Today I spoke with Dan Waldman, a world champion tennis player. Dan, who is 60 years old, regularly competes in national and international tennis tournaments and ends up winning most of them. Despite working as an attorney at Arnold and Porter, Dan is also dedicated to his tennis and his training. This is why he continues to tear it up on the Senior Circuit. Dan talked to me about his training and tennis playing frequency, the importance of stretching, his diet, his experiences playing tennis fo...
Jun 03, 2016•39 min
On today's episode, I discuss 7 reasons that caused me to lose my match in a men's open tournament this past weekend. Analyzing your losses and figuring out what to improve is one of the most important things you can do for your tennis game. After I lost, I was more motivated than ever to ramp up my training and play better tennis. I walked through my matches in the tournament and discovered 7 crucial mistakes that I made before and during my match against the #4 seed. Despite our best intention...
May 26, 2016•33 min
Today's guest on The Tennis Files Podcast is master racquet technician Tim Strawn. Tim is the Executive Director of The International Alliance of Racquet Technicians. He has an extensive amount of stringing and racquet knowledge, and has strung racquets at some of the best professional tournaments in the world, including Wimbledon, the U.S. Open, and the Sony Ericsson Open. Tim created the grandslamstringers.com website and message board, which evolved into the International Alliance of Racquet ...
May 19, 2016•1 hr 52 min
My guest today is my friend and ATP coach Othmane Garma. Othmane coaches Treat Huey, who with Max Mirnyi, is the #3 doubles team in the world. Treat is ranked #26 on the ATP doubles tour and he spoke with me on Episode 7 of The Tennis Files Podcast. I first met Othmane as a junior player in the Mid-Atlantic area. Othmane was a tough and powerful junior and college player whose love for the game pushed him towards the coaching profession. On the show, Othmane and I discussed how he got into coach...
May 13, 2016•1 hr 33 min
My guest today is ATP Pro Jesse Witten. Jesse has been ranked as high as #163 in the world and reached the 3rd round of the 2009 US Open, where he took a set off tennis superpower Novak Djokovic. Jesse has also played in the main draws of the French Open and Wimbledon. He reached the final of the NCAA Division I Championships as a freshman at the University of Kentucky and was its first 5-time ITA All-American (4 singles, 1 doubles). I first noticed Jesse back in the juniors when he played and w...
May 05, 2016•38 min
Today's guest is rising WTA tennis pro Sophie Chang. At only 18 years of age, Sophie reached career high rankings of #569 in singles and #283 in doubles this week. Sophie is very well-spoken, intelligent, and mature beyond her years. We discussed how she went from not winning a match as a 7 year-old when she first started competing to becoming a top-ranked junior and then a professional tennis player. Sophie also talked to me about her training, diet, and how she deals with the ups and downs on ...
Apr 28, 2016•1 hr 12 min
My guest today is Jeff Rothschild, a Registered Dietitian (RD) and NSCA Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist (CSCS) with a Master’s degree in Nutritional Science. Jeff’s clients include Mike Bryan, Stefan Kozlov, and James Valentine from Maroon 5. He has also worked with other elite ATP and NCAA tennis players, endurance athletes, boxers, swimmers, and a number of touring musicians at TriFit in Santa Monica, CA. On this episode, Jeff gives our audience a ton of amazing advice about nut...
Apr 20, 2016•1 hr 36 min
Today I host a solo episode discussing an aspect of tennis that is widely ignored and severely underutilized: pre-match strategy. Tennis players often arrive to a match without thinking through the strategies and point patterns which will maximize their success on the court. Players should always consider the strengths and weaknesses of their own game, their opponent's game, and formulate a strategy based on these considerations that will give them the best chance to win the match. A pre-match g...
Apr 13, 2016•30 min
On Episode 12 of The Tennis Files Podcast, I spoke with Dave Fish, coach of Harvard University Men's Tennis, about the Universal Tennis Rating system (UTR). UTR provides tennis players worldwide a common scale to determine their level of play based on actual match results without regard for age, gender or where the matches are played. Dave also discussed audience-submitted questions regarding what it is like to be on the Harvard Men's Tennis Team. The UTR system helps facilitate more competitive...
Apr 06, 2016•1 hr 10 min
Allistair McCaw is today's guest on The Tennis Files Podcast. Allistair is a world class sports performance specialist and owner of The McCaw Method. He has trained some of the best tennis players in the world, including Kevin Anderson, Svetlana Kuznetsova, Xavier Malisse, Bernard Tomic, and Jelena Dokic. Allistair talks about the importance of setting standards when working with athletes and parents, and how playing other sports will make us better tennis players. He explains that we first have...
