ARTICLES

Player Assessment

It is common practice in the fitness industry to assess the client. A baseline is set where the Trainer/Client can track progress or lack thereof. In tennis, players take lessons and rarely if ever have an assessment. Pros/Players aren’t really able to track anything about the player’s game other than the fact that they won or lost. Before anyone takes a lesson there should be an Assessment including a Player Profile with such things as Short/Long Term Goals, What They Want From A Coach, Medical History etc. as well as a complete On-Court Assessment. The biggest mistake is to assume you know everything about your players.

FBT60

Have you ever gone in to get a routine physical from your doctor and thought everything was going to be fine? I did. And I was wrong. Prior to this physical I had been experiencing more injuries, was tiring quickly, snoring during sleep, and had acquired an ongoing bout with acid reflux. In my mind, I was attributing these things…

How Feeding Relates to Motor Learning

Marketing Ball Machines

What is a ball machine club, you ask? In my experience, this is the most effective way to generate revenue from the machine. Until recently, the most common method of renting the ball machine has been…

Feeding from the Net

Do your students lose to players that you feel are technically inferior? Do you constantly hear yourself saying, “Move your feet”? Do you take a special interest in the fact that you feel your players are very slow? (Some coaches hire fitness coaches just to increase their player’s speed on the court, but still see few results). Do you feel as though your players play well in lessons but cannot put it together in a match?

There are simple solutions to these issues…

Bumping Pro

For the past eleven years, I have been very fortunate to travel around the country conducting seminars on how to teach tennis using a ball machine. After each seminar, I have the opportunity to talk to the teaching professionals. One of the most frequently asked questions is…

Growing The Game

Many generous organizations have donated money to help grow the game of tennis. Once new players are introduced to the game however, it is up to us, the teach professionals, to turn the sport into a lifetime passion. In order to accomplish this…

Ball Machine Myths

Ball machines get a bad rap. They are often viewed as only for beginners. Teaching pros look at them as competition or loss of lesson revenue, and clubs see them as a maintenance liability. In this article, I will debunk each of these myths. To properly train for a motor skill sport like tennis, it has to be practiced in the same manner that it is played. Players have to practice…