Tennis Pod Pro Videos

Download file (right-click and "save as...") Lee Couillard, USPTA, Head Tennis Professional, Punahou School shows a fun doubles drill.

Download file (right-click and "save as...") Lee Couillard, USPTA, Head Tennis Professional, Punahou School shows the trend of the current one-handed backhand resurgence.

Download file (right-click and "save as...") About Allen Fox - Author, Speaker, Consultant: Allen Fox, Ph.D. earned a B.A. degree in physics and a Ph.D. in psychology from UCLA where he won the NCAA Singles and Doubles titles and where he was named UCLA Athlete of the Year and All University of California Athlete of the Year. With the same competitive zeal that propelled him to the number four ranking in the United States, to the quarterfinals at Wimbledon and a 3-time member of the US Davis Cup Team, he coached and built the Pepperdine University tennis team into a national power, mentoring, among others, renowned coach, Brad Gilbert. Dr Fox's Pepperdine teams were ranked among the nation's Top 5 for 10 consecutive years and reached 2 NCAA Team Finals. Dr. Fox wrote the tennis best sellers, "If I'm the Better Player, Why Can't I Win?" and "Think to Win," and most recently, "Tennis: Winning the Mental Match." He is an editor of and contributor to Tennis Magazine, writes for various web sites, and is well-known for his 1-Minute Clinics on the Tennis Channel. These have been showing for the last three years. He also lectures around the world on tennis psychology, including at the national conferences of the USTA, USPTA, and the PTR. In addition, Dr. Fox consults on the mental issues of tennis with players of all levels, from recreational players to pros and is the Mental Fitness Director at the Weil Tennis Academy in Ojai, CA. A regular on the Tennis Channel, Dr. Allen Fox is the author of three previous books, "IF I'M THE BETTER PLAYER, WHY CAN'T I WIN?", "THINK TO WIN," and "THE WINNER'S MIND, a Competitor's Guide to Sports and Business Success." Dr. Fox is an editor and writer for Tennis Magazine and for his web site, allenfoxtennis.net. WHAT'S IN HIS NEW BOOK, Tennis: Winning the Mental Match? CHAPTER 1: WHY DO WE WANT TO WIN? Winning a tennis match feels more important than it is because players are genetically wired to compete for position on the social hierarchy. The emotions of a tennis match resemble those of a fight. Players may realize that winning a match doesn't really matter, but they will always want to win anyway. CHAPTER 2: THE EMOTIONAL ISSUES OF COMPETITION: Tennis is inherently an emotional game. Because match outcomes feel important but are ultimately uncontrollable, matches can become stressful. There is often an unconscious urge to escape this stress, which leads to counterproductive behaviors, among which are anger, tanking, and excuse-making. These can be overpowered by the conscious mind, but it requires understanding, high motivation, and constant effort. CHAPTER 3: USING EMOTION TO HELP YOU WIN: Your emotions will dramatically affect your tennis performance. We discuss how to keep counterproductive emotions in check and how to create productive ones that will help you win. Topics include the use of adrenalin, profiting from the time between points, and maintaining an optimal excitation level. CHAPTER 4: REDUCING THE STRESS: Matches can become overly stressful, and this hinders performance. Stress can be reduced by developing a more realistic perspective of the game. Included are accepting outcomes that can't be controlled; resisting a narrow focus on winning; avoiding excessive perfectionism; getting over losses quickly; and using goals for hope and motivation rather than allowing them to become expectations and cause stress. CHAPTER 5: THE PROBLEMS OF FINISHING: Most players become nervous and stressed when they are ahead and face the hurdle of finishing the match against a dangerous opponent. The unique tennis scoring system intensifies this problem. The closer players get to winning, the greater the stress. Trying to reduce it gives rise to counterproductive behaviors such as procrastinating the finish or becoming "overconfident" and easing up with a lead. CHAPTER 6: CHOKING - ITS CAUSES AND HOW TO MINIMIZE ITS EFFECTS: Choking is most frequent at the finish of games, sets, and matches due to the uncertainty of outcome. You can limit choking damage by immediate acceptance of this uncertainty. Avoid stressful thoughts of winning by using rituals, focusing, and relaxation techniques. Rid yourself of the idea that choking will make you lose, and recognize that there are usually multiple opportunities to win, not just one. CHAPTER 7: CONFIDENCE AND HOW TO GET IT IF YOU DON'T HAVE IT: Confidence, aka self-belief, comes mostly from winning. Though it's more difficult, you can win without it by replacing it with sufficient emotional discipline. Slumps and hot streaks occur in cycles and both end naturally with time. Stressing over a slump prolongs it. You can speed its ending by several methods which we discuss. CHAPTER 8: GAME PLANS: Game plans give your efforts direction and structure. They can rely primarily on offence or defense but should be consistent with your personality. With Plan A you are looking for a match-up where you have a relative advantage, most commonly pitting your strengths against your opponent's weaknesses. With Plan B, which you always employ simultaneously with Plan A, you attempt to tire your opponent mentally. CHAPTER 9: BREAKING DOWN YOUR OPPONENT MENTALLY: You can weaken your opponent mentally by using dominance techniques. Be aware of momentum development - maintain it when you're winning and break it when you aren't. Take advantage of the let-downs that occur in transitional situations: at the end of sets, after long points, after service breaks, and after long games. Learn to resist becoming psyched out by opponents. CHAPTER 10: MAINTAINING MENTAL EFFECTIVENESS IN THE HEAT OF BATTLE: Remember the Golden Rule of tennis: Never do anything on court that doesn't help you win. Decide beforehand how you will handle the frustrations and errors that are likely to occur during match play. Understand the value of intensity and its role in playing percentage tennis. Players who have beaten you too frequently get into your head. Beating them requires exceptional emotional discipline and focus. Learn to deal with injuries, both yours and those of your opponents. CHAPTER 11: THE VALUE OF OPTIMISM: Being optimistic is always helpful during competition. If it does not occur naturally you can become more optimistic by deliberately focusing on the real positives that exist in every situation. Monitor your thoughts and be alert to negative ones. When one occurs replace it immediately with a positive one. A bad attitude is difficult to change in mid-match, so make sure to start out with a good one. When you are behind, hope is your most crucial asset, and it is always realistic. CHAPTER 12: DEVELOPING YOUR GAME AND THE ROLE OF PARENTS: Tennis is a difficult game and not enjoyable until you can control the ball with some level of consistency. The "middle game" is the heart of any player's game, and is learned by intelligent, repetitious practice, Tennis should generally be made fun for beginning youngsters, but some little push may occasionally be necessary. Tournaments can be motivating for kids, but they are stressful for parents and can impel even a good parent to act improperly. CHAPTER 13: COURAGE AND HIGHER VALUES: Competing successfully in tennis is helped by focusing on character development rather than on winning. Everybody wants to win anyway. Working to develop higher values such as courage, unselfishness, consideration for others, appreciation, and morality is good for your character and will, as a by-product, reduce your stress and help you win. CHAPTER 14: THE PSYCHOLOGY OF DOUBLES: An important doubles skill is the ability to make your partner play better. You affect your partner's emotional state and level of play with your gestures and words. Champions are not concerned with parceling out blame for a loss; rather they are focused on doing what it takes to win. You can also disrupt the opposing team by attacking the weaker player and by intimidation.

