The Tennis Files Podcast

On Episode 218 of The Tennis Files Podcast, I spoke with strength and conditioning coach Dean Hollingworth about how to warm up and strength training efficiently and effectively for maximum tennis performance.Dean has over twenty-five years of experience as a strength and conditioning coach. He has established himself as a highly regarded author, speaker, and fitness and performance consultant. Dean published the Baselinepower video series, which addresses all aspects of fitness training for tennis players. Dean’s work with world-class athletes has given him a deep understanding of the requirements and balance for high performance, helping the athletes he works with develop all facets of athleticism. Dean is currently the Director of fitness and sports performance at Club Sportif Cote-de-Liesse in Montréal, where he works primarily with high performance tennis players. On the show, you’ll learn the best warm up exercises before playing, when and how long you should warm up, Dean's top strength training exercises for tennis players, how to structure your weekly strength training sessions, the biggest mistakes tennis players make in the gym, common myths about warming up and lifting weights, and much more!Dean offers tennis specific fitness classes on Tuesday and Thursday at 12 noon Eastern time. And they are online so you can participate from anywhere in the world! To join, contact Dean on Instagram or his website (see contact info/links below).I hope you enjoy my interview with Dean! Let us know what you think about this episode in the comments below!And be sure to subscribe to Tennis Files to receive the latest tennis content to improve your game straight to your inbox!LINKS:Deanhollingworth.comDean’s InstagramBaselinepower.comITPA Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On Episode 217 of The Tennis Files Podcast, performance coach and yoga certified instructor Cheri Cope reveals how yoga can positively impact your tennis game by strengthening your mind and body.Cheri is a performance and motivational consultant at Cheri Cope, LLC. She received a post-master’s certification in Sports Psychology and a RYT 500hr Yoga Teaching Certification. Her coaching services include helping individual athletes, teams and businesses in the areas of motivation and performance achievement, and those who are in career and life transitions. She has previously worked with Essential Tennis to create yoga instructional content.On the show, you’ll learn how yoga can supercharge your mind and body for better tennis results, the best yoga exercises to perform for tennis players, how much (or little) time you need to commit to yoga to make an impact on your game, how yoga unites the mind and body, the biggest mistakes beginner yoga practitioners make, adjustments that inflexible people should make when practicing yoga, how Cheri has helped her students excel through yoga, and much more!I hope you enjoy my interview with Cheri! Let us know what you think about this episode in the comments below!And be sure to subscribe to Tennis Files to receive the latest tennis content to improve your game straight to your inbox!LINKSchericope.comSubscribe to Cheri’s NewsletterCheri’s YouTube ChannelCheri’s Instagram PageLight on YogaThe Yoga BibleEastern Body - Western Mind, Psychology and the Chakra System Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On Episode 216 of The Tennis Files Podcast, coach Vesa Ponkka will reveal how to find your ideal contact point for more powerful and consistent ball striking.Coach Vesa Ponnka is Senior Director of Tennis at the Junior Tennis Champions Center, home to Frances Tiafoe, Denis Kudla, and numerous other elite players. He was selected as the 2011 USOC National Developmental Coach of the Year and has trained top junior players in the United States and Europe for national, NCAA, ITF and professional competition. Vesa’s students have won numerous professional and national titles, achieved the #1 ITF Junior World Ranking, several #1 USTA National Rankings, and NCAA All-American honors. He also received several certifications including USPTA, PTR, and USTA High Performance.On the show, you’ll learn the benefits of having a good contact point, the different factors that determine your ideal contact point, how a good contact point will help you hit a more powerful and heavier ball, why using your eyes and your brain are the most critical skills for making good contact with the ball, and much more!I hope you enjoy my interview with Vesa! Let us know what you think about this episode in the comments below!And be sure to subscribe to Tennis Files to receive the latest tennis content to improve your game straight to your inbox!LINKS:Junior Tennis Champions CenterGet A Grip PodcastThe Tennis Files Podcast Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On Episode 215 of The Tennis Files Podcast, you’ll learn how to reduce mishits, strike the ball cleaner, and anticipate where your opponent’s shot is going.There are three phases you need to learn when the ball is in play: (1) tracking (2) zooming and (3) scanning. A lot of players end up tracking the ball when they should be scanning the opponent instead or vice versa, and many don’t zoom on the ball long enough. These terms may sound confusing, which is why on this episode I’ll walk you through each phase, drills you can do to improve them, how to analyze your opponent using the 4 Ps, and much more!I really hope you enjoy this episode! If you found it helpful, let me know in the comments below!And be sure to subscribe to Tennis Files to receive the latest tennis content to improve your game straight to your inbox!Tennis Summit 2021The Tennis Files Podcast Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On Episode 214 of The Tennis Files Podcast, I spoke with coach Steve Smith about how to develop a great base of tennis fundamentals.Coach Steve Smith spent many years learning and coaching under tennis legends Vic Braden and Welby Van Horn. He founded the Great Base tennis player development system, which comprises a complete system of player development that emphasizes character, learning, and self-discipline. With over 48+ years of tennis coaching experience, Steve is also willing to share his knowledge through The Great Base Tennis Podcast with Andy Fitzell.On the show, you’ll learn how to transform your strokes, the best advice Steve has learned from tennis legends Vic Braden and Welby Van Horn, how to improve your toss and serve technique, why we have weaker backhands, how to win club level doubles matches, and much more!I hope you enjoy my interview with Steve! Let us know what you think about this episode in the comments