Watch This Short Video To Improve Your Tennis Volley

To learn how to use your new found volley skills & enhance your doubles game…leave your First Name & Best Email Address & we’ll send you the video “7 of the most asked questions in doubles“

Tennis Volleys: all tennis players should & need to volley and the good news is that it is technically the easiest shot in the game.

The big problem is that so many players spend all their time working on their forehands, backhands & serves (partly because the volley is seen less in the Pro game these days), that the volley takes a back seat and that’s not great because almost all club tennis involves the game of tennis doubles which should involve a lot of volleying to become successful.

Here are 3 simple tips to help you volley like Federer (Olympic doubles champ), Pat Rafter & Pete Sampras and to take your game to new levels.  

Tennis Footwork?

Important?

In the next 90 seconds I’m going to show you the first key reason why footwork for tennis is a critical success component.

Without great footwork (footspeed, balance, agility etc) Federer, Nadal, & Djokovic would not have won all of the Grand Slams (Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon & US Open) over the past few years & would not be the major forces in the game of tennis that they are today!!

Check out the video below.

footwork4tennis.com -For more footwork videos & info

Being the best tennis player you can be IS NOT just about what you can do to others.

Being the best tennis player you can be IS about how much you can take out there on the court and still move forwards.

Now, I don’t know where I first saw that or even if I recalled it correctly but hopefully you get the point.

If you really understand that & take it on board you will do a lot beter than the players adopting this other more popular internal conversation.

Do I try to play my tennis forehand like Nadal?
Do I try to have a single handed backhand like Federer?
Should I try to have a tennis serve like Roddick?
What about a double handed backhand like Andy Murray?
Has Djokovic got the kind of tennis return & volley technique I should be using?

This thought process is flawed because you could have any combination of these players’ shots & still do great………however, if you had very little of the first statement you would really struggle to play anywhere near your best.

Winning tennis matches & your best tennis is achieved on a regular basis by what you do in the head & the mind….NOT whose forehand style you have.

Do you have a statement that defines your best tennis???

Also, there is a limited time offer on Beat All The Tennis Players You Want which is my best selling Special Report.  There are a host of bonuses that come with it at no extra cost so check it out if you want to know about game planning and matchplay with a purpose – before the offer ends!!

Creativity is the “end game” and is key to tennis success.

Most players I have ever worked with or spoken to want to be and want to be thought of as being creative. The problem is that most players don’t actually know what creativity IS or WHY striving for creativity will always be a good thing over time.

Being a creative tennis player is all about putting things together on the court to actually CREATE…….being PRO-ACTIVE. It’s not all about trying out a series of un-connected shots or just being creative in response to a series of emergency situations that your opponent inflicts on you…….REACTIVE.

Yes we all have to do that sometimes but this is something I call “diminished” creativity, but what I am talking about here is the type of creativity that gives you CONTROL of the situation/match.

Now, one of the main reasons I mention this is because enhanced creativity is something you NEED more of as you get older. When & if you become a bit slower around the court and/or you start picking up a few more of those nagging injuries you never got before (ring any bells????), becoming more creative is one of the things that can make all the difference.

Most players I know don’t dedicate regular time to enhancing their Pro-active Creativity – either physically on the court or perhaps more crucially mentally off the court. I say crucially because you can do so much good work without leaving the house or the office…..you can even improve your game sitting on a train or in the back of the cab in between meetings or engagements.

I know (because I am in exactly the same position), we are all busy and when you combine that with the “older tennis player syndrome” we need to start becoming more creative and smarter about how we carry on improving through the years.

It is possible to carry on playing great tennis and even improving, so start the creativity trail today to make sure you keep on seeing great results.

Now, I have some tools that I like to use so if you think that any of this applies to you, I’d like to hear a bit more about what you already know.

I have 4 quick questions I’d like you to answer for me that will take a couple of minutes & will help me position what we do next………so click HERE

If Roger Federer can win at Wimbledon which starts next Monday, the charity organization Oxfam will be $200,000 better off.

Why?

Well, In 2003, a guy named Nick Newlife, placed a bet on Federer winning seven Wimbledon titles before the year 2019 at odds of 66/1.

Newlife (who has since died), made the bet after Federer had won his first Wimbledon used his will to arrange for the the bet to be left to Oxfam.

Is this “help from the grave” just what Federer needs because of the frailties in his own make up?

Federer?

Frailties?

I can just hear the laptops being opened up now to retort that last statement.

But hang on just a minute……I was going to write this last week but other things got in the way. There are serious concerns about Federer and his mental toughness at the very top level.

Many people are saying that before Rafa came along, Federer had 3 or 4 years to “clean up” because he had no “serious” competition. For me Marat Safin was the only guy on the tour at that time with enough “game” to trouble Federer but was obviously a bit of a loose cannon and therefore not a serious threat on a consistent basis.

 ]

Mutterings are that Federer won as many Grand Slams as he has primarily because of this fact and that Pete Sampras (maybe his greatest rival for the best of all time tag) had more “big rivals” during his time at the top.

Looking back at last weeks French Open final, there are several questions that need to answered, so let’s start shall we?

So – Is Federer mentally a bit weak?

He was 5-2 up in the first set, served for it twice and yet only got 2 first serves in during those 2 games – strange for a guy with such a good serve (would Sampras have made more serves and closed the set out??)

He seemed to play better when behind (2 sets to love) – another sign that he is comfortable being behind to Rafa. Does he not really believe he can beat Rafa and so playing from behind is where he is more comfortable??

Maybe being ahead and serving for the first set is somewhere he doesn’t truly believe he should be against Rafa and so he serves poorly????

Let me know what you think…….does he need help from Nick Newlife over the next 2 weeks at Wimbledon to help Oxfam get their money or is Roger still “The Man”?

Tony sent me an email the other day regarding his nutrition and his performance.

I got permission from him to pubish the reply and not just sent it to him because I think it’s that important for you to see it!!

Here is what he wrote/asked….

 Paul, I have a match set for 10:30am.

I usually play in the afternoon or evening and thus have plenty of time to make sure I’ve properly hydrated and carbed up.

I’m not worried about getting hydrated, but I’m really not sure when to eat to ensure I am not weak on the court that morning.

Should I eat a carb meal like pasta late the night before?

I understand it takes 6 hours for the body to incorporate complex carbs into useful glycogen, so I don’t want to get up at 4am just to eat.

I’m really struggling with the right approach. Can you help me?

Best Regards,

Tony

Here’s the reply:

Although many people believe the opposite to be true, it is extremely important for everyone to undertand that ‘carb loading’ is really not the answer to continued energy on the tennis court.

Carbs, in particular starchy carbs, are very important but you also need some protein and some vegetables (which are the colourful carbs). The inclusion of proteins before a match ensures quicker and more complete recovery from the match (assuming you are fuelling yourself properly after the match) & the inclusion of vegetables, raw and/or cooked is recommended as they contain nutrients that are necessary to convert the starches into energy.

I have worked with players who were adamant that pure carb loading was the answer but were still not performing at their peak on court. Imagine their surprise when their energy shot up as a result of reducing their intake of starchy carbs as well as including protein and veg!

Here are some pre-match guideline for you!!

The Night Before

All your meals should consist of about one third (or a little less) lean protein, one third (or a little less) of starch, one third (or a little more) of colourful vegetables, raw and/or cooked. So your plate should look something like this:

The night before a match, increase the starch content slightly. Ideally you would not have just one type of starch but a variety.

We all know about pasta, bread, rice and potato but consider a (or any part of) sweet potato, a mix of beans, couscous, cooked parsnips, carrots or any other root vegetables. The greater your variety of starches, the more nutrients are in them. These nutrient (vitamins and minerals) all help in the energy making process as well as recovery (just in case you need to play several matches.

Here’s an example of a meal (note that quantities will vary depending on your height and build).

The Morning of the Match

Get up early enough to have a good breakfast and time to digest it. It’s best to test this out on a training day and not on match day.

Q. How long does it take you to digest your food before feeling comfortable enough to run around?

For me, it’s a good 3 hours, for some of the junior players I work with, they can have a full meal and play immediately!!

Of course, some of this will depend on what you eat.

As strange as this may sound to some of you, fatty foods like mackerel or salmon tend to be a bad idea for breakfast as they can take even longer to digest. Eggs don’t tend to be as problematic, but whatever you decide remember that breakfast must consist of protein, starchy carbs and colourful carbs in the form of veg or/and fruit.

Milk and yoghurt are not as protein dense as eggs, seafood, poulty or meat so if you decide to have porridge with milk and a few chopped fruits you may need to consider including a protein powder as part of your meal. Whey protein is my recommendation with NOTHING added to it so pure whey, no sugars or sweeteners or any other additives.

If eating a complete meal is not possible due to the time you need to wake up and eat to digest properly then go for a whey protein drink and eat a piece of fruit.

Whichever breakfast you opt for, 1/2 an hour before the match have any part of a banana or any part of an energy bar (I say any part because for some people eating small amounts just suit them better

DuringThe Match

When on court, don’t simply hydrate with water at every break but also have with you a bottle of an isotonic drink (or a homemade version), a banana or something sweet to nibble on.

If you don’t start ingesting some form of glucose until you feel tired, it’s already too late and your game will suffer, so start to get some glucose inside of you, even if minute amounts, within a 1/2 hours of starting your match.

Is Little and Often Better?

In general, eating smaller quantities more often is much better, you’ll never feel too full and your body will be constantly energized so, if you can, consider doing this:

The day before your match: have 6 smaller meals but still consisting of protein, starchy carbs and colourful carbs. This would mean eating every 3 to 4 hours (if you work in an office during the day this may mean you taking with you a number of containers with your food in it. A real nuisance it may be but it works wonders on mental clarity and focus). Larger meals tend to make you feel sleepy – not great for tennis really

The day of your match: wake up at 0600. Have 1/2 your breakfast at 0630 and the other half at 0830. Half an hour before the match have a snack as recommended above. I’m going to say it again though…………..if this is totally new to you, please test it out first!!!

Do not do anything new before a match!!

BIG BIG KILLER UNDERGROUND PERFORMANCE SECRET……………

Keep a Diary.

If you are serious about improved performance and want to take that extra step to really individualise your eating plan, keep a note of exactly what you ate, how much and when and then include how you felt immediately after, 1/2 hour later, 1 hour later and 3 hours later.

So rate your mood, energy and mental clarity.

No one EVER remembers this information so write it down.

In this way you can always look back to see what worked and what didn’t.

If it didn’t work you should be able to work out why by looking at what you ate the few hours before.

Remember you are biochemically unique – what works for someone else may not necessarily work for you. It’s only by keeping a record that you’ll be able to make subtle changes to your diet in order to achieve peak performance.

So use this info to help you hit the ground running in your matches & to keep things going at a high level!!

Do you think that Federer, Nadal, Djokovic, Andy Murray etc just turn up and hope to be able to run around the match court all day?

Djokovic has put his fantastic start to the season almost solely down to him getting his tennis diet right!!

Comment and Facebook Like this post if you like it and want to hear/get more info like this

For more info on this super important topic that is ignored by most tennis players……..click HERE

This is a video responding to one of the most asked tennis doubles questions I have had recently.

It answers the tactics question about how and when to poach.

Hope you like it……..let me know what you think and if you want to see any more by Facebook liking and leaving me a comment underneath.

Remember to sign up HERE to get all the FREE doubles info straight to your inbox.

2 great French Open finals this past weekend!!

Li Na vs Schiavone…… I am so happy for Li Na, watching her progress through the tournament was for me a triumph for the player who can keep their playing level consistent.

“Li Na – High Consistent Level The Key To Her Success”

At times during the tournament she couldn’t match the levels set by her opponents, but she didn’t have the dips they did either.

She was a good 8-8.5 from start to finish and believe me when I tell you that this is important for you to try and achieve in your matches.

Yes, it’s nice to go out to play your best, but it’s even more important to learn the trick of how to play at a high level (not your best) and keep it there for most if not all the match.

This will win you more matches because it’s saying to your opponent “you will have to beat me because I won’t beat myself.”

If they play at a super high level throughout the match just smile, shake hands and say “too good today.”

But you know that if they don’t do that and they drop or waver too much, you will be there to ease on through to the win.

Too many people try too hard to play so well that they burn out during the match even if parts of their match are played at a good high level.

Remember playing tennis matches is not a sprint, so if you head out too fast you will be forced to stop or slow down to recover.

This high level consistency is what Li Na does super well and it’s something you should strive to do in your matches.

Li Na is the first Asian tennis player to win a singles Grand Slam event.

The director of China’s tennis program says more athletes should follow Li Na’s lead and break away from the country’s sports system.

In 2008, Li opted out of the state system and set up her own training team.

Ms Li and 3 other players were able to choose their own coaches and decide which matches to play. They also received a much greater share of their winnings.

Will other players follow their lead??

Ons Jabeur is the First Arab Tennis Woman to Win a Grand Slam Title.

Tunisian Ons Jabeur (16 years old) won the Roland Garros tennis juniors girls singles tournament after defeating Puerto Rican Monica Puig 2/0 (7/6 and 6/1).

Apologies this is not in English but if enough of you are interested, we will get it translated! So send in your comments soon!!

Rumour has it that “ the mullahs find it disgraceful that a muslim woman is seen running around half naked and grunting in front of the whole world”.

Well, we feel that politics and religion have no place in sport.

We welcome tennis players and fans from all over the world and we would like to hear more about what’s going on in your local area.

Are there any players you feel we should be keeping a closer eye on? Do you have any videos you want us to post on up and coming but not so well known tennis stars?

Post your comments below and let us know what you think!

