Out, Up, and Through
Every player has been coached to “brush up the back of the ball” in order to generate topspin. While this advice is technically correct, it’s very misleading as to how this famous “brushing” actually...
Jen Brady – The Girl Who Rips 3500rpm Forehands
Jennifer Brady hits her forehand like a man. And that’s a really good thing. Not just in the sense that Jen Brady’s forehand is awesome, and the forehands on the ATP tour are also...
What is Fault Tolerance, Anyway?
“Fault tolerance” is a term from computing – it refers to a machine’s ability to remain functional even in the face of a fault, a small problem. For example, imagine that one of the...
How the Feet Liberate the Hips
A full hip rotation is impossible if both of your feet are firmly planted on the ground. Trying to rotate your hips while your feet stay planted will put a large amount of torsion...
Foot Striking – The Overlooked Key to Speed
The human foot is a masterfully designed piece of biological machinery. It’s job – to safely absorb and transfer the force generated when our bodies hit, and then press off, the ground. Lucky for...
Foot Striking Warm Up
If we’d all grown up barefoot from birth, we’d probably strike the ground properly without even thinking about it. Alas, since that’s not the case, proper foot striking, like everything else, is a skill...
The Athletic Ready Position
With almost every skill in tennis, there exists a prevailing myth that natural talent is the primary factor driving success. You’ll frequently hear tennis commentators, awestruck after observing the latest feat of athletic brilliance,...
The Serve is a Throw
The serve is a throw. That line is both the title and the first paragraph for a reason – it constitutes the single most important insight that underpins effective serving. If you can throw...
5 Signs of a Great Coach
A great lesson is worth infinitely more than a bad one. And I mean that literally. It isn’t worth double, or triple, or quadruple its less effective counterpart. No, the difference in value is infinite. With...
Mixed Strategy – An Antidote to Guessing
A mixed strategy is a strategy in which we mix our shot selection decisions for a given situation; we won’t hit any shot 100% of the time. Consider an extremely common situation – the...