Why Do Players Care After the US Open?: WTA/ATP Finals

The third thing that Tennis watchers have to look forward to is the WTA/ATP Year End Finals.  This big event takes the top 8 players in the rankings and pits them against each other in a round robin format.  It is a decisive tournament because you get to see the best players square off each other without having to hope it happens in a tournament.  If the players are in the same group.  They are going to see each other.

Format

The format for this tournament is a little confusing because it is round robin.  The way it works is that they split the players into two groups of 4 (groups red and white for the ladies, groups A and B for the men).  Then each player in the group plays every person in the group.  The top player in each group plays the runner up in the opposite group for the semifinals.  Then those two winners play each other in the finals.

If the win records are equal, then the games are counted.

Who Cares?

The interesting thing about this tournament is that, because of the format, it matters how badly you beat your opponents.  If you BARELY beat an opponent in your group, there is a very good chance that you can run into them in the finals.  In a few instances the lottery put all the strongest competitors in on group.  (1 and 2 ranked players are always split).  Then the whole week was about what is going to happen in that group.

Unfortunately for 2014 the ladies have their tournament at the end of October a week before Halloween.  I forget to watch EVERY YEAR :(  From the look of the highlights, it was a great tournament.

In the red group 3 players had the same record of 2-1.  This is the group that had Serena Williams!  Simona Halep and Ana Ivanovic had to battle in out in the on the last day.  Simona had 2 wins and Ivanovic had a 1-1 record.  So Ivanovic would have to beat Simona in straight sets to knock Serena, who already had a 2-1 record, out of the semifinals.


Simona could have EASILY just rolled over and played dead for Serena to be knocked out but she didn't.  And as the story goes:


Simona Halep beat Serena Williams earlier in the tournament....and then lost to her in the final.  That's what I'm talking about!!

Oh well.  The men play next week.

Why Do Players Care After the US Open?: Davis Cup/Fed Cup

Now that Some of you understand the idea of point defense.  Lets move on to something that is much easier to understand.  Fed Cup happens in early November and Davis Cup happens in later November.  

What is Davis/Fed CUP? 

The Fed Cup (women) and the Davis Cup (men) are played all year round. Whenever the tennis pros have a break from their super busy schedule, they gather up with their teammates and host or visit another country.  This tournament is not ATP or WTA sanctioned.

Tournament Format

There are 8 teams in each side of the draw (16 total). How they pick the 16 teams is like legalize.  It is very confusing. Something about a round robin format and zones like Soccer (Football) World Cup.  After they get the teams...it is a normal drive to the end of the tournament. A committee figures out where the ties are played.

What the heck...TIE?

When two countries play each other, they call it a "tie." This causes much confusion when listening to the commentators talk about past "ties."  In a Fed Cup tie, there are 5 matches, 4 singles and 1 doubles over 2 days (Saturday & Sunday). Saturday, 2 singles matches are played. Sunday the singles competitors are switched  and there is a doubles match. It is kind of like USTA Teams in the USA but with only one doubles match.

Every match is called a "RUBBER." So if USA wins 3 out of 5 Rubbers against Sweden, USA wins the Tie. If USA wins the first 3 right off the bat, the last two rubbers do not matter but they still are played. Those matches are known as "DEAD RUBBERS."

Why is Davis/Fed Cup Fun?

These cups are like a big party. Fans are allowed to make as much noise as they want in between points and are often VERY ROWDY. The players also really seem to enjoy playing for their respective countries. Sometimes the home team has crazy rules like unlimited shot tracker challenges.  Players that feed off atmosphere can become Fed Cup heroes. Nobodies can make a great name for themselves. A lot of people really love to play for their countries and are really motivated.  

Davis/Fed Cup is a great way to see professional tennis.  The camaraderie between teammates is very evident and it is a great way for the younger players to learn from the older ones.  It is no surprise that a team with success will soon have individual players that make their way on the tour.  These matches usually happen on the Tennis Channel so if you want to check it out you can go to a bar at a wierd time and get it on the screen.

Why Do Players Care After the US Open?: Point Defense

A lot of sports commentators call the US Open the end of the year for tennis because it is the last slam of the year.  But tennis still goes on until the end of the ATP/WTA Championships.  So what the heck is the reason?  Can't the players finally take a nap and heal?  The answer of course is NO for a few reasons: Point Defense, Davis/Fed Cup, Year End Finals.

Point Defense

Every now and then you hear that a player has "points to defend."  And they NEVER go out of their way to explain what the heck that means!  I am willing to bet that non pro commentators have no idea either.  The pro says it so fast everyone just says "sure."

Well....the scores you see on the rankings are the players total score from last year (52 weeks of tennis).  Every week that goes by they compare to the previous week and add or subtract the score from last years total.  Most of the events pretty much happen on the same exact week every year.

Examples:

So Marin Cilic won the 2014 US Open this year.  Last year he missed 9 months starting before the US Open because of a doping suspension.  That means that he has 0 points to defend for the rest of the year and every point he makes goes positively towards his ranking.

On the other hand Rafael Nadal won the US Open in 2013.  He didn't play 2014 due to an injury.  That means he will take the opposite hit (2000 points) for the rankings that Cilic took.

Novak Djokovic was runner up two years in a row (2013 and 2012).  His points after the US Open didn't change at all.

2013

2012

I assume they do it like this so that ALL players in the world don't start off at 0 ranking.  If a pro nobody like Cici Bellis should get a wildcard into the Aussie Open and upset Maria Sharapova without this system, Maria would be ranked lower than Cici automatically.

Whew! (wipes sweat from brow) that gets confusing!

Mental Tennis: Finding The Zone

In most sports, players are obsessed with finding "the zone". It is this area in which your mind is fully focused on your task and nothing else.  As a former martial arts teacher, I liken it to fighting in which all of the sudden your opponent can't lay a hand on you but you can see and take advantage of every opportunity.  Its like you are watching a movie in which you are the hero.  The only problem with the zone is that once you realize you are in it, you cannot achieve it anymore because you have lost your focus.  What I've understood is that finding the zone has a big part in what TYPE of player you are.  So we will examine the player type as well as their zone inducers.

Forcing the Zone

Your zone is basically a deep form of meditation in which you try to find a quiet area in your mind with which to focus on things OUTSIDE of your mind.  A good way of doing this is to form a mantra to keep saying to yourself until you have found that space.  Find a saying that gives you a feeling of success and say it until you believe it.

Defensive Player

The player that runs everything down has the easiest chance of finding the zone simply because they are already thinking more about stopping you than playing well. With this sort of mentality, it is easiest to fine the zone when you set up a scenario in your mind that you are a victim and your opponent is the bad person that is trying to destroy you. 

Note: it is the very nature of a defensive player to DENY that they even play defensively.  Fortunately for them, whenever they feel stress mentally their brain creates a representative that plays defensively for them.  When that representative arrives,  The zone is there.

