About

Tennis Pro Strokes exists for you

Do you find yourself getting frustrated on the court because you are missing routine shots? Do you get frustrated because you cannot consistently get the ball to go where you would like it to go?

Chances are you have a short hitting zone, where your strings are only facing your target for an inch or two, which requires a lot of timing. When we observe pros with high-speed film in slow-motion we notice that they have much longer hitting zones. Their hitting zone is about 18 inches in length, which gives them a much longer window to contact the ball and still make the shot.

Our goal at Tennisprostrokes is to help reduce your occurrence of injury and to help you understand and implement the basic fundamentals of stroke production. Although injuries are part of any sport, proper technique we can help you reduce the occurrence of injuries like; tennis elbow, wrist tendonitis or rotator cuff impingements. This is done by teaching you simple, efficient strokes. Professional tennis players, biomechanically, are 95% the same at the point of contact. We will teach you the same basic fundamentals that allow pros to perform consistently day in and day out.

By applying the basics presented here to your practices you will not only improve your game but you will also enjoy playing even more.

Tennisprostrokes was created with the idea of having a resource for students to be able to go back and review key points from their lessons by streaming a similar lesson at home. The idea to teach students online grew from there, essentially flipping the classroom, inspired by the Khan Academy. Students are able to watch lessons and go back as many times as they like to understand key concepts on technique and tactics. So instead of spending precious time on the tennis courts learning these concepts, your valuable time would be spent practicing those concepts with me, which you already learned at home.

As a tennis pro there are only so many lessons one can teach in a day or a week, and also only so many students. So in order to not only give people good instruction online, a plan has been put together illustrating ways for people to practice on their own. Quite literally, if all you have is a tennis racquet a ball and a wall, you can learn stroke basics on your own or with a partner.

As we continue our own education we would like to also share recommended literature, equipment and products which we feel will help benefit your game!

Acknowledgements

Laura le Sueur
My Mom, who still continues to pass her passion and love for the game on to me. She made it fun and was an inspiration to many other students. She taught me by example to always seek knowledge, she is still eager to learn and improve her craft. She is probably the most humble person I know. Not only is she a great coach, she is a great motivator and was a great tennis player in her hay day. She traveled the world for nine years competing in all four Grand-Slams reaching a ranking of 25 in the world.

Steve Smith
My mentor who taught me so much about myself, and fact based tennis instruction. The knowledge I attained from him allows me to teach to a certain standard, which makes me confident in my ability to improve a student’s game.

Vic Braden
It is his research, which inspired Steve and is still relevant in today’s evolving game. A quote from Vic, “It’s the dimensions of the court and physical laws which dictate stroke production, no coaches opinion or any unique theory.” We cannot change the force of gravity and every tennis court is the same shape and size. Some may argue this but it will always be relevant. Vic proved to me that we never stand still and can always improve and update our methods even at the age of 83.

Raven Klaasen
My friend, Raven, introduced me to the world of fact base tennis instruction which I never knew existed. Thanks to Raven I am teaching tennis today. Raven studied under Steve and was my introduction.

My Dad
He showed me how a parent should be. It didn’t matter whether I won or lost as long as I gave it my very best and had a great attitude.