Watch This Short Video To Improve Your Tennis Volley

To learn how to use your new found volley skills & enhance your doubles game…leave your First Name & Best Email Address & we’ll send you the video “7 of the most asked questions in doubles“

Tennis Volleys: all tennis players should & need to volley and the good news is that it is technically the easiest shot in the game.

The big problem is that so many players spend all their time working on their forehands, backhands & serves (partly because the volley is seen less in the Pro game these days), that the volley takes a back seat and that’s not great because almost all club tennis involves the game of tennis doubles which should involve a lot of volleying to become successful.

Here are 3 simple tips to help you volley like Federer (Olympic doubles champ), Pat Rafter & Pete Sampras and to take your game to new levels.  

Tennis Footwork?

Important?

In the next 90 seconds I’m going to show you the first key reason why footwork for tennis is a critical success component.

Without great footwork (footspeed, balance, agility etc) Federer, Nadal, & Djokovic would not have won all of the Grand Slams (Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon & US Open) over the past few years & would not be the major forces in the game of tennis that they are today!!

Check out the video below.

footwork4tennis.com -For more footwork videos & info

Being the best tennis player you can be IS NOT just about what you can do to others.

Being the best tennis player you can be IS about how much you can take out there on the court and still move forwards.

Now, I don’t know where I first saw that or even if I recalled it correctly but hopefully you get the point.

If you really understand that & take it on board you will do a lot beter than the players adopting this other more popular internal conversation.

Do I try to play my tennis forehand like Nadal?
Do I try to have a single handed backhand like Federer?
Should I try to have a tennis serve like Roddick?
What about a double handed backhand like Andy Murray?
Has Djokovic got the kind of tennis return & volley technique I should be using?

This thought process is flawed because you could have any combination of these players’ shots & still do great………however, if you had very little of the first statement you would really struggle to play anywhere near your best.

Winning tennis matches & your best tennis is achieved on a regular basis by what you do in the head & the mind….NOT whose forehand style you have.

Do you have a statement that defines your best tennis???

Also, there is a limited time offer on Beat All The Tennis Players You Want which is my best selling Special Report.  There are a host of bonuses that come with it at no extra cost so check it out if you want to know about game planning and matchplay with a purpose – before the offer ends!!

Creativity is the “end game” and is key to tennis success.

Most players I have ever worked with or spoken to want to be and want to be thought of as being creative. The problem is that most players don’t actually know what creativity IS or WHY striving for creativity will always be a good thing over time.

Being a creative tennis player is all about putting things together on the court to actually CREATE…….being PRO-ACTIVE. It’s not all about trying out a series of un-connected shots or just being creative in response to a series of emergency situations that your opponent inflicts on you…….REACTIVE.

Yes we all have to do that sometimes but this is something I call “diminished” creativity, but what I am talking about here is the type of creativity that gives you CONTROL of the situation/match.

Now, one of the main reasons I mention this is because enhanced creativity is something you NEED more of as you get older. When & if you become a bit slower around the court and/or you start picking up a few more of those nagging injuries you never got before (ring any bells????), becoming more creative is one of the things that can make all the difference.

Most players I know don’t dedicate regular time to enhancing their Pro-active Creativity – either physically on the court or perhaps more crucially mentally off the court. I say crucially because you can do so much good work without leaving the house or the office…..you can even improve your game sitting on a train or in the back of the cab in between meetings or engagements.

I know (because I am in exactly the same position), we are all busy and when you combine that with the “older tennis player syndrome” we need to start becoming more creative and smarter about how we carry on improving through the years.

It is possible to carry on playing great tennis and even improving, so start the creativity trail today to make sure you keep on seeing great results.

Now, I have some tools that I like to use so if you think that any of this applies to you, I’d like to hear a bit more about what you already know.

I have 4 quick questions I’d like you to answer for me that will take a couple of minutes & will help me position what we do next………so click HERE

Breaking through to your best ever tennis is as simple as tracing a few simple steps that others who have been successful before you have marked out.

As someone who has studied performance success over a number of years, I have seen that in among the heap of individual traits that exist (Federer is different to Nadal who again is different to Djokovic) there are a number of common traits that the successful players have that seems to separate them from the pack.

If you can tap into these you to will elevate your performance to………..Your Tennis Breakthrough!!!

Check out the quick video I have made for you that outlines these traits & strategies.

If you want to know more about breaking through to your best tennis & how I can help you activate your personal performance strategies just fill in the boxes below.

If there is one area of tennis footwork that is the most misunderstood it would be the split step.

Most players have heard about it, but very few players use it correctly.

Here is a video to dispel a rumour & show you when you should be split stepping.

For more info to help you with your footwork for tennis – Click HERE

Tennis Footwork is probably the number 1 most misunderstood skill behind successful tennis.

Most players realise that footwork is vital for their success but the majority of them don’t really understand how to go about improving it.

The sad thing is that unlike most of the other components that make up great tennis, footwork is something EVERYBODY can improve regardless of age and ability.

Footwork is also the one component that can transform your game to new heights without you having to pick up a racket or learn a bunch of new shots.

Often, when a player hits a “wall” with their game and they don’t seem to be improving like they once were, a period of improving their footwork breathes new life into them and propels them to new heights…….but what exactly can improved footwork do for you?

Well, here 3 great reasons why you need to start working on your tennis footwork…..TODAY!!

  OPTIONS

The thing about having poor footwork is that you are often left to play the only shots open to you because other more suitable shots are out of reach because of your poor positioning.Normally what happens is that players still go for these “more suitable” shots and miss them because their poor footwork and court coverage meant that the shot just wasn’t on.

Improving your footwork means you get to balls sooner and in better positions than ever before and this gives you a greater choice about what to do with the ball.Crosscourt, down the line, deep or angled… the choice is yours and not only are you are well placed to play it you soon begin to see an improvement in your shot selection.

“The Tennis Footwork Formula – 10 mins is all you need to transform your game!”

REDUCED UNFORCED ERRORS

Reducing unforced errors is the quickest way to see your tennis results dramatically improve and this is true for all levels of the game but especially at the club level where the ability to hit lots of winners is usually less than in the Pro game. Not having to play shots from too close to the ball or too far away helps you to keep the unforced errors down whilst keeping your chances of winning the match……up!!

POWER

As your footwork improves and you get to the ball in good time and in good positions, you increase your ability to strike the ball with more power. You get to use your legs better and drive into the ball which only leads to one thing…..more powerful shots and a headache for your opponents.

So, think about that – if you can increase your shot options, reduce unforced errors & hit with more power….do you think that would make you a better player?

Well improving your footwork can do that for you (& more) and as I said before, you don’t need to learn any new shots….all this will happen with the game you have already.

The best news of all, is that you only need 10 minutes at a time to start seeing a difference in the way you move & play.

Grab 3 Free info packed Tennis Footwork Formula videos

When it comes to improving your tennis footwork you need to put in a little practice time.

But not all drills involve running around the court….in fact some of the most effective footwork drills you can do involve combinations of hopping, jumping and fast feet actions.

“Dot” drills (as they are called) are great for this as they really work on strength, power, balance & agility which are massive factors when it comes to transferring everything onto the tennis court.

Here are just a few ideas…….

If you haven’t seen The 7 Golden Keys & The 3 Pillars of effective tennis movement videos that are part of The Tennis Footwork Formula ……… then you can do so by clicking HERE

Watch This Short Video To Improve Your Tennis Volley

To learn how to use your new found volley skills & enhance your doubles game…leave your First Name & Best Email Address & we’ll send you the video “7 of the most asked questions in doubles“

Tennis Volleys: all tennis players should & need to volley and the good news is that it is technically the easiest shot in the game.

The big problem is that so many players spend all their time working on their forehands, backhands & serves (partly because the volley is seen less in the Pro game these days), that the volley takes a back seat and that’s not great because almost all club tennis involves the game of tennis doubles which should involve a lot of volleying to become successful.

Here are 3 simple tips to help you volley like Federer (Olympic doubles champ), Pat Rafter & Pete Sampras and to take your game to new levels.  

Tennis Footwork?

Important?

In the next 90 seconds I’m going to show you the first key reason why footwork for tennis is a critical success component.

Without great footwork (footspeed, balance, agility etc) Federer, Nadal, & Djokovic would not have won all of the Grand Slams (Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon & US Open) over the past few years & would not be the major forces in the game of tennis that they are today!!

Check out the video below.

footwork4tennis.com -For more footwork videos & info

Being the best tennis player you can be IS NOT just about what you can do to others.

Being the best tennis player you can be IS about how much you can take out there on the court and still move forwards.

Now, I don’t know where I first saw that or even if I recalled it correctly but hopefully you get the point.

If you really understand that & take it on board you will do a lot beter than the players adopting this other more popular internal conversation.

Do I try to play my tennis forehand like Nadal?
Do I try to have a single handed backhand like Federer?
Should I try to have a tennis serve like Roddick?
What about a double handed backhand like Andy Murray?
Has Djokovic got the kind of tennis return & volley technique I should be using?

This thought process is flawed because you could have any combination of these players’ shots & still do great………however, if you had very little of the first statement you would really struggle to play anywhere near your best.

Winning tennis matches & your best tennis is achieved on a regular basis by what you do in the head & the mind….NOT whose forehand style you have.

Do you have a statement that defines your best tennis???

Also, there is a limited time offer on Beat All The Tennis Players You Want which is my best selling Special Report.  There are a host of bonuses that come with it at no extra cost so check it out if you want to know about game planning and matchplay with a purpose – before the offer ends!!

Creativity is the “end game” and is key to tennis success.

Most players I have ever worked with or spoken to want to be and want to be thought of as being creative. The problem is that most players don’t actually know what creativity IS or WHY striving for creativity will always be a good thing over time.

Being a creative tennis player is all about putting things together on the court to actually CREATE…….being PRO-ACTIVE. It’s not all about trying out a series of un-connected shots or just being creative in response to a series of emergency situations that your opponent inflicts on you…….REACTIVE.

Yes we all have to do that sometimes but this is something I call “diminished” creativity, but what I am talking about here is the type of creativity that gives you CONTROL of the situation/match.

Now, one of the main reasons I mention this is because enhanced creativity is something you NEED more of as you get older. When & if you become a bit slower around the court and/or you start picking up a few more of those nagging injuries you never got before (ring any bells????), becoming more creative is one of the things that can make all the difference.

Most players I know don’t dedicate regular time to enhancing their Pro-active Creativity – either physically on the court or perhaps more crucially mentally off the court. I say crucially because you can do so much good work without leaving the house or the office…..you can even improve your game sitting on a train or in the back of the cab in between meetings or engagements.

I know (because I am in exactly the same position), we are all busy and when you combine that with the “older tennis player syndrome” we need to start becoming more creative and smarter about how we carry on improving through the years.

It is possible to carry on playing great tennis and even improving, so start the creativity trail today to make sure you keep on seeing great results.

Now, I have some tools that I like to use so if you think that any of this applies to you, I’d like to hear a bit more about what you already know.

I have 4 quick questions I’d like you to answer for me that will take a couple of minutes & will help me position what we do next………so click HERE

It’s great when you know a few people “in the know” because you get access to players you would not normally get access to

And what’s even better is when they turn out to be really cool!!

That was the case with Paul Haarhuis who was one half of my favorite tennis doubles team (along with Jacco Eltingh)….sorry Woodies!!!

Anyway, the reason I chose him is because he made it to the top of the game (World No 1 doubles No 18 in singles and won Grand Slams (Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon, Us Open) with more than 1 partner) yet didn’t turn Pro until he finished college.

To me he had the kind of attitude and approach to the game that had the most “transfer” to the club/rec player!!

Watch it, pick out the tennis advice & get inspired!!

He has some interesting things to say about your tennis footwork & tennis technique.

Here is a quick edited version but if you like it and want to see more just Facebook like the video and leave me a comment below telling me what you liked about it!!

Also, don’t forget…….if you are interested in improving your doubles we are nearly ready to release some KILLER Doubles content, so make sure you sign up HERE to keep up to date with everything as well as the FREE stuff available.

Now, I’ve been on the phone to Pete & Michael (the guys I told you about last time) and we have been thrashing things out (thank heavens for Skype).

Anyway, I thought I’d let you in on what has been happening……..so here goes.

I asked for some of your “burning” questions a few weeks back and I sent about 15 of them over to the guys to see what they made of them.

I thought they were just going to read over them and maybe scribble a few answers down in an email but what I got back was 45 minutes of on court video!!

WOW!!

In army terms they would call this “going beyond the call of duty”.

So, what I’ve done is chosen one of the questions at random (ok I actually like this one) and uploaded the video of it for you. I hope you like it and “get” the teaching that is going on around the question at point (it’s not every day you get a lesson from a top doubles Pro is it???).

YouTube formatting has messed with the video a bit, but the question is…”as a right hander, when I serve & volley from the ad-court should I look to use my forehand or backhand volley?” Let me know, because like I said I’ve got another 40 minutes of this on-court stuff just sitting here

P.S. Don’t forget, if you want “in” on this info that is sending people crazy (1637 tennis players have flagged that they want to know more) then make sure you fill in the boxes below or at winningtennisdoubles.com so I can send you more stuff over the next few days.

It’s funny isn’t it, we all mostly grow up in a culture of thinking that work hard and you will get your reward.

It’s drummed into us from a young age whether we chose to listen or not. And we all do it to our children when we have them.

It is sound advice…..but it is FLAWED!!

When you were at school your parents and teachers told you to work hard and they were right. If you worked hard you would get some great results.

But what most people miss or fail to recognize is the vital ingredient of what paves the way to the success…….THE COURSE!!