Aggressive Player

The player that likes to hit balls hard is ego driven.  They play so that other people and they can be impressed with the powerful shots they hit.  They are very internally driven.  Because of this, they want to use the scenario of being an unstoppable force like a tornado.  You should be shocked that the other person is out there trying to stop you.  Most of the problem that aggressive players have is that they go for winners.  This is the wrong idea.  You want to BEAT UP your opponent.

The type of Mantra you come up with needs to be one that makes your opponent into someone who is trying to make you look bad.  Try not to think about yourself because two bad misses can send you spiraling.  Focus on the destruction you cause in your strokes.  "Take that!"

All Court and Serve and Volley Player

These types of players are pretty vain in which their best playing mode is when they are just trying to show everyone how easy it is for them to be a genius.  Above all, their level of easy talent supersedes anyone else's ability.  "You might have better weapons, but I'm a genius."  Since being a genius most likely entails being awesome, all court/serve and volley players try to force it.  But being a genius means you can absorb and process lot of information very quickly, not pretend to be an aggressive player.

The type of Mantra you come up with needs to be one that makes you feel like you have a plan.  Then you would say the plan over and over until it becomes a part of your game that day.  Maybe "Attack the backhand" or "use the spin."

There are other ways to get into the zone of course.  Some sort of emotional peak like hatred of losing or love of tennis can help you find your zone.  Counting strokes helps you focus.  However if you work to become a certain type of person when you play, you can get to a point where you can activate it when you need it.

Next Tuesday :)

Technique: Classic and Modern Two Handed Backhand Part 2 Modern

So you have seen the classic two handed backhand but you don't like to be the one who uses the spin more.  You like power and pace with less effort.

The Modern Two Handed Backhand

Players that use it: Andy Murray, Lleyton Hewitt, Novak Djokovic, David Nalbandian, Serena Williams

It hardly looks that different in normal speed:


But in slow motion you can see it...


And even better when put up against Venus's classic backhand


See how once Serena extends her arms back, she keeps them extended throughout the stroke (more or less)?

Serena's extension of the arms gives the shot more rotational energy from the shoulders and waist allowing you to hit the shot slower and with less energy.  It also allows you to stay rooted into the ground all the way through the stroke.  Many professional players are starting to adopt this technique because throughout the long matches you want a nice and easy technique.

The bonus of this technique is that, if you are flexible, you can maximize it.  Meaning a small skinny person can hit a powerful backhand.  Even though Serena is a built lady, her shoulders are very flexible.  You also have a good reach with it, allowing you to use it more on the run.

The problem?  Whereas you footwork would have to be better moving to balls with the classic backhand, your footwork needs to be better GETTING OUT OF THE WAY for this one.


The technique is really ineffective when you get jammed.  And because you don't put much spin on it, it becomes a low quality ball.  If you have the type of strokes made for reaching, a ball coming right at you will ruin your day.

Here is a highlight from one of my favorite matches in which Marat Safin and Andre Agassi use the modern backhand to play some powerful tennis.  It sounds like they are cracking the ball but when you look at them individually it doesn't seem that way.


This backhand is a great technique for the person that likes to conserve energy and hit the ball nice and powerful.  Keeping your body loose so that you can use the full effect of this backhand is very important.  Good luck!

Technique: Classic and Modern Two Handed Backhand Part 1 Classic

It is time for the two handed backhand analysis.  If you have a one handed backhand the blogs for the two types of one handed backhands are here and here.  So....Lets get started.

General Backhand

With the general two handed backhand (THBH) you want to take the racket back with two hands (right hand on bottom for right-handers) and then bring the racket forward.  Andy Murray shows us his highly praised backhand technique:


Classic Two-Handed Backhand

Players that hit it:  Venus Williams, Ana Ivanovic, Caroline Wozniacki, Kim Clijsters, Victoria Duval, Sabine Lisicki, Jelena Jankovic

This backhand was favored by a lot of ladies in the 90s.  As the two handed backhand became the favorite of coaches training their students, they started to teach that the backhand be hit like a forehand.  So what you get is the classic "C motion" backswing (the way you start the stroke makes a C shape with your racket) and the wrap around the neck followthrough (finishing your stroke around your neck).



 Sometimes without the C motion.


But what makes this backhand more interesting is the way the players pull the racket close to their body and keep the left arm bent all the way through.  It is a technique that promotes core strength, which is why a lot of people use it from childhood.

The bonus of this shot is the spin and control combination.  Since it mimics the forehand so much, you can bend the elbow and lift up on the shot for maximum spin.  You can grip the racket super hard and spin some angles and good, hard to attack shots.  It's also great for defensive lobs.

Both JELENA JANKOVIC and SABINE LISICKI show off the versatility in this type of backhand.


The weakness in this backhand is its restriction and the lack of easy power.  Because this backhand is so tight into your body, you can't blast a ball too easy when it is coming at you slow.  So if you want  to blast one of these, you have to lean into the shot or the ball needs to be right around your bellybutton AND you need to be standing upright.  We all know that doubles partner that can hit a backhand 100 mph in or out from a super simple swing.  This is the reason.

One more thing to note: Many times a kid has been taught this backhand and then they grow up to be a huge muscular person with this backhand.  The fact that they are so big makes it so that this is the only two hander that they can hit freely and they are super restricted still.  If you have a lot of mass in your upperbody area, you might want to seriously consider switching to a one hander.  If you are beginning, you DEFINITELY want to switch.  I'm not saying that you will hit the ball BETTER, but the potential is there.  A big guy's potential with a two hander gets worse if he lifts weights because he loses flexibility.  Basically your two-hander loses potential the more you practice it.  That doesn't happen with a one handed backhand.  You can get as big as you want!

This double fister is nice and you can use the spin to move the ball around easily.  I suggest you use it  to roll angles and make your opponent run everywhere.  Just don't let the ball get too far from you or you will have to let go of the racket with one hand and slice.  When I had it, my opponents did not like it too much because I could use a compact swing to keep them running.  I do miss that a lot!

Question: What the Heck is "Hitting the Ball on the Rise?"

Hitting the ball on the rise is a term that was made popular by Andre Agassi who did this EXTREMELY WELL.

"On the rise" sometimes referred to as "taking it early" is pretty literal.  The ball is rising from the ground and you hit it before is starts to fall back to the ground.

This is Jo Wilfried hitting balls on the rise in slow motion.  Notice how the ball itself is still rising when he strikes the ball:


And here is the OPPOSITE in Tommy Robredo in which the ball is descending to the ground when he hits it:


Compairing the two, notice that Tsonga is almost on top of the baseline where Robredo is so far back you don't know where the baseline is.  This builds into the tactics of the two contrasting styles.

People that hit the ball "on the rise" (like Tsonga) like to use foot speed and timing to speed up the points and make their opponent feel rushed.  The idea is that the opponent gets tired trying to keep up with your aiming and your agility.  These players use more quick twitch muscles for shorter points.