Download file (right-click and "save as...") Fred Wong, USPTA, Punahou School shows a gravity-drop swinging exercise to help with learning the loop forehand.

Download file (right-click and "save as...") Lee Couillard, USPTA, Head Tennis Professional, Punahou School shows a progressive part-method for teaching pronation.

Download file (right-click and "save as...") Unknown Aussie breaks record for fastest serve three times in same match (?) by Chris Chase: Australia's Samuel Groth, ranked No. 340 and best known in tennis circles for being the ex-husband of tennis player Jarmila Groth, set an unofficial ATP record last week when he hit a serve 164.3 mph at a challenger event in South Korea. That breaks the previous record of 156 mph, set by Ivo Karlovic at a Davis Cup match last year. Groth's serve increased the record by a whopping 5.3 percent. To put that into context, that'd be like Usain Bolt lowering his 100 meter world record from 9.58 to 9.07. ''I just threw it up and absolutely smashed it down the T and it popped up on the gun at 263 [kilometers per hour] and I was a bit like, 'Whoa, whoa,''' Groth told The Age. ''It became a bit of a talking point around the guys; I guess it's not something you see too often, where suddenly 263 pops up on a radar gun.'' The 24-year-old also hit serves of 158.9 mph and 157.5 mph in the same match. This means that the three fastest serves in the history of tennis occurred in the same 60-minute stretch courtesy a player never ranked inside the top 200 at a tournament in a country that's home to one player ranked in the top 500. Oh, and none of it is on tape. The ATP doesn't officially recognize speed records because of a lack of reliability in monitoring equipment. Still, the governing body of tennis confirmed that the radar gun at the Busan event was working and that other data collected was within appropriate range. Oh, like those other two serves that were faster than any other serves in history? And the one that was more than 8 mph faster than the previous record? I'm not saying Groth didn't thrice break the record, nor am I suggesting that speed records can't be set by journeymen. I'm merely suggesting that three record-setting serves from a radar gun at a challenger event in South Korea is a dish best served fishy.

Download file (right-click and "save as...") Lee Couillard, USPTA, Head Tennis Professional, Punahou School shows a fun game called "Baseball Tennis" for 5, 6, 7 & 8 year olds.

Download file (right-click and "save as...") DR. MARK KOVACS, PhD., CSCS Senior Manager of Strength & Conditioning/Sports Science USTA Training Center in Boca Raton, FL Dr. Kovacs was an accomplished player and coach before transitioning to a career as a sport science expert. As a player he was a collegiate All-American and NCAA champion at Auburn University. He has a Masters degree in Exercise Science from Auburn and a Ph.D. in Exercise Physiology from The University of Alabama. Dr. Kovacs is an Associate Editor of the Strength and Conditioning Journal and co-author of tennis book titled "Tennis Training-Enhancing On-Court Performance". Mark is a certified strength and conditioning specialist through the NSCA, certified Health/Fitness Instructor through the American College of Sports Medicine, USPTA certified coach and United States Track and Field Level II Sprints Coach. Before starting with the USTA, Mark was an Assistant Professor of Exercise Science and Wellness at Jacksonville State University.

Download file (right-click and "save as...") DR. MARK KOVACS, PhD., CSCS Senior Manager of Strength & Conditioning/Sports Science USTA Training Center in Boca Raton, FL Dr. Kovacs was an accomplished player and coach before transitioning to a career as a sport science expert. As a player he was a collegiate All-American and NCAA champion at Auburn University. He has a Masters degree in Exercise Science from Auburn and a Ph.D. in Exercise Physiology from The University of Alabama. Dr. Kovacs is an Associate Editor of the Strength and Conditioning Journal and co-author of tennis book titled "Tennis Training-Enhancing On-Court Performance". Mark is a certified strength and conditioning specialist through the NSCA, certified Health/Fitness Instructor through the American College of Sports Medicine, USPTA certified coach and United States Track and Field Level II Sprints Coach. Before starting with the USTA, Mark was an Assistant Professor of Exercise Science and Wellness at Jacksonville State University.

Download file (right-click and "save as...") ESPN Special on the benefits of unstructured, free play.

Download file (right-click and "save as...") Lee Couillard, USPTA, Head Tennis Professional, Punahou School shows a comparison of the new modern forehand to the old modern forehand of the 90's.