The course sets you on the path to passing the exam. Without the course and its structure, who knows where you would have ended up?

If you would have turned up at school on the first day and the teachers would have sat there and said “the information is out there, just go get it” would they have been wrong?

No!!

The information IS out there and always was out there but did that mean you are any more likely to pass the exam?

By having a curriculum and a course, you were directed towards what you needed to know. It’s the same as you & your tennis.

Spending many hours on the court won’t guarantee that you achieve a Federer-like forehand, a Nadal-like double handed backhand or any of your tennis goals.

What it will guarantee is………..you will spend hours on the court and $$$’s on shoes &

strings.

You may see some positive results but most likely this will take a very long time or be leading you up a bit of a dead end.

There is a guy at a club I visit regularly who never plays with anyone and never takes lessons. He just turns up with his very expensive ball machine several times a week and just hits balls. In the 3 or 4 years I have seen him (and who knows how long he was there before I saw him), he has improved but you can just see what would happen if he played any “real” points (I have never seen him serve for example). He is working hard (8+ hours a week) but is he really progressing?

I have a guy who I have been coaching every other week for 15 months who has just won the 0ver 45 doubles and lost in the semi of the over 35′s at the same club having only played tennis in the local parks as a kid.

Who has made more progress?

Many people work hard in a factory all day, does that mean they are successful or is it the factory owner who has worked out that he can have 50 people making stuff he can sell to others?

So, yes working hard is important, but only if you have the working SMART component added in to point you in the right direction.

Do the same with your tennis!

Don’t just go out there and practise or train without knowing what you are trying to do that day and how it fits in with your overall target and if you don’t have a target…get one!!

It doesn’t have to be winning at Wimbledon, French Open, Australian Open or the US Open.

Talking of which, I got 2 emails from Steve the other day who is on the Turnaround Toolkit Program.

Paul — Your Toolkit is working its magic and helped propel my doubles partner and me to an 11-0 record playing together at the Men’s B club level this season. And the confidence you’ve helped inspire in me has spilled over to the team I serve as captain for. In fact, we just completed the regular season with a 23-3 record to finish as champions among the fourteen clubs vying for the title.

On to play-offs now where only the top four teams advance. As #1 seed, we will enjoy home court advantage and hopefully finish with dual crowns — play-off and regular season champions. Thank you for all your helpful advice, Paul. It’s really made a difference for me and my team – Steve

I told him to let me know how they got on and just got this email yesterday….

We swept our opponents 5-0 so on to the finals…Steve

Well done Steve and best of luck for the final buddy!!

Severiano Ballesteros, the great golfer, died on May 7 aged 54.

He was an outstanding player and greatly loved by the golfing community.

Seve was born in the North of Spain in a small fishing village and was the fifth son of a dairy farmer. He came from a sporting family with three of his brothers as pro golfers, as was his mother’s brother, and his father was a rower.

At the age of nine he worked as a golf caddie and as a keen player, he would sneak on to the golf course at night to practice and then would do the same on the beach during the day.

He took part in his first caddies’ championship aged 10 and came first in the same event 2 years later. From then on all he did was practice in the family barn and at nights and on the golf course (this time with permission)at night and left school at the age of 14 to concentrate on his game.

All of his great achievements and successes have been documented in the press all over the world. Seve had flair, charisma and was a joy to watch. He truly loved the game and made it all the more enjoyable for us to watch. He will be greatly missed.

I got a call from a boy I coached and trained up to the time he went to the the IMG Bollettieri Academy (Agassi, Sampras, Seles, Sharapova, Courier), the other day and funnily enough on the same day someone else told me about a video about how a day at the academy unfolds.

I thought I’d watch it just to see if it was like I remember it when I was invited there as a guest of the player I had “loaned” them.

Watch it below Now I don’t expect many people reading this to relate to the kids in this video but there are lessons to be learnt from what you see.

Leave me some comments below to see if you get what I’m talking about

Watch This Short Video To Improve Your Tennis Volley

To learn how to use your new found volley skills & enhance your doubles game…leave your First Name & Best Email Address & we’ll send you the video “7 of the most asked questions in doubles“

Tennis Volleys: all tennis players should & need to volley and the good news is that it is technically the easiest shot in the game.

The big problem is that so many players spend all their time working on their forehands, backhands & serves (partly because the volley is seen less in the Pro game these days), that the volley takes a back seat and that’s not great because almost all club tennis involves the game of tennis doubles which should involve a lot of volleying to become successful.

Here are 3 simple tips to help you volley like Federer (Olympic doubles champ), Pat Rafter & Pete Sampras and to take your game to new levels.  

Tennis Footwork?

Important?

In the next 90 seconds I’m going to show you the first key reason why footwork for tennis is a critical success component.

Without great footwork (footspeed, balance, agility etc) Federer, Nadal, & Djokovic would not have won all of the Grand Slams (Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon & US Open) over the past few years & would not be the major forces in the game of tennis that they are today!!

Check out the video below.

footwork4tennis.com -For more footwork videos & info

Being the best tennis player you can be IS NOT just about what you can do to others.

Being the best tennis player you can be IS about how much you can take out there on the court and still move forwards.

Now, I don’t know where I first saw that or even if I recalled it correctly but hopefully you get the point.

If you really understand that & take it on board you will do a lot beter than the players adopting this other more popular internal conversation.

Do I try to play my tennis forehand like Nadal?
Do I try to have a single handed backhand like Federer?
Should I try to have a tennis serve like Roddick?
What about a double handed backhand like Andy Murray?
Has Djokovic got the kind of tennis return & volley technique I should be using?

This thought process is flawed because you could have any combination of these players’ shots & still do great………however, if you had very little of the first statement you would really struggle to play anywhere near your best.

Winning tennis matches & your best tennis is achieved on a regular basis by what you do in the head & the mind….NOT whose forehand style you have.

Do you have a statement that defines your best tennis???

Also, there is a limited time offer on Beat All The Tennis Players You Want which is my best selling Special Report.  There are a host of bonuses that come with it at no extra cost so check it out if you want to know about game planning and matchplay with a purpose – before the offer ends!!

Creativity is the “end game” and is key to tennis success.

Most players I have ever worked with or spoken to want to be and want to be thought of as being creative. The problem is that most players don’t actually know what creativity IS or WHY striving for creativity will always be a good thing over time.

Being a creative tennis player is all about putting things together on the court to actually CREATE…….being PRO-ACTIVE. It’s not all about trying out a series of un-connected shots or just being creative in response to a series of emergency situations that your opponent inflicts on you…….REACTIVE.

Yes we all have to do that sometimes but this is something I call “diminished” creativity, but what I am talking about here is the type of creativity that gives you CONTROL of the situation/match.

Now, one of the main reasons I mention this is because enhanced creativity is something you NEED more of as you get older. When & if you become a bit slower around the court and/or you start picking up a few more of those nagging injuries you never got before (ring any bells????), becoming more creative is one of the things that can make all the difference.

Most players I know don’t dedicate regular time to enhancing their Pro-active Creativity – either physically on the court or perhaps more crucially mentally off the court. I say crucially because you can do so much good work without leaving the house or the office…..you can even improve your game sitting on a train or in the back of the cab in between meetings or engagements.

I know (because I am in exactly the same position), we are all busy and when you combine that with the “older tennis player syndrome” we need to start becoming more creative and smarter about how we carry on improving through the years.

It is possible to carry on playing great tennis and even improving, so start the creativity trail today to make sure you keep on seeing great results.

Now, I have some tools that I like to use so if you think that any of this applies to you, I’d like to hear a bit more about what you already know.

I have 4 quick questions I’d like you to answer for me that will take a couple of minutes & will help me position what we do next………so click HERE

Li Na is the first Asian tennis player to win a singles Grand Slam event.

The director of China’s tennis program says more athletes should follow Li Na’s lead and break away from the country’s sports system.

In 2008, Li opted out of the state system and set up her own training team.

Ms Li and 3 other players were able to choose their own coaches and decide which matches to play. They also received a much greater share of their winnings.

Will other players follow their lead??

Ons Jabeur is the First Arab Tennis Woman to Win a Grand Slam Title.

Tunisian Ons Jabeur (16 years old) won the Roland Garros tennis juniors girls singles tournament after defeating Puerto Rican Monica Puig 2/0 (7/6 and 6/1).

Apologies this is not in English but if enough of you are interested, we will get it translated! So send in your comments soon!!

Rumour has it that “ the mullahs find it disgraceful that a muslim woman is seen running around half naked and grunting in front of the whole world”.

Well, we feel that politics and religion have no place in sport.

We welcome tennis players and fans from all over the world and we would like to hear more about what’s going on in your local area.

Are there any players you feel we should be keeping a closer eye on? Do you have any videos you want us to post on up and coming but not so well known tennis stars?

Post your comments below and let us know what you think!

It’s great when you know a few people “in the know” because you get access to players you would not normally get access to

And what’s even better is when they turn out to be really cool!!

That was the case with Paul Haarhuis who was one half of my favorite tennis doubles team (along with Jacco Eltingh)….sorry Woodies!!!

Anyway, the reason I chose him is because he made it to the top of the game (World No 1 doubles No 18 in singles and won Grand Slams (Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon, Us Open) with more than 1 partner) yet didn’t turn Pro until he finished college.

To me he had the kind of attitude and approach to the game that had the most “transfer” to the club/rec player!!

Watch it, pick out the tennis advice & get inspired!!

He has some interesting things to say about your tennis footwork & tennis technique.

Here is a quick edited version but if you like it and want to see more just Facebook like the video and leave me a comment below telling me what you liked about it!!

Also, don’t forget…….if you are interested in improving your doubles we are nearly ready to release some KILLER Doubles content, so make sure you sign up HERE to keep up to date with everything as well as the FREE stuff available.

Now, I’ve been on the phone to Pete & Michael (the guys I told you about last time) and we have been thrashing things out (thank heavens for Skype).

Anyway, I thought I’d let you in on what has been happening……..so here goes.

I asked for some of your “burning” questions a few weeks back and I sent about 15 of them over to the guys to see what they made of them.

I thought they were just going to read over them and maybe scribble a few answers down in an email but what I got back was 45 minutes of on court video!!

WOW!!

In army terms they would call this “going beyond the call of duty”.

So, what I’ve done is chosen one of the questions at random (ok I actually like this one) and uploaded the video of it for you. I hope you like it and “get” the teaching that is going on around the question at point (it’s not every day you get a lesson from a top doubles Pro is it???).

YouTube formatting has messed with the video a bit, but the question is…”as a right hander, when I serve & volley from the ad-court should I look to use my forehand or backhand volley?” Let me know, because like I said I’ve got another 40 minutes of this on-court stuff just sitting here

P.S. Don’t forget, if you want “in” on this info that is sending people crazy (1637 tennis players have flagged that they want to know more) then make sure you fill in the boxes below or at winningtennisdoubles.com so I can send you more stuff over the next few days.

It’s funny isn’t it, we all mostly grow up in a culture of thinking that work hard and you will get your reward.

It’s drummed into us from a young age whether we chose to listen or not. And we all do it to our children when we have them.

It is sound advice…..but it is FLAWED!!

When you were at school your parents and teachers told you to work hard and they were right. If you worked hard you would get some great results.

But what most people miss or fail to recognize is the vital ingredient of what paves the way to the success…….THE COURSE!!

The course sets you on the path to passing the exam. Without the course and its structure, who knows where you would have ended up?

If you would have turned up at school on the first day and the teachers would have sat there and said “the information is out there, just go get it” would they have been wrong?

No!!

The information IS out there and always was out there but did that mean you are any more likely to pass the exam?

By having a curriculum and a course, you were directed towards what you needed to know. It’s the same as you & your tennis.

Spending many hours on the court won’t guarantee that you achieve a Federer-like forehand, a Nadal-like double handed backhand or any of your tennis goals.

What it will guarantee is………..you will spend hours on the court and $$$’s on shoes &

strings.

You may see some positive results but most likely this will take a very long time or be leading you up a bit of a dead end.

There is a guy at a club I visit regularly who never plays with anyone and never takes lessons. He just turns up with his very expensive ball machine several times a week and just hits balls. In the 3 or 4 years I have seen him (and who knows how long he was there before I saw him), he has improved but you can just see what would happen if he played any “real” points (I have never seen him serve for example). He is working hard (8+ hours a week) but is he really progressing?

I have a guy who I have been coaching every other week for 15 months who has just won the 0ver 45 doubles and lost in the semi of the over 35′s at the same club having only played tennis in the local parks as a kid.

Who has made more progress?

Many people work hard in a factory all day, does that mean they are successful or is it the factory owner who has worked out that he can have 50 people making stuff he can sell to others?

So, yes working hard is important, but only if you have the working SMART component added in to point you in the right direction.

Do the same with your tennis!

Don’t just go out there and practise or train without knowing what you are trying to do that day and how it fits in with your overall target and if you don’t have a target…get one!!

It doesn’t have to be winning at Wimbledon, French Open, Australian Open or the US Open.

Talking of which, I got 2 emails from Steve the other day who is on the Turnaround Toolkit Program.

Paul — Your Toolkit is working its magic and helped propel my doubles partner and me to an 11-0 record playing together at the Men’s B club level this season. And the confidence you’ve helped inspire in me has spilled over to the team I serve as captain for. In fact, we just completed the regular season with a 23-3 record to finish as champions among the fourteen clubs vying for the title.

On to play-offs now where only the top four teams advance. As #1 seed, we will enjoy home court advantage and hopefully finish with dual crowns — play-off and regular season champions. Thank you for all your helpful advice, Paul. It’s really made a difference for me and my team – Steve

I told him to let me know how they got on and just got this email yesterday….