Here are two players with the "on the rise" Philosophy featuring Andre Agassi and Roger Federer


People that hit the ball normally like to wait on the ball and load into it with a perfect well taught stroke.  The idea is that the ball is such a high quality spinning ball that the opponent will have to back up to deal with the balls that explode off the ground and throw off an aggressive players timing.  These players use long twitch muscles for longer, more organized points.

Two players with the "on the decline" philosophy.  Gael Monfils and Rafael Nadal


It is important to note that these two tactics are just a philosophy.  You can be any type pf player (serve volley excluded) and subscribe to any one of these at any time.  For instance: Federer and Murray are both the tennis genius style of all court player with a huge arsenal of shots at their disposal.  But Federer plays fast and Murray doesn't.  Murray can decide to play fast if he needs to change his tactics to win (that is what makes him a genius).

Also important is noting that a player doesn't ALWAYS hit on the rise.  It just means they stand close to the baseline during rallies which ups the chance of them hitting on the rise balls.

Hitting the ball "on the rise" is a term for hitting the ball as early as you can after the bounce.  But it is also a tactic in which you take time away from your opponents and test their ability to deal with your urgency.  So run circles around those cones, jump rope and play some "whack-a-mole" because you are going to need to recognize and react to a lot of balls very casually.

Technique: Classic and Modern One Handed Backhand Part 2 Modern

With a good understanding of the classic one handed backhand (part 1) we can now delve into the changes that were made to make the more modern backhand.

The Modern One Handed Backhand

Players that hit it: Stanislas Wawrinka, Justine Henin, Amelie Muresmo, Ivan Ljubicic,

For a frame of reference, here is the classic:


With the more modern one handed backhand (OHBH) the player twists back a little more and the swings around.  This opens up his shoulder slightly.  So instead of the followthrough going up or forward, it goes across their chest.  This means they get a little more use of the core.  This is more power, less spin.  The trick is in the timing because you are rotating your shoulders and trying to turn your wrist for the spin.  Otherwise you will flatten it out too much or maybe even slice it.





The bonus of course is the power from the baseline.  If you happen to be standing still when you hit this OHBH then you can make your opponent pay.



But the weakness occurs when the opponent makes you move laterally or reach forward.  The further you have to reach from your core the less power you have.  On top of that, the nature of the shot makes you lean back a bit which makes it hard to hit a backhand if you are coming to the net.  If someone hits a ball shorter than you thought or runs you from side to side, you slice.  Simply put, instead of the opponent pounding your weak classic OHBH, they do the opposite.  They run the you to diffuse the more modern shot.



The bottom line: This OHBH is for the baseliners with excellent timing.  The better you hit this shot, the more of them they will be forced to send back to you.  But if you are off balance for any reason, you have to slice the ball or hit a weak classic backhand.  So get really good at timing this one or else you will not get many chances to use it.

Technique: Classic and Modern One Handed Backhand Part 1 Classic

When I started playing tennis.  I had a two handed backhand.  However, as I got more beefy and the balls traveled faster, my backhand became a little limiting.  But that is another blog.  In this one, I will attempt to explain the general biomechanics of the two one handed backhands (Classic and Modern).  The biggest problem that occurs in these backhands is when you try to combine the two techniques into one.

General Backhand

The general idea of this backhand is that you turn sideways, draw the racket back with two hands and then bring the racket forward with your dominant hand.  As a shirtless Tommy Haas shows, its a very smooth and pretty motion if done well.


The Classic One Handed-Backhand

Players that hit it:  Roger Federer, Tommy Haas, Mikhail Youzhny, Richard Gasquet, Grigor Dimitrov, Carla Suarez Navarro, everyone player from 1990 and older.

This one handed backhand (OHBH) is done with the arm.  You do everything to set it up and then you basically move the arm all by itself.  AFTER you contact the ball you can do whatever you want.  A lot of players accentuate the followthrough.  That is what makes it look pretty





The bonus about this backhand is that you can be very creative.  Your arm moves independently so you can hit the ball flat by extending forward OR you can loosen your arm and flick it upward for more of a loopy topspin.  In addition, you can manage pace better when it comes to you and can aim easier.

If you watch a creative player like RICHARD GASQUET when his backhand is under attack, you will see about 5 or 6 different ways of hitting it.


But also that brings us to the weakness of the classic OHBH that is shown in the video as well: lack of power.  It is possible to hit this type of backhand with power, but you have shotgun it from the racket back position and lean forward.  Which makes it very hard to focus on when you want to make someone pay or you are moving laterally.

The biggest weakness on a classic OHBH is a heavily topspun ball.  I mentioned before that you can extend your arm forward for flat, or you can loosen your arm and flick upward.  WELL...a ball that explodes off the ground makes you flick upward because the other way will make you hit the ball long.  So it becomes a matter of organization at this point.  Do you wuss out and slice?  Roll a very high slow ball back OR try to use your weak shoulder and forcefully meet the ball to overcome the spin?  Keep in mind that you are also hitting the ball in front of you.  None of these choices lead to a powerful response.  And most of the time you will get another shoulder punishing, heavily spun shot.  Better get ready to run because that is what you will be doing...that is as soon as they get tired of beating up on you WEAK backhand.

Here is a video of Roger Federer's top 10 backhand winners.  Notice that his winners are not him slapping the mess out of the ball like his forehand.  He either just deflects the ball someone has just hit flat or loops an angle off the court.  He is very good at his backhand organization


The bottom line: the classic one handed backhand is great for playing creatively with your opponent.  But the higher up in skill you go the more you see that you HAVE to play creatively because you don't have another option.  So if you have this type of OHBH, then learn to play loose and mix up your shots.  You are going to need that slice and a lot of unconventional shots!

My 2014 US Open Review WTA

OY....What the heck happen to the ladies???  I went through all this draw and pick Simona Halep to make it to the final and all the ladies to watch got knocked out in the first week!!  I didn't even look at my draw anymore.  Seriously:

Petra Kvitova OUT
Agneskia Radwanska OUT
Angelique Kerber OUT
Dominika Cibulkova OUT
Sloane Stevens OUT
Sabine Lisicki OUT
Simona Halep OUT
Madison Keys OUT
Carla Suarez Navaro OUT
Taylor Townsend OUT
Francesca Schiavone OUT
Ana Ivanovic OUT
Svetlana Kuznetsova OUT
Zheng Zie OUT
Andrea Petkovic OUT
Coco Vandeweghe OUT

Seriously the best match of the whole Tournament was Cici Bellis (USA) v Zarina Diyas (Kazakhstan).  I didn't even know Kazakhstan was a real place.  I thought they made it up for BORAT.  I'm dumb.

Cici is 15 as I write this blog.  Apparently she is the future of USA tennis because she upset Dominika Cibulkova in 3 sets.  Number 2 in the Juniors and a great competitor.  But...look at her:

She's TEENY.  I'll be very interested in how she develops but she will probably not be the girl the US is hoping for.  Fighter or not I don't think she can take out any heavy hitters.  Cibulkova is fast and speeds up the pace but the big girls hit heavy, that girl is in for a lot of running.

