Tennis Pod Pro Videos
Lee Couillard hosts Tennis Pod Pro Videos. Learn all the secrets of the pros as well as methods of teaching the basics to beginners. All ...Sports & Recreation
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19:01:45 05/25/12
Gravity Drop Swinging
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Fred Wong, USPTA, Punahou School shows a gravity-drop swinging exercise to help with learning the loop forehand.
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00:00:26 05/24/12
Guided Discovery - Pronation
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Lee Couillard, USPTA, Head Tennis Professional, Punahou School shows a progressive part-method for teaching pronation.
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21:18:17 05/19/12
World's Fastest Serve
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Unknown Aussie breaks record for fastest serve three times in same match (?)
by Chris Chase:
Australia's Samuel Groth, ranked No. 340 and best known in tennis circles for being the ex-husband of tennis player Jarmila Groth, set an unofficial ATP record last week when he hit a serve 164.3 mph at a challenger event in South Korea. That breaks the previous record of 156 mph, set by Ivo Karlovic at a Davis Cup match last year.
Groth's serve increased the record by a whopping 5.3 percent. To put that into context, that'd be like Usain Bolt lowering his 100 meter world record from 9.58 to 9.07.
''I just threw it up and absolutely smashed it down the T and it popped up on the gun at 263 [kilometers per hour] and I was a bit like, 'Whoa, whoa,''' Groth told The Age. ''It became a bit of a talking point around the guys; I guess it's not something you see too often, where suddenly 263 pops up on a radar gun.''
The 24-year-old also hit serves of 158.9 mph and 157.5 mph in the same match. This means that the three fastest serves in the history of tennis occurred in the same 60-minute stretch courtesy a player never ranked inside the top 200 at a tournament in a country that's home to one player ranked in the top 500. Oh, and none of it is on tape.
The ATP doesn't officially recognize speed records because of a lack of reliability in monitoring equipment. Still, the governing body of tennis confirmed that the radar gun at the Busan event was working and that other data collected was within appropriate range. Oh, like those other two serves that were faster than any other serves in history? And the one that was more than 8 mph faster than the previous record?
I'm not saying Groth didn't thrice break the record, nor am I suggesting that speed records can't be set by journeymen. I'm merely suggesting that three record-setting serves from a radar gun at a challenger event in South Korea is a dish best served fishy.
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21:59:28 05/18/12
Baseball Tennis
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Lee Couillard, USPTA, Head Tennis Professional, Punahou School shows a fun game called "Baseball Tennis" for 5, 6, 7 & 8 year olds.
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19:30:51 05/15/12
Footwork - Drive Phase
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DR. MARK KOVACS, PhD., CSCS
Senior Manager of Strength & Conditioning/Sports Science
USTA Training Center in Boca Raton, FL
Dr. Kovacs was an accomplished player and coach before transitioning to a career as a sport science expert. As a player he was a collegiate All-American and NCAA champion at Auburn University. He has a Masters degree in Exercise Science from Auburn and a Ph.D. in Exercise Physiology from The University of Alabama. Dr. Kovacs is an Associate Editor of the Strength and Conditioning Journal and co-author of tennis book titled "Tennis Training-Enhancing On-Court Performance". Mark is a certified strength and conditioning specialist through the NSCA, certified Health/Fitness Instructor through the American College of Sports Medicine, USPTA certified coach and United States Track and Field Level II Sprints Coach. Before starting with the USTA, Mark was an Assistant Professor of Exercise Science and Wellness at Jacksonville State University.
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20:28:52 05/11/12
Slice Forehand Approach
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DR. MARK KOVACS, PhD., CSCS
Senior Manager of Strength & Conditioning/Sports Science
USTA Training Center in Boca Raton, FL
Dr. Kovacs was an accomplished player and coach before transitioning to a career as a sport science expert. As a player he was a collegiate All-American and NCAA champion at Auburn University. He has a Masters degree in Exercise Science from Auburn and a Ph.D. in Exercise Physiology from The University of Alabama. Dr. Kovacs is an Associate Editor of the Strength and Conditioning Journal and co-author of tennis book titled "Tennis Training-Enhancing On-Court Performance". Mark is a certified strength and conditioning specialist through the NSCA, certified Health/Fitness Instructor through the American College of Sports Medicine, USPTA certified coach and United States Track and Field Level II Sprints Coach. Before starting with the USTA, Mark was an Assistant Professor of Exercise Science and Wellness at Jacksonville State University.