We swept our opponents 5-0 so on to the finals…Steve

Well done Steve and best of luck for the final buddy!!

Severiano Ballesteros, the great golfer, died on May 7 aged 54.

He was an outstanding player and greatly loved by the golfing community.

Seve was born in the North of Spain in a small fishing village and was the fifth son of a dairy farmer. He came from a sporting family with three of his brothers as pro golfers, as was his mother’s brother, and his father was a rower.

At the age of nine he worked as a golf caddie and as a keen player, he would sneak on to the golf course at night to practice and then would do the same on the beach during the day.

He took part in his first caddies’ championship aged 10 and came first in the same event 2 years later. From then on all he did was practice in the family barn and at nights and on the golf course (this time with permission)at night and left school at the age of 14 to concentrate on his game.

All of his great achievements and successes have been documented in the press all over the world. Seve had flair, charisma and was a joy to watch. He truly loved the game and made it all the more enjoyable for us to watch. He will be greatly missed.

Watch This Short Video To Improve Your Tennis Volley

To learn how to use your new found volley skills & enhance your doubles game…leave your First Name & Best Email Address & we’ll send you the video “7 of the most asked questions in doubles“

Tennis Volleys: all tennis players should & need to volley and the good news is that it is technically the easiest shot in the game.

The big problem is that so many players spend all their time working on their forehands, backhands & serves (partly because the volley is seen less in the Pro game these days), that the volley takes a back seat and that’s not great because almost all club tennis involves the game of tennis doubles which should involve a lot of volleying to become successful.

Here are 3 simple tips to help you volley like Federer (Olympic doubles champ), Pat Rafter & Pete Sampras and to take your game to new levels.  

Tennis Footwork?

Important?

In the next 90 seconds I’m going to show you the first key reason why footwork for tennis is a critical success component.

Without great footwork (footspeed, balance, agility etc) Federer, Nadal, & Djokovic would not have won all of the Grand Slams (Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon & US Open) over the past few years & would not be the major forces in the game of tennis that they are today!!

Check out the video below.

footwork4tennis.com -For more footwork videos & info

Being the best tennis player you can be IS NOT just about what you can do to others.

Being the best tennis player you can be IS about how much you can take out there on the court and still move forwards.

Now, I don’t know where I first saw that or even if I recalled it correctly but hopefully you get the point.

If you really understand that & take it on board you will do a lot beter than the players adopting this other more popular internal conversation.

Do I try to play my tennis forehand like Nadal?
Do I try to have a single handed backhand like Federer?
Should I try to have a tennis serve like Roddick?
What about a double handed backhand like Andy Murray?
Has Djokovic got the kind of tennis return & volley technique I should be using?

This thought process is flawed because you could have any combination of these players’ shots & still do great………however, if you had very little of the first statement you would really struggle to play anywhere near your best.

Winning tennis matches & your best tennis is achieved on a regular basis by what you do in the head & the mind….NOT whose forehand style you have.

Do you have a statement that defines your best tennis???

Also, there is a limited time offer on Beat All The Tennis Players You Want which is my best selling Special Report.  There are a host of bonuses that come with it at no extra cost so check it out if you want to know about game planning and matchplay with a purpose – before the offer ends!!

Creativity is the “end game” and is key to tennis success.

Most players I have ever worked with or spoken to want to be and want to be thought of as being creative. The problem is that most players don’t actually know what creativity IS or WHY striving for creativity will always be a good thing over time.

Being a creative tennis player is all about putting things together on the court to actually CREATE…….being PRO-ACTIVE. It’s not all about trying out a series of un-connected shots or just being creative in response to a series of emergency situations that your opponent inflicts on you…….REACTIVE.

Yes we all have to do that sometimes but this is something I call “diminished” creativity, but what I am talking about here is the type of creativity that gives you CONTROL of the situation/match.

Now, one of the main reasons I mention this is because enhanced creativity is something you NEED more of as you get older. When & if you become a bit slower around the court and/or you start picking up a few more of those nagging injuries you never got before (ring any bells????), becoming more creative is one of the things that can make all the difference.

Most players I know don’t dedicate regular time to enhancing their Pro-active Creativity – either physically on the court or perhaps more crucially mentally off the court. I say crucially because you can do so much good work without leaving the house or the office…..you can even improve your game sitting on a train or in the back of the cab in between meetings or engagements.

I know (because I am in exactly the same position), we are all busy and when you combine that with the “older tennis player syndrome” we need to start becoming more creative and smarter about how we carry on improving through the years.

It is possible to carry on playing great tennis and even improving, so start the creativity trail today to make sure you keep on seeing great results.

Now, I have some tools that I like to use so if you think that any of this applies to you, I’d like to hear a bit more about what you already know.

I have 4 quick questions I’d like you to answer for me that will take a couple of minutes & will help me position what we do next………so click HERE

If Roger Federer can win at Wimbledon which starts next Monday, the charity organization Oxfam will be $200,000 better off.

Why?

Well, In 2003, a guy named Nick Newlife, placed a bet on Federer winning seven Wimbledon titles before the year 2019 at odds of 66/1.

Newlife (who has since died), made the bet after Federer had won his first Wimbledon used his will to arrange for the the bet to be left to Oxfam.

Is this “help from the grave” just what Federer needs because of the frailties in his own make up?

Federer?

Frailties?

I can just hear the laptops being opened up now to retort that last statement.

But hang on just a minute……I was going to write this last week but other things got in the way. There are serious concerns about Federer and his mental toughness at the very top level.

Many people are saying that before Rafa came along, Federer had 3 or 4 years to “clean up” because he had no “serious” competition. For me Marat Safin was the only guy on the tour at that time with enough “game” to trouble Federer but was obviously a bit of a loose cannon and therefore not a serious threat on a consistent basis.

 ]

Mutterings are that Federer won as many Grand Slams as he has primarily because of this fact and that Pete Sampras (maybe his greatest rival for the best of all time tag) had more “big rivals” during his time at the top.

Looking back at last weeks French Open final, there are several questions that need to answered, so let’s start shall we?

So – Is Federer mentally a bit weak?

He was 5-2 up in the first set, served for it twice and yet only got 2 first serves in during those 2 games – strange for a guy with such a good serve (would Sampras have made more serves and closed the set out??)

He seemed to play better when behind (2 sets to love) – another sign that he is comfortable being behind to Rafa. Does he not really believe he can beat Rafa and so playing from behind is where he is more comfortable??

Maybe being ahead and serving for the first set is somewhere he doesn’t truly believe he should be against Rafa and so he serves poorly????

Let me know what you think…….does he need help from Nick Newlife over the next 2 weeks at Wimbledon to help Oxfam get their money or is Roger still “The Man”?

Tony sent me an email the other day regarding his nutrition and his performance.

I got permission from him to pubish the reply and not just sent it to him because I think it’s that important for you to see it!!

Here is what he wrote/asked….

 Paul, I have a match set for 10:30am.

I usually play in the afternoon or evening and thus have plenty of time to make sure I’ve properly hydrated and carbed up.

I’m not worried about getting hydrated, but I’m really not sure when to eat to ensure I am not weak on the court that morning.

Should I eat a carb meal like pasta late the night before?

I understand it takes 6 hours for the body to incorporate complex carbs into useful glycogen, so I don’t want to get up at 4am just to eat.

I’m really struggling with the right approach. Can you help me?

Best Regards,

Tony

Here’s the reply:

Although many people believe the opposite to be true, it is extremely important for everyone to undertand that ‘carb loading’ is really not the answer to continued energy on the tennis court.

Carbs, in particular starchy carbs, are very important but you also need some protein and some vegetables (which are the colourful carbs). The inclusion of proteins before a match ensures quicker and more complete recovery from the match (assuming you are fuelling yourself properly after the match) & the inclusion of vegetables, raw and/or cooked is recommended as they contain nutrients that are necessary to convert the starches into energy.

I have worked with players who were adamant that pure carb loading was the answer but were still not performing at their peak on court. Imagine their surprise when their energy shot up as a result of reducing their intake of starchy carbs as well as including protein and veg!

Here are some pre-match guideline for you!!

The Night Before

All your meals should consist of about one third (or a little less) lean protein, one third (or a little less) of starch, one third (or a little more) of colourful vegetables, raw and/or cooked. So your plate should look something like this:

The night before a match, increase the starch content slightly. Ideally you would not have just one type of starch but a variety.

We all know about pasta, bread, rice and potato but consider a (or any part of) sweet potato, a mix of beans, couscous, cooked parsnips, carrots or any other root vegetables. The greater your variety of starches, the more nutrients are in them. These nutrient (vitamins and minerals) all help in the energy making process as well as recovery (just in case you need to play several matches.

Here’s an example of a meal (note that quantities will vary depending on your height and build).

The Morning of the Match

Get up early enough to have a good breakfast and time to digest it. It’s best to test this out on a training day and not on match day.

Q. How long does it take you to digest your food before feeling comfortable enough to run around?

For me, it’s a good 3 hours, for some of the junior players I work with, they can have a full meal and play immediately!!

Of course, some of this will depend on what you eat.

As strange as this may sound to some of you, fatty foods like mackerel or salmon tend to be a bad idea for breakfast as they can take even longer to digest. Eggs don’t tend to be as problematic, but whatever you decide remember that breakfast must consist of protein, starchy carbs and colourful carbs in the form of veg or/and fruit.

Milk and yoghurt are not as protein dense as eggs, seafood, poulty or meat so if you decide to have porridge with milk and a few chopped fruits you may need to consider including a protein powder as part of your meal. Whey protein is my recommendation with NOTHING added to it so pure whey, no sugars or sweeteners or any other additives.

If eating a complete meal is not possible due to the time you need to wake up and eat to digest properly then go for a whey protein drink and eat a piece of fruit.

Whichever breakfast you opt for, 1/2 an hour before the match have any part of a banana or any part of an energy bar (I say any part because for some people eating small amounts just suit them better

DuringThe Match

When on court, don’t simply hydrate with water at every break but also have with you a bottle of an isotonic drink (or a homemade version), a banana or something sweet to nibble on.

If you don’t start ingesting some form of glucose until you feel tired, it’s already too late and your game will suffer, so start to get some glucose inside of you, even if minute amounts, within a 1/2 hours of starting your match.

Is Little and Often Better?

In general, eating smaller quantities more often is much better, you’ll never feel too full and your body will be constantly energized so, if you can, consider doing this:

The day before your match: have 6 smaller meals but still consisting of protein, starchy carbs and colourful carbs. This would mean eating every 3 to 4 hours (if you work in an office during the day this may mean you taking with you a number of containers with your food in it. A real nuisance it may be but it works wonders on mental clarity and focus). Larger meals tend to make you feel sleepy – not great for tennis really

The day of your match: wake up at 0600. Have 1/2 your breakfast at 0630 and the other half at 0830. Half an hour before the match have a snack as recommended above. I’m going to say it again though…………..if this is totally new to you, please test it out first!!!

Do not do anything new before a match!!

BIG BIG KILLER UNDERGROUND PERFORMANCE SECRET……………

Keep a Diary.

If you are serious about improved performance and want to take that extra step to really individualise your eating plan, keep a note of exactly what you ate, how much and when and then include how you felt immediately after, 1/2 hour later, 1 hour later and 3 hours later.

So rate your mood, energy and mental clarity.

No one EVER remembers this information so write it down.

In this way you can always look back to see what worked and what didn’t.

If it didn’t work you should be able to work out why by looking at what you ate the few hours before.

Remember you are biochemically unique – what works for someone else may not necessarily work for you. It’s only by keeping a record that you’ll be able to make subtle changes to your diet in order to achieve peak performance.

So use this info to help you hit the ground running in your matches & to keep things going at a high level!!

Do you think that Federer, Nadal, Djokovic, Andy Murray etc just turn up and hope to be able to run around the match court all day?

Djokovic has put his fantastic start to the season almost solely down to him getting his tennis diet right!!

Comment and Facebook Like this post if you like it and want to hear/get more info like this

For more info on this super important topic that is ignored by most tennis players……..click HERE

This is a video responding to one of the most asked tennis doubles questions I have had recently.

It answers the tactics question about how and when to poach.

Hope you like it……..let me know what you think and if you want to see any more by Facebook liking and leaving me a comment underneath.

Remember to sign up HERE to get all the FREE doubles info straight to your inbox.

2 great French Open finals this past weekend!!

Li Na vs Schiavone…… I am so happy for Li Na, watching her progress through the tournament was for me a triumph for the player who can keep their playing level consistent.

“Li Na – High Consistent Level The Key To Her Success”

At times during the tournament she couldn’t match the levels set by her opponents, but she didn’t have the dips they did either.

She was a good 8-8.5 from start to finish and believe me when I tell you that this is important for you to try and achieve in your matches.

Yes, it’s nice to go out to play your best, but it’s even more important to learn the trick of how to play at a high level (not your best) and keep it there for most if not all the match.

This will win you more matches because it’s saying to your opponent “you will have to beat me because I won’t beat myself.”

If they play at a super high level throughout the match just smile, shake hands and say “too good today.”

But you know that if they don’t do that and they drop or waver too much, you will be there to ease on through to the win.

Too many people try too hard to play so well that they burn out during the match even if parts of their match are played at a good high level.

Remember playing tennis matches is not a sprint, so if you head out too fast you will be forced to stop or slow down to recover.

This high level consistency is what Li Na does super well and it’s something you should strive to do in your matches.

