Read Jak's tennis articles, featured bi-monthly, in Charlotte Harbor's #1 magazine.
- December, 2015 Tennis: No Longer A Data Dinosaur - Match "tracking," as it used to be called, and now referred to as "analytics," has been around since coaches had paper and pencil. Yet, until only fairly recently, tennis lagged far behind mainstream sports' long embrace of statistics as an integral part of their cultures, including fan appeal........
[read more - PDF] - October, 2015 Invasion of the Pickleballers - Upon arriving at the eight new state-of-the-art pickleball courts at
Gilchrist Park in Punta Gorda, a player coming off the courts approached with a smile and asked, “Are you coming over to the dark side?” Cindy Morrell had been a longtime tennis player, playing team
tennis at a solid level for a number of clubs in the area, including the decades old, sadly recently closed Fishermen’s Village Racquet Club
clay court facility among others.......
[read more - PDF] - July, 2015 The Power of You - On a daily basis it always comes back to repeating Rod Laver's
take on the game's inherent conundrum – it's a simple game, but it's
not an easy one – when trying to ease the re-occurring frustrations of
aspiring higher club players. Sure, everyone gets to taste the absolute
wonder of a perfect-shot-making storm every now and then, often
subconsciously conning yourself, albeit well intentioned, that it can
and should be your norm......
[read more - PDF] - March, 2015 Blind Tennis...Playing by Ear - Sooner or later, just about everyone who plays the game realizes that watching the ball is absolutely the holy grail of tennis – the difference maker, if you’re going to have any shot at playing your A-game. Ed Rice, an older gentleman I knew in Lake Placid, NY, who played well for years with a patch over his glass eye, was a master at it. What he could do on the court was both amazing and something to admire since without one’s normal binocular vision – both eyes working in concert – depth perception, a hugely important component in tracking flying tennis balls, was completely undermined. Read on.....
[read more - PDF] - January, 2015 First You Relax, Then You Do Nothing - II wish that was an original line. It’s not. A former frequent student,
one Mickey Suarez, rattled that off to me in Spanish with a huge smile of satisfaction a number of years ago after a game epiphany session. Mickey was a fit, physical player, a former eights collegiate rower, who loved to spar from the back of the court, an eager dirt baller. A bad shoulder had put his serving on the backburner. But he was a solid ball striker off both wings. Read on.....
[read more - PDF] - November, 2014 What We Have Here is a Failure to Communicate - It’s not unusual for me to comment supportively to doubles’
players – those especially befuddled by the constantly changing positional responsibilities unique to the doubles game – that, in marked contrast, “a chimpanzee could play singles” considering the devolvement of tennis from the more tactically complex and nuanced game that preceded the arrival of today’s big bang, slam bam equipment. Read on.....
[read more - PDF] - September, 2014 The New Ball Kids - I fondly recall training and coordinating the ball kids for two ATP Paine Webber Super Series tournaments at the Jimmy Connors Tennis Center back in Jimmy's day in Southwest Florida. They had to try out... They dreamed of the chance of being on court right next to their idols. Great kids all, aspiring players, and hilariously mischievous despite my apparently transparent attempt at a John Wayne leadership style, or maybe because of it. Read on.....
[read more - PDF] - July, 2014 Is Tennis Elbow Passé? - When Novak Djokovic, well known for his Gumby-like flexibility, walked onto the famed Monte Carlo Masters center court for his semi-final in April with a mummified-looking right wrist taped all the way up his forearm, it registered as the tipping point for the epidemic of wrist injuries on today's pro tour... Of course backs and shoulders are, and have always been, at risk as well for anyone playing tennis... Hip problems have not been absent from the mix when it comes to ending great runs and even careers. Read on.....
[read more - PDF] - May, 2014 A Star is Born Far Away: Now a Gem in our Midst - Thein Phyu Stadium in Rangoon, a remnant of the 122-year British colonization of Burma – now Myanmar – was filled to capacity on May 9, 1988. Nang Ngwe Lin, "the queen" as she was respectfully known, was defending her national women's singles title for the 9th time. Most were there to both support her and see her route her latest challenger, 18-year-old Julie Biak Cin. They would be disappointed. Read on.....
[read more - PDF] - March, 2014 Natural or Nurtured: The Sport's Science Behind Excellence - What if you could flash forward to the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro and actually walk in the opening ceremonies among some of the world's most elite athletes? What do you think would you see? ...Very convincing evidence for, at the very least, how genetic gifts (varying body types) lend themselves to the potential for superior performance in particular sports. But physique predisposition is not always so discernible. Read on.....