Notwithstanding, it was a good match and Diyas shut the crowd up.  The commentators spent a very long time talking about how great Bellis is and how she is training.  I honestly didn't want to hear about it anymore.  It's basically like saying "This girl could go to an academy but she is richer than that so she stayed home and her parents paid lots of coaches and hitting partners."  Yup....just in case you want to know how to make a professional tennis player.  It helps if you start off rich.

Another match that I enjoyed immensely was Serena Williams v Varvara Lepchenko.  Normally I don't watch Serena's matches until the end.  I believe that Serena has an issue with blond women and that she REALLY hates losing to them.  So she TRASHES them.  So I only really watch the matches with Brunettes.  But this match was pretty good.  Way better than the score dictates.  Serena learned how to slide on hard courts AND she had much quieter footwork.  Usually she is a little heavy footed but I was REALLY impressed.  Serena was very cat-like and this is coming from a person that doesn't like talking about Serena.

Anyway the final came out to be Caroline Wozniaki and Serena Williams with Serena winning pretty easily.  I didn't know if she was going to beat Lepchenko but Serena is REALLY consistent when it comes to finals.  I can't remember her losing one other than Sam Stosur a few years back.

This win marks Serena's 18th slam which ties her with Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova and they both came to commemorate the occasion.



More notable things:

• Peng Shuai cramping so bad in the semifinals that she had to default the match.  Ugh...I've seen it happen a bunch of times and it always sucks.  Muscles just seize up and lock because of the tremendous pressure.  Sigh... 
• Martina Hingis and Flavia Pennetta losing the doubles final.  Great match if you can look it up on espn3.com

My 2014 US Open Review ATP

As much as I love tennis I can only watch so much of it at a time.  However, one of the things that intrigues me about these tournaments is the story that unfolds.  My friends, students, wife and I fill out a racket bracket and see who is the best at predicting the story.  The best thing about these Slams for me is watching the story slowly unfold over 2 weeks.  It's not necessarily watching the matches.  So here is the story how I saw it (basically I'm not fact checking):

Men's ATP

Most of the people in the racket bracket picked Federer to win.  I don't know what the heck happened to the draw but Raphael Nadal wasn't in it.  So on one side you had Roger Federer with his BRAND NEW MICHEAL JORDAN TENNIS SNEAKERS and on the other side you had Jo Willy Tsonga, Andy Murray, Stan Wawrinka and Novak Djokovic.  

This was a great chance for Federer to get another slam because the other guys would get to beat up on themselves and be too tired to punch when they meet Federer at the final.  I mean, Fed looked great.  He was almost as fast as when he was 25 (gotta be the shoes) AND with Stefan Edberg in his corner, he had been playing some great attacking tennis.

BUT...Gael Monfils showed up all of the sudden trying to prove that he belongs in the top ten.  He came with no coach and beat Grigor Dimitrov (who has Monfils' OLD coach) by generally blasting aces and forehands and having a bad breakdown?  STRAIGHT SETS!  I don't know what was wrong with Dimitrov (baby Federer).  He was missing all over the place.  Playing Dimitrov is too much like playing Federer so I'm sure Monfils felt good about playing Federer. 

Sure enough Monfils took Federer in 2 sets and had 2 straight match points and went back to the old Monfils and lost from being 2 sets ahead.  Oh Well, I went to sleep early anyway.

Then Federer ran into Marin Cilic with Goran Ivanisevic (Wimbledon Champion) in his corner in the semifinals and got MAN HANDLED.  It is very Surreal because I'm not used to seeing Federer greeted with rallyballs that keep him from hitting forward.  I guess those shoes weren't so great....Thanks alot MJ!

The other side of the draw had been going about as planned:  Murray took out Tsonga....Djokovic coasting to the semis like always.  Seriously, ever since before he won a Slam in 08 Djoker always gets to the quarters with no problem.  He's not even worth watching....Wawrinka LOST to Nishikori in 5?  Nishikori was supposed to have a foot problem.  He seems fine.

So semifinals was Djoker and Nishikori and Nishikori looked like he was doing great while Novak Djokovic didn't.  People were saying it was because Djoker was not playing well and just hitting the ball back in the middle of the court.  But I think that Kei's ball was just way tougher than Djoker was expecting.  I seriously am going to start re-evaluating my game.  Kei is about my size minus about 50 lbs...I think I can do it!

Rant: Also the Commentator I was listening to dropped the line "Flushing Meadow's new rising sun" about the Japanese Nishikori.  I'm sure he had been waiting all day for that....but he sucks.  I don't know who he is but he is...dumb.  They let him do the final on usopen.org with Luke Jensen.  He just steps all over the analysts toes and makes these statements that assume that tennis is not complicated.  That is not his job.  His job is to pretend that he knows he is an idiot so that the analyst can explain to him things.  All the other Commentators at least played pro except for Ted Robinson or Chris Fowler.  But they will at least softball their statements into questions for the analyst.  Where the HECK did they get THIS guy?  I can't even find him online to complain about him specifically. 

So that lead to the final where Nishikori choked and Cilic did not.  Finals are not really that great to me.  But this one was the first time in 10 years that none of the top 4 were in it.  THAT is pretty cool.

 A couple of side notes:

• American players aren't very good now
• Patrick McEnroe lost his job as the head of USTA player development
• Nick Kyrgios (low ranked player that beat Nadal at Wimbledon) is worth watching if only to try and understand that loose power.  Robredo took him out though....which gave me bragging rights in my household.
• Jack Sock and Vasek Pospisil will probably never beat the Bryan Brothers again...Sorry

Question: What If You And Your Partner Disagree On A Line Call?

So the situation goes like this:  You and your partner are playing at the end of a set.  The score is TIGHT.  They have second serve, your advantage.  They serve to your partner and you look at the back line and see an out ball.  You put your finger  in the air (tennis sign language for out) but your partner hits the ball wide and says "GREAT SERVE!"  Then you guys stare each other down for a few seconds as a tumbleweed crosses the court...

Generally the better call goes to the more confident one.  If no one is sure, concede the point.  But there are a few situations you can be sure of being right in the override.

1.  If you are assigned to call that line.  If you are returning serve, your partner calls the back line, you call the side line.  In the aforementioned situation, you would have been right.

2.  If your partner is indisposed.  A lot of players don't see the line very well if they are running down lobs or stretched out wide.  In that case you are pretty much obligated to call the line for them.  If you don't call it out if it was, you better get ready because you will be the only one on the court at that point anyway.

3.  If everyone on the court knows what it was.  If the other team protests a bad call and your partner looks at you with the eyebrows up.  Tell him/her what you thought.  You don't have to override forcefully at that point.  An insecure partner would feel all three of you are against him/her.

4.  You and your partner both agree that your partner sucks at calling lines.  Some people suck at it.  They get sidetracked and do not pay attention.  You should still hold them accountable though.

5.  If it is a matter of the game.  If you are sure you are right and it could cost you the game, speak up.  The other team will not protest hopefully.

