The Optimal Frequency is Often 100%
Many players assume that doing the same thing over and over again is inherently bad, because it’s “predictable.” This is a misconception. Our goal isn’t to be unpredictable, our goal is to win, and...
Basic Strategy – Where’s My Edge?
Tennis strategy is best understood at the level of individual shot selection decisions; for each unique situation we are forced to play, we have a different strategy, appropriate for that particular situation. Skill levels...
Win Anyway
When we’re on court, we don’t complain. We win. To the questions below, there is only one productive answer – win anyway. The manner in which we go about this may vary from question...
Dynamic vs Static Positions
While there are numerous different teaching mistakes that lead to ineffective coaching, many of them stem from the same fundamental misunderstanding – confusing cause and effect. Some body movements are actively, volitionally caused by the...
Adjusting To Low Balls The EFFICIENT Way
The following is a page from The Fault Tolerant Forehand, available in eBook and paperback formats on Amazon (click here). The key to effective stroke production is efficient bio-mechanical alignment. For every shot, there...
5 Ways Elite Players Make Their Own Luck
Many events in tennis appear lucky. The ball dribbles over the net for a winner. Someone hits a second serve ace on the line. A forehand is shanked high and deep, and ends up...
The Modern Forehand – A Biomechanical Masterpiece
When performed correctly, the forehand is a stroke with a very large margin for error. Proper forehand mechanics ensure that the swing is fault tolerant – when things go wrong, the swing still succeeds....
The Pusher’s Strategy is Better Than Yours
The pusher's strategy isn't very good - hit the ball back into the court and never play offense. Clearly, the pusher is wasting at least some opportunities to get ahead in rallies at...
A Shot’s Probability Distribution
Tennis is random. Each shot is best understood not as a particular result (winner, error, rally ball, etc.), but as a probability distribution of possible results, from which a particular result is chosen at...
Tennis Is Random
Tennis doesn’t feel random, because, as we swing, we feel like we’re in full control of the racket, and thus the result of the shot. This control is an illusion. Don’t believe me? Let’s assume...