Mar 30, 2016•53 min
Doug Neagle, Head Coach of the Towson University Women’s Tennis Program, talked to me about the recruiting process, important rules that parents, coaches, and players must follow, and the keys to getting a scholarship to play college tennis. You will learn about eligibility, the best way to communicate with coaches, how scholarships are given to players, and excellent resources to help you navigate your way through the complex path of college tennis recruiting and scholarships. Learn more about ...
Mar 23, 2016•1 hr 26 min
ATP Pro Jason Jung is ranked #245 in the world. He is a regular on the Challenger Tour and is working hard to make the main draws of ATP and Grand Slam events. Jason spoke with me about his junior career, college tennis, and his plans to reach the next level in his tennis career. He also answered several questions from TFP listeners. Jason discussed his love for competition, how he dominated in the juniors, and how his decision to play tennis for the University of Michigan helped better prepare ...
Mar 15, 2016•41 min
ATP Pro Collin Johns talks about his experiences playing on the Futures Tour. Futures events are lower-tier professional tournaments where tennis players grind out wins to move up in the rankings. Collin has picked up ATP points in Futures events all over the world, including places like South Africa, Nicaragua, Israel, and Mexico. Collin spoke to me about the difficulties, expenses, and problems that he faces playing these Futures events. Collin also told me how he got his start playing tennis,...
Mar 08, 2016•44 min
Treat Huey, ranked #30 in the world on the ATP doubles tour, is my guest on today’s episode of The Tennis Files Podcast. At the 2016 Australian Open, Treat reached the quarterfinals of the men’s doubles with Max Mirnyi and the semifinals of the mixed doubles with Andreja Klepac. He also reached the men’s doubles quarterfinals of the 2013 US Open and the 2014 Australian Open. Treat is a friend of mine who I met while playing junior tournaments in the Mid-Atlantic section. He is a talented athlete...
Mar 02, 2016•43 min
Tomaz Mencinger from feeltennis.net shows us a simpler way to learn and play tennis more efficiently with his unique feel-based approach to the game. Tomaz talks about how spending thousands of hours hitting down the middle of the court with intention and focusing on biomechanics helped him develop superior technique. He debunks several myths among the tennis community and helps us understand how and why we unnecessarily end up overcomplicating how we think about hitting a tennis ball. Tomaz als...
Feb 24, 2016•1 hr 7 min
Today on TFP I spoke with Punch Maleka, former ATP professional. Punch hails from South Africa and he told me about his experiences training in his home country that equipped him with the tools and mental attitudes to succeed on the tour. He has defeated several top 300 players while he was a professional, and is still crushing it in mens open money tournaments at the age of 37. Punch recently defeated two ATP players, one currently ranked in the top #250. Punch also coaches students at the Gulp...
Feb 17, 2016•1 hr 5 min
Today on TFP I talk about 10 crucial concepts that every tennis player needs to understand and implement in order to maximize their tennis potential. Most tennis players don’t succeed because they lack the commitment to one or more of these principles. Change the way you approach the game at a higher level and you will be well on your way to becoming a great tennis player. In this episode, you will learn how to: Remove self-imposed limitations Turn fear into strength Focus on what matters most O...
Feb 09, 2016•32 min
Our guest today is former ATP professional Paul Harsanyi. Paul talks us through his training, how he was able to rise to the professional level, and the key differences between the top-ranked players. Paul reached a career high ranking of 751 in the world. Paul has also been extremely successful in his career after tennis, thanks to the principles that he learned while training to become an elite tennis player. In this episode, we will cover: How to handle pressure The importance of playing agai...
Feb 01, 2016•36 min
The Tennis Files Podcast is here! Over the past couple months, I realized how amazing it would be to start a podcast devoted to helping you improve your tennis game. Podcasts are awesome because people can listen to them from just about anywhere. During December and January, I read books, articles, and watched video tutorials on how to start podcasting. Then I recorded my first episode, deleted it, recorded it, deleted that one too, and finally recorded one that I liked. Third time is the charm,...
Feb 01, 2016•29 min
My guest on this episode is Keith Puryear, Head Coach of the Navy Women’s tennis team. Keith has over 560 wins as a coach at the Division I level, and he was my college tennis coach when I played at UMBC. He has been recognized as the USPTA Mid-Atlantic Section College Coach of the Year, and the Wilson ITA Atlantic Region Coach of the Year. Keith has taught so many people, including me, how to be great tennis players and even better people by focusing on the process and improving. In this episod...
Feb 01, 2016•48 min
