Tennis Student Brian Before and After Instruction

Tennis student Brian is highlighted in this Dartfish video analysis side by side a pro tennis player before ACE technical instruction in February 2009. This is followed by Brian’s advanced technique after one lesson of coaching with Bud Cox.
Every now and then an adult league tennis player contacts me to help take his or her game to a higher level. This was the case with Brain. He contacted me about doing some tennis lessons to prepare him for his league season. He wanted to make his forehand bigger and his backhand more effective. He also wanted to work on a better second serve.

It’s a lot of fun when an adult that has had “millions” of lessons comes to me with the idea of taking his or her game to the next level. I’ve found that many say they want this but in reality they don’t want to “change.” I talk with the client in terms of “enhancing” what they’re already doing.

When a student like Brian is open to making some big strides in his tennis technique then we can make some good progress. Brian listens well and attempts to apply the reference points that I highlight for his particular tennis stroke. This along with "video evidence" usually convinces the adult that some “change” would be beneficial.

We did some minor tweaks to enhance Brian’s tennis technique. He is confident that he can go out and apply this advanced technique to his weekend matches. In fact, after the first lesson he reported that his second serve was more effective in his match during the subsequent weekend. I sent him the Dartfish video and he said, “You can really see a difference in the forehand before and after and the volleys.”

Notice that his forehand racket hand is higher on the second take, so he is using more gravity for a bigger tennis stroke and more rotation. He also uses a better gravity drop on his backhand by having the racket up "45 degrees to the sky" in his "number 1 position."

Brian’s most obviously improvement might be on the forehand and backhand volleys. He keeps the racket head up on the forehand volley ending, which gives him more control. This will be critical for his upcoming doubles matches. On the backhand volley Brain gets a much better coil after the instruction, and he extends to the ball with both arms straight on the ending for more power.

Tennis student Brian needed to get the tennis serve toss to "12 o’clock" for the contact point. We worked on a better coil of the shoulders (like throwing a javelin), and exploding into the court by "rolling the knees forward" and extending the legs. He is getting better with each lesson. Match play under pressure has helped accelerate his improvement.

Return from Tennis Student Brian to Tennis Student

Return from Tennis Student Brian to Ace Tennis Coach