And the times you don't override:

1.  If your partner says its out with absolute certainty.  They are sure about it but you didn't think so.  Let the moment pass.  You don't want to fight your partner about it.  It will mess it your game and devalue the calls for the opponents.

2.  If your partner is calling an out to get the other team back for a call they made.  You don't want any parts of that one.  Support quietly.  Say nice point but don't look at your opponents for a reaction.

It is important to remember in line calling that bad calls usually even out.  Being right is good but circumstantial.  The only thing that proves you right is popular opinion.  Also, you do have your partner's self esteem to worry about.  If they feel they always make bad calls, then when you need them to call for you they will not sell the call to well and you will have to give up the point.

Taylor Townsend: When Players Need To Lose Weight

Based off the article: http://www.si.com/tennis/beyond-baseline/2012/09/07/taylor-townsend-usta-controversy

Article summary: USTA (Patrick McEnroe) decided not to fund Taylor Townsend's travel despite her being the best junior player turning pro.  Because of backlash they retracted it though.  This was way back in 2012.  But I would like to use this instance to illustrate my point.

Let me make one thing clear before finishing this blog.  I am DEFENDING Townsend and players that have weight to lose.

Rant: Skinny people always think that losing weight is the answer to everything.  You can't pay rent...you need to lose weight (even though healthy food costs more and it seems to make you hungry still).  Do you need a new car...lose weight.  It's understandable that people confuse success with being thin.  But, as a coach, I take pride in losing weight to be the LOGICAL conclusion for a player to have.  I don't bring it up because it is not necessary.  NOT NECESSARY.

What happened with all those great looking male players the USTA is fostering?  How come they aren't winning?  They all look great.  Do you think MAYBE, PERHAPS playing tennis is more about winning the matches than it is about looking good when you lose?  When Taylor wins or loses she looks like she can go another 2 sets but that is because she is fat and out of shape?  That is the best coaching you can come up with?  Trying to make it harder for someone to play matches because you think they are overweight is like revoking someone's gym membership because they don't have muscles.  It doesn't even make sense.  "You are the best player we got but you can't roll with us unless you fit better in those dresses."  I'm sure there is more to it than that, but people who seem to think that telling you that you are out of shape helps you as a person is LAME.  FOSTERING the habits that lead to a logical conclusion of weight loss on purpose or as a result is way more tactful.

Why You Should Lose Weight for Tennis

Sigh...alright now to the actual LOGIC.  The only real reason to lose weight is so that you can improve your footwork stamina.  More weight pretty much improves everything above your waist except for flexibility.  More weight, less effort above waist, more effort below waist.  Bigger people naturally hit the ball harder.

If you find yourself unable to move well at the end of 2 sets of play, you should start strengthening your footwork.  You can strengthen your legs faster than you can lose weight.  But it should be a testament to the level of tennis you are playing.  You like to play a certain way, you need you legs to do it.  If your legs are about as strong as they can get for now, lose weight.  Fair enough.

Are You Even Fat?

Also there is a different between being fat and having a muscular core.  It is ridiculous to think that all over the body you workout and your muscles get BIGGER but your abs are the only muscle that gets SMALLER.  The core is responsible for breathing and for general flat power.  Your stomach muscles expand and contract to take in and expel air.  You would think that big strong abs would be important.  If you have tiny weak abs, you have to raise your whole upper body to breathe.  That is easy to do just standing there.  But in the middle of athletic activity it's difficult.  Kind of like when people jog for a while and then they have to stop and walk.  The more muscle you utilize, the more air you need.

A general rule of thumb is if you poke spots on your body and your finger sinks way down, fat.  Hard at the surface, muscle.  No one grows the fat UNDERNEATH the muscle.  If that was the case, every fat person would have a six pack.

The BMI

The Body/Mass index is not nice to people who are THICK.  I weight about 230, 240 lbs depending on who tries to pick me up and I actively play at a 4.5 level.  5'9" tall.  That puts my body mass index at 35 which makes me SUPER FAT.  This is a picture of me.

Now I'm not by any means Dwayne Johnson....but OBESE???  Yet people still tell me "You MIGHT have to start exercising 30 minutes a day ACCORDING TO THIS CHART."  Seriously if I lost enough weight to fit the BMI I would probably die.  

The Bonus of Weight: Center of Gravity

Scientifically speaking, you have a center of gravity that moves around alot.  Your ability to maintain balance is based on your awareness of your center of gravity.  When you swing your racket forward, your center of gravity moves backward to compensate making you lose power and balance a little.  A lot of players stay rooted into the ground when they hit balls because they are trying to cancel this effect.  However, the more mass your body commands, the less this effect happens.

Simply put: In those instances in which a player cannot root into the ground, like when they are stretched out, they lose the ability to generate power.  Heavier players have the power advantage because even in midair their body is more steady and easy to control.

A Warning for Weight Loss

I am just a coach.  But when you decide to lose weight through tennis fitness a few things happen that you should be warned of:

1.  Your muscles will enlarge and tighten which will push fat to the surface.  Muscles grow faster than you lose fat.  Your problem areas will probably look bigger and get more doughy.  THEN people will tell you you are getting fatter when really you are getting in better shape.

2.  After they say that, you will try to eat more healthy, however your body will need certain nutrients and will probably crave a certain type of food.  It's one thing to eat like a bike riding hipster, its another to be an athlete.  You don't want to deprive your muscles to lose weight faster.  You will injure yourself and that will stop your training all together.  Everyone is different.

3.  You might be in great shape and have about 10% body fat.  That doesn't mean you will look like a model.  Hey....Serena Williams will never look like Maria Sharapova and vice versa.  You might STILL have a belly or a little underarm waddle.  It's genetics...if you don't like it, get surgery, or wear clothes that highlight the good stuff.  More importantly, be proud of what you've accomplished.

The idea is that you make the adjustments in tennis as you go along.  It's pretty simple, your opponents beat you up in rallies, upgrade your strokes.  You find yourself breathing hard after every point, jog more.  You are experiencing joint pain, lift weights.  Your legs are getting tired in matches, lose weight.  The life lessons come with the success.  Rarely in tennis is you losing as simple as "you need to lose weight."  If your love of tennis demands that your body be lighter, so be it.

Tennis Game: Hard Work, Talent and Winning

John McEnroe said, in his book "You Cannot Be Serious" that his training mostly consisted of match practice.  He just felt his way through the matches and figured out how to play in real time.

However, once Ivan Lendl became popular so did the popularity of working very hard off the court and beating up your opponent.

Both of them were really great champoins so it is hard to say which training method is better.  As a matter of fact, many rivalries are built between the hard worker and the talent.  Agassi/Sampras, Federer/Nadal, Evert/Navratilova, Serena/Azarenka are a few.  The rivalries prove that there is no one way of being a champion.

One thing is for sure though.  Tennis is a sport where, once you get to a certain level, you need to at least work on the other style to compete.  All the talent in the world is not going to help if the opponent wears you out.  Conversely all the drilling in the world isn't going to help if you don't have a weapon or skill that you rely on.  I doubt McEnroe played all those matches and never got on the exercise bike once.