[read more - PDF] - January, 2014 The Club Doubles Game Matrix - When I see all four players standing well inside the service box sharing a single ball to "warm-up" with no apparent rhyme or reason in sight, I know the sign post just ahead says: "Doubles Troubles in Clubland." Dysfunctional warm-up habits notwithstanding, the fact remains that the vast majority of league players in Charlotte County — well over 1,000 strong — or anywhere in the US for that matter, play doubles almost exclusively. Yet, strikingly, many of these devoted players — including some 4.0's and even a few 4.5's — have not fully grasped the fun. Read on.....
[read more - PDF] - November, 2013 It's Now All About the Strings - It's not so much about the racket anymore. Sure, it's still very important to have a stick that matches your swing speed, swing length and fitness profile. Nonetheless, it's really difficult in 2013 to find a badly designed one... So, when I heard '87 Wimbledon champion Pat Cash, no spring chicken at this juncture, say, when asked about the "new strings" in an interview at the 2013 Championships, "I can hit shots now that I couldn't hit when I won here," it really got my attention. And more.....
[read more - PDF] - September, 2013 the Jimmy Connors ENIGMA - Like him or not, Jimmy Connors was instrumental in taking the country club out of tennis in the 70s, plain and simple. Important stuff. Nonetheless, just as he was back then, he remains a polarizing figure. Those who jumped onto that decade's tennis boom bandwagon loved what he represented, and still do. The patrician crowd, tennis'
hierarchy at that time, not so much. ... Just when Connors was seemingly fading into the sunset after coaching Andy Roddick a few years ago, And more.....
[read more - PDF] - July, 2013 An Anatomy of Tennis Motor Skills - They are immediately recognizable. The thoroughbred movers of the game, flowing untethered from one ball to the next, seemingly playing above the court. Big and small, pros and clubbers, no matter — they motor light as feathers. Soft feet? Yes. And more.....
[read more - PDF] - May, 2013 Embracing the Shot-Making Chain - Players serious about their games are absolutely correct when they tell me, with predictable frustration, that "there's too much to think about" when they first become exposed to mechanical ballstriking flaws and are motivated to improve.... [read more - PDF]
- March, 2013 It’s STILL About the Warm-Up - How can so many players, players who love playing tennis, get this so wrong? The mutations that I regularly witness regarding the pre-match warm-up in both United States Tennis Association league play and in friendly matches — despite a universal protocol that has existed for eons — is disturbing and tarnishes the game...... [read more - PDF]
- January, 2013 "Bad Calls... Misperception or Cheating?" - It’s a heated USTA match in clubland. After battling on all cylinders in the hot sun for more than two hours, a point here or there could mean the difference in experiencing, as ABC’s Wide World of Sports would say, “The thrill of victory, or the agony of defeat.” Then, always at the most inopportune time, it happens. Your shot lands squarely on the line, predictably skidding away..... [read more - PDF]
- November, 2012 "The Racket Evolution... or Revolution" - In Lydia Netzer’s recent New York Times Op-Ed piece on the history of space flight technology, “The Man in the Moon,” she reasons: “Most technological advances are actually just improvements. First you had a carriage, then a car, and then an airplane; now you have a jet.” French monks in the 12th century, responsible for tennis’ first incarnation, used gloves to hit hand-made balls against walls..... [read more - PDF]
- September, 2012 "On Being a Cool Operator" - Tennis is indeed extremely emotional, which is the biggest difference maker among its four encompassing components, the other three being technical, physical and mental. Managing one’s emotions in a productive manner is not always easy. Just observe some of the world’s best dealing negatively, and unsuccessfully, with their adverse circumstances.... [read more - PDF]
- July, 2012 "To Grunt or Not To Grunt" - When classically trained sopranos begin sending letters to newspaper sports editors regarding the high-pitched grunting, no, make that screaming, in women’s tennis today, you know that trouble is just around the corner. And well it should, despite the slow moving, ultra-conservative, currently voluntarily toothless hierarchy of the Women’s Tennis Association... [read more - PDF]
- May, 2012 "Bobble Heads & Swivel Heads - A Guide to Understanding ball Watching" - It is well established that there is a big difference between “sight” and “vision,” and that we, at best, utilize only about 30–40 percent of our visual potential. Factor in that athletes in ball sports, at all levels, are required to focus on small spheres moving very quickly through the air... [read more - PDF]
- March, 2012 "Tennis - Wellness - Life" - The examples of professional athlete’s dedication to their overall well being, physically and mentally, are brought to our collective attention at every turn... Not only into the lifestyles of motivated weekday and weekend warriors, but also into the lives of those who might be without a particular sport but are committed to their head-to-toe health, fitness and longevity... [read more - PDF]
- January, 2012 "The Tennis Mind-set Universality" - The beginning of a new year always
symbolically represents an opportunity to
set new goals in life, work, play and tennis! One’s tennis game, always a work in progress, can reap immediate
rewards without even stepping on the court.....
