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Bigger Better Tennis - Paul Dale

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The drill that stops stress-avoidance disguised as errors

Hi Reader, Even at 14 years old, she could volley with control and assurance—even against a male pro player hitting aggressively at her. Then, three months later, she started dumping routine approach shots into the net. Shots she'd made hundreds of times before. What had changed? Her technique was identical... I had seen this happen before and I identified the root cause of the her errors quickly. This wasn't a technical problem. It was stress avoidance disguised as poor execution. I see this...

Hi Reader, This weekend, a 14-year-old junior I work with in Bangkok—let's call him "M"—was up 5-2 in a first-set tiebreak against the best player in the country. He'd been in this position dozens of times before. And dozens of times before, he'd lost. The pattern was always the same: the moment he got close to winning, he'd start trying to end points in two shots. Go for too much. Hand his opponent free points. By 5-5, the match was slipping away. By 6-7, it was already over in his head. But...

Let’s Make This Relationship Even Closer

Hi Reader, For years, I've been writing about tennis philosophy, mental training, and the 3AM methodology. You've been reading, engaging, and supporting this work. Some of you have been with me since the beginning. I truly appreciate the support and encouragement. I've been so focused on creating content that I never made it easy for us to actually work together. I never built a clear path for you to get deeper support from me or how to directly elevate your approach to training. That changes...

The Question You're Not Asking Your player chokes in another match. Your brain starts building: Add a pre-serve routine. Work on second serve placement. Schedule a sports psychology. Change string tension. Six months later, they have 14 technical cues for one serve and more anxiety than when they started. The problem isn't what they lack. It's what's in their way. We are overloading our players with information. Western coaching is built that way - addition. But the best players are carrying...

I hope you're doing great! I want to share a thought with you that might change the way you coach: Are you inadvertently hindering your players' true potential? As coaches, we often believe that creating a comfortable practice environment is the key to building skills and confidence. It makes sense, right? We want our players to feel good and ready for competition. But here's the catch: that comfort can actually be a trap. Imagine this: A player steps onto the court for a match, feeling...

The latest articles, videos, webinars and notices for coaches and players online Watching the French Open this year I was again surprised to see how many points were decided at the net. From someone who remembers the 70+ ball rally's at Roland Garros in the 1980's (yes I'm that old!), it hammered home to me just how much our game continues to evolve. Two players disappointed me over the fortnight. Jannik Sinner and Sasha Zverev showed very little understanding of either playing at net or...