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Classic lessons toc
Comprehensive unified tennis knowledge base — Fundamentals, Stroke Analysis, Reference Library, and more
Classic Lessons
Section Overview
John YandellEditor
There is something euphoric and addictive about a great tennis lesson. Certain teachers have a way of fascinating and exciting their students with their knowledge and presentation skills, inspiring them to reach new levels in how they hit the ball and play the game.
The great pros develop their own personal teaching language that raises teaching tennis to an art form. They create magic everyday on the teaching court.
In this section you have the opportunity to meet some of these pros and learn from them directly. It's the next best thing to visiting their private teaching courts, but without the travel expenses.
The teachers in classic lessons are among the best I've seen at working with students at all levels. They are also personal friends and colleagues with whom I have spent hundreds of hours talking about and studying tennis, sharing input about students, as well as hitting balls and working together on our own games.
I have been lucky enough to work with Kerry Mitchell at our tennis school in San Francisco for the last 15 years. Scott Murphy, widely acknowledged as the top independent teaching pro in Marin County California, has been one of my best friends and practice partners for almost as long.
Scott's lessons present a systematic approach to developing every stroke in the game. Kerry's are more thematically oriented, on topics like rhythm and rally speed, defining open stance, and the pluses and minuses of the various grips. Enjoy their lessons and be sure to let us know what you think on the Tennisplayer bulletin boards. There's also an excellent chance Kerry and Scott will write back!
Chris Lewit
The Maverick Genius of Mallorca: Jofre Porta
Visiting The Rafael Nadal Academy
A First Look at Lake Nona
The Net Game
One Hand Backhand Swing Volley
Two Hand Backhand Swing Volley
Forehand Swing Volley
The Overhead
Building Invincible Volleys: The Israeli Slice versus the Flat Style
The Net Game: Macro Perspective
Future Trends in Tennis
Part 3
Part 2
Part 1
The Spanish Forehand
Pitfalls in Building the Spanish Forehand
Building Racket Speed
Stroke Shaping and Hand Feeding
The Spanish Forehand
Secrets of Spanish Tennis
Suffering
Footwork and Balance
Culture and Infrastructure
Building A World Class One Hander
Disguise
The Forward Swing
Preparation
Evaluating Players
The One versus Two Debate
The Kick Serve
Prehabilitation
Philosophic Issues and Common Issues
Constructing the Kick
Keys to the Kick Serve
Scott Murphy
The Swinging Volleys
Shot to Shot Readiness: Part 2
Shot to Shot Readiness
Two Secrets of Timing
The Overhead
HYPERLINK "Return%20of%20Serve-3%20principles.docx" Return of Serve Part 1
Return of Serve Part2
The Volley
The Volley: Part 1
The Volley: Part 2
The Volley: Types and Tactics
The Volley: Drills and More Drills
The Serve
The Serve Part 1
The Serve Part 2
The Backhand
Backhand Slice
Backhand Preparation
Backhand Completion
The Classic Backhand: Karsten Popp
The High Backhand
The Forehand
Forehand Preparation
Forehand Completion
The Traditional Forehand: A Living Model
The Opposite Arm: Groundstrokes
The Opposite Arm: Other Strokes Part 2
Dealing with the High Ball
Bill Tym
Return of Serve: The Return Swing
Return of Serve: Flexibility, Shot Selection, Split Step
Return of Serve: The First 3 Principles
Paul Hamori, MD
Ball Watching
Part 3 - NEW
Part 2
Part 1
Weston Reese
The Spin Dial
Nick Wheatley
Serving Rhythm and Serving Stances
The 1-2 Rhythm: The Serve
The 1-2 Rhythm: The Backhand Slice
The 1-2 Rhythm: The Single-Handed Backhand
The 1-2 Rhythm: Two Handed Backhand
The 1-2 Rhythm: Forehand
Rocky Lang
The Underhand Serve
Kyle Lacroix
Maximizing Player and Coach Relationships
Part 2
Part 1
Kyle Lacroix
My Mentor
The Overhead: Mentality and Physicality
The Keys to Great Lessons
Kerry Mitchell
True Alignment: One Handed Backhand
True Alignment: Two Handed Backhand
The Return of Serve and Volley: Can It Happen?
Personalilty and Playing Style
The Drop Shot
The Backhand Returns
The Forehand Return
The Pro Overhead
True Alignment
What is Open Stance?
Rhythm and Rally Speed
Neutral Tennis
Measuring Ball Height
Practice, Practice, Practice
Understanding Grips: The Forehand
Understanding Grips: The Backhand
Understanding Grips: The Continental
Running Skills and Your Game
Jeremiah Walsh
The Overhead--Or the In Front of Head?
Trey Waltke
The Backhand Slice Drive
John Craig
Building The One Handed Backhand
Mastering the Slice Backhand: Part 2 - NEW
Mastering the Slice Backhand: Part 1
Developing One Handed Backhand Skills
Defending the High Bounce
Power and Control
The Essential Non-Dominant Hand
Footwork Options and Adaptations
Foundation
John Craig
Modern Forehand: Lag and Snap? Or Lag and Stroke?
Forehand Myth: “Lag and Snap”
Develop the Ideal Ball Toss Height
The Perfect Ball Toss
Grip Pressure
The Buggy Whip Forehand
The Dominant, Non-Dominant Arm
The Truth About "Lag and Snap"
Service Shoulder Power
Calibrating the Toss
Nate Chura
Invisible Greatness
Practice and Dominance
Desire and Discipline
Fitness, Diet, and the Open Mind
Invisible Greatness
Paul Cohen
The Classic Forehand Volley
Don Brosseau
Timing and the Feel of the Racket Head
Timing and the Release of the Swing
Geoff Williams
The Jack Kramer Autograph: A Tale of Hope
Weaponize Your One Handed Backhand
The Tennis Grunt
My Journey with String
The Backhand Overhead
Winning a 4.5 Tournament Over the Age of 50
Paul Fein
The Half Volley
Rod Heckelman
Fast Tennis, Enduro, Zig Zag: 3 Conditioning Drills
Learning to Win Through Practice Pressure
Effective Practice
On Your Mark, Get Set, Go Slow
How to Incorporate the Approach
Rich Berman
One Handed Backhand: Advanced Footwork
The One-Handed Backhand
The Two-Handed Backhand
The Basic and the Advanced Forehand
David Stanisic
Hands Together
Roy Gessford
Coaching High School Tennis
Source: tennisplayer.net archive — Classic Lessons TOC.docx (John Yandell teaching library, 2002-2022). Extracted and rendered as HTML for Tennis Future Lab.