If tennis is a sport that you chose to be serious with, it is important that you use it to better yourself as a person.  Mind, Body, and Soul = Scrimmage (practice matches), Drills, and Matches.  Even if you only have a limited amount of time to play tennis, do this in equal parts.  If done correctly, win or lose, you will at least know beyond the shadow of a doubt that you are improving as a complete player.  If not then the culmination of you as a player, the match (the soul) will falter.

Seriously, think about it yourself.  If someone is seriously trying to tell you how to be or what to do as a tennis player and they don't play well in matches, how much do you care about their advice?  Doesn't every excuse they come up with after that discount them twice as much?  Do you want to be that person?  ARE you that person?

Playing tennis isn't that hard.  Any idiot can cut highlights out of a practice session and call themselves a great player.  But playing tennis well in matches that you deserve to be in is another beast entirely.  They don't give out bag tags for the most hours on the practice court or the most unbelievable shots

Good luck on the journey :)

Tennis Tactic: Easy Points Off Slice Serve

There is a difference between "tactics" and "strategy."  A tactic is something you do physically to achieve an end.  Like if you use a backhand slice purposefully to stop an opponent from being powerful or a moonball to make a player run back.

A strategy is when you use one or more tactics to force and error or outright win a point.  Like if you know your opponent has a bad backhand off a low ball.  So you used your slice to get a weak reply.  Then when you have a short ball, you hit the ball to the other side and approach the net for a volley.

I will ATTEMPT to explain how to use the slice serve as an effective tactic.  However, you need a powerful flat serve to make this tactic supremely effective.

For those of you that don't know, a slice serve is when you put a sidespin on the ball that causes the ball to curve away from your dominant arm (right arm slice breaks to the left).  A slice serve is usually the first serve I teach because putting sidespin on the ball is actually the easiest serve to do.

A flat serve is just you hitting the serve as hard as you can without missing.  No spin.

The way to do a tactical slice serve is to hit it easy with mostly slice so that the second bounce happens on or before the baseline.  If the opponent is standing on the baseline, they will have to lunge forward to hit it.  However your slice is breaking to the left.  Their brain will register the curve before the shortness of depth.  Thus they will run towards the curve along the baseline and not forward.  Right???

The tricky part is that the ball can't have too much energy.  If so and your opponent is ready for it, you are open for an aggressively angled ball.

 You can get away with a weak dink serve too.  But it would be much better if you have it short and sliding away.

That is the tactic.  To use it really effectively you have to use the powerful flat serve to keep them honest.  This way if your opponent gets smart and moves up to receive your serve, you blast a fast one so they can't react.  Every lefty learns this trick early but it works on everyone.

Counter Tactic: The counter (the reversal move) for this tactic is to fake like you are expecting a flat serve by standing back behind the baseline.  Then making a big jump forward to receive once the server tosses.  Since the server is determining the serve from your positioning, you can control what serve they are using (NICE!).  Take that time to try and distinguish the differences in form between the flat and slic serve.  If you want to really mess with them you can start anywhere.

Hope that works out for you guys :)

Questions and comments at the bottom please.

Tennis On Court Etiquette

The game of tennis is pretty etiquette heavy.  It is an upper middle class type sport.  In america, a lot of courts are accessible, thus allowing anyone to play tennis.  However, what separates the civilized from the beast is how you conduct yourself on the court.  Here are some things that won't get you in trouble, but you might lost some class points.

1.  Talking to Your Opponent - Many people have the type of personality in which they get chatty when they are under stress and they turn to their opponents to hold conversations with.  Professionals never talk to each other.  If they know they are talkative, they will talk to their coaches.  If you are chatty, bring a friend (make sure they know not to talk back), talk to yourself or your racket or your partner.  Keep everything concise.  Absolutely NO conversation with opponents between points or during.

Sidenote: Some people feel that talking to yourself ruins your game.  But that is usually because you are most likely going to talk to yourself when you are losing.  It is like someone who reads out loud when they are trying to comprehend something better.  Just keep it short.  There are PLENTY of champions that talk a lot.

2.  Let it GO - Hey!  Something bad happens.  You feel cheated.  That is what it is, leave it alone.  When the game gets tight, everyone wants balls to go out and they, subconciously, force that into their calls.  There was never a time when you thought something was going out and then you blinked or something and called it out anyway?

3.  No Cellphones - One of the worst things is when someone walks right off the court to answer their cellphone.  If you can watch a movie with your cellphone off, you can play a match.  There will probably never be a time when this is acceptable.  If your calls are so important that you cannot ignore your phone, let everyone know in advance.

4.  Time Wasting - One of the other worst things is when a person takes WAY too much time in between points and changeovers.  Sometimes they play over their body's ability and get over tired.  But tennis is a sport where you need to figure out how to pace yourself.  20-30 seconds in between points, 1.5 minutes - 2 minutes a change over.

5.  Police your support - Make sure your friends that come to see you support you in a proper way.  If they don't, you NEED to talk to them.

The general idea is: at all times, you show proper respect to your opponent no matter how you feel about them.

Comment and question below and follow me please

What Tennis Partner Should You Pick

Recently I decided to up my level of play as a teaching pro.  I signed up for a few leagues and I want to get in a better playing mode.  The only problem is that all my practice partners are pretty busy this time of year.

So I go online and look for some practice partners and I've found out a few things.

1.  Find a partner that is close.  If you don't, then you two have to be really good at scheduling.  No one wants to travel off the freeway and wind all around your neighborhood to find your courts hidden in a corner.  If you have courts like that then meet up at a local tennis center.  Its one thing if you are using courts for your home court in a league.  But if you are asking someone just to come there to play, your courts should be two turns from a main street.

2.  Get a partner that wants to work on the same thing.  Different players are predisposed to different types of training.  Some players just hit.  

Some players work on match type situations.  

Everyone has their own way of doing things.

3.  Don't practice with beautiful people unless you are beautiful.  Just dont.  Trust me.  Waste of time.  They are usually a whole level worse than they say they are.  

4.  Don't use hitting as your primary form of exercise.  If you like to hit a bunch, that is fine.  Once you get used to hitting it will take really long to wear you out.  Your body will just get more efficient and you wont see the results as fast.  Also you could be succeptable to repetitive injuries like knee problems or tennis elbow when your muscles get fatigued.

5.  Make sure of the type of practice partner you have BEFORE you go to their place.  Narrow down the disappointment.

6.  You get what you pay for.  If you are the type of person that is very anal retentive about time.  You should pay a coach to hit with you.  Besides, if your partner lives close, ten minutes is usually the worst they can be late.  My practice partners throw the time around everywhere.  I understand they have priorities.  The higher level the player, the more they tend to be needed outside of tennis.  

The general idea is just to practice with like minded people.  If you play matches, only practice with people that will play matches with you.  If you have a break from matches, then work on some things through hitting.  Good hitting partners are hard to find.

