Fan appreciation
July 22, 2023
We decided to get creative today in an advanced beginner tennis class featuring Diego, Carlos, and Revanth. On the next court, two 10 and under girls were playing a tournament match and they were very good players. Parents and relatives were viewing the match from the viewing area above and were clapping and giving verbal […]
Focus
June 9, 2023
A club tennis player lost a match recently to a player she’d beaten routinely in the past. In her next lesson, she told the coach she had tried to take the advice given and play just one point at a time. The coach listened and then responded…’I said play one ball at a time.’ Maybe this […]
The banana lives
May 23, 2023
Years ago, I heard about a banana forehand in tennis. Today, if you google banana forehand, you’ll come up with countless videos of Rafa Nadal’s reverse forehand. Watching a clip or two, I can’t see why anyone likens it to a banana. The old banana forehand was, and, for the most part, still is frowned […]
Sound advice
February 15, 2023
“Good teachers make teaching look easy. Bad ones approach it look like they are haphazardly dissecting a cat. They address every single movement possible and by the time they’re done they’ve taken apart the entire cat. There’s blood and guts everywhere, but where is the cat? Every person comes to the teacher with his own […]
Proper tennis attire
September 13, 2022
I have been preparing my beginning players to play real tennis matches. I’ve stressed the importance of good etiquette and how to keep score. Taking nothing for granted, players have been encouraged to wear ‘pocket pants’ to ensure that play is not interrupted. Hana really took this advice to heart.
Neuroplasticity
September 10, 2022
When 96 year old Queen Elizabeth died earlier this week, a person close to her postulated on what advice she might have given to Prince Charles. ’Keep calm and carry on’. It made me think of US OPEN semi finalist Aryna Sabalenka. In the past year, I had used the words ‘simmering cauldron’ to describe […]
Tennis Rocks
September 10, 2022
It’s a rainy morning in Denver this morning so no tennis for me. I switched on the TV hoping the Tennis Channel might have an exciting match. They were showing a pickle ball men’s doubles match. I watched for ten minutes and, in my mind, tried to compare it to the incredible US OPEN match […]
Net worth in tennis
September 6, 2022
It’s US OPEN time again and the tennis has been cwaaaazzzy great! Former pro and outstanding coach Brad Gilbert has used the word ‘donation’ to describe unforced errors that occur during the hotly contested matches at The Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. His use of the word prompted me to think that club players […]
Deception
June 10, 2022
Ok…it’s surely a passing fancy that will have no place in tennis. It is rumored that tennis pros in the Atlanta area are teaching a new and deceptive backhand. The idea is really rather ingenious. Soon after contact, the player lets out a loud shriek and immediately puts her head on her shoulder and pretends […]
Call the Doctor
March 22, 2022
An older, somewhat wiser man left golf behind six years ago saying…’Enough, I’d rather die of natural causes.’ I read a quote this week attributed to Matt Chandler who’d call temper outbursts like Kyrgios and Djokovic’s as ‘one more lap around the cul-de-sac of stupidity.’ Very creative indeed…wish I’d thought of that.
Smart tennis
December 5, 2021
We asked Coach Juan and a junior player to do a mindful tennis demonstration today and it went quite well indeed. Coach CJ timed the duo and they had a one minute and seven second rally. Thinking back on the rest of practice, that point surely was four to five times the length of any […]
Neuroplasticity
March 3, 2021
First off…I’m glad that Madison Keys is able to compete again after this difficult year. Kudos to her for a nice two set win over Belinda Bencic this week. But…watching her self destruct today vs. Sakkari was tough to watch. One wonders if she has a coach and if she does can the coach not […]
Parental education
February 21, 2021
A very young tennis pro taught a junior group today with three four year olds. The twins arrived five minutes early with their dad as I was setting up targets and the junior net. This is when I learned that assumptions are dangerous. How naive of me to think the dad would wait until the […]
Resilience
February 7, 2021
A tennis student battled hard with her partner today. After starting slowly and losing the first set, they came back from 3-5 in the second to capture the match. Sometimes a gritty win means more than a pretty win. Way to go Lara and Shawn!
In it to win it
February 1, 2021
Chanda Rubin was commentating tonight on the Naomi Osaka match vs. Alize Cornet of France. Osaka was hitting on all cylinders and streaked to a 5-2 lead in the first set. Rubin said that she was really ‘plugged in’ from the start and it was quite a sight to behold. I wonder what being plugged […]
Mental Skills at Randy Ross Tennis Center
January 14, 2021
Mental Toughness Training with Steffie Hi, I’m Steffie Skarwecki, Sport Psychologist, Tennis Professional and certified Mental Toughness Trainer. In my experience with tennis players of all levels and ages, I have found a common theme: players know very little about the mental side of tennis and even less about how to train for mental toughness. […]
Emotional mastery
January 3, 2021
The Head football coach for Ohio State made a revealing comment on tv last night. He said, ‘You have to play with emotion…but not let emotion play with you.’ How many tennis players do you encounter who let their emotions play with them?
What You’re Saying