Latest Sidespin Podcast Episodes
Early to Step
Jim McLennan's Essential Tennis Instruction - July 23, 2020 23:10 - Video ★★★★★ - 12 ratingsDownload this Video The most difficult opponent we face is often the “dreaded pusher” – but in spite of this players consistency, this players movement, and often how “poor we think they look” – often the simplest issue here is that their soft floating moon balls deprive you and I of the rhythm w...
Wall to the Ball
Jim McLennan's Essential Tennis Instruction - November 08, 2018 22:06 - Video ★★★★★ - 12 ratingsBoth Roger Federer and Bianca Andreescu square the face to the incoming ball – though still moving forward they have both “aligned the wall to the ball.” Tom Stow often introduced the simplicity of the volley technique by using a stool or chair such that the […]
The Other Side of the Net
Jim McLennan's Essential Tennis Instruction - November 08, 2017 14:47 - Video ★★★★★ - 12 ratingshttp://dg2e30wx7kvei.cloudfront.net/eti_network/ETI_TheOtherSideOfTheNet.mp4 Download this Video Some time ago I was in Sacramento watching the Power Shares tour event – Courier, Sampras, McEnroe and Blake. James Blake beat John McEnroe in the finals – Mac having beaten Courier, and Blake easily ...
Listen to your hits
Jim McLennan's Essential Tennis Instruction - August 12, 2017 11:11 - Video ★★★★★ - 12 ratingsWatching the ball - moving into position - you can always listen to the outcome!
ETI 047 | Will Staying Sideways help you hit up on the serve!
Jim McLennan's Essential Tennis Instruction - August 24, 2016 03:44 - 1 second ★★★★★ - 12 ratingsThe common problem I see at the club, as well as on television, is where the server flexes at the waist at the hit - more or less jackknifing to create a little more ball speed. And this action creates both forward and downward forces - and is generally associated with netted serves.
ETI 046 | Gravity Motion
Jim McLennan's Essential Tennis Instruction - June 15, 2016 03:54 - 1 second ★★★★★ - 12 ratingsAgility = moving quickly and easily. We know when we are gliding, we know when we are moving heavily. Equally, when can see on the adjacent court who moves well and who does not. But often more than strength training or explosive movement, the secret can be in a subtle unweighting where the body...
ETI 045 | Sidespin Serve
Jim McLennan's Essential Tennis Instruction - March 08, 2016 04:11 - 1 second ★★★★★ - 12 ratingsPete Sampras, "I won 7 Wimbledon titles because I had the best second serve in the game." The second serve is about spin that will make the ball curve down as it crosses the net. Yes it may corner the opponent and either swing them wide and out of court, or kick up into their backhand.
ETI 044 l Topspin and the Racquet Drop
Jim McLennan's Essential Tennis Instruction - February 03, 2016 09:55 - 1 second ★★★★★ - 12 ratingsConsider the critical 24 inch hitting zone when creating topspin on a forehand or on a serve – to create this spin the racquet must be swung up from beneath the ball (12 inches) but carry upward after impact (another 12 inches) to create the rolling spin that more and more of us want in […]
ETI 043 | Point of Contact Area of Contact
Jim McLennan's Essential Tennis Instruction - November 11, 2015 04:19 - 1 second ★★★★★ - 12 ratingsBall control – ours is a game of accuracy, of consistency, but equally it is a game of timing for the opponent will send us shots of varying spin, speed, length and difficulty. Timing describes the relation between the incoming ball and the swinging racquet – and certainly the entire game revolve...
ETI 042 | Measure Twice Cut Once
Jim McLennan's Essential Tennis Instruction - October 12, 2015 15:45 - 1 second ★★★★★ - 12 ratingshttps://dg2e30wx7kvei.cloudfront.net/eti_podcast/ETI_042_Measure_Twice_Cut_Once.mp4 The carpenter measures twice to cut once, to make sure the cut is accurate, for if too much is cut off that mistake cannot be undone. In tennis consider measuring as preparing first to the side for the incoming ba...
ETI 041 | Quantum Tennis/Golf
Jim McLennan's Essential Tennis Instruction - July 23, 2015 13:03 - 2 minutes ★★★★★ - 12 ratingsMany interesting parallels have been drawn between the tennis serve and the golf swing. Once the tennis player (or golfer) gets the feel for the mechanical elements of the serve (or golf swing) then rhythm becomes the overriding issue. Does the swing build smoothly and gracefully? Is there econom...
ETI 039 | Improvise (when necessary) on the tennis court
Jim McLennan's Essential Tennis Instruction - May 11, 2015 14:02 - 3 minutes ★★★★★ - 12 ratingsA few years ago I was encouraged to take a class in improvisational theater. It took me months to find the courage (stage fright and more) but I finally enrolled and then thoroughly enjoyed this class within the Stanford continuing studies program.
ETI 038 | Dead Hands
Jim McLennan's Essential Tennis Instruction - April 08, 2015 11:02 - 2 minutes ★★★★★ - 12 ratingsThe 3 R's of tennis - ready, read (where the ball is going) react! As to your reaction - what precisely is your first move? What moves first, what initiates your preparation? Really an important question.
ETI 037 | The Art of Winning
Jim McLennan's Essential Tennis Instruction - March 17, 2015 14:01 - 2 minutes ★★★★★ - 12 ratings80% of the points in professional end with an error, 20% with a winner. As regards unforced errors, if your opponent never misses and is patient as the day is long, would you consider missing a routine forehand in the 12th shot of a rally a forced or unforced error. I am now believing that erro...