It’s great when you know a few people “in the know” because you get access to players you would not normally get access to

And what’s even better is when they turn out to be really cool!!

That was the case with Paul Haarhuis who was one half of my favorite tennis doubles team (along with Jacco Eltingh)….sorry Woodies!!!

Anyway, the reason I chose him is because he made it to the top of the game (World No 1 doubles No 18 in singles and won Grand Slams (Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon, Us Open) with more than 1 partner) yet didn’t turn Pro until he finished college.

To me he had the kind of attitude and approach to the game that had the most “transfer” to the club/rec player!!

Watch it, pick out the tennis advice & get inspired!!

He has some interesting things to say about your tennis footwork & tennis technique.

Here is a quick edited version but if you like it and want to see more just Facebook like the video and leave me a comment below telling me what you liked about it!!

Also, don’t forget…….if you are interested in improving your doubles we are nearly ready to release some KILLER Doubles content, so make sure you sign up HERE to keep up to date with everything as well as the FREE stuff available.

Watch This Short Video To Improve Your Tennis Volley

To learn how to use your new found volley skills & enhance your doubles game…leave your First Name & Best Email Address & we’ll send you the video “7 of the most asked questions in doubles“

Tennis Volleys: all tennis players should & need to volley and the good news is that it is technically the easiest shot in the game.

The big problem is that so many players spend all their time working on their forehands, backhands & serves (partly because the volley is seen less in the Pro game these days), that the volley takes a back seat and that’s not great because almost all club tennis involves the game of tennis doubles which should involve a lot of volleying to become successful.

Here are 3 simple tips to help you volley like Federer (Olympic doubles champ), Pat Rafter & Pete Sampras and to take your game to new levels.  

Tennis Footwork?

Important?

In the next 90 seconds I’m going to show you the first key reason why footwork for tennis is a critical success component.

Without great footwork (footspeed, balance, agility etc) Federer, Nadal, & Djokovic would not have won all of the Grand Slams (Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon & US Open) over the past few years & would not be the major forces in the game of tennis that they are today!!

Check out the video below.

footwork4tennis.com -For more footwork videos & info

Being the best tennis player you can be IS NOT just about what you can do to others.

Being the best tennis player you can be IS about how much you can take out there on the court and still move forwards.

Now, I don’t know where I first saw that or even if I recalled it correctly but hopefully you get the point.

If you really understand that & take it on board you will do a lot beter than the players adopting this other more popular internal conversation.

Do I try to play my tennis forehand like Nadal?
Do I try to have a single handed backhand like Federer?
Should I try to have a tennis serve like Roddick?
What about a double handed backhand like Andy Murray?
Has Djokovic got the kind of tennis return & volley technique I should be using?

This thought process is flawed because you could have any combination of these players’ shots & still do great………however, if you had very little of the first statement you would really struggle to play anywhere near your best.

Winning tennis matches & your best tennis is achieved on a regular basis by what you do in the head & the mind….NOT whose forehand style you have.

Do you have a statement that defines your best tennis???

Also, there is a limited time offer on Beat All The Tennis Players You Want which is my best selling Special Report.  There are a host of bonuses that come with it at no extra cost so check it out if you want to know about game planning and matchplay with a purpose – before the offer ends!!

Creativity is the “end game” and is key to tennis success.

Most players I have ever worked with or spoken to want to be and want to be thought of as being creative. The problem is that most players don’t actually know what creativity IS or WHY striving for creativity will always be a good thing over time.

Being a creative tennis player is all about putting things together on the court to actually CREATE…….being PRO-ACTIVE. It’s not all about trying out a series of un-connected shots or just being creative in response to a series of emergency situations that your opponent inflicts on you…….REACTIVE.

Yes we all have to do that sometimes but this is something I call “diminished” creativity, but what I am talking about here is the type of creativity that gives you CONTROL of the situation/match.

Now, one of the main reasons I mention this is because enhanced creativity is something you NEED more of as you get older. When & if you become a bit slower around the court and/or you start picking up a few more of those nagging injuries you never got before (ring any bells????), becoming more creative is one of the things that can make all the difference.

Most players I know don’t dedicate regular time to enhancing their Pro-active Creativity – either physically on the court or perhaps more crucially mentally off the court. I say crucially because you can do so much good work without leaving the house or the office…..you can even improve your game sitting on a train or in the back of the cab in between meetings or engagements.

I know (because I am in exactly the same position), we are all busy and when you combine that with the “older tennis player syndrome” we need to start becoming more creative and smarter about how we carry on improving through the years.

It is possible to carry on playing great tennis and even improving, so start the creativity trail today to make sure you keep on seeing great results.

Now, I have some tools that I like to use so if you think that any of this applies to you, I’d like to hear a bit more about what you already know.

I have 4 quick questions I’d like you to answer for me that will take a couple of minutes & will help me position what we do next………so click HERE

If Roger Federer can win at Wimbledon which starts next Monday, the charity organization Oxfam will be $200,000 better off.

Why?

Well, In 2003, a guy named Nick Newlife, placed a bet on Federer winning seven Wimbledon titles before the year 2019 at odds of 66/1.

Newlife (who has since died), made the bet after Federer had won his first Wimbledon used his will to arrange for the the bet to be left to Oxfam.

Is this “help from the grave” just what Federer needs because of the frailties in his own make up?

Federer?

Frailties?

I can just hear the laptops being opened up now to retort that last statement.

But hang on just a minute……I was going to write this last week but other things got in the way. There are serious concerns about Federer and his mental toughness at the very top level.

Many people are saying that before Rafa came along, Federer had 3 or 4 years to “clean up” because he had no “serious” competition. For me Marat Safin was the only guy on the tour at that time with enough “game” to trouble Federer but was obviously a bit of a loose cannon and therefore not a serious threat on a consistent basis.

 ]

Mutterings are that Federer won as many Grand Slams as he has primarily because of this fact and that Pete Sampras (maybe his greatest rival for the best of all time tag) had more “big rivals” during his time at the top.

Looking back at last weeks French Open final, there are several questions that need to answered, so let’s start shall we?

So – Is Federer mentally a bit weak?

He was 5-2 up in the first set, served for it twice and yet only got 2 first serves in during those 2 games – strange for a guy with such a good serve (would Sampras have made more serves and closed the set out??)

He seemed to play better when behind (2 sets to love) – another sign that he is comfortable being behind to Rafa. Does he not really believe he can beat Rafa and so playing from behind is where he is more comfortable??

Maybe being ahead and serving for the first set is somewhere he doesn’t truly believe he should be against Rafa and so he serves poorly????

Let me know what you think…….does he need help from Nick Newlife over the next 2 weeks at Wimbledon to help Oxfam get their money or is Roger still “The Man”?

Tony sent me an email the other day regarding his nutrition and his performance.

I got permission from him to pubish the reply and not just sent it to him because I think it’s that important for you to see it!!

Here is what he wrote/asked….

 Paul, I have a match set for 10:30am.

I usually play in the afternoon or evening and thus have plenty of time to make sure I’ve properly hydrated and carbed up.

I’m not worried about getting hydrated, but I’m really not sure when to eat to ensure I am not weak on the court that morning.

Should I eat a carb meal like pasta late the night before?

I understand it takes 6 hours for the body to incorporate complex carbs into useful glycogen, so I don’t want to get up at 4am just to eat.

I’m really struggling with the right approach. Can you help me?

Best Regards,

Tony

Here’s the reply:

Although many people believe the opposite to be true, it is extremely important for everyone to undertand that ‘carb loading’ is really not the answer to continued energy on the tennis court.

Carbs, in particular starchy carbs, are very important but you also need some protein and some vegetables (which are the colourful carbs). The inclusion of proteins before a match ensures quicker and more complete recovery from the match (assuming you are fuelling yourself properly after the match) & the inclusion of vegetables, raw and/or cooked is recommended as they contain nutrients that are necessary to convert the starches into energy.

I have worked with players who were adamant that pure carb loading was the answer but were still not performing at their peak on court. Imagine their surprise when their energy shot up as a result of reducing their intake of starchy carbs as well as including protein and veg!

Here are some pre-match guideline for you!!

The Night Before

All your meals should consist of about one third (or a little less) lean protein, one third (or a little less) of starch, one third (or a little more) of colourful vegetables, raw and/or cooked. So your plate should look something like this:

The night before a match, increase the starch content slightly. Ideally you would not have just one type of starch but a variety.

We all know about pasta, bread, rice and potato but consider a (or any part of) sweet potato, a mix of beans, couscous, cooked parsnips, carrots or any other root vegetables. The greater your variety of starches, the more nutrients are in them. These nutrient (vitamins and minerals) all help in the energy making process as well as recovery (just in case you need to play several matches.

Here’s an example of a meal (note that quantities will vary depending on your height and build).

The Morning of the Match

Get up early enough to have a good breakfast and time to digest it. It’s best to test this out on a training day and not on match day.

Q. How long does it take you to digest your food before feeling comfortable enough to run around?

For me, it’s a good 3 hours, for some of the junior players I work with, they can have a full meal and play immediately!!

Of course, some of this will depend on what you eat.

As strange as this may sound to some of you, fatty foods like mackerel or salmon tend to be a bad idea for breakfast as they can take even longer to digest. Eggs don’t tend to be as problematic, but whatever you decide remember that breakfast must consist of protein, starchy carbs and colourful carbs in the form of veg or/and fruit.

Milk and yoghurt are not as protein dense as eggs, seafood, poulty or meat so if you decide to have porridge with milk and a few chopped fruits you may need to consider including a protein powder as part of your meal. Whey protein is my recommendation with NOTHING added to it so pure whey, no sugars or sweeteners or any other additives.

If eating a complete meal is not possible due to the time you need to wake up and eat to digest properly then go for a whey protein drink and eat a piece of fruit.

Whichever breakfast you opt for, 1/2 an hour before the match have any part of a banana or any part of an energy bar (I say any part because for some people eating small amounts just suit them better

DuringThe Match

When on court, don’t simply hydrate with water at every break but also have with you a bottle of an isotonic drink (or a homemade version), a banana or something sweet to nibble on.

If you don’t start ingesting some form of glucose until you feel tired, it’s already too late and your game will suffer, so start to get some glucose inside of you, even if minute amounts, within a 1/2 hours of starting your match.

Is Little and Often Better?

In general, eating smaller quantities more often is much better, you’ll never feel too full and your body will be constantly energized so, if you can, consider doing this:

The day before your match: have 6 smaller meals but still consisting of protein, starchy carbs and colourful carbs. This would mean eating every 3 to 4 hours (if you work in an office during the day this may mean you taking with you a number of containers with your food in it. A real nuisance it may be but it works wonders on mental clarity and focus). Larger meals tend to make you feel sleepy – not great for tennis really

The day of your match: wake up at 0600. Have 1/2 your breakfast at 0630 and the other half at 0830. Half an hour before the match have a snack as recommended above. I’m going to say it again though…………..if this is totally new to you, please test it out first!!!

Do not do anything new before a match!!

BIG BIG KILLER UNDERGROUND PERFORMANCE SECRET……………

Keep a Diary.

If you are serious about improved performance and want to take that extra step to really individualise your eating plan, keep a note of exactly what you ate, how much and when and then include how you felt immediately after, 1/2 hour later, 1 hour later and 3 hours later.

So rate your mood, energy and mental clarity.

No one EVER remembers this information so write it down.

In this way you can always look back to see what worked and what didn’t.

If it didn’t work you should be able to work out why by looking at what you ate the few hours before.

Remember you are biochemically unique – what works for someone else may not necessarily work for you. It’s only by keeping a record that you’ll be able to make subtle changes to your diet in order to achieve peak performance.

So use this info to help you hit the ground running in your matches & to keep things going at a high level!!

Do you think that Federer, Nadal, Djokovic, Andy Murray etc just turn up and hope to be able to run around the match court all day?

Djokovic has put his fantastic start to the season almost solely down to him getting his tennis diet right!!

Comment and Facebook Like this post if you like it and want to hear/get more info like this

For more info on this super important topic that is ignored by most tennis players……..click HERE

This is a video responding to one of the most asked tennis doubles questions I have had recently.

It answers the tactics question about how and when to poach.

Hope you like it……..let me know what you think and if you want to see any more by Facebook liking and leaving me a comment underneath.

Remember to sign up HERE to get all the FREE doubles info straight to your inbox.

2 great French Open finals this past weekend!!

Li Na vs Schiavone…… I am so happy for Li Na, watching her progress through the tournament was for me a triumph for the player who can keep their playing level consistent.

“Li Na – High Consistent Level The Key To Her Success”

At times during the tournament she couldn’t match the levels set by her opponents, but she didn’t have the dips they did either.

She was a good 8-8.5 from start to finish and believe me when I tell you that this is important for you to try and achieve in your matches.

Yes, it’s nice to go out to play your best, but it’s even more important to learn the trick of how to play at a high level (not your best) and keep it there for most if not all the match.

This will win you more matches because it’s saying to your opponent “you will have to beat me because I won’t beat myself.”

If they play at a super high level throughout the match just smile, shake hands and say “too good today.”

But you know that if they don’t do that and they drop or waver too much, you will be there to ease on through to the win.

Too many people try too hard to play so well that they burn out during the match even if parts of their match are played at a good high level.

Remember playing tennis matches is not a sprint, so if you head out too fast you will be forced to stop or slow down to recover.

This high level consistency is what Li Na does super well and it’s something you should strive to do in your matches.

It’s great when you know a few people “in the know” because you get access to players you would not normally get access to

And what’s even better is when they turn out to be really cool!!

That was the case with Paul Haarhuis who was one half of my favorite tennis doubles team (along with Jacco Eltingh)….sorry Woodies!!!