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ATP World Tour Points Explanation (250 tournament bummer)

So in Atlanta, we have a little 250 point tournament called the BB&T Open.  It's a very small tournament that I have been going to since it was in Indianapolis.  As a matter of fact, that is where I got the pictures to make my first sequential photoshop art:

Anyway the tournament has actually gotten worse in recent years.  Not ONLY because the venue has gotten worse.  I mean seriously: in Indiana they had it on the IUPUI campus.  There was a tennis STADIUM, a grandstand court and like 6 or 7 extra courts.  We went from there to some country club way in the outskirts from Atlanta.  Then Racquet Club of the South which was OK.  Still not in Atlanta, you had to park at a mega church and shuttle in.  Now it's at Atlantic Station in Atlanta.  Which is OK I guess but not better.  It's less of an event and more of a backlot thing that they just shoved in the corner.

But I'm a little off track.  Every one I've been to has had big names promised to us and then they pull out at the last second.  Andy Roddick won this tournament last year I believe but in Indiana he pulled out twice.  How can they do that??

I went to the ATP website to study up on the points system.  If you are not familiar with what that is I will explain it in RED.  If you are you can skip the red.

The ATP points system is basically how the players are ranked.  They play in tournaments and are given points based on when they are knocked out in the tournament.  If you win the tournament you get the points the tournament is named for.  So you win a 500 level tournament you get 500 points.  Grand Slams are a whopping 2000 points.

The Grand Slams and 1000 level tournaments are mandatory for all players that qualify.  However, the 500 level and below aren't.  As a matter of fact only the best 6 of those tournaments count as your ranking points.  So you could play 10 of them.  But they are going to count your best 6 results. 

So far so good?  OK, if you are in the top 30, 4 of the 6 tourneys HAVE to be 500 level tournaments which leaves you 2 tournaments to do whatever with.  If you are in the top 30, why would you play in a 250 tournament unless you can win?  Seriously it is the same amount of rounds but the points are twice as much in one of them.  In other words, for stepping on the court in a 500 I get 20 ATP points.  For a 250 I have to win my first match.

As far as penalties for withdrawing.  For 250 tourneys there pretty much are none because, in 2011, in order for the ATP to make 1000 level tournaments mandatory they had to give up regulations on the 250s (from my understanding).

I only really go to watch the doubles but some of my friends get really happy about these big names.  I would hate to be the tournament director.  It seems like he has to settle for using the big names to sell tickets.  So if the players pull out, at least he has made money.  If they don't sign in, surely he can't say they will be there, right?

Corrections and comments please.  And also, subscribe....like NOW!

Why Women's Tennis is Better Than Men's

I have to admit: when it comes to tennis, I spend a little more time watching women than I do men.  I wish whole-heartedly that more people would watch womens tennis.  Here's why:

1.  Shorter Matches

Geez, no one wants to watch a whole 5 set match!  The male players get tired and they take longer to serve.  The men's game is exhausting!  Why does it have to be 5 sets?  It's not an event anymore.  Every good match is like sitting down and watching 2 Harry Potter movies.  I'm about a 4.0 - 4.5 player.  I play one good match of 3 sets and I immediately need to take my vitamins, icy hot, anti inflamatory, and a muscle relaxer (rum n coke for me!).  I feel sorry for the male players because it is not fair.  Back when tennis was all serve and volley, I can see why the need for 5 sets.  But then they slowed down the surfaces.  Now EVERYONE is a baseliner.  We can shorten the matches back to 3.

2.  Strategies You Can Use NOW

With women's tennis you can implement the strategies right away for your game.  With the men's game it goes "well first you develop a 100 mph serve and then...."  The problem is that you need years of body development in order to hit the ball like a professional man.  However women don't have awesome serves.  They serve well and play it out.  Thus for everything that you watch, you get to see more baseline strategies that don't involve a lot of spin.

3.  No Big Serving

It is not fun to watch a match where people slap service winners all the time.  Isner/Mahut three day match...great serving.  Do you know anyone that actually felt like watching it though.  NOPE.

4.  All Different Types

With women's tennis there is a bit of reverse descrimination.  Simply put, the female game is more diverse.  Not only with race but with body types as well.  Women of all different types and sizes can prove their tennis playing skills with the frames they are given.  The new pro players in america are just a bunch of white guys that look like college baseball players.  But on the womens side its some biracial, black, white, black, thick, tall, short, skinny...no limits for our women.

5.  Better Points System

In women's tennis, the rankings system is different.  More women have a chance to come up from out of no where.  Thus, they don't need to rely as heavily on wildcards.  Also the number one ranked players dont win all the time.  If a player starts playing poorly, they pay for it.  Simple as that.

6.  Easier to Route For

Ladies tennis (other than Serena Williams) is mostly for diehard fans who just like tennis.  The matches are easier to watch in person and if you go to a WTA tournament, the chances that you will sit next to someone that knows tennis is pretty decent.  Also women seem to route for women more passionately which is good for discussion.  unless you are in New York.  They don't like to talk there.

7.  USA Has a Better Chance of Winning

Simply put: as of 7/19/2014 the US has 6 men in the top 100.  The highest ranked is John Isner at 12.  Everyone else is outside the top 60!  The women have 11 in the top 100.  Only 2 are outside the top 60.  One of those 2 is Victoria Duval who is 19 and has the skills to beat a top ten player.  So if you want to wear your flags, you will look better cheering for the ladies.

8.  Controlled Shrieking

As tennis moves along, academies, tournaments, and parents frown on the loud shrieking.  So the up and coming players don't make as much noise out of respect for the audience.  Also the ones that do have the court mics turned down so it doesn't mess up the speakers.

9.  Equal Pay

The tournaments are giving equal pay to the ladies.  If you are a feminist, you need to support ALL the players!  If you are one of the people that complain that men work harder then rally for 3 set matches in slams for men. Otherwise you can take solace that most WTA coaches are men.  So then you can watch women's tennis and cheer for the coach.  "LETS GO PAUL ANNACONE'S STUDENT!!!"

Obviously I like women's tennis.  The WTA is a better league than people give credit for.  It's not just for girls who are supposed to look up to adult ladies....because they don't really.  Its for everyone....right?

Comments and questions on the bottom :)  Thanks

The Truth About Tennis Teaching Part 2

In part 1 we established that a coach is supposed to want for the improvement of their students.  BUT as in all types of subject matters, there is the artist and the businessman.  The artist is the one who is obsessed with turning out something everyone can see is a good product.  The businessman is obsessed with making money.

The artist will push for more contact in lessons because he/she wants and cares about the welfare of the product which is a well rounded tennis player.  The artist is in tune to specifics.  They will ask about the student and be a little more vulnerable.  The idea is to build a better relationship so that the student can better relate the life lessons of tennis with normal life.  Because tennis is the type of sport that trains you to deal with yourself.  In professional tennis, the coaches and players strive to create a bond so that the player/coach can enjoy harmony and focus on overcoming tasks together. This is why an artistic type of coach is better for any type of long term lessons like low level teams, academies, and ongoing privates

The businessman will do the job.  If you say "I will be there at 1 am."  They will clock in early and be on the court ready for you.  They care about your business.  Whatever you tell them you need they will do.  They need you to be satisfied because it is good for business.  Businessmen will not take a risk in telling you anything is wrong and give very political answers.  When you ask them to help you fix a stroke they tell you something you already know because the customer is always right.  This is why they are good for short term lessons like groups, high level teams, and once in a while privates and hitting.

