Coaching

There are obviously many different styles of play in tennis. Most players are put in one category or the other: offensive or defensive. However, the best players tend to be the ones who can do some of both. More importantly, the player who eventually wins the match is likely to be the one who...Read more

Below are three items that I have heard coaches differ on. While I will give my personal opinion and communicate how strongly I feel about it, I realize there are other good coaches out there who believe differently, and sometimes the same, as I do. Additionally, many, if not all, of the answers to...Read more

In almost every match, one player is usually the favorite. Sometimes this is based on ranking and results and other times it is based on what they look like hitting the ball and the weapons that they possess. If the player who is ranked lower or is perceived as being the weaker player, wins the...Read more

Watching the Laver Cup last weekend has made it pretty obvious that tennis (at all levels) comes down to combining consistent serving with consistent returning over the course of the match. This is the case in both singles and doubles. Europe did this better than the World in this year's event...Read more

Back in the day, we were always told to recover to the middle of the court after hitting a shot. Because the speed of the game has changed, it makes more sense these days to move towards the open court immediately after hitting your shot. In addition, try recovering to an area that leaves the...Read more

I have written about this before but after watching the 2021 U..S Open, I felt the need to repeat. Novak Djokovic was always the poster boy for my idea about following through the same way, regardless of how your opponent hits their shot. However, Danil Medvedev beat Novak at his own game in the...Read more

Watching the 2021 U.S. Open, it is pretty clear that there are a lot of players who thrive on using the opponent's pace of the ball to hit their best shots. It is also apparent that when a player is able to mix up the speed, it can help draw errors or weaker shots from their opponent. A well-placed...Read more

Getting your opponent on the run is one of the best ways to get them to make some errors. Usually this means hitting your shots to the opening as much as possible. If you keep hitting the ball away from your opponent, it would seem that they will be running all over the place. The problem is that...Read more

There are different methods to estimate the intensity in sport such as using heart rate, VO2, blood lactate concentration, and Rated Perceived Exertion (RPE). Breathing techniques have an effect on the Nervous System, and the heart rate and is a good method to measure the athlete's optimal...Read more

Over the years, I have seen many examples of players over analyzing what they need to do against a specific player. They "scout" the player, figure out the opponent's strengths and weaknesses, and then come up with a game plan. My philosophy for most players is to focus on what you want to do based...Read more