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Archive for the 'Drills and Exercises' Category

STRENGTH EXERCISES

These exercises are designed to work the wrists, forearms, shoulders, and legs. I have broken them down into three different groups of six exercises in each session; and I try to do each session on Sunday, Wednesday, and Friday. It doesn’t always work out that way; but at least that is the goal. [...]

Tennis Exercise

A critical phase of getting the body ready for tennis camp, tournaments, or just to excel on the tennis court is building strength — to improve the power in the muscles, but to also strengthen the “housing” around the key tennis joints. Several years ago, I had a physical trainer develop a series of [...]

Using Video

Do you have any idea what your strokes LOOK like? For years, a critical component to ALL pro athlete training/improvement has been the use of video to help the individual “see” what needs to be corrected.

Aggressive Doubles Baseline

You’re returning serve in doubles and the server comes in behind his first serve and hits a deep volley back to you. Then what do you do?

Using the ball machine

I have not used a ball machine for many years; but when my practice partner cancelled at the last minute, I scheduled one for an hour. It was one of the best one-hour practice sessions I’ve had in a long time!

The Net

While Tom McCune and I were practicing earlier this week (he is now ‘enjoying’ the cold in MN), Pelican Bay pro Mike Lewis was watching and commented: “You and Tom place too much of a premium on missing a shot. I was taught it was OK to miss… as long as you were going [...]

Hurry up! And Wait.

What is more discouraging than working the point in singles till you finally get that short ball over the middle… and you blow the shot? There are things we can do to correct that problem – and cash in on the opportunity.

Double Points Drill

Some people will practice. Others need to “keep score.” Here is a great drill that you can have fun with and accomplish several goals.

The Trifecta of Tennis Improvement

Marc VanDam, my good friend and ‘regular Tuesday guy’ in Florida, is a young (39) player with all his tennis potential in his future. He reports that he has been practicing almost daily with a pro and seeing great upside in the quality of his strokes and conditioning; but having some trouble translating it into [...]

Handicap Tennis

Today was a great experience… my return to the singles court! I played two good sets against my 39-year-old “gazelle” friend, Marc Vandam. And what made it more fun for both of us was the handicap.

Pressure Tennis: the Two Point Game

How many times have you worked very hard to either hold or break your opponent’s serve in a critical game, only to lose the next game easily? Here is a drill to help you the next time that happens.

Diary of a Camper at John Newcombe’s Fantasy Tennis

Diary of a Camper at John Newcombe’s Fantasy Tennis

Here are my notes and impressions of each day’s activities at my third year of this great tennis experience! Click on “Continue reading…” to learn about the preparation, the great tennis superstars who were there (above), and a day-by-day recount of all that went on!

Diary of a Rookie at the Newcombe Fantasy Tennis

Diary of a Rookie at the Newcombe Fantasy Tennis

For my 60th birthday, I received one of the all time great presents: one week at the John Newcombe Fantasy Tennis Camp, located in a small town outside of San Antonio Texas. Here are the notes I “jotted down” on my laptop after each day’s activities.