Ian’s Blog

Increasingly the Essential Tennis Forums are a wonderful place for tennis enthusiasts everywhere to gather and share their problems, triumphs, and other thoughts about tennis. That is where the subject for this blog comes from, it's a question written there by Darius, who goes by Dariusn in the forums. He wrote and said:"I noticed recently

Over the past few months I've had a topic running through my head that I really want to get out there in the open. It's one of many topics that I'm writing about as it pertains specifically to tennis, however the lesson can be applied to just about anything in life. That's one of the

There are two very general, main types of tennis players out there. One group is happy to play for the sheer enjoyment of it. Whether it be the exercise, socializing with friends, or just having something to do to get them out of the house. Group number two plays for the challenge of it. This

I recently got this question from Chris in Maryland via the website:"Flexibility: every time you see djokovic play, a commentator will mention how flexible he is and how much that helps his game. How do you think flexibility fits into tennis, and how could one work on being more flexible?"Great question Chris. At first glance

Anybody who has played a single match in an organized tournament knows the feeling of pressure and nervousness well. It doesn't matter if you're ahead or behind, in the opening round or in the finals, anybody who tells you they don't ever get nervous either isn't human, or is full of crap.This feeling of nervousness

Over the past several weeks there have been several questions submitted for the podcast on mental toughness, fighting anxiety and nerves, and tightening up on certain strokes during a tennis match or even practice. The mental game is a huge part of tennis, and something that truely affects every player, so it's obviously of huge

While on your quest looking for single dominance there are a a myriad of different things you can focus on to try and gain the upper hand against your opponents. Ground strokes, volleys, serves, overheads, etc. Within each of those specific strokes there are many factors that will decide whether or not it will be

The purpose of improvement to any part of your game is to win more points right? Well today I'd like to write to you about the types of improvements that are going to make the biggest difference in how many points, games, and matches that you win. The average recreational level player assumes the best

Hello and welcome to the Essential Tennis Blog!Today's blog topic was submitted by a listener of the Essential Tennis Podcast, and his question brings up a topic I feel strongly about. Ahmed wrote to me this week and asked:"Hi IanI read this on a lot on different forums. Could you elaborate on the straight arm