Table of Contents
Author's Note xi
Part 1 Magazine Articles 1
Game Management
Natural or Nurtured: The Sport's Science Behind Excellence 2
The Tennis Mind-Set Universality 5
First You Relax, Then You Do Nothing 8
How to Be A Solid Competitor 11
Playing Within Yourself 13
Putting a Face on Your Game 15
To Grunt or Not To Grunt 18
On Being a Cool Operator 21
Bobble Heads & Swivel Heads: A Guide to Understanding Ball Watching 24
Breathing Equals Better Game 27
Ball Striking Skills
Embracing the Shot Making Chain 29
Soft Power 32
Playing with a Live Arm 34
Serving the Bomb 37
The Joy of Practice 40
It's Still About the Warm-Up 43
Footwork
An Anatomy of Motor Skills 46
Defending the Court by Reading Their Mail 49
No Feet, No Game, No Future 52
Team Tennis
The Club Doubles Game Matrix 54
What We Have Here is a Failure to Communicate 57
Two on Two: How to Make the Most of Team Tennis 60
Playing Nice with Others 62
The Physicality of the Game
Maximizing the Health Benefits of Tennis 64
Battling the 3-Headed Monster 67
Tennis, Wellness, Life 70
Is Tennis Elbow Passe? 73
Tools of the Trade
The Racket Evolution 76
It's Now All About the Strings 79
State of the Game
NTRP and the Health of the Game 82
Bad Calls: Misperception or Cheating? 85
Human Interest
Blind Tennis…Playing By Ear 88
The New Ball Kids 91
Apprehensive Breaths 94
A Star Is Born Far Away …Now a Gem in our Midst 97
The Jimmy Connors Enigma 100
Sugar Daddy and the Match that Changed the World 103
Part 2 Newspaper Columns 106
The Serve
The Elusive Service Toss 107
Maximizing Leg Drive on the Serve 108
Serving Tall 110
Finishing the Serve 111
Embracing the Spin Serve 113
The Shots
Loading the Stick 115
Timing the Take Back 116
On the Rise 117
Half-Volley Groundstroke 118
Handling High Bouncing Balls 120
The One-Handed Backhand…Alive and Well 121
Racket Head Up 123
The Tricky Forehand Volley 124
The Backhand Volley 125
The Smash 126
Getting Out of Trouble 128
The Backfire 130
The Great Escape 132
Footwork Skills
Getting Set vs Setting Up 133
Right Place, Right Time 135
Positional Adapting to All the Shots 136
The Doubles Game Primer
Choosing Sides in Doubles Can Be Key 138
Offensive and Defensive Positioning 140
Augmenting Your Game
Don't Forget to Breathe When Striking 142
Play Freely to Avoid Paralysis through Analysis 144
Use Their Pace and Laugh in Their Face 146
Gearing Up Mentally and Physically 148
Settling to the Return Task 150
Part 3 Website Essays 152
Move Well…Play Well
The Easy Balls are Not Easy 153
Clay to Hard, Hard to Clay 156
Hard Courts, Soft Courts, and Your Body's Adaptation 158
Only the Ball
Just Talking Tennis Heads or More? 161
Supporting Your Game 163
Thinking in Pictures
Visualize…Realize: The Mind Body Connection 164
Player Disconnection 166
Preparing to Start the Point: Serving and Receiving 167
Game Management
Relax - It's Just a Rally Ball 170
Letting Them Play for Peak Performance in Clubland 171
Smart Shots 173
Playing Scared 175
Icing the Server When Receiving in the Big Moments 177
Top 10 Stress Reducers 179
Self-Talk: Good, Bad or Indifferent 180
Jaw Dropping 182
Playing in the Wind 184
Respecting the Game: Top 10 Do's and Don'ts 185
Raising Your Level
Making Your Lessons Stick 187
Never Too Late for Older Dogs 189
Why Coaching? 191
Practice, Practice, Practice 193
Take Your Eye Off the Ball 195
Summer School Courtside Crib Sheet 197
Are You a Thudder, a Twanger, or a Pinger: String Dampeners 198
Shot Making
The Impossible: Accelerating and Decelerating Simultaneously 200
Bending the Serve In 201
Ball Bouncing and the Serve 203
The Elusive Service Toss 204
The Third Groundstroke 206
John Isner's "Good Miss" 208
Cutting Off the Angle Vertically 210
The Most Neglected Shot in the Game 211
Serving Success: Warming-Up vs Match Play 213
Debunking the Modern Game 214
The Art of Doubles
Pooh Poohing Doubles Strategy Sessions 217
Club Doubles' Increasingly Missing Link 219
The Standing Around Syndrome 221
Defeating the Poacher 222