Hey Thomas, I've had various tennis coaches, been to clinics in US. I actually started playing overseas when I was a child growing up there. I don't really remember in much detail how tennis was overseas except that they were very adamant about practicing form rather than making good shots. I had lessons from a few pros for my league tennis practice. That was more strategy and practice of shots you'd make during games. The other pro I had lessons from what not American, he was Croatian. He was good because he gave good practice and lessons. Not only did he make our team practice and drill important shots, he corrected bad habits and tried to get our best shots and weapons working to our advantage. The other pro had played in college, was teaching a private junior tennis academy. He was really good because he had a lot of court experience, high level tennis. He emphasized the importance of being in the game, so he was adamant about consistent serving and returning well during matches. In my experience, I've had a good mix of instructors. Good and Bad advice. I used to be an assistant tennis instructor part-time to kids starting out in tennis. I remember that I was always adamant about form of all the strokes. You can tell when people have had lessons and when people have been self-taught. It's obvious, it not only makes you better because you have solid fundamentals you look like a tennis player and not a hacker. There are always people out there that have unorthodox forms/movements and I typically associate them with not having had the fundamental form down. They are unorthodox because they think that's the best way to hit the ball, for them by chopping, not following through, or using too much arm or hip instead of inertia from their legs. That's what I wanted to share. There's my share of info.

Hi Thomas - I haven't received your message until now.....

if you are back in NYC in the Spring, let me know, and we can set something up at one of the local tennis clubs or at one of the parks.

Violet

Try some Tennis Haiku - I challenge you!
http://tennisopolis.com/forum/topics/haiku-you-write-a-haiku-about