Writing on
tennis & life.

He hated tennis. Played it for thirty years. Won everything. That paradox taught me more about motivation than any coaching manual.

Everyone has an opinion. Here's mine, and why it changed over the years.

Why I stayed, what I love about it, and the underrated tennis scene that most people don't know about.

The highest skill in tennis isn't hitting — it's anticipation. How to train the thing that can't be drilled directly.

What W. Timothy Gallwey got right about Self 1 and Self 2 — and why I teach it to every student on day one.

Everyone blames the toss. The toss is rarely the problem. Here's what I actually see when I watch students serve.

Most people waste their limited court time on unstructured rallying. Here's how to make 45 minutes count.

Nicolas Winding Refn made a film with almost no dialogue. It's one of the most useful things I've watched for thinking about presence on a tennis court.

The shot isn't broken. The position is. Why I spend more time on movement than technique in my early sessions.

Luca Guadagnino made a tennis movie that understands the sport better than most documentaries. Almost.

Adults bring ego, history, and real motivation. Kids bring energy, fearlessness, and zero patience. Both are harder than they look.

Why topspin exists, how to generate it, and why most intermediate players produce far less of it than they think.

What I got wrong, what surprised me, and the lesson I had to learn twice.

Pre-match anxiety isn't the enemy. It's information. Here's how I teach students to read it.

Everyone glamorizes the one-hander. Here's a defense of the shot that actually wins more points at every level below tour.

A personal, opinionated list. Not comprehensive. These are the courts I actually return to.

I've watched a lot of great players. Federer showed me something different — an aesthetic standard I try to hold my teaching to.

Most drills practiced in isolation fall apart when the game gets real. These five don't. Here's why.

If I could fix one thing in every student's game without touching technique, it would be grip pressure. It affects everything.

Losing gracefully is a skill. It's also underrated as a path to improvement. Some thoughts from years of watching players win and lose.

I've resisted writing this post for a year because morning routine content is exhausted. But people keep asking, so here it is.

Most players treat the return as defense. The best returners in the world treat it as an opportunity. The gap is mental, not physical.

For recreational players, the off-season is usually just 'winter.' Here's how to actually use it to come back sharper.

Baseline grinding isn't passive. Understanding when to wait and when to attack is one of the highest-leverage skills in tennis.

A question I've been asked many times. The answer has changed. Here's where I've landed.