a right-hander) tends to lead the racquet through the ball. For me, both styles do the same thing when executed correctly. Both Snapping and Pronating, when done correctly, promote a wrist that dominates the arm during the serve. Whenever the arm dominates the wrist during the serve the result will be a serve lacking feel for your target and reduced racquet-head speed. A dominant wrist that Snaps or Pronates will give the serve th