below!And be sure to subscribe to Tennis Files to receive the latest tennis content to improve your game straight to your inbox!Great Base TennisThe Great Base Tennis Podcast Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On Episode 213 of The Tennis Files Podcast, I spoke with New York Times correspondent and author Christopher Clarey about his new book: “The Master: The Long Run and Beautiful Game of Roger Federer.”Chris is a top international sportswriter and has been a New York Times correspondent for over 25 years. He has covered Roger Federer since the beginning of the Swiss Maestro’s professional career and has interviewed him exclusively more than any other journalist since Federer’s rise to prominence. Chris has just published a new book, “The Master: The Long Run and Beautiful Game of Roger Federer,” this week. It focuses on the pivotal people, places, and moments in Federer's long and rich career and features hundreds of perspectives from him and the many people he played, trained, and interacted with since his early days in tennis.I was fortunate enough to read an advanced copy of Chris’s book and have thoroughly enjoyed its detailed insights, entertaining stories, unique humor, and the many teachable principles that we can all integrate into our tennis games and our lives. As a result, I very highly recommend that you pick up a copy of “The Master: The Long Run and Beautiful Game of Roger Federer” here. On the show, you’ll learn the critical decisions that Federer made from a young age which shaped his legendary career, the influence of coaches Peter Carter and fitness trainer Pierre Paganini on Federer’s game and fitness, how working with a sports psychology took his results to the next level, how he manages to live in the present, funny stories about Federer’s mischievous other half, and much more!I hope you enjoy my interview with Chris! Let us know what you think about this episode in the comments below!And be sure to subscribe to Tennis Files to receive the latest tennis content to improve your game straight to your inbox!LINKSThe Master: The Long Run and Beautiful Game of Roger FedererChris’s Twitter Page Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On Episode 212 of The Tennis Files Podcast, you’ll learn how to develop a consistent second serve, how to anticipate where your opponent’s shot is going, my favorite pressure drills, and more on this Q&A edition of the show!I receive tons of questions from the Tennis Files audience on technique, strategy, fitness, and the mental game. On today’s episode, I’ll answer nine of them based on what I’ve learned from decades of playing and from the top pros and experts I’ve interviewed on my podcast and summits. Big thanks to the Tennis Files community and to everyone who has sent me questions!I really hope you enjoy the show! If there is a particularly useful piece of advice that you discovered from it, let me know in the comments below.And be sure to subscribe to Tennis Files to receive the latest tennis content to improve your game straight to your inbox.LINKS:TFP 210: Serve Technique Masterclass with James LudlowTopspin ProMovement Triangle Video Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On Episode 211 of The Tennis Files Podcast, former WTA pro Vania King discusses the ups and downs of a professional tennis career and her latest project Serving Up Hope.Vania reached career high rankings of #3 in the world in doubles and #50 in the world in singles on the WTA Tour. She also won two Grand Slams, winning the 2010 Wimbledon and US Open Doubles Championships with partner Yaroslava Shvedova. Vania currently works as the Community Development Ambassador for WTA Charities, the philanthropic arm of the WTA, and is a Director At Large on the USTA’s Board of Directors. Vania co-founded Serving Up Hope with former Chilean #1 ranked tennis player Hans Podlipnik to help give more human beings access to health, happiness, and equal opportunity through tennis.On the show, you’ll learn how to improve your mental health, the most impactful technical changes Vania has made to her game, how to navigate the ups and downs of the pro tour, winning doubles strategies, how to avoid injuries through tennis fitness training, the importance of routines, Vania’s inspiration for co-founding Serving Up Hope and how you can help, and much more!I hope you enjoy my interview with Vania! Let us know what you think about this episode in the comments below!And be sure to subscribe to Tennis Files to receive the latest tennis content to improve your game straight to your inbox!Servinguphope.orgServing Up Hope FacebookServing Up Hope Instagram Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On Episode 210 of The Tennis Files Podcast, coach James Ludlow and Mehrban take a deep dive into the toughest shot to master with the greatest rewards: the serve.James is a Certified Tennis Instructor at Online Tennis Instruction (OTI). In 2021, James  attended a tennis clinic with the Head Coach and Founder of OTI, Florian Meier. Since then, he has developed a huge passion for the technical side of tennis and had spent thousands of hours studying and testing what works and what doesn’t when it comes to stroke biomechanics. James analyzes OTI students’ strokes and creates instructional videos for OTI’s Youtube channel.On the show, you’ll learn how to improve your throwing motion, how to develop a consistent toss, whether to use the platform or pinpoint stance, the key to having a great kick serve, how to avoid overrotation, what part of the serve tennis players struggle with most and how to fix it, and much more!I hope you enjoy my interview with James! Let us know what you think about this episode in the comments below!And be sure to subscribe to Tennis Files to receive the latest tennis content to improve your game straight to your inbox!Online Tennis Instruction YouTube ChannelServe Slow Motion Video - Right to Left MovementFacebook OTI PageJames' LinkedIn Page Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On Episode 209 of The Tennis Files Podcast, you’ll learn the 5 keys to mastering an explosive forehand.On the show, you’ll learn how to execute a proper unit turn, how to uncoil your body efficiently, the most common forehand power killers, how the contact point varies for different grips, drills to develop powerful acceleration, and much more!I really hope you enjoy this episode! If you found it helpful, let me know in the comments below!And be sure to subscribe to Tennis Files to receive the latest tennis content to improve your game straight to your inbox!FH Power Challengemehrban@tennisfiles.comThe Tennis Files Podcast Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices