The Articles

Parents often understand something about learning that coaches can forget. They do not make walking easy. They make trying safe.

A player challenged one of my practice designs, and I was genuinely glad he did. But it also reminded me that inviting questions means becoming better at explaining the why behind the work.

I often leave coaching sessions with more questions than answers. That used to feel like a weakness, but I am starting to see it as one of the habits I most want to protect.

A student asked if he could spend the session exploring a two-handed forehand. What followed made me question how often we stop players from finding their own tennis before they ever get the chance.

When a player says they have no plan and wants to practise more patterns, it is worth thinking carefully about what those two things actually are. A pattern and a plan are not the same, and the difference matters more than we usually give it credit for.

Online coaching content is one of the most democratising forces in tennis. But the way claims are framed shapes how people learn — and that comes with a real responsibility.

When I joined the group in Tomiño, people did not just tell me what I had done wrong. They told me what I should have done to beat them — and then expected me to use it.

Aoi Ito reached the WTA top 130 without power, without an academy background, and with a game built almost entirely on tactics and touch. She sees tennis as a video game — and it works.

We celebrate the courage to suffer — to run, to defend, to stay patient. But there is another kind of courage on a tennis court: the courage to act. It deserves to be seen.

When practice removes everything that makes a match difficult — the opponent, the decisions, the pressure — it should not be surprising when things fall apart under real conditions.

When someone new picks up a racket, I do not mention forehand or backhand. We just start playing. What emerges is a movement solution — and that moment never stops being wonderful.

Before technique, before drills, there is a question that matters more than almost anything else in coaching: why is this person here?

When a child steps onto a court in a competitive match, they are managing technique, tactics, score, nerves — and they are the referee. What are we actually asking them to do?

Before someone ever learns a forehand, do they first have to learn how to enter the tennis world? For many people, that entry point is harder than it should be.

There is a version of tennis that almost nobody talks about — simple, accessible, and worth protecting. And because it is so accessible, it can reach people who might never have found it through a traditional sport pathway.