Tennis Pod Pro Videos

Download file (right-click and "save as...") Lee Couillard, USPTA, Head Tennis Professional, Punahou School, explains the differences between weak and strong volley grips.

Download file (right-click and "save as...") "Git a Grip" - Lee Couillard, USPTA 2012 Hawaii Convention Testing Hand Grip-Strength using a Hand Dynamometer. I. Weak Hands = Weak Player. There is no such thing as a player with weak hands and a strong body, it doesn't work that way! a. The grip is the only part of the racket that you make contact with. b. Grip affects the release point. ll. There are 35 muscles involved in movement of the forearm and hand, with most of these involving gripping activities. a. Flexor vs extensor b. Hand is a pliers - test thumb to fingers c. Every angle must be trained. Body Posture d. Various studies show that grip strength is greater with less flexion in the elbow. III. Circadian Rhythm (Body Clock) a. Peak Performance throughout the day with peaking in men in the late afternoon. (Cappert, 1999) IV. Gender Differences a. Males b. Females V. Nutrition a. This simple method of non-invasive measurement may provide nutritionists and medical professionals with valuable screening data, prior to further more invasive testing. VI. Racket Technology a. Light vs Heavy b. Tennis Elbow VII. Grip Classification, Grip Size a. Strong Grips b. Weak Grips c. Neutral Grips VIII. Soft Power a. Manual Dexterity b. Touch and Dexterity IX. Best training exercises. a. Dead lifts, Kettle balls, Ropes, Tug-O-War, Pull-ups, etc.

Download file Download file (right-click and "save as...") Jack Sock at the 2012 Honolulu USTA $50,000 Challenger. Jack Sock (born September 24, 1992) is an American tennis player. The men's junior US Open champion in 2010, he is best known for winning the 2011 US Open mixed doubles title with fellow American Melanie Oudin. Junior Career Sock played his first ITF junior tournament in October 2008, aged 16, at the Pan American Championships.. In the 2009 US Open, his third junior tournament, he reached the semifinals of the junior doubles with Matthew Kandath, and the third round of the junior singles. Sock played relatively infrequently on the junior circuit, however, entering just two further tournaments: the Dunlop Orange Bowl in 2009 and the junior singles at the 2010 U.S. Open.[2] At this tournament, he received a wildcard entry, but proceeded to the final. There, he defeated fellow American Denis Kudla, 3-6, 6-2, 6-2, to become the first American winner of the junior championships since Andy Roddick in 2000.[3] He won the Boy's Junior National Tennis Championship in 2010 and 2011, earning a wildcard in both years for the main draw of the US Open. Sock graduated from Blue Valley North High School in Overland Park, Kansas on May 22, 2011. He was 80-0 in his Kansas 6A High School Tennis career, winning 4 consecutive state championships.

Download file (right-click and "save as...") Lee Couillard designed the Keiki 65. The 2011 Keiki 65 is the first "high performance" junior racket on the market designed specifically for Kindergarten, 1st and 2nd graders. Lee is the Head Tennis Professional at Punahou School in Honolulu, Hawaii. Lee has been teaching tennis to Punahou's Kindergarten, 1st and 2nd grades for the past 22 years. He has a "Little Tennis" certification from the United States Professional Tennis Association and is a National USTA QuickStart Trainer. Until now, there has not been any option for younger players to experience the feel and touch of a smaller racket head size. Like adults, junior players need a personalized racket based on their athleticism, size and strength. Choosing a racket for a junior player can be a daunting task. The numerous lengths, e.g.; 19", 21", 23' and 25" rackets can be confusing depending on the above factors. However, there can be some overlap when choosing a length of the racket and the Keiki 65 is ideal for all players age 8 and under. The Keiki 65's desired performance characteristics; e.g., lightweight, smaller head size, high strength, durability, responsiveness, shock-absorbing, etc. and the need to tailor these properties to the skill level of a young child was the motivation behind its development. The design goal was to make a proportional racket in head, length and grip size for a young child and not max out on the legal trampoline-effect limit. The concept from the start is to train proprioception and that can only be done by using a smaller head size. The early years of child should be about forging the correct contact point, like in a baseball swing. There is no need to over-analyze anyone's particular swing. Their strength and sense of timing will take charge. Let them develop their swing by swinging; however, insist they get into the proper position at the very start. The Keiki 65's longer shaft forces the contact point farther away from the body. As the contact point becomes more consistent, a larger personalized racket can be selected for the child. Again, the emphasis here is to start small and then go bigger, not the other way around. The answer here to a good swing is to adjust the whole body, not increase the size of the head to accommodate poor contact. In what has now become an intense market, performance rackets are lacking at the ever-increasing younger age groups. "Sensitivity" and "feel" are juxtaposed to shock and vibration, and tennis rackets are designed according to the skill and performance level of the individual athlete; smaller head size, quick and responsive for the better player -- big head size, larger sweet spot for the slower, recreational novice player. In the 1970's, the development of the Prince 110 sq. in. tennis racket was one of the most significant factors in the growth of tennis as a recreational sport in the United States and elsewhere. The improvement in equipment continues to be a major factor in the development of the tennis industry today and the 110 sq. in. racket is now not a popular racket with the more advanced players. Innovation will continue to change the sport of tennis, so watch for the next new wave of junior rackets with a wide range of different head sizes.

Download file (right-click and "save as...") Many coaches and professionals featured on the Tennis Channel are here too! Just use the search button at the top of the page.

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...") 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...") Tiffany Akiyama, USPTA, Tennis Professional, Punahou School, Honolulu, HI conducts a summer demo - "Pokemon Hits," Part 2.

Download file (right-click and "save as...") Tiffany Akiyama, USPTA, Tennis Professional, Punahou School, Honolulu, HI conducts a summer demo - "Pokemon Hits."

Download file (right-click and "save as...") Lee Couillard, USPTA, Head Tennis Professional, Punahou School, Honolulu, HI, demonstrates some great exercises to develop strength, endurance, balance and coordination.

Download file (right-click and "save as...") Novak Djokovic demonstrates basic stretching and flexibility exercises everyone should do.

Download file (right-click and "save as...") Lee Couillard, USPTA, Head Tennis Professional, Punahou School, Honolulu, HI shows a serve game called H.O.R.S.E. Same as in basketball, the server controls the game by completing the serves in the correct ("called-out") service boxes. As soon as the game is over the players challenge other players.

Download file (right-click and "save as...") Chris, AP Physics student at Punahou School, Honolulu, HI explains the physics behind standing and serving vs pushing off the ground (explosive serve.)

Download file (right-click and "save as...") Lee Couillard, USPTA, Head Tennis Professional, Punahou School, Honolulu, HI shows a tip from Lynne Rolley on the approach shot. In this video the students learn to "back into" their approach shots.

Download file (right-click and "save as...") Lee Couillard, USPTA, Head Tennis Professional, Punahou School, Honolulu, HI expands upon the difference in the scoring system in tennis vs other sports. The scoring system in tennis is much more challenging than in any other sport because of the emphasis on the importance of certain points at certain times in each game and set. Also, the value of certain points are greater if they are converted as in case of break points won. Note that it is not the number of break points that matters, however, it is the number of break points in different games that counts, especially if they have NOT been converted. This can be emotionally devastating. Even though there is no time clock and points are not accumulating like in a basketball or football game, there are very few instances where the player that won had less points than the runner-up, so it is possible to lose more points that your opponent and still win the match. So, it is important to not fall too far behind on the total count. To make basketball similar to tennis, and to make it more exciting, they could give bonus points for leading after each quarter. Now the pressure would be on and you would see a quicker pace at the end of each quarter and a higher degree of intensity. In this video, Federer came within 2 points of equaling the total amount of points won, however, he could not find enough energy to come back and tie the score and then move ahead in total points won. He trailed in total points won since the start of the second set.