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A COMPLETE SYSTEM OF ON-COURT MOVEMENT

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  MOVING WELL ON-COURT IS ESSENTIAL TO PLAYING TENNIS AT THE HIGHEST LEVELS Tennis today is played at a much faster pace than ever before. The demands on a player to move faster place tremendous importance on fitness, speed, and anticipation. I teach a system of movement that involves all three of those requirements and some more. There are 3 main parts I try to teach my students when working on court anticipation and movement: 1.   OBSERVATION  2. REACTION  3. RECOVERY Here are the 3 parts explained in more detail - OBSERVATION In today's fast-paced game, players must anticipate where the ball will go to some degree. Observation is the most critical aspect of anticipating well. Anticipation requires players to read their opponent's preferences and swing patterns and get a quick read on the ball's direction. It's then time to move! I ask my players to observe the moment of contact at the other end of the court. The moment the opponent makes c

THE STAGES OF A PROFESSIONAL TENNIS PLAYER

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PROFESSIONAL TENNIS IS PLAYED AROUND THE WORLD AT MANY LEVELS There are thousands of players, both men and women, who are trying to make their way in the world of professional tennis. I thought it would be interesting to clarify the steps, in my opinion,  that a player must take to get all the way to the top.  No National Ranking & No ATP points Can’t always get into the qualifying draw for local futures and must rely on wild cards National Ranking but no ATP Points Possible to enter qualifying of Futures events because of his National ranking but not always accepted Enough ATP points to enter Futures qualifying Must compete in the qualifying events where physical & mental fatigue can be a major obstacle in progressing deeper in the tournament Qualifies into the main draw consistently But has trouble progressing much further because of the physical and mental demands of qualifying Enough Points to enter Main D

ARM WRESTLING CAN HELP YOUR TENNIS - A LOT!

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In the beginning of a match both players think they should win. What changes? You see it more clearly when the players are young and new to competition, but it’s common to all levels of tennis.  Two players are locked in an on-court battle for some time and then one of the players win the mental battle of wills and the match is essentially over. Don’t be fooled by appearances, the remainder of the match may seem competitive, and the points may be exciting, but the match was over once the mental battle of wills was decided. That early “arm wrestle” decided the outcome of the match. Think about that for a moment. Winning that mental arm wrestle can decide who wins the match. In a most cases both players start the match believing they can win. Both players can even start the match convinced that they will win. However in nearly every match something changes that self-belief in one of those players. But is the importance of winning the game of wills really anything new to u

VISUAL BLOCKING: CONTROLLING YOUR OPPONENTS SHOT SELECTION

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Visual blocking is a technique you can use to force your opponent to hit the ball where you want them to.   The benefits are obvious.   If you can dictate where your opponent will hit the ball you can anticipate earlier and cover the court easier. It can also be used to expose weaknesses. Several years ago I was watching a player of mine in a match where his opponent was having trouble hitting forehands down the line. In the heat of the battle my player couldn’t see this pattern but sitting off-court in the shade I could! The opponent would return most balls crosscourt and when they did hit the ball down the line it was done very cautiously and without any confidence. Two things could develop from this knowledge that would help my player gain a big advantage in the match (1) we could anticipate that the vast majority of forehands would be returned crosscourt and be under no real pressure because we are essentially only guarding the crosscourt side of the court (2) we

TEACHING BEYOND THE OBVIOUS

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 Never settle for the obvious because the real solution may just be around the corner  In whatever endeavor we tackle, if we never went beyond what is obvious or outside our comfort level, we would never develop at our chosen skill.   Think about the level you have reached in coaching.   At the present moment you think you know a lot about helping players improve their rankings right?   Hopefully in six months time you can look back and say that you are another 15% better than you are now. This should be our goal. The ability to improve your craft over time is dependent on you asking the hard questions of yourself.   Instead of using the same “fix” each time for a particular problem, try another way. In time you will have a variety of methods to solve a problem and you will be able to select which particular fix works for an individual player. Many years ago I attended a coaching seminar and an old friend, Bernard Gusman, presented an on-court session called “L

BEATING BERNARD TOMIC: STEP BY STEP

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

YOUR BEST COACH IS MYELIN

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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