[read more - PDF] - November, 2011 "Defending the Court by Reading their Mail" - The outcome of every single tennis point played is always the
same: the last player or team to successfully hit the ball in the court
wins the point every single time. No ifs, ands or buts about it....
[read more - PDF] - September, 2011 "Sugar Daddy and the Match that Changed the World" During a recent visit to the Tennis Hall of Fame in Newport, R.I.,
I came upon a very prominent display featuring a cheesy yellow
windbreaker boldly emblazoned with “Sugar Daddy,” and it all came
rushing back...
Bobby Riggs, aka the Sugar Daddy, was widely known...
[read more - PDF] - July, 2011 "Playing with a Live Arm" - We’ve all seen it. Junior players barely over 5 feet tall, weighing in at 100 pounds with string bean arms and legs, launching shots off the forehand or backhand side with startling power.
[read more - PDF] - May, 2011 "NTRP and the Health of the Game" -...launched by the United States Tennis Association in 1980,
and now an integral component of both inter-club team play and individual tournament competition, is
not without its flaws.
[read more - PDF] - March, 2011 "Apprehensive Breaths" - The usually gregarious Cyndi Mehl was uncharacteristically introspective, and clearly nervous, too. Fair enough. It was her debut match...
[read more - PDF] - January, 2011 "SERVING THE BOMB" -
Wouldn’t it be nice to walk up to the line, take that deep breath, and then reach into your serving back pocket to deliver a scorching heater?
[read more - PDF] - November, 2010 "The Joy of
PRACTICE - The forgotten beauty and intrinsic value of solo practice." In this age of ever-expanding organized play ... the pure joy and satisfaction that can be experienced through practice, with a partner or completely by yourself, has an increasingly feint pulse.
[read more - PDF] - September, 2010 "Playing Within Yourself: The art of maximizing shot effectiveness while minimizing errors" Maximizing shot making effectiveness while simultaneously minimizing unforced errors is the end-all to performing at one's peak.
[read more - PDF] - July, 2010 "Two on 2: How to make the most of team tennis" I've been maintaining for years that a chimpanzee could be trained to play singles. Doubles, however, is an entirely different animal, to say the very least.
[read more - PDF] - May, 2010 "How To Be A Solid Competitor" The announcing team, impressed with [Stephan] Robert's break-out performance, succinctly described his game this way: "No real weapons, but he competes so well." Yes, you can be successful at any level by being extremely difficult to beat by always competing well.
[read more - PDF] - March, 2010 "Soft Power - It doesn't take immense physical effort to hit a heavy ball." I've never seen virtuoso violinist Joshua Bell play tennis, but I know he does. I also know that he gets it. In comparing his artistry with striking a tennis ball, he observed, "Both require immense concentration and mental focus. Physically, when one draws a sound with the bow, relaxation is the key. Technique is more important than physical strength. Often, the harder you press, the less sound comes out."
[read more - PDF] - January, 2010 "Breathing Equals Better" A few years back, Joe Obidegwa, an outstanding pro from Naples, joined me at Gilchrist Park in Punta Gorda for a USTAsponsored grass roots program for young juniors. He offered a unique perspective on the indispensable nature of breathing and how it significantly can improve one's game...
[read more - PDF] - November, 2009 "No Feet, No Game, No Future" When I first heard Lawn Tennis Association British pro Steve Heron say exactly that to an obviously frustrated student who was unable to fathom why he was struggling despite Heron's repeated and crystal clear analysis, it immediately struck a chord for me.
[read more - PDF] - September, 2009 "Putting a Face on Your Game" Nearly everyone is familiar with the term "body language" as it relates to everyday life. Many people, especially those who play sports, also recognize its significance as it relates to athletic performance.
[read more - PDF] - July, 2009 "Battling the 3-Headed Monster: How to survive the hot summer heat on the court" It comes as no surprise to anyone who lives in Florida that the men's and women's professional tours do not schedule tournaments here during the summer months — too hot, too humid, too sunny!
[read more - PDF] - May, 2009 "MAXIMIZING the Health Benefits of Tennis" I can't think of another activity that can keep you fit, from head-to-toe, in your post-school years like tennis. Frequent tennis players of all ages, including those playing mostly doubles but playing it dynamically, enjoy a unique health advantage over their sedentary peers.
[read more - PDF] - March 2009 "Getting the Warm-Up Right" I have no idea why so many players perceive the warm-up as a waste of time, especially those playing doubles. Why rush through the warm-up in order to play a lousy first set?
[read more - PDF] - January 2009 "Playing Nice: Local tennis expert stresses the importance of playing well with others, especially your spouse!" You would never expect the legendary Rod "Rocket" Laver, the only player to ever win all four Grand Slams in one calendar year twice, to weigh-in on the ever delicate and potentially volatile subject of husband-wife doubles.
[read more - PDF]
(PDF Reader needed to open some files. [Click here] to get the free download.)