Anyway, the reason I chose him is because he made it to the top of the game (World No 1 doubles No 18 in singles and won Grand Slams (Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon, Us Open) with more than 1 partner) yet didn’t turn Pro until he finished college.

To me he had the kind of attitude and approach to the game that had the most “transfer” to the club/rec player!!

Watch it, pick out the tennis advice & get inspired!!

He has some interesting things to say about your tennis footwork & tennis technique.

Here is a quick edited version but if you like it and want to see more just Facebook like the video and leave me a comment below telling me what you liked about it!!

Also, don’t forget…….if you are interested in improving your doubles we are nearly ready to release some KILLER Doubles content, so make sure you sign up HERE to keep up to date with everything as well as the FREE stuff available.

Watch This Short Video To Improve Your Tennis Volley

To learn how to use your new found volley skills & enhance your doubles game…leave your First Name & Best Email Address & we’ll send you the video “7 of the most asked questions in doubles“

Tennis Volleys: all tennis players should & need to volley and the good news is that it is technically the easiest shot in the game.

The big problem is that so many players spend all their time working on their forehands, backhands & serves (partly because the volley is seen less in the Pro game these days), that the volley takes a back seat and that’s not great because almost all club tennis involves the game of tennis doubles which should involve a lot of volleying to become successful.

Here are 3 simple tips to help you volley like Federer (Olympic doubles champ), Pat Rafter & Pete Sampras and to take your game to new levels.  

Tennis Footwork?

Important?

In the next 90 seconds I’m going to show you the first key reason why footwork for tennis is a critical success component.

Without great footwork (footspeed, balance, agility etc) Federer, Nadal, & Djokovic would not have won all of the Grand Slams (Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon & US Open) over the past few years & would not be the major forces in the game of tennis that they are today!!

Check out the video below.

footwork4tennis.com -For more footwork videos & info

Being the best tennis player you can be IS NOT just about what you can do to others.

Being the best tennis player you can be IS about how much you can take out there on the court and still move forwards.

Now, I don’t know where I first saw that or even if I recalled it correctly but hopefully you get the point.

If you really understand that & take it on board you will do a lot beter than the players adopting this other more popular internal conversation.

Do I try to play my tennis forehand like Nadal?
Do I try to have a single handed backhand like Federer?
Should I try to have a tennis serve like Roddick?
What about a double handed backhand like Andy Murray?
Has Djokovic got the kind of tennis return & volley technique I should be using?

This thought process is flawed because you could have any combination of these players’ shots & still do great………however, if you had very little of the first statement you would really struggle to play anywhere near your best.

Winning tennis matches & your best tennis is achieved on a regular basis by what you do in the head & the mind….NOT whose forehand style you have.

Do you have a statement that defines your best tennis???

Also, there is a limited time offer on Beat All The Tennis Players You Want which is my best selling Special Report.  There are a host of bonuses that come with it at no extra cost so check it out if you want to know about game planning and matchplay with a purpose – before the offer ends!!

Creativity is the “end game” and is key to tennis success.

Most players I have ever worked with or spoken to want to be and want to be thought of as being creative. The problem is that most players don’t actually know what creativity IS or WHY striving for creativity will always be a good thing over time.

Being a creative tennis player is all about putting things together on the court to actually CREATE…….being PRO-ACTIVE. It’s not all about trying out a series of un-connected shots or just being creative in response to a series of emergency situations that your opponent inflicts on you…….REACTIVE.

Yes we all have to do that sometimes but this is something I call “diminished” creativity, but what I am talking about here is the type of creativity that gives you CONTROL of the situation/match.

Now, one of the main reasons I mention this is because enhanced creativity is something you NEED more of as you get older. When & if you become a bit slower around the court and/or you start picking up a few more of those nagging injuries you never got before (ring any bells????), becoming more creative is one of the things that can make all the difference.

Most players I know don’t dedicate regular time to enhancing their Pro-active Creativity – either physically on the court or perhaps more crucially mentally off the court. I say crucially because you can do so much good work without leaving the house or the office…..you can even improve your game sitting on a train or in the back of the cab in between meetings or engagements.

I know (because I am in exactly the same position), we are all busy and when you combine that with the “older tennis player syndrome” we need to start becoming more creative and smarter about how we carry on improving through the years.

It is possible to carry on playing great tennis and even improving, so start the creativity trail today to make sure you keep on seeing great results.

Now, I have some tools that I like to use so if you think that any of this applies to you, I’d like to hear a bit more about what you already know.

I have 4 quick questions I’d like you to answer for me that will take a couple of minutes & will help me position what we do next………so click HERE

If Roger Federer can win at Wimbledon which starts next Monday, the charity organization Oxfam will be $200,000 better off.

Why?

Well, In 2003, a guy named Nick Newlife, placed a bet on Federer winning seven Wimbledon titles before the year 2019 at odds of 66/1.

Newlife (who has since died), made the bet after Federer had won his first Wimbledon used his will to arrange for the the bet to be left to Oxfam.

Is this “help from the grave” just what Federer needs because of the frailties in his own make up?

Federer?

Frailties?

I can just hear the laptops being opened up now to retort that last statement.

But hang on just a minute……I was going to write this last week but other things got in the way. There are serious concerns about Federer and his mental toughness at the very top level.

Many people are saying that before Rafa came along, Federer had 3 or 4 years to “clean up” because he had no “serious” competition. For me Marat Safin was the only guy on the tour at that time with enough “game” to trouble Federer but was obviously a bit of a loose cannon and therefore not a serious threat on a consistent basis.

 ]

Mutterings are that Federer won as many Grand Slams as he has primarily because of this fact and that Pete Sampras (maybe his greatest rival for the best of all time tag) had more “big rivals” during his time at the top.

Looking back at last weeks French Open final, there are several questions that need to answered, so let’s start shall we?

So – Is Federer mentally a bit weak?

He was 5-2 up in the first set, served for it twice and yet only got 2 first serves in during those 2 games – strange for a guy with such a good serve (would Sampras have made more serves and closed the set out??)

He seemed to play better when behind (2 sets to love) – another sign that he is comfortable being behind to Rafa. Does he not really believe he can beat Rafa and so playing from behind is where he is more comfortable??

Maybe being ahead and serving for the first set is somewhere he doesn’t truly believe he should be against Rafa and so he serves poorly????

Let me know what you think…….does he need help from Nick Newlife over the next 2 weeks at Wimbledon to help Oxfam get their money or is Roger still “The Man”?

Tony sent me an email the other day regarding his nutrition and his performance.

I got permission from him to pubish the reply and not just sent it to him because I think it’s that important for you to see it!!

Here is what he wrote/asked….

 Paul, I have a match set for 10:30am.

I usually play in the afternoon or evening and thus have plenty of time to make sure I’ve properly hydrated and carbed up.

I’m not worried about getting hydrated, but I’m really not sure when to eat to ensure I am not weak on the court that morning.

Should I eat a carb meal like pasta late the night before?

I understand it takes 6 hours for the body to incorporate complex carbs into useful glycogen, so I don’t want to get up at 4am just to eat.

I’m really struggling with the right approach. Can you help me?

Best Regards,

Tony

Here’s the reply:

Although many people believe the opposite to be true, it is extremely important for everyone to undertand that ‘carb loading’ is really not the answer to continued energy on the tennis court.

Carbs, in particular starchy carbs, are very important but you also need some protein and some vegetables (which are the colourful carbs). The inclusion of proteins before a match ensures quicker and more complete recovery from the match (assuming you are fuelling yourself properly after the match) & the inclusion of vegetables, raw and/or cooked is recommended as they contain nutrients that are necessary to convert the starches into energy.

I have worked with players who were adamant that pure carb loading was the answer but were still not performing at their peak on court. Imagine their surprise when their energy shot up as a result of reducing their intake of starchy carbs as well as including protein and veg!

Here are some pre-match guideline for you!!

The Night Before

All your meals should consist of about one third (or a little less) lean protein, one third (or a little less) of starch, one third (or a little more) of colourful vegetables, raw and/or cooked. So your plate should look something like this:

The night before a match, increase the starch content slightly. Ideally you would not have just one type of starch but a variety.

We all know about pasta, bread, rice and potato but consider a (or any part of) sweet potato, a mix of beans, couscous, cooked parsnips, carrots or any other root vegetables. The greater your variety of starches, the more nutrients are in them. These nutrient (vitamins and minerals) all help in the energy making process as well as recovery (just in case you need to play several matches.

Here’s an example of a meal (note that quantities will vary depending on your height and build).

The Morning of the Match

Get up early enough to have a good breakfast and time to digest it. It’s best to test this out on a training day and not on match day.

Q. How long does it take you to digest your food before feeling comfortable enough to run around?

For me, it’s a good 3 hours, for some of the junior players I work with, they can have a full meal and play immediately!!

Of course, some of this will depend on what you eat.

As strange as this may sound to some of you, fatty foods like mackerel or salmon tend to be a bad idea for breakfast as they can take even longer to digest. Eggs don’t tend to be as problematic, but whatever you decide remember that breakfast must consist of protein, starchy carbs and colourful carbs in the form of veg or/and fruit.

Milk and yoghurt are not as protein dense as eggs, seafood, poulty or meat so if you decide to have porridge with milk and a few chopped fruits you may need to consider including a protein powder as part of your meal. Whey protein is my recommendation with NOTHING added to it so pure whey, no sugars or sweeteners or any other additives.

If eating a complete meal is not possible due to the time you need to wake up and eat to digest properly then go for a whey protein drink and eat a piece of fruit.

Whichever breakfast you opt for, 1/2 an hour before the match have any part of a banana or any part of an energy bar (I say any part because for some people eating small amounts just suit them better

DuringThe Match

When on court, don’t simply hydrate with water at every break but also have with you a bottle of an isotonic drink (or a homemade version), a banana or something sweet to nibble on.

If you don’t start ingesting some form of glucose until you feel tired, it’s already too late and your game will suffer, so start to get some glucose inside of you, even if minute amounts, within a 1/2 hours of starting your match.

Is Little and Often Better?

In general, eating smaller quantities more often is much better, you’ll never feel too full and your body will be constantly energized so, if you can, consider doing this:

The day before your match: have 6 smaller meals but still consisting of protein, starchy carbs and colourful carbs. This would mean eating every 3 to 4 hours (if you work in an office during the day this may mean you taking with you a number of containers with your food in it. A real nuisance it may be but it works wonders on mental clarity and focus). Larger meals tend to make you feel sleepy – not great for tennis really

The day of your match: wake up at 0600. Have 1/2 your breakfast at 0630 and the other half at 0830. Half an hour before the match have a snack as recommended above. I’m going to say it again though…………..if this is totally new to you, please test it out first!!!

Do not do anything new before a match!!

BIG BIG KILLER UNDERGROUND PERFORMANCE SECRET……………

Keep a Diary.

If you are serious about improved performance and want to take that extra step to really individualise your eating plan, keep a note of exactly what you ate, how much and when and then include how you felt immediately after, 1/2 hour later, 1 hour later and 3 hours later.

So rate your mood, energy and mental clarity.

No one EVER remembers this information so write it down.

In this way you can always look back to see what worked and what didn’t.

If it didn’t work you should be able to work out why by looking at what you ate the few hours before.

Remember you are biochemically unique – what works for someone else may not necessarily work for you. It’s only by keeping a record that you’ll be able to make subtle changes to your diet in order to achieve peak performance.

So use this info to help you hit the ground running in your matches & to keep things going at a high level!!

Do you think that Federer, Nadal, Djokovic, Andy Murray etc just turn up and hope to be able to run around the match court all day?

Djokovic has put his fantastic start to the season almost solely down to him getting his tennis diet right!!

Comment and Facebook Like this post if you like it and want to hear/get more info like this

For more info on this super important topic that is ignored by most tennis players……..click HERE

This is a video responding to one of the most asked tennis doubles questions I have had recently.

It answers the tactics question about how and when to poach.

Hope you like it……..let me know what you think and if you want to see any more by Facebook liking and leaving me a comment underneath.

Remember to sign up HERE to get all the FREE doubles info straight to your inbox.

2 great French Open finals this past weekend!!

Li Na vs Schiavone…… I am so happy for Li Na, watching her progress through the tournament was for me a triumph for the player who can keep their playing level consistent.

“Li Na – High Consistent Level The Key To Her Success”

At times during the tournament she couldn’t match the levels set by her opponents, but she didn’t have the dips they did either.

She was a good 8-8.5 from start to finish and believe me when I tell you that this is important for you to try and achieve in your matches.

Yes, it’s nice to go out to play your best, but it’s even more important to learn the trick of how to play at a high level (not your best) and keep it there for most if not all the match.

This will win you more matches because it’s saying to your opponent “you will have to beat me because I won’t beat myself.”

If they play at a super high level throughout the match just smile, shake hands and say “too good today.”

But you know that if they don’t do that and they drop or waver too much, you will be there to ease on through to the win.

Too many people try too hard to play so well that they burn out during the match even if parts of their match are played at a good high level.

Remember playing tennis matches is not a sprint, so if you head out too fast you will be forced to stop or slow down to recover.

This high level consistency is what Li Na does super well and it’s something you should strive to do in your matches.

It’s great when you know a few people “in the know” because you get access to players you would not normally get access to

And what’s even better is when they turn out to be really cool!!

That was the case with Paul Haarhuis who was one half of my favorite tennis doubles team (along with Jacco Eltingh)….sorry Woodies!!!

Anyway, the reason I chose him is because he made it to the top of the game (World No 1 doubles No 18 in singles and won Grand Slams (Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon, Us Open) with more than 1 partner) yet didn’t turn Pro until he finished college.

