Strike, Don’t Swing
Tennis is a series of strikes, and strikes are like snowflakes – no two are exactly the same. No two forehands are exactly the same. No two backhands are exactly the same. What matters...
Never Miss Your Approach Shots
In tennis, “probing” refers to the act of spacing your body with respect to the ball, and it is one of the most important drivers of consistency while playing. The image above depicts two...
The Receiving Loop
In the 2011 Miami Final, Rafael Nadal hit a winner past Novak Djokovic that looked rather strange on TV (the point). The ball landed quite close to him, at least, close in the scope...
The Split-Step: Why, When, and How
The split-step is an athletic hop done immediately prior to receiving a ball in tennis. The player hops a few inches off the ground and lands with their feet wider than shoulder width apart....
See The Ball Like Novak Djokovic
When you think of “consistency” in tennis, who’s the first player that comes to mind? For most, it’s Novak Djokovic. Novak is one of the best movers on the tour, and he has perfect...
Stop Finishing Over Your Shoulder
The image above is Frances Tiafoe’s follow-through after a serve return. Looks terrible right? The shot must have been a shank, or if it did hit the strings, must have produced some sort of...
4 Steps to Stroke Production
All strokes in tennis, and I mean all strokes, share 4 key elements. While the specifics of implementation vary for each stroke, at a fundamental level, high quality ball striking requires four things things....
Why You Miss for No Reason (It’s Vision)
Movement and stroke production can only get you so far. To really excel in tennis, on each shot, you have to know exactly: Without this skill, your miss rate will always be high, no...
4 Fixation Visual System
It isn’t literally possible to “watch the ball” in high level tennis. At least, not all the time. The ball is simply moving too quickly for your eye to track it using smooth pursuit...
Immediately Improve Reaction Time
Many of my lower level students are totally lost when receiving a short ball, even when it’s really not that short. The ball’s second bounce is past the service line, and yet they’re still...