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03:57:22 05/10/12
Unstructured Play
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ESPN Special on the benefits of unstructured, free play.
309 Views
19:13:51 04/29/12
The New Modern Forehand?
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Lee Couillard, USPTA, Head Tennis Professional, Punahou School shows a comparison of the new modern forehand to the old modern forehand of the 90's.
321 Views
18:26:08 04/19/12
Poncho at Punahou
[LESS INFO] 321 VIEWS | ADDED 18:26:08 04/19/12
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Lee Couillard, USPTA, Head Tennis Professional, Punahou School shows a clip of Poncho Gonzales playing at Punahou in 1969.
From ATP.com
Very much his own man, a loner and an acerbic competitor, Richard Alonzo "Pancho" Gonzalez was probably as good as anyone who ever played the game, if not better. Most of his great tennis was played beyond wide public attention, on the nearly secret pro tour amid a small band of gypsies of whom he was the ticket-selling mainstay. His rages against opponents, officials, photographers, newsmen and even spectators were frequently spectacular - but they only served to intensify his own play, and didn't disturb his concentration, as fits of temper do most others. Pancho got mad and played better. "We hoped he wouldn't get upset; it just made him tougher," said Rod Laver. "Later when he got older, he would get into arguments to stall for time and rest, and we had to be careful that it didn't put us off our games." Gonzalez, a right-hander, born May 9, 1928, in Los Angeles, was always out of the tennis mainstream, a fact that seemed to goad him to play harder. Because he came from a Chicano family, he was never acceptable in the supposedly proper upper circles of his city's tennis establishment. And because he was a truant he wasn't permitted to play in Southern California junior tournaments. Once he got out of the Navy in 1946 there was no preventing him from mixing in the game, and beating everyone. He had a marvellously pure and effortless service action that delivered thunderbolts, and he grew up as an attacker on fast West Coast concrete. Although not regarded as anything more than promising on his second trip East in 1948, he was at age 20 ready to win the big one, the U.S. Championship at Forest Hills. Ranked 17th nationally at the time, and seeded eighth, he served and volleyed his way to the final, where he beat South African Eric Sturgess with ease, 6-2, 6-3, 14-12. The following year Gonzalez met the favourite, a Southern California antagonist, top-seeded Ted Schroeder. It was one of the most gripping finals. Schroeder won the first two sets as expected, but they were demanding and exhausting, 18-16, 6-2, and after that Gonzalez rolled up the next three, 6-1, 6-2, 6-4, for the title. In 1949 Pancho also helped the U.S. hold the Davis Cup against Australia, then went for the money, turning pro to tour against the monarch, Jack Kramer. Gonzalez was too green for Kramer, losing, 96-27, and he faded from view for several agonizing years. When Kramer retired, Gonzalez won a tour over Don Budge, Pancho Segura and Frank Sedgman in 1954 to determine Jack's successor, and stood himself as Emperor Pancho, proud and imperious, for a long while, through the challenges of Tony Trabert, Ken Rosewall, Lew Hoad, Ashley Cooper, Mal Anderson, Alex Olmedo and Segura. For a decade Gonzalez and pro tennis were synonymous. A promoter couldn't hope to rally crowds unless Pancho was on the bill. During his reign Pancho won the U.S. Pro singles a record eight times of 11 finals between 1951 and 1964, and Wembley in London, considered the world pro championship, 4 times of 5 finals between 1950 and 1956. By the time Rosewall and Laver were reaching their zeniths during the mid- and late-1960s, the aging Gonzalez hung on as a dangerous foe, still capable of defeating all. In 1964, his last serious bid for his ninth U.S. Pro title, he lost the final to Laver in four hard sets on grass in a rainstorm. Yet there was still much more glory ahead. In 1968, at 40, he beat the defending champion, 31-year-old Roy Emerson, to attain the semis of the first major open, the French, to be beaten by Laver. Three months later, at the initial U.S. Open, he toppled second-seeded Tony Roche (the 23-year-old Wimbledon finalist) to make the quarters, where he defeated Tom Okker. A year later, this grandfather (literally) electrified Wimbledon by overcoming Charlie Pasarell in the tournament's longest match, 112 games, a first-rounder that consumed five hours, 12 minutes, a major tourney record that stood until 1992, eclipsed by 14 minutes by Stefan Edberg over Michael Chang at the U.S. Open. The marathon with Pasarell began one afternoon and concluded on the next after darkness intervened. In winning, 22-24, 1-6, 16-14, 6-3, 11-9, Gonzalez saved seven match points in the 5th set. Later that year, he beat John Newcombe, Rosewall, Stan Smith and Arthur Ashe in succession to win $12,500, second-highest prize of the year, and the title at a rich tournament at Las Vegas. Early in 1970, in the opener of a series of $10,000 winner-take-all challenge matches leading to a grand final, he toppled Laver. The Aussie, just off his second Grand Slam year (and the eventual winner of this tournament), was clearly No. 1in the world, but Pancho warmed a crowd of 14,761 at New York's Madison Square Garden with a 7-5, 3-6, 2-6, 6-3, 6-2 victory. Three months before his 44th birthday, in 1972, he was the oldest to record a tournament title in the opener, winning Des Moines (Iowa) over 24-year-old French Davis Cupper Georges Goven. That year he was No. 9 in the U.S., the oldest to rank so high, and equalled Vic Seixas; Top Ten longevity span of 24 years. As for the World Top Ten, he is alone in that he was a member in 1948-49 and again in 1968-69, ranking No. 1 in 1949, No. 6 in 1969. In 1968, though still active, he was named to the Hall of Fame and he was a consistent winner on the Grand Masters tour for the over-45 champs beginning in 1973. Although his high-speed serve, so effortlessly delivered, was a trademark, Gonzalez, a 6-foot-2, 180-pounder, was a splendid athlete and tactician who excelled at defence, too. "My legs, retrieving, lobs and change-of-pace service returns meant as much or more to me than my power," he said. "But people overlooked that because of the reputation of my serve." He won $911,078 between 1950 and 1972, and crossed the million mark as a Grand Master. Altogether as amateur and pro he won 74 singles titles. He was married six times, the last to a good player, Rita Agassi, sister of another all-timer, Andre Agassi, by whom he had a son. Not a bad tennis bloodline for the young man, Skylar Gonzalez. Gonzalez died July 3, 1995, of cancer in Las Vegas, where he had been a teaching pro for some time.
MAJOR TITLES (4) - US. singles, 1948, 1949; French doubles,1949; Wimbledon doubles, 1949.
OTHER U.S. TITLES (17) - Indoor singles, 1949; Clay Court singles, 1948, 1949; Indoor mixed 1949, with Gusty Moran; Pro singles, 1953, 1954, 1955, 1956, 1957, 1958, 1959, 1961; Pro doubles, 1953, with Don Budge; 1954, 1958, with Pancho Segura;1957, with Ken Rosewall 1969, with Rod Laver. DAVIS CUP - 1949; record: 2-0 in singles.
SINGLES RECORD IN THE MAJORS - Australian (2-1), French (9-2), Wimbledon (10-5), US. (23-7). - Residence: Las Vegas, Nevada
Singles titles: 3, 1972--(1) Des Moines 1971--(1) Los Angeles
1970--(1) WCT Las Vegas
Won U.S. National Championships, 1948, 49. Won U.S. National Clay Court
Championships, 1948, 49. Won U.S. National Indoor championships in 1949.
Member of 1949 U.S. Davis Cup team. Won 1949 French Open and Wimbledon doubles titles (w/Parker).
Resident pro and Tennis Director at Caesar's Palace since 1970. Won the inaugural ATP Great Player of the Past Award in 1975.
Bio Courtesy: Bud Collins
280 Views
19:43:18 04/16/12
"Farm" hands
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Lee Couillard, USPTA, Head Tennis Professional, Punahou School.
345 Views
18:12:43 04/04/12
Fingertip Pressure & Grip Size
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Lee Couillard, USPTA, Head Tennis Professional, Punahou School, explains the the importance of controlling fingertip pressure and the effects of grip size.
389 Views
18:11:43 03/09/12
Grip Pressure vs Grip Strength
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Lee Couillard, USPTA, Head Tennis Professional, Punahou School, explains the differences between grip pressure and grip strength.
350 Views
04:12:42 02/26/12
Weak & Strong Volley Grips
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Lee Couillard, USPTA, Head Tennis Professional, Punahou School, explains the differences between weak and strong volley grips.
346 Views
02:36:22 02/15/12
Weak Hands = Weak Player
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"Git a Grip" - Lee Couillard, USPTA 2012 Hawaii Convention
Testing Hand Grip-Strength using a Hand Dynamometer.
I. Weak Hands = Weak Player. There is no such thing as a player with weak hands and a strong body, it doesn't work that way!
a. The grip is the only part of the racket that you make contact with.
b. Grip affects the release point.
ll. There are 35 muscles involved in movement of the forearm and hand, with most of these involving gripping activities.
a. Flexor vs extensor
b. Hand is a pliers - test thumb to fingers
c. Every angle must be trained. Body Posture
d. Various studies show that grip strength is greater with less flexion in the elbow.
III. Circadian Rhythm (Body Clock)
a. Peak Performance throughout the day with peaking in men in the late afternoon. (Cappert, 1999)
IV. Gender Differences
a. Males
b. Females
V. Nutrition
a. This simple method of non-invasive measurement may provide nutritionists and medical professionals with valuable screening data, prior to further more invasive testing.
VI. Racket Technology
a. Light vs Heavy
b. Tennis Elbow
VII. Grip Classification, Grip Size
a. Strong Grips
b. Weak Grips
c. Neutral Grips
VIII. Soft Power
a. Manual Dexterity
b. Touch and Dexterity
IX. Best training exercises.
a. Dead lifts, Kettle balls, Ropes, Tug-O-War, Pull-ups, etc.
310 Views
20:50:43 02/14/12
Weak Hands = Weak Player
[LESS INFO] 310 VIEWS | ADDED 20:50:43 02/14/12
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Lee Couillard - "Git a Grip" USPTA 2012 Hawaii Convention.
Testing Hand Grip-Strength using a Hand Dynamometer.
I. Weak Hands = Weak Player. There is no such thing as a player with weak hands and a strong body, it doesn't work that way!
a. The grip is the only part of the racket that you make contact with.
b. Grip affects the release point.
ll. There are 35 muscles involved in movement of the forearm and hand, with most of these involving gripping activities.
a. Flexor vs extensor
b. Hand is a pliers - test thumb to fingers
c. Every angle must be trained. Body Posture
d. Various studies show that grip strength is greater with less flexion in the elbow.
III. Circadian Rhythm (Body Clock)
a. Peak Performance throughout the day with peaking in men in the late afternoon. (Cappert, 1999)
IV. Gender Differences
a. Males
b. Females
V. Nutrition
a. This simple method of non-invasive measurement may provide nutritionists and medical professionals with valuable screening data, prior to further more invasive testing.
VI. Racket Technology
a. Light vs Heavy
b. Tennis Elbow
VII. Grip Classification, Grip Size
a. Strong Grips
b. Weak Grips
c. Neutral Grips
VIII. Soft Power
a. Manual Dexterity
b. Touch and Dexterity
IX. Best training exercises.
a. Dead lifts, Kettle balls, Ropes, Tug-O-War, Pull-ups, etc.
317 Views
21:09:16 01/28/12
Jack "Atomic" Sock
[LESS INFO] 317 VIEWS | ADDED 21:09:16 01/28/12
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Jack Sock at the 2012 Honolulu USTA $50,000 Challenger.
Jack Sock (born September 24, 1992) is an American tennis player. The men's junior US Open champion in 2010, he is best known for winning the 2011 US Open mixed doubles title with fellow American Melanie Oudin.
Junior Career
Sock played his first ITF junior tournament in October 2008, aged 16, at the Pan American Championships.. In the 2009 US Open, his third junior tournament, he reached the semifinals of the junior doubles with Matthew Kandath, and the third round of the junior singles.
Sock played relatively infrequently on the junior circuit, however, entering just two further tournaments: the Dunlop Orange Bowl in 2009 and the junior singles at the 2010 U.S. Open.[2] At this tournament, he received a wildcard entry, but proceeded to the final. There, he defeated fellow American Denis Kudla, 3-6, 6-2, 6-2, to become the first American winner of the junior championships since Andy Roddick in 2000.[3] He won the Boy's Junior National Tennis Championship in 2010 and 2011, earning a wildcard in both years for the main draw of the US Open.
Sock graduated from Blue Valley North High School in Overland Park, Kansas on May 22, 2011. He was 80-0 in his Kansas 6A High School Tennis career, winning 4 consecutive state championships.
08/16/11