To me he had the kind of attitude and approach to the game that had the most “transfer” to the club/rec player!!

Watch it, pick out the tennis advice & get inspired!!

He has some interesting things to say about your tennis footwork & tennis technique.

Here is a quick edited version but if you like it and want to see more just Facebook like the video and leave me a comment below telling me what you liked about it!!

Also, don’t forget…….if you are interested in improving your doubles we are nearly ready to release some KILLER Doubles content, so make sure you sign up HERE to keep up to date with everything as well as the FREE stuff available.

Watch This Short Video To Improve Your Tennis Volley

To learn how to use your new found volley skills & enhance your doubles game…leave your First Name & Best Email Address & we’ll send you the video “7 of the most asked questions in doubles“

Tennis Volleys: all tennis players should & need to volley and the good news is that it is technically the easiest shot in the game.

The big problem is that so many players spend all their time working on their forehands, backhands & serves (partly because the volley is seen less in the Pro game these days), that the volley takes a back seat and that’s not great because almost all club tennis involves the game of tennis doubles which should involve a lot of volleying to become successful.

Here are 3 simple tips to help you volley like Federer (Olympic doubles champ), Pat Rafter & Pete Sampras and to take your game to new levels.  

Tennis Footwork?

Important?

In the next 90 seconds I’m going to show you the first key reason why footwork for tennis is a critical success component.

Without great footwork (footspeed, balance, agility etc) Federer, Nadal, & Djokovic would not have won all of the Grand Slams (Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon & US Open) over the past few years & would not be the major forces in the game of tennis that they are today!!

Check out the video below.

footwork4tennis.com -For more footwork videos & info

Being the best tennis player you can be IS NOT just about what you can do to others.

Being the best tennis player you can be IS about how much you can take out there on the court and still move forwards.

Now, I don’t know where I first saw that or even if I recalled it correctly but hopefully you get the point.

If you really understand that & take it on board you will do a lot beter than the players adopting this other more popular internal conversation.

Do I try to play my tennis forehand like Nadal?
Do I try to have a single handed backhand like Federer?
Should I try to have a tennis serve like Roddick?
What about a double handed backhand like Andy Murray?
Has Djokovic got the kind of tennis return & volley technique I should be using?

This thought process is flawed because you could have any combination of these players’ shots & still do great………however, if you had very little of the first statement you would really struggle to play anywhere near your best.

Winning tennis matches & your best tennis is achieved on a regular basis by what you do in the head & the mind….NOT whose forehand style you have.

Do you have a statement that defines your best tennis???

Also, there is a limited time offer on Beat All The Tennis Players You Want which is my best selling Special Report.  There are a host of bonuses that come with it at no extra cost so check it out if you want to know about game planning and matchplay with a purpose – before the offer ends!!

Creativity is the “end game” and is key to tennis success.

Most players I have ever worked with or spoken to want to be and want to be thought of as being creative. The problem is that most players don’t actually know what creativity IS or WHY striving for creativity will always be a good thing over time.

Being a creative tennis player is all about putting things together on the court to actually CREATE…….being PRO-ACTIVE. It’s not all about trying out a series of un-connected shots or just being creative in response to a series of emergency situations that your opponent inflicts on you…….REACTIVE.

Yes we all have to do that sometimes but this is something I call “diminished” creativity, but what I am talking about here is the type of creativity that gives you CONTROL of the situation/match.

Now, one of the main reasons I mention this is because enhanced creativity is something you NEED more of as you get older. When & if you become a bit slower around the court and/or you start picking up a few more of those nagging injuries you never got before (ring any bells????), becoming more creative is one of the things that can make all the difference.

Most players I know don’t dedicate regular time to enhancing their Pro-active Creativity – either physically on the court or perhaps more crucially mentally off the court. I say crucially because you can do so much good work without leaving the house or the office…..you can even improve your game sitting on a train or in the back of the cab in between meetings or engagements.

I know (because I am in exactly the same position), we are all busy and when you combine that with the “older tennis player syndrome” we need to start becoming more creative and smarter about how we carry on improving through the years.

It is possible to carry on playing great tennis and even improving, so start the creativity trail today to make sure you keep on seeing great results.

Now, I have some tools that I like to use so if you think that any of this applies to you, I’d like to hear a bit more about what you already know.

I have 4 quick questions I’d like you to answer for me that will take a couple of minutes & will help me position what we do next………so click HERE

If Roger Federer can win at Wimbledon which starts next Monday, the charity organization Oxfam will be $200,000 better off.

Why?

Well, In 2003, a guy named Nick Newlife, placed a bet on Federer winning seven Wimbledon titles before the year 2019 at odds of 66/1.

Newlife (who has since died), made the bet after Federer had won his first Wimbledon used his will to arrange for the the bet to be left to Oxfam.

Is this “help from the grave” just what Federer needs because of the frailties in his own make up?

Federer?

Frailties?

I can just hear the laptops being opened up now to retort that last statement.

But hang on just a minute……I was going to write this last week but other things got in the way. There are serious concerns about Federer and his mental toughness at the very top level.

Many people are saying that before Rafa came along, Federer had 3 or 4 years to “clean up” because he had no “serious” competition. For me Marat Safin was the only guy on the tour at that time with enough “game” to trouble Federer but was obviously a bit of a loose cannon and therefore not a serious threat on a consistent basis.

 ]

Mutterings are that Federer won as many Grand Slams as he has primarily because of this fact and that Pete Sampras (maybe his greatest rival for the best of all time tag) had more “big rivals” during his time at the top.

Looking back at last weeks French Open final, there are several questions that need to answered, so let’s start shall we?

So – Is Federer mentally a bit weak?

He was 5-2 up in the first set, served for it twice and yet only got 2 first serves in during those 2 games – strange for a guy with such a good serve (would Sampras have made more serves and closed the set out??)

He seemed to play better when behind (2 sets to love) – another sign that he is comfortable being behind to Rafa. Does he not really believe he can beat Rafa and so playing from behind is where he is more comfortable??

Maybe being ahead and serving for the first set is somewhere he doesn’t truly believe he should be against Rafa and so he serves poorly????

Let me know what you think…….does he need help from Nick Newlife over the next 2 weeks at Wimbledon to help Oxfam get their money or is Roger still “The Man”?

Tony sent me an email the other day regarding his nutrition and his performance.

I got permission from him to pubish the reply and not just sent it to him because I think it’s that important for you to see it!!

Here is what he wrote/asked….

 Paul, I have a match set for 10:30am.

I usually play in the afternoon or evening and thus have plenty of time to make sure I’ve properly hydrated and carbed up.

I’m not worried about getting hydrated, but I’m really not sure when to eat to ensure I am not weak on the court that morning.

Should I eat a carb meal like pasta late the night before?

I understand it takes 6 hours for the body to incorporate complex carbs into useful glycogen, so I don’t want to get up at 4am just to eat.

I’m really struggling with the right approach. Can you help me?

Best Regards,

Tony

Here’s the reply:

Although many people believe the opposite to be true, it is extremely important for everyone to undertand that ‘carb loading’ is really not the answer to continued energy on the tennis court.

Carbs, in particular starchy carbs, are very important but you also need some protein and some vegetables (which are the colourful carbs). The inclusion of proteins before a match ensures quicker and more complete recovery from the match (assuming you are fuelling yourself properly after the match) & the inclusion of vegetables, raw and/or cooked is recommended as they contain nutrients that are necessary to convert the starches into energy.

I have worked with players who were adamant that pure carb loading was the answer but were still not performing at their peak on court. Imagine their surprise when their energy shot up as a result of reducing their intake of starchy carbs as well as including protein and veg!

Here are some pre-match guideline for you!!

The Night Before

All your meals should consist of about one third (or a little less) lean protein, one third (or a little less) of starch, one third (or a little more) of colourful vegetables, raw and/or cooked. So your plate should look something like this:

The night before a match, increase the starch content slightly. Ideally you would not have just one type of starch but a variety.

We all know about pasta, bread, rice and potato but consider a (or any part of) sweet potato, a mix of beans, couscous, cooked parsnips, carrots or any other root vegetables. The greater your variety of starches, the more nutrients are in them. These nutrient (vitamins and minerals) all help in the energy making process as well as recovery (just in case you need to play several matches.

Here’s an example of a meal (note that quantities will vary depending on your height and build).

The Morning of the Match

Get up early enough to have a good breakfast and time to digest it. It’s best to test this out on a training day and not on match day.

Q. How long does it take you to digest your food before feeling comfortable enough to run around?

For me, it’s a good 3 hours, for some of the junior players I work with, they can have a full meal and play immediately!!

Of course, some of this will depend on what you eat.

As strange as this may sound to some of you, fatty foods like mackerel or salmon tend to be a bad idea for breakfast as they can take even longer to digest. Eggs don’t tend to be as problematic, but whatever you decide remember that breakfast must consist of protein, starchy carbs and colourful carbs in the form of veg or/and fruit.

Milk and yoghurt are not as protein dense as eggs, seafood, poulty or meat so if you decide to have porridge with milk and a few chopped fruits you may need to consider including a protein powder as part of your meal. Whey protein is my recommendation with NOTHING added to it so pure whey, no sugars or sweeteners or any other additives.

If eating a complete meal is not possible due to the time you need to wake up and eat to digest properly then go for a whey protein drink and eat a piece of fruit.

Whichever breakfast you opt for, 1/2 an hour before the match have any part of a banana or any part of an energy bar (I say any part because for some people eating small amounts just suit them better

DuringThe Match

When on court, don’t simply hydrate with water at every break but also have with you a bottle of an isotonic drink (or a homemade version), a banana or something sweet to nibble on.

If you don’t start ingesting some form of glucose until you feel tired, it’s already too late and your game will suffer, so start to get some glucose inside of you, even if minute amounts, within a 1/2 hours of starting your match.

Is Little and Often Better?

In general, eating smaller quantities more often is much better, you’ll never feel too full and your body will be constantly energized so, if you can, consider doing this:

The day before your match: have 6 smaller meals but still consisting of protein, starchy carbs and colourful carbs. This would mean eating every 3 to 4 hours (if you work in an office during the day this may mean you taking with you a number of containers with your food in it. A real nuisance it may be but it works wonders on mental clarity and focus). Larger meals tend to make you feel sleepy – not great for tennis really

The day of your match: wake up at 0600. Have 1/2 your breakfast at 0630 and the other half at 0830. Half an hour before the match have a snack as recommended above. I’m going to say it again though…………..if this is totally new to you, please test it out first!!!

Do not do anything new before a match!!

BIG BIG KILLER UNDERGROUND PERFORMANCE SECRET……………

Keep a Diary.

If you are serious about improved performance and want to take that extra step to really individualise your eating plan, keep a note of exactly what you ate, how much and when and then include how you felt immediately after, 1/2 hour later, 1 hour later and 3 hours later.

So rate your mood, energy and mental clarity.

No one EVER remembers this information so write it down.

In this way you can always look back to see what worked and what didn’t.

If it didn’t work you should be able to work out why by looking at what you ate the few hours before.

Remember you are biochemically unique – what works for someone else may not necessarily work for you. It’s only by keeping a record that you’ll be able to make subtle changes to your diet in order to achieve peak performance.

So use this info to help you hit the ground running in your matches & to keep things going at a high level!!

Do you think that Federer, Nadal, Djokovic, Andy Murray etc just turn up and hope to be able to run around the match court all day?

Djokovic has put his fantastic start to the season almost solely down to him getting his tennis diet right!!

Comment and Facebook Like this post if you like it and want to hear/get more info like this

For more info on this super important topic that is ignored by most tennis players……..click HERE

This is a video responding to one of the most asked tennis doubles questions I have had recently.

It answers the tactics question about how and when to poach.

Hope you like it……..let me know what you think and if you want to see any more by Facebook liking and leaving me a comment underneath.

Remember to sign up HERE to get all the FREE doubles info straight to your inbox.

2 great French Open finals this past weekend!!

Li Na vs Schiavone…… I am so happy for Li Na, watching her progress through the tournament was for me a triumph for the player who can keep their playing level consistent.

“Li Na – High Consistent Level The Key To Her Success”

At times during the tournament she couldn’t match the levels set by her opponents, but she didn’t have the dips they did either.

She was a good 8-8.5 from start to finish and believe me when I tell you that this is important for you to try and achieve in your matches.

Yes, it’s nice to go out to play your best, but it’s even more important to learn the trick of how to play at a high level (not your best) and keep it there for most if not all the match.

This will win you more matches because it’s saying to your opponent “you will have to beat me because I won’t beat myself.”

If they play at a super high level throughout the match just smile, shake hands and say “too good today.”

But you know that if they don’t do that and they drop or waver too much, you will be there to ease on through to the win.

Too many people try too hard to play so well that they burn out during the match even if parts of their match are played at a good high level.

Remember playing tennis matches is not a sprint, so if you head out too fast you will be forced to stop or slow down to recover.

This high level consistency is what Li Na does super well and it’s something you should strive to do in your matches.

It’s great when you know a few people “in the know” because you get access to players you would not normally get access to

And what’s even better is when they turn out to be really cool!!

That was the case with Paul Haarhuis who was one half of my favorite tennis doubles team (along with Jacco Eltingh)….sorry Woodies!!!

Anyway, the reason I chose him is because he made it to the top of the game (World No 1 doubles No 18 in singles and won Grand Slams (Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon, Us Open) with more than 1 partner) yet didn’t turn Pro until he finished college.

To me he had the kind of attitude and approach to the game that had the most “transfer” to the club/rec player!!