ETI 036 | Spin – Changing Two Things at Once
Jim McLennan's Essential Tennis Instruction - February 23, 2015 14:00 - 2 minutes ★★★★★ - 12 ratingsThree factors control your tennis shot - not your feet, not your eyes, not your balance (though all of those do help) but the only three elements are; Angle of the racquet face, Swing Path and Tempo.
Episode 104: Turn up the Quiet...at least above the waist
Gotta Play Tennis - February 19, 2015 01:51 - 13 minutes ★★★★★ - 24 ratingsMaintaining a quiet upper-body above a hyperactive lower one can increase your success at retrieval, control and power on the court
Episode 103: A cut above the rest Down Under
Gotta Play Tennis - January 30, 2015 02:55 - 13 minutes ★★★★★ - 24 ratingsHow the tennis stroke known as the slice can add a dimension of both offense and defense in our shotmaking
Episode 102: Discussing tennis ahead and behind
Gotta Play Tennis - January 11, 2015 16:56 - 54 minutes ★★★★★ - 24 ratingsIn a discussion with Gary Bala of TimelessTennis.net, we reflected on the men's Grand Slam championships of 2014 and considered how those results will affect the coming year on the ATP tour.
ETI 035 | The Dead Spot on the Racquet Face
Jim McLennan's Essential Tennis Instruction - January 08, 2015 14:01 - 3 minutes ★★★★★ - 12 ratingsSwing path, type of spin, power, 3d playback (with Zepp) but perhaps the most interesting as well as the most useful is the data that shows where you make contact on the racquet face. And before going further, one of the most important (IF NOT THE MOST IMPORTANT) skills in the game of tennis is ...
ETI034 | Creating your own Report Card
Jim McLennan's Essential Tennis Instruction - December 09, 2014 20:21 - 4 minutes ★★★★★ - 12 ratingsTake a few moments with the following report card - a method to either evaluate your own skills, or use this with your coach or regular practice partner. The idea is to take a deeper look at your "Use" - the broader issues that influence all you do on court, your awareness, the elements that mak...
ETI 033 | Throwing vs. the Pendulum
Jim McLennan's Essential Tennis Instruction - October 22, 2014 18:04 - 3 minutes ★★★★★ - 12 ratingsConsider the elements in a strong and fluid overhand throw - and how the actions of the hand and elbow can be used or even copied in the modern forehand as well as certainly the serve. Once when racquets were heavy and wooden, we could see (and still see now and then) a type of pendulum swing - ...
ETI 032 | Attitude – the Space between Stimulus and Response
Jim McLennan's Essential Tennis Instruction - September 04, 2014 02:52 - 3 minutes ★★★★★ - 12 ratingsAn excellent book, Man''s Search for Meaning, written by Victor Frankl, serves as a useful guidepost in living but equally when playing on court. When Andy Murray hooked up with Ivan Lendl to capture his two grand slam titles, he was working at the same time with a sports psychologist (the same ...
ETI 031 | Building Self Confidence
Jim McLennan's Essential Tennis Instruction - July 16, 2014 03:32 - 3 minutes ★★★★★ - 12 ratingsOne of Northern California’s legendary teachers, as well as a dear friend and mentor to me, Fred Earle penned the following 5 keys – that he expected his players to answer with a resounding yes, each and every day at the end of practice or a game.
ETI 030 | Forward Spin
Jim McLennan's Essential Tennis Instruction - June 17, 2014 15:53 - 3 minutes ★★★★★ - 12 ratingsSquaring up – Hitting the ball true – precise contact on the back of the ball. We all know about topspin – but have you ever tried to strike the ball with true topspin – where the ball rolls forward – precisely forward? The following drop hit drill will improve your time spent practicing on cou...
ETI 029 | Tap Tap Tap
Jim McLennan's Essential Tennis Instruction - April 25, 2014 15:21 - 2 minutes ★★★★★ - 12 ratingsBalance, holding your finish, placing your weight precisely against the ball. Yes there are many ways to hit the ball, and many ways to play this game, but with all the variety of styles and technique – our best professionals are balanced more often than perhaps we readily notice.
Episode 101: Look to the children for fresh tennis insight
Gotta Play Tennis - April 03, 2014 02:19 - 15 minutes ★★★★★ - 24 ratingsChildren and tennis—teach them well and let them lead the way
ETI 028 | Scan and Zoom
Jim McLennan's Essential Tennis Instruction - March 27, 2014 15:11 - 2 minutes ★★★★★ - 12 ratingsIs there more to it than simply watching the ball? Well, the answer is yes. But the answer is not readily apparent. Scan and zoom describes two different visual orientations, both of which occur on court. In your own game, are you better at scanning or zooming? Better yet, are you skilled at...
ETI 027 | The 3R’s of Tennis
Jim McLennan's Essential Tennis Instruction - February 24, 2014 15:45 - 3 minutes ★★★★★ - 12 ratingsReady Read React – the all important "3 R's" of tennis. But the question, once you have been ready and now have read the incoming direction of the ball – how do you react? What is your first move? The first move is about quickness, it is about simplicity, but equally if not more importantly, i...
Episode 100: When I do 3, the winner is me
Gotta Play Tennis - January 26, 2014 21:25 - 18 minutes ★★★★★ - 24 ratingsThe power of the THREE basic ingredients for the success of any player
ETI 026 | Loose Strings – Very Loose Strings
Jim McLennan's Essential Tennis Instruction - September 16, 2013 10:29 ★★★★★ - 12 ratingsThe game has changed from the old wooden racquet era. Next was graphite composite racquets. Then stronger and stronger players. Followed by more and more topspin (unfortunately from further and further behind the baseline). The next era in our game's development occurs from the new "copoly" stri...