Download file (right-click and "save as...") Lee Couillard, USPTA, Head Tennis Professional, Punahou School shows a clip of Poncho Gonzales playing at Punahou in 1969. From ATP.com Very much his own man, a loner and an acerbic competitor, Richard Alonzo "Pancho" Gonzalez was probably as good as anyone who ever played the game, if not better. Most of his great tennis was played beyond wide public attention, on the nearly secret pro tour amid a small band of gypsies of whom he was the ticket-selling mainstay. His rages against opponents, officials, photographers, newsmen and even spectators were frequently spectacular - but they only served to intensify his own play, and didn't disturb his concentration, as fits of temper do most others. Pancho got mad and played better. "We hoped he wouldn't get upset; it just made him tougher," said Rod Laver. "Later when he got older, he would get into arguments to stall for time and rest, and we had to be careful that it didn't put us off our games." Gonzalez, a right-hander, born May 9, 1928, in Los Angeles, was always out of the tennis mainstream, a fact that seemed to goad him to play harder. Because he came from a Chicano family, he was never acceptable in the supposedly proper upper circles of his city's tennis establishment. And because he was a truant he wasn't permitted to play in Southern California junior tournaments. Once he got out of the Navy in 1946 there was no preventing him from mixing in the game, and beating everyone. He had a marvellously pure and effortless service action that delivered thunderbolts, and he grew up as an attacker on fast West Coast concrete. Although not regarded as anything more than promising on his second trip East in 1948, he was at age 20 ready to win the big one, the U.S. Championship at Forest Hills. Ranked 17th nationally at the time, and seeded eighth, he served and volleyed his way to the final, where he beat South African Eric Sturgess with ease, 6-2, 6-3, 14-12. The following year Gonzalez met the favourite, a Southern California antagonist, top-seeded Ted Schroeder. It was one of the most gripping finals. Schroeder won the first two sets as expected, but they were demanding and exhausting, 18-16, 6-2, and after that Gonzalez rolled up the next three, 6-1, 6-2, 6-4, for the title. In 1949 Pancho also helped the U.S. hold the Davis Cup against Australia, then went for the money, turning pro to tour against the monarch, Jack Kramer. Gonzalez was too green for Kramer, losing, 96-27, and he faded from view for several agonizing years. When Kramer retired, Gonzalez won a tour over Don Budge, Pancho Segura and Frank Sedgman in 1954 to determine Jack's successor, and stood himself as Emperor Pancho, proud and imperious, for a long while, through the challenges of Tony Trabert, Ken Rosewall, Lew Hoad, Ashley Cooper, Mal Anderson, Alex Olmedo and Segura. For a decade Gonzalez and pro tennis were synonymous. A promoter couldn't hope to rally crowds unless Pancho was on the bill. During his reign Pancho won the U.S. Pro singles a record eight times of 11 finals between 1951 and 1964, and Wembley in London, considered the world pro championship, 4 times of 5 finals between 1950 and 1956. By the time Rosewall and Laver were reaching their zeniths during the mid- and late-1960s, the aging Gonzalez hung on as a dangerous foe, still capable of defeating all. In 1964, his last serious bid for his ninth U.S. Pro title, he lost the final to Laver in four hard sets on grass in a rainstorm. Yet there was still much more glory ahead. In 1968, at 40, he beat the defending champion, 31-year-old Roy Emerson, to attain the semis of the first major open, the French, to be beaten by Laver. Three months later, at the initial U.S. Open, he toppled second-seeded Tony Roche (the 23-year-old Wimbledon finalist) to make the quarters, where he defeated Tom Okker. A year later, this grandfather (literally) electrified Wimbledon by overcoming Charlie Pasarell in the tournament's longest match, 112 games, a first-rounder that consumed five hours, 12 minutes, a major tourney record that stood until 1992, eclipsed by 14 minutes by Stefan Edberg over Michael Chang at the U.S. Open. The marathon with Pasarell began one afternoon and concluded on the next after darkness intervened. In winning, 22-24, 1-6, 16-14, 6-3, 11-9, Gonzalez saved seven match points in the 5th set. Later that year, he beat John Newcombe, Rosewall, Stan Smith and Arthur Ashe in succession to win $12,500, second-highest prize of the year, and the title at a rich tournament at Las Vegas. Early in 1970, in the opener of a series of $10,000 winner-take-all challenge matches leading to a grand final, he toppled Laver. The Aussie, just off his second Grand Slam year (and the eventual winner of this tournament), was clearly No. 1in the world, but Pancho warmed a crowd of 14,761 at New York's Madison Square Garden with a 7-5, 3-6, 2-6, 6-3, 6-2 victory. Three months before his 44th birthday, in 1972, he was the oldest to record a tournament title in the opener, winning Des Moines (Iowa) over 24-year-old French Davis Cupper Georges Goven. That year he was No. 9 in the U.S., the oldest to rank so high, and equalled Vic Seixas; Top Ten longevity span of 24 years. As for the World Top Ten, he is alone in that he was a member in 1948-49 and again in 1968-69, ranking No. 1 in 1949, No. 6 in 1969. In 1968, though still active, he was named to the Hall of Fame and he was a consistent winner on the Grand Masters tour for the over-45 champs beginning in 1973. Although his high-speed serve, so effortlessly delivered, was a trademark, Gonzalez, a 6-foot-2, 180-pounder, was a splendid athlete and tactician who excelled at defence, too. "My legs, retrieving, lobs and change-of-pace service returns meant as much or more to me than my power," he said. "But people overlooked that because of the reputation of my serve." He won $911,078 between 1950 and 1972, and crossed the million mark as a Grand Master. Altogether as amateur and pro he won 74 singles titles. He was married six times, the last to a good player, Rita Agassi, sister of another all-timer, Andre Agassi, by whom he had a son. Not a bad tennis bloodline for the young man, Skylar Gonzalez. Gonzalez died July 3, 1995, of cancer in Las Vegas, where he had been a teaching pro for some time. MAJOR TITLES (4) - US. singles, 1948, 1949; French doubles,1949; Wimbledon doubles, 1949. OTHER U.S. TITLES (17) - Indoor singles, 1949; Clay Court singles, 1948, 1949; Indoor mixed 1949, with Gusty Moran; Pro singles, 1953, 1954, 1955, 1956, 1957, 1958, 1959, 1961; Pro doubles, 1953, with Don Budge; 1954, 1958, with Pancho Segura;1957, with Ken Rosewall 1969, with Rod Laver. DAVIS CUP - 1949; record: 2-0 in singles. SINGLES RECORD IN THE MAJORS - Australian (2-1), French (9-2), Wimbledon (10-5), US. (23-7). - Residence: Las Vegas, Nevada Singles titles: 3, 1972--(1) Des Moines 1971--(1) Los Angeles 1970--(1) WCT Las Vegas Won U.S. National Championships, 1948, 49. Won U.S. National Clay Court Championships, 1948, 49. Won U.S. National Indoor championships in 1949. Member of 1949 U.S. Davis Cup team. Won 1949 French Open and Wimbledon doubles titles (w/Parker). Resident pro and Tennis Director at Caesar's Palace since 1970. Won the inaugural ATP Great Player of the Past Award in 1975. Bio Courtesy: Bud Collins

Download file (right-click and "save as...") Lee Couillard, USPTA, Head Tennis Professional, Punahou School.

Download file (right-click and "save as...") Lee Couillard, USPTA, Head Tennis Professional, Punahou School, explains the the importance of controlling fingertip pressure and the effects of grip size.

Download file (right-click and "save as...") Lee Couillard, USPTA, Head Tennis Professional, Punahou School, explains the differences between grip pressure and grip strength.