Watch it, pick out the tennis advice & get inspired!!

He has some interesting things to say about your tennis footwork & tennis technique.

Here is a quick edited version but if you like it and want to see more just Facebook like the video and leave me a comment below telling me what you liked about it!!

Also, don’t forget…….if you are interested in improving your doubles we are nearly ready to release some KILLER Doubles content, so make sure you sign up HERE to keep up to date with everything as well as the FREE stuff available.

Watch This Short Video To Improve Your Tennis Volley

To learn how to use your new found volley skills & enhance your doubles game…leave your First Name & Best Email Address & we’ll send you the video “7 of the most asked questions in doubles“

Tennis Volleys: all tennis players should & need to volley and the good news is that it is technically the easiest shot in the game.

The big problem is that so many players spend all their time working on their forehands, backhands & serves (partly because the volley is seen less in the Pro game these days), that the volley takes a back seat and that’s not great because almost all club tennis involves the game of tennis doubles which should involve a lot of volleying to become successful.

Here are 3 simple tips to help you volley like Federer (Olympic doubles champ), Pat Rafter & Pete Sampras and to take your game to new levels.  

Tennis Footwork?

Important?

In the next 90 seconds I’m going to show you the first key reason why footwork for tennis is a critical success component.

Without great footwork (footspeed, balance, agility etc) Federer, Nadal, & Djokovic would not have won all of the Grand Slams (Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon & US Open) over the past few years & would not be the major forces in the game of tennis that they are today!!

Check out the video below.

footwork4tennis.com -For more footwork videos & info

Being the best tennis player you can be IS NOT just about what you can do to others.

Being the best tennis player you can be IS about how much you can take out there on the court and still move forwards.

Now, I don’t know where I first saw that or even if I recalled it correctly but hopefully you get the point.

If you really understand that & take it on board you will do a lot beter than the players adopting this other more popular internal conversation.

Do I try to play my tennis forehand like Nadal?
Do I try to have a single handed backhand like Federer?
Should I try to have a tennis serve like Roddick?
What about a double handed backhand like Andy Murray?
Has Djokovic got the kind of tennis return & volley technique I should be using?

This thought process is flawed because you could have any combination of these players’ shots & still do great………however, if you had very little of the first statement you would really struggle to play anywhere near your best.

Winning tennis matches & your best tennis is achieved on a regular basis by what you do in the head & the mind….NOT whose forehand style you have.

Do you have a statement that defines your best tennis???

Also, there is a limited time offer on Beat All The Tennis Players You Want which is my best selling Special Report.  There are a host of bonuses that come with it at no extra cost so check it out if you want to know about game planning and matchplay with a purpose – before the offer ends!!

Creativity is the “end game” and is key to tennis success.

Most players I have ever worked with or spoken to want to be and want to be thought of as being creative. The problem is that most players don’t actually know what creativity IS or WHY striving for creativity will always be a good thing over time.

Being a creative tennis player is all about putting things together on the court to actually CREATE…….being PRO-ACTIVE. It’s not all about trying out a series of un-connected shots or just being creative in response to a series of emergency situations that your opponent inflicts on you…….REACTIVE.

Yes we all have to do that sometimes but this is something I call “diminished” creativity, but what I am talking about here is the type of creativity that gives you CONTROL of the situation/match.

Now, one of the main reasons I mention this is because enhanced creativity is something you NEED more of as you get older. When & if you become a bit slower around the court and/or you start picking up a few more of those nagging injuries you never got before (ring any bells????), becoming more creative is one of the things that can make all the difference.

Most players I know don’t dedicate regular time to enhancing their Pro-active Creativity – either physically on the court or perhaps more crucially mentally off the court. I say crucially because you can do so much good work without leaving the house or the office…..you can even improve your game sitting on a train or in the back of the cab in between meetings or engagements.

I know (because I am in exactly the same position), we are all busy and when you combine that with the “older tennis player syndrome” we need to start becoming more creative and smarter about how we carry on improving through the years.

It is possible to carry on playing great tennis and even improving, so start the creativity trail today to make sure you keep on seeing great results.

Now, I have some tools that I like to use so if you think that any of this applies to you, I’d like to hear a bit more about what you already know.

I have 4 quick questions I’d like you to answer for me that will take a couple of minutes & will help me position what we do next………so click HERE

It’s great when you know a few people “in the know” because you get access to players you would not normally get access to

And what’s even better is when they turn out to be really cool!!

That was the case with Paul Haarhuis who was one half of my favorite tennis doubles team (along with Jacco Eltingh)….sorry Woodies!!!

Anyway, the reason I chose him is because he made it to the top of the game (World No 1 doubles No 18 in singles and won Grand Slams (Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon, Us Open) with more than 1 partner) yet didn’t turn Pro until he finished college.

To me he had the kind of attitude and approach to the game that had the most “transfer” to the club/rec player!!

Watch it, pick out the tennis advice & get inspired!!

He has some interesting things to say about your tennis footwork & tennis technique.

Here is a quick edited version but if you like it and want to see more just Facebook like the video and leave me a comment below telling me what you liked about it!!

Also, don’t forget…….if you are interested in improving your doubles we are nearly ready to release some KILLER Doubles content, so make sure you sign up HERE to keep up to date with everything as well as the FREE stuff available.

Now, I’ve been on the phone to Pete & Michael (the guys I told you about last time) and we have been thrashing things out (thank heavens for Skype).

Anyway, I thought I’d let you in on what has been happening……..so here goes.

I asked for some of your “burning” questions a few weeks back and I sent about 15 of them over to the guys to see what they made of them.

I thought they were just going to read over them and maybe scribble a few answers down in an email but what I got back was 45 minutes of on court video!!

WOW!!

In army terms they would call this “going beyond the call of duty”.

So, what I’ve done is chosen one of the questions at random (ok I actually like this one) and uploaded the video of it for you. I hope you like it and “get” the teaching that is going on around the question at point (it’s not every day you get a lesson from a top doubles Pro is it???).

YouTube formatting has messed with the video a bit, but the question is…”as a right hander, when I serve & volley from the ad-court should I look to use my forehand or backhand volley?” Let me know, because like I said I’ve got another 40 minutes of this on-court stuff just sitting here

P.S. Don’t forget, if you want “in” on this info that is sending people crazy (1637 tennis players have flagged that they want to know more) then make sure you fill in the boxes below or at winningtennisdoubles.com so I can send you more stuff over the next few days.

It’s funny isn’t it, we all mostly grow up in a culture of thinking that work hard and you will get your reward.

It’s drummed into us from a young age whether we chose to listen or not. And we all do it to our children when we have them.

It is sound advice…..but it is FLAWED!!

When you were at school your parents and teachers told you to work hard and they were right. If you worked hard you would get some great results.

But what most people miss or fail to recognize is the vital ingredient of what paves the way to the success…….THE COURSE!!

The course sets you on the path to passing the exam. Without the course and its structure, who knows where you would have ended up?

If you would have turned up at school on the first day and the teachers would have sat there and said “the information is out there, just go get it” would they have been wrong?

No!!

The information IS out there and always was out there but did that mean you are any more likely to pass the exam?

By having a curriculum and a course, you were directed towards what you needed to know. It’s the same as you & your tennis.

Spending many hours on the court won’t guarantee that you achieve a Federer-like forehand, a Nadal-like double handed backhand or any of your tennis goals.

What it will guarantee is………..you will spend hours on the court and $$$’s on shoes &

strings.

You may see some positive results but most likely this will take a very long time or be leading you up a bit of a dead end.

There is a guy at a club I visit regularly who never plays with anyone and never takes lessons. He just turns up with his very expensive ball machine several times a week and just hits balls. In the 3 or 4 years I have seen him (and who knows how long he was there before I saw him), he has improved but you can just see what would happen if he played any “real” points (I have never seen him serve for example). He is working hard (8+ hours a week) but is he really progressing?

I have a guy who I have been coaching every other week for 15 months who has just won the 0ver 45 doubles and lost in the semi of the over 35′s at the same club having only played tennis in the local parks as a kid.

Who has made more progress?

Many people work hard in a factory all day, does that mean they are successful or is it the factory owner who has worked out that he can have 50 people making stuff he can sell to others?

So, yes working hard is important, but only if you have the working SMART component added in to point you in the right direction.

Do the same with your tennis!

Don’t just go out there and practise or train without knowing what you are trying to do that day and how it fits in with your overall target and if you don’t have a target…get one!!

It doesn’t have to be winning at Wimbledon, French Open, Australian Open or the US Open.

Talking of which, I got 2 emails from Steve the other day who is on the Turnaround Toolkit Program.

Paul — Your Toolkit is working its magic and helped propel my doubles partner and me to an 11-0 record playing together at the Men’s B club level this season. And the confidence you’ve helped inspire in me has spilled over to the team I serve as captain for. In fact, we just completed the regular season with a 23-3 record to finish as champions among the fourteen clubs vying for the title.

On to play-offs now where only the top four teams advance. As #1 seed, we will enjoy home court advantage and hopefully finish with dual crowns — play-off and regular season champions. Thank you for all your helpful advice, Paul. It’s really made a difference for me and my team – Steve

I told him to let me know how they got on and just got this email yesterday….

We swept our opponents 5-0 so on to the finals…Steve

Well done Steve and best of luck for the final buddy!!

Severiano Ballesteros, the great golfer, died on May 7 aged 54.

He was an outstanding player and greatly loved by the golfing community.

Seve was born in the North of Spain in a small fishing village and was the fifth son of a dairy farmer. He came from a sporting family with three of his brothers as pro golfers, as was his mother’s brother, and his father was a rower.

At the age of nine he worked as a golf caddie and as a keen player, he would sneak on to the golf course at night to practice and then would do the same on the beach during the day.

He took part in his first caddies’ championship aged 10 and came first in the same event 2 years later. From then on all he did was practice in the family barn and at nights and on the golf course (this time with permission)at night and left school at the age of 14 to concentrate on his game.

All of his great achievements and successes have been documented in the press all over the world. Seve had flair, charisma and was a joy to watch. He truly loved the game and made it all the more enjoyable for us to watch. He will be greatly missed.

I got a call from a boy I coached and trained up to the time he went to the the IMG Bollettieri Academy (Agassi, Sampras, Seles, Sharapova, Courier), the other day and funnily enough on the same day someone else told me about a video about how a day at the academy unfolds.

I thought I’d watch it just to see if it was like I remember it when I was invited there as a guest of the player I had “loaned” them.

Watch it below Now I don’t expect many people reading this to relate to the kids in this video but there are lessons to be learnt from what you see.

Leave me some comments below to see if you get what I’m talking about

Watch This Short Video To Improve Your Tennis Volley

To learn how to use your new found volley skills & enhance your doubles game…leave your First Name & Best Email Address & we’ll send you the video “7 of the most asked questions in doubles“

Tennis Volleys: all tennis players should & need to volley and the good news is that it is technically the easiest shot in the game.

The big problem is that so many players spend all their time working on their forehands, backhands & serves (partly because the volley is seen less in the Pro game these days), that the volley takes a back seat and that’s not great because almost all club tennis involves the game of tennis doubles which should involve a lot of volleying to become successful.

Here are 3 simple tips to help you volley like Federer (Olympic doubles champ), Pat Rafter & Pete Sampras and to take your game to new levels.  

Tennis Footwork?

Important?

In the next 90 seconds I’m going to show you the first key reason why footwork for tennis is a critical success component.

Without great footwork (footspeed, balance, agility etc) Federer, Nadal, & Djokovic would not have won all of the Grand Slams (Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon & US Open) over the past few years & would not be the major forces in the game of tennis that they are today!!

Check out the video below.

footwork4tennis.com -For more footwork videos & info

Being the best tennis player you can be IS NOT just about what you can do to others.

Being the best tennis player you can be IS about how much you can take out there on the court and still move forwards.

Now, I don’t know where I first saw that or even if I recalled it correctly but hopefully you get the point.

If you really understand that & take it on board you will do a lot beter than the players adopting this other more popular internal conversation.

Do I try to play my tennis forehand like Nadal?
Do I try to have a single handed backhand like Federer?
Should I try to have a tennis serve like Roddick?
What about a double handed backhand like Andy Murray?
Has Djokovic got the kind of tennis return & volley technique I should be using?

This thought process is flawed because you could have any combination of these players’ shots & still do great………however, if you had very little of the first statement you would really struggle to play anywhere near your best.

Winning tennis matches & your best tennis is achieved on a regular basis by what you do in the head & the mind….NOT whose forehand style you have.

Do you have a statement that defines your best tennis???

Also, there is a limited time offer on Beat All The Tennis Players You Want which is my best selling Special Report.  There are a host of bonuses that come with it at no extra cost so check it out if you want to know about game planning and matchplay with a purpose – before the offer ends!!

Breaking through to your best ever tennis is as simple as tracing a few simple steps that others who have been successful before you have marked out.

As someone who has studied performance success over a number of years, I have seen that in among the heap of individual traits that exist (Federer is different to Nadal who again is different to Djokovic) there are a number of common traits that the successful players have that seems to separate them from the pack.

If you can tap into these you to will elevate your performance to………..Your Tennis Breakthrough!!!

Check out the quick video I have made for you that outlines these traits & strategies.

If you want to know more about breaking through to your best tennis & how I can help you activate your personal performance strategies just fill in the boxes below.

If there is one area of tennis footwork that is the most misunderstood it would be the split step.

Most players have heard about it, but very few players use it correctly.

Here is a video to dispel a rumour & show you when you should be split stepping.

For more info to help you with your footwork for tennis – Click HERE