Category Archives: Coaching

The 2nd Most Important Shot

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If you follow the stats or Craig O’Shannessy you know that somewhere around 65% of the points played in tennis are 3 shots or less. That is a serve, return and one shot after. And no that is not a made up statistic and it is true for Men, Women and Junior players.

The serve is by far the most important shot in tennis. And I am going to venture out and say the ability to turn backhands into forehands is the second most important shot. By doing so as a server you are often able to hit an outright winner, force an error, or put your opponent in a defensive position on the 3rd shot of a point. If you are a returner it allows you to be offensive on second serve opportunities by turning those weaker serves often aimed at your backhand and make it a powerful forehand. Here is a video showing the footwork patterns of the cross-behind and cross-front needed to turn backhands into forehands.

If you were wondering what makes up the other 35% of points played here it is. About 30% of the points played are 4 total shots and just around 5% are 5 or more shots. Listen to Craig O’Shannessy and practice like the game is played. Work on the serve, return and turning backhands into forehands.


Brain Game Tennis

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I have a real treat for you today.

Let me introduce you to Craig O’Shannessy. He specializes in tennis strategy. I am being modest he doesn’t just specialize in it, he is the best in the world at it. He is on Novak Djkovic’s team! He is an analyst for Wimbledon, Australian Open, ATP, and the WTA. He is a data guy, he analyzed the game, and the numbers don’t lie.

He has a website called BrainGameTennis.com. I do not know Craig personally but I do know him professionally. I have learned a great deal about strategy from him and have taken almost every online course I am about to offer you access to.

Over the years Craig has created 10 courses that bring his life’s work to aspiring tennis players like you. His professional consulting was previously only available to the upper echelon of players in the professional game. I have personally taken almost every one of his courses over the years. This information I have learned as a coach has helped me tremendously. It has helped high school players win team, singles and doubles state titles. The strategies work when practiced and are applicable to all levels of the game.

Craig is putting all 10 of his courses on sale for 20% off through June 15th. Right now is probably the best time to dive into this stuff because when we can get back on the court nobody is going to want to be behind a computer anymore. Finally, Craig is a solid guy and if you do purchase by clicking the link below he will give me a 50% commission on the course just for sharing it with you. And for that I am very appreciative to both you and him.

www.BrainGameTennis.com – 10 Courses

Here is a list of all 10 of his courses and in order of importance.

  1. The First 4 Shots
  2. 25 Golden Rules of Singles Strategy
  3. Game Plan
  4. Numbers
  5. Short Ball Hunter
  6. Dirt Baller
  7. Getting Tight
  8. Between the Points
  9. Doubles Numbers
  10. 25 Golden Rules of Doubles Strategy


Serve Power Exercises

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The serve is probably the hardest thing to work on at home but the trophy or power position is one thing that you can improve upon. Below is a video of some exercises I have been doing at home with an aerobic step and bands.

Also look back at the series I did on serve technique:


The Hips Are The Engine

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This post is applies to everyone but it is aimed at those working with young kids especially. The ability to create rotational power is a natural movement pattern for the human body. In the video below I use an 8 Board (developed by fellow tennis coach Jack Broudy) to demonstrate how the hips are the engine for rotational power. Developing good tennis strokes is directly related to being efficient at this movement pattern. I am not even sure if the 8 board is still in production. I have had mine for a while but it has been a fantastic teaching tool because it allows you to feel the movement.

Now for those of you working with little ones this is my son using a full size racket hitting off an air tee in my driveway. If you put relatively heavy things in kids hands and allow them to experiment with swinging it you will be amazed at how quickly they get the rotational power movement. This is why I steer people away from light aluminum rackets and to heavier 25, 26 and sometimes even 27 inch rackets. Small light ones can be easily swung with just the arm but with something heavy the body is forced to use the hips and that is what you want for the foundation of a tennis stroke in the long term.


Serve Types (Flat, Slice, Topspin)

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In the previous blog posts we discussed how you get power from the ground up and how the core plays a critical role in transferring rotational power from the hips to the arm. Today we are going to look specifically at the wrist action and racket paths that allow a player to hit flat, spin and topspin serves.

With beginners I often start by teaching these actions and then work my way backwards down the body into a full service motion. It is important to have power but it is even more important to have accuracy. Mastering the different types of spin on the serve is the same as learning topspin on your groundstrokes. Master spin and the percentages of balls you keep inside the lines goes way up.


Volley Wrist & Shoulder Position

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The volley is an offensive shot because it takes a significant amount of time away from your opponent to reload for another groundstroke. When you volley the court distance is cut nearly in half and that means you also have to deal with less time to prepare and execute. The volley really is about deflecting the oncoming ball and in this video I explain the most advantageous and stable positioning of the wrist and shoulder to do so.

The footwork patterns in the previous post are designed to simply get you to the ball and have solid wrist and shoulder positioning. And truth be told if you understand the wrist and shoulder positioning you are after your body will naturally move in a way to allow you to get into that stable positioning quickly. Volley enough and it becomes more like a reflex.


Volley Movement Patterns

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One of the easiest ways to practice at home right now is to volley off a wall or piece of plywood. The wall never misses and you get a ton of contacts in a very short amount of time. Even Federer is doing it!

Here is a video explaining the basic footwork patterns for volleys and overheads. Another great way to practice is to shadow them exactly like I am doing here in the video. In a future video I’ll explain the upper body technique for volleys but with most of you not being able to get on the court right now shadowing the footwork can really be beneficial and a good workout.

And I have to give credit where credit is due. My fellow coaching friend Ashley Hobson at Inspiration Academy in Bradenton, FL shared it with me long before.


Swing Paths – Horizontal vs. Vertical

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I made a lot of videos about the forehand and backhand last week. Here is an in depth look at the swing path of the racket. There is a time to swing more horizontally which would be when attempting to take away time from your opponent with power and a lower trajectory over the net. There is also a time to swing more vertically which is when you are being pressured and need to create time with a higher trajectory ball with a lot of topspin.


Serve Power Sources

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The serve is the most complex motion in tennis by far.  These two videos are aimed at explaining the 2 main sources of power.  First, we start with the lower body and look at how to load the legs properly.  Second, we look at what I think it the most important power generator in the serve, internal rotation of the arm.  Everything that occurs with the legs is designed to maximize the speed of internal rotation.  It all the comes together at the point of contact and we look at how important the angle of the racket and arm are to transferring power into the ball.  These are elements all great servers have in common.

One Handed Backhand – Power, Spin, Pros/Cons

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In the video below I discuss the main aspects of how power and spin are created and released on the one-handed backhand. Explain how the setup and recovery footwork are unique to this particular stroke. Finally, I go over the advantages and disadvantages of having a one handed backhand.