Mixing the two will automatically cause the coach to move into his strength.  The artistic coach when teaching a group will automatically scout for players he/she would like to work with.  The Businessman when doing long term privates will basically babysit you for exactly an hour and never watch your matches.

I'm an artistic teacher (obviously...I didn't write these blogs and draw that art at the top to make me rich!).  I have gotten in trouble for trying to improve students in a close-minded group setting.  And I've also heard many students complain because they have taken many lessons with a businessman coach and they never come to the matches.

Sidebar:  Students get stuck in relationships with coaches that don't really care and it is a shame for me to see.  At a tournament this lady was complaining to me that her daughter had this great coach with a great resume.  Yet the daughter was not very motivated in playing.  Well then that is a fail...right?  I mean this girl is going to quit tennis soon because she has no real bond with her coach.  Its a waste!

Anyway....be sure to follow this blog and ask any questions you have.

The Truth About Tennis Teaching

People feel like a tennis teacher is a tennis teacher.  But we are just like regular teachers in a school.  Every problem that you have heard with a school teacher can happen with a tennis teacher.  So it is important to be extra careful with who you choose for you or your child.  It can be a long term decision.

The idea behind teaching tennis is that your coach is supposed to teach life lessons through the medium of tennis.  That way, you learn about yourself enough to be a balanced individual.  If you practice diligently and balance yourself mentally, you will be a good tennis player.  That is the idea.  The same principles are alive in martial arts.

With that said, there are different types of lessons that you can take depending on where you are:

Group.  These lessons are supposed to spark interest in tennis.  They are the cheapest.  You show up in a group (obviously) and the coach just tells you basic things to do and feeds you tennis balls until your time is up.  Your coach is supposed to be looking for students to pull out of this group.  They should get inspired by the improvement and look to work with this student either in a more advanced group OR privately.  If your group coach never actively suggests better lessons upon improvement...they aren't a coach PAST the group level.  At that point they are doing you a disservice.


Team Lessons.  These lessons are group lessons with people that compete on a team.  Most people on a team don't want to get better privately since the dynamic of a team allows them to be involved without actually being totally responsible.  Most coaches don't suggest you do privates off a team.  HOWEVER a coach will want the team to move up in levels.  Teams are different because some teams want to learn things but most just want to do drills.

Private Lessons.  These lessons are for people that want to get better privately.  They get their own coach and work on specific problems they have or just get better.  You can have one lesson OR you can have a coach and do many of them.  Personally, I feel like the coach should be working hard to wean their students off hitting a ball that is fed to them.  That is not tennis.

Hitting Lessons.  These lessons are for people that need to hit at a specific time with someone that is better than them.  This is best if you are a person with a limited amount of time.  The only problem is that if you just hit with someone really good, you might lose the concept of a person trying to beat you or the cause and effect of your rally ball.

In part 2 we talk about how to pick your coach.

Why is Men's Tennis Better Than Women's?

It is automatically assumed most of the time that men's tennis is better than women's tennis.  I like them both but spend more time watching women's tennis.  So instead of telling my students the pros and cons of each when they normally don't care or ask.  I will explain it here for anyone who wants to know.  First is the men...then the women...then why I like to watch tennis in general.

1.  Men...are...Men

Some people would just rather see a well built man run and hit balls than a woman.  It is easier to market men because their success makes them attractive.  And the ones who are attractive enjoy the success of having more fans, thus they have more incentive to be successful.  If all of the sudden Ivo Karlovic with the biggest serve in the game and the world record for aces was ATTRACTIVE.  He would be winning things left and right.



2. Women...are...Women

Just like people like men being big and strong, they dislike women being big and strong.  It is hard to be stereotypically beautiful AND a strong warrior who wants to hurt tennis balls.  Some people would rather believe that Kirsten Dunst can be a tennis champion even though she probably cannot run or hit a ball.  Also women's tennis is usually sold in this manner.  Hopefully the cute girl can beat the big strong one.  It's fine if it works out like that, but it usually doesn't.


3.  Men Have More Variety

The men are naturally stronger up top.  Sorry, it is just that way.  Thus they can hit the ball faster and with more spin.  This opens up more possibilities for play.  Better angles to pull players out wide.  Better returns from being pulled out wide.  Topspin that turns into a weapon and not just a way to keep players off the baseline.  Nasty slices.  More aces.  One and two handed backhands.  The ladies game is WAY more physical than it was in the 80s.  But the amount of work men have to do to make it to the semis of a tourney is INSANE.

4.  You Can Route For Your Favorite

The way it is set up, your player can lose in the first or second round 70 times and still be in the main draw of the next slam.  The Challenger tournaments offer such little points that players would still have to qualify (pre tournament) for bigger tournaments.  By the time they get to the main draw, they have already played 4 matches.  So then they get big points but more importantly they have to impress enough to get a wildcard next time and not have to qualify and play with more energy.  It is very hard for middle level players to move up unless they are really popular.  So you can love a player until they are 50 yrs old because they will probably always be in the top 30 until they retire or get injured.  And even then, they will take wildcards from someone who needs them.  YAAAY.

5.  Amazing Doubles

Watching professional men play doubles is a pretty awesome sight to behold.  The amount of information a doubles player's brain processes needs to be studied (and probably has been).  The way they volley things coming at them at 80 mph looks a little too easy.

6.  Men Have Different Playing Styles

If you are trying to study strokes, men have the most made up strokes.  Women seem to follow a template, semi western forehand, eastern backhand.  That is why no one is trying to copy a woman's stroke.  I teach tennis and no one asks me to teach them Serena Williams' forehand.  Even Serena went to Pete Sampras to copy his serve.  Heck, most of the time a teacher says a stroke is wrong you can find a male player that makes a living off it.

7.  Men Have Better Outfits

Lets be real here.  The size and type of a pro tennis player man is pretty much the same.  The only question is whether the clothes are going to be tight or loose.  But for the women, the body shapes are all over the place.  They companies force the women to wear this outfit that looks great on one type of player and horrible on another.  As far as men are concerned it is just a shirt (maybe a polo) and some shorts and some sort of graffic.  The biggest move they made for guys was to cut the shirt so the shoulders look better and normal guys like me can hide their belly easier.

8.  Guys Have Better Grunts

Women started grunting like guys.  But where guys were using it for timing and power.  Women were using it for timing and intimidation.  As if the shrieks would make other people believe that you hit the ball harder than you actually did.

Those are the 7 reasons why I think men's pro tennis is better.  If you disagree, let me know in the comments.  Otherwise, be happy and keep training :)