DiscoverTennisnerd - Where we bond over tennis
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Tennisnerd - Where we bond over tennis
Author: tennisnerd
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Description
If you want to know more about working in the tennis industry, what racquets and strings the pros use and what it is like to be a stringer, this is the podcast for you.
116 Episodes
Reverse
My friend and doubles partner, Daniel Rutkowski, who has been on the channel many times, joined me to discuss competitive tennis and the things many players struggle with, such as match tightness, negative self-talk, changing patterns, and dealing with pushers, etc. Daniel was a strong junior player who left tennis for years and now has been back to competitive tennis with success in German league play and several titles on the ITF Masters Tour.
This is a shorter podcast, but we will be back with the longer format next week.
Dennis Fabian is the Global Business Manager at HEAD, where he works on tennis and pickleball. In this episode, he talks about new strings and racquets, gives tips on how to avoid tennis elbow, categorizes the different racquet lines, and much more.
Experienced Davis Cup string and racquet play-tester Henrik Wallensten is back on the podcast to discuss his latest bouts of racquet madness. If you are lost in the racquet jungle, this episode might make you feel less alone...
Craig Shapiro is a bit of a media icon on the tennis scene. He has been around the tour since the 90s when he traveled as Andre Agassi’s personal racquet tech. He runs an excellent podcast.
He has just returned to New York from the Sunshine Double, so we are going to talk about his experiences there, his career in tennis and much more.
Time stamps
00:00 Intro
01:00 How much tennis do you watch?
03:52 How is tennis doing as a sport?
14:31 The origin story
23:14 The Craig Shapiro Podcast
30:23 Interviewing pro tennis players can be tricky
37:05 Summarizing the Sunshine double and looking forward to the clay
54:38 Rafa’s return and clay rulership
1:01:17 Tennis elbow
1:08:07 The State of Tennis
Cameron Price is an aspiring professional tennis player and a coach at the Delgado & Lee Pro Tennis Academy. After having heart problems in October 2022, he is back to playing tennis, coaching, and competing in tournaments. While away from the sport, he promised himself that when he could play again, he would document his tennis journey and share everything he learned. Now, you can learn about Cameron's pro journey on his YouTube channel.
Cameron has built a Notion template for ambitious tennis players, which you can find at tennisplayeros.com
Time stamps
00:00 Intro
00:28 Documenting the pro journey
04:14 Strengths and weaknesses as a player
07:30 Coaching vs Playing
17:30 Health and tennis
20:16 Being a “Youtuber”
27:33 Racquet and strings
33:05 From gear to mental performance
42:21 Tennis personalities