Mel
April 10, 2026
On each early morning trip to the river near Deckers, I drive around a bend and there he is. Tall, dark, and handsome, he pays little attention to the strange machines zooming by. Mel is always alone, never hurried, and content as an infant with a bottle as he munches on the plentiful grass at […]
The Pattern
April 10, 2026
Coach Randy Ross obviously read Bill Talbert’s classic book The Game of Singles in Tennis written 75 years ago. Randy teaches players that playing cross court in singles is the percentage play. He stresses that the net is lower, the court is longer (4.5 ft.), and the ideal recovery position (center of possible returns) is […]
Elvis Rocks
April 8, 2026
A husband and wife team were in drills this week. Both players have plus forehands, improving net games and backhands, and are junk yard dogs. (hustle like there’s no tomorrow) When we began playing points, the missing link was immediately apparent. Both possessed anemic serves which, on a 1-10 scale, were a 2. One player […]
Silly Little Things
February 25, 2026
Andre Agassi could have been the first player to use string dampeners to lessen the’ping’ sound at impact. His was a rubber band tied in two knots around the two central vertical strings. These days, we see a lot of worm dampeners that extend across the entire width of the string bed. Here’s my take […]
The 21 Drill
February 16, 2026
This drill features 2 lines and players begin in the center with David Bailey toggle steps and a split step. I call them Ali steps too. The players are given a free point and begin with 15-love. They play the first two balls cross court and the last down the side and large targets are […]
The half volley
February 16, 2026
Dennis Van der Meer had a neat hack for fixing a half volley that has a downward angle of attack and underspin. The Master would feed balls to the player and have them touch the racquet edge to the court prior to contact. He’d show the player and encourage them to create a bump with […]
Squirreltown
February 7, 2026
It’s just a guess but it seems that today is day number seventy-nine or so 79 days of delectable Planter’s peanuts laid out on the back porch for Tiny and his furry friends The protagonist and pesky character arrived early today and with an expression of great disdain seemed to mouth the McEnroe words “You […]
The Golden Nugget
February 6, 2026
In every life there are pinnacle moments when God smiles upon us and all is good For balance sake perhaps there are seasons of storms that rock the boat that once sailed so smoothly and lulled us into believing that He had wrapped us securely in a cocoon of contentment This cocoon is a mirage […]
One great new artist
January 21, 2026
There are more great new artists than ever and Imani Shiloh is terrific! Just click on address below. And…if you’re looking for a great read, try Braveing The Way by Laurel Fox https://youtu.be/mVU3Gf_Q7No
Anam Cara
January 21, 2026
Anam Cara May you be blessed with good friends. May you learn to be a good friend to yourself. May you be able to journey to that place in your soul where there is great love, warmth, feeling, and forgiveness. May this change you. May it transfigure that which is negative, distant, or cold in […]
Five decades
January 6, 2026
After nearly five decades of teaching/coaching adults and juniors focused on fun and improving, I’ve decided that I’ve become a bit like Robert Lansdorp. I’d rather have a root canal with no anesthesia than coddle unfocused, scatterbrained, pampered kids whose main goal is to disrupt classes with foolish shenanigans in an attempt to bring others […]
Mary
January 1, 2026
Mary booked a private lesson and arrived to be asked these two questions …”if you could improve one or two things today, what would they be? “ When she said backhand and serve, the second question was…”would you prefer that anything we explore today would be subtle and not damaging to brain cells?” ”Absolutely”, she […]
A Hollywood Coach
January 1, 2026
Al Secunda was a tennis coach to many of the stars in Hollywood. in a book he wrote, Al described a corrective technique for helping tame the turbulence often seen in the racquet with amateur players’ volleys. Most folks fifty years ago were familiar with stick horses that had the head of a horse atop […]
Hang time
January 1, 2026
The average hang time for punts in the NFL is 4.5 seconds. It gives players a chance to sprint toward the receiver and make an immediate tackle or distract him and cause a fumble. We used to go watch the finals of The Denver City Open annually to see players like Butch Buckholz, Larry Loeb, […]
Intensely Tennis
January 1, 2026
The year was 1977 and Randy Ross and Art Thomsen were conducting this two day tennis camp at Ken Caryl Ranch. I was invited to be one of the coaches and gladly accepted. It was a terrific weekend as players moved from court to court learning new ideas from six coaches. The most memorable image […]
Rafa
January 1, 2026
Footwork Often, I will gather players together at the net and have them repeat after me…. WE LOVE TO COMPETE WITH OUR FEET Our high school basketball coach, Bob McKendry, was fond of saying that ‘you play the way you practice.’ Far too often, tennis coaches feel like a dentist removing a tooth….we try to […]
Tim Mayotte
December 30, 2025
Was Tim Mayotte on to something? John Williams was the popular head tennis pro at Boulder Country Club in the good old days. He invited me to come up and attend a clinic and exhibition by Tim Mayotte who was ranked as high as #7 in the world while winning an Olympic silver medal and […]
Priorities
December 26, 2025
I like to give players a little test on the important aspects of tennis. They are asked to put the five dimensions in the correct order of importance. Can you pass the test? Depth Spin Power Consistency Direction
Carlos Goffi
December 26, 2025
Carlos Goffi was a coach of a young left handed player from Douglaston, New York who became the number 1 player in the world. Can you name him? Goffi wrote the book Tournament Tough and is credited with using a stoplight concept to assist players in shot selection and point play. Many coaches have, like […]
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