Singles Playbook – Do All Points Have Equal Value ?
Singles You have no on court coach available No doubles partner for support The winning and losing is all on you We know the feeling And more, we have won an occasional match and not known why, but equally we have lost (perhaps more than a few) matches and not known why The factors include…
The Serve – Marin Cilic – Tossing into the Swing
Many players change their rhythm between first and second serves. A one-two-three count creates a swish in a particular location and with a recurring tempo. But when introducing the toss, the rhythm may become disrupted. Either the starting tempo becomes too quick, or just the opposite, an overly high toss creates an extra beat when…
Roger Serving with a Snap
On Court Exercises The following exercises identify specific elements of the serve. Do not attempt all exercises at once, but rather, start with the first exercise, and take as much time as needed until you feel comfortable, then progress in sequence to the next one and so forth. Snap down Positioned at the service line,…
Roger Spinning the Serve
On Court Exercises The exercises identify specific elements of the serve. Do not attempt all exercises at once, but rather, start with the first exercise, and take as much time as needed until you feel comfortable, then progress in sequence to the next one and so forth. Swing Off-Line to Create Sidespin To create sidespin…
Roger Serving Effortlessly (E-)
On Court Exercises The exercises identify specific elements of the serve. Do not attempt all exercises at once, but rather, start with the first exercise, and take as much time as needed until you feel comfortable, then progress in sequence to the next one and so forth. Locate the swish point Practicing without the ball,…
Serving with Rhythm
On Court Exercises The following exercises identify specific elements of the serve. Do not attempt all exercises at once, but rather, start with the first exercise, and take as much time as needed until you feel comfortable, then progress in sequence to the next one and so forth. One two three rhythm – without…
Roger Serving on Balance (B)
On Court Exercises The exercises identify specific elements of the serve. Do not attempt all exercises at once, but rather, start with the first exercise, and take as much time as needed until you feel comfortable, then progress in sequence to the next one and so forth. Serve within a box Find…
Type 1 and Type 2 – Overhand Throwing – the Tennis Serve – and the Primacy of Habit
Todd Ellenbecker, Vice President, Medical Services ATP World Tour, “Tennis teaching professionals can identify players of all ability levels, even high level players, who have less than optimal biomechanics on their serve. Often ……. their throwing mechanics also are less than optimal and have many similar characteristic patterns. Some of the same inherent deficiencies occur in…
The Other Side of the Net
http://dg2e30wx7kvei.cloudfront.net/eti_network/ETI_TheOtherSideOfTheNet.mp4 Download this Video Some time ago I was in Sacramento watching the Power Shares tour event – Courier, Sampras, McEnroe and Blake. James Blake beat John McEnroe in the finals – Mac having beaten Courier, and Blake easily beat an injured Pete Sampras (who was looking very slow on court compared to the other…
Listen to your hits
Watching the ball – moving into position – you can always listen to the outcome!
Discover Your Opponent’s Weakness
Running patterns requires knowing your opponent’s strengths and weaknesses. Rather than learning as the match progresses – what if there is a way to get that idea much much sooner
Priming – The Art of Winning
Create patterns to discover the opponent’s weakness Always listen for advertisements
ETI 050 | Multitasking on Court
No judgment, one shot at a time, where the “winning takes care of itself.” Well in the 1970’s before we ever knew of multitasking or mindfulness – those concepts were developed in a breakthrough book – The Inner Game of Tennis. Are you mindless or mindfull on court? Want more – check out Mindset by…
ETI 049 | Racquet Rebound Potential
How tight, or loose should your grip be? Common sense suggests tight. This experiment, done by real “tennis scientists” confounds the issue. Enjoy
ETI 048 | 8 Board on Court
Lagging A dog wagging it’s tail Centered Balanced Simple but deceptively difficult
ETI 047 | Will Staying Sideways help you hit up on the serve!

The common problem I see at the club, as well as on television, is where the server flexes at the waist at the hit – more or less jackknifing to create a little more ball speed.
And this action creates both forward and downward forces – and is generally associated with netted serves.
Overhand Throwing – a Template for the Serve
Habits, Injuries, Resistance to Change – and Overhand Throwing Technique Todd Ellenbecker, “Tennis teaching professionals can identify players of all ability levels, even high level players, who have less than optimal biomechanics on their serve. Often … their throwing mechanics also are less than optimal and have many similar characteristic patterns. Some of the same inherent…
ETI 046 | Gravity Motion
Agility = moving quickly and easily. We know when we are gliding, we know when we are moving heavily. Equally, when can see on the adjacent court who moves well and who does not. But often more than strength training or explosive movement, the secret can be in a subtle unweighting where the body leads…
ETI 045 | Sidespin Serve
Pete Sampras, “I won 7 Wimbledon titles because I had the best second serve in the game.”
The second serve is about spin that will make the ball curve down as it crosses the net. Yes it may corner the opponent and either swing them wide and out of court, or kick up into their backhand.
ETI 044 l Topspin and the Racquet Drop
Consider the critical 24 inch hitting zone when creating topspin on a forehand or on a serve – to create this spin the racquet must be swung up from beneath the ball (12 inches) but carry upward after impact (another 12 inches) to create the rolling spin that more and more of us want in…
ETI 043 | Point of Contact Area of Contact
Ball control – ours is a game of accuracy, of consistency, but equally it is a game of timing for the opponent will send us shots of varying spin, speed, length and difficulty. Timing describes the relation between the incoming ball and the swinging racquet – and certainly the entire game revolves around the moment…
ETI 042 | Measure Twice Cut Once

https://dg2e30wx7kvei.cloudfront.net/eti_podcast/ETI_042_Measure_Twice_Cut_Once.mp4 The carpenter measures twice to cut once, to make sure the cut is accurate, for if too much is cut off that mistake cannot be undone. In tennis consider measuring as preparing first to the side for the incoming ball, but then to measure precisely the height of the backswing such that the racquet…
ETI 041 | Quantum Tennis/Golf
Many interesting parallels have been drawn between the tennis serve and the golf swing. Once the tennis player (or golfer) gets the feel for the mechanical elements of the serve (or golf swing) then rhythm becomes the overriding issue. Does the swing build smoothly and gracefully? Is there economy of effort? Can the server (golfer) swing easily yet hit hard? Are the body parts coordinated so that the force from the legs moves to the hips, and then to the torso, and then to the shoulder, then the arm, then the forearm, then the hand, and finally the fingers?
Mac the Knife – Wall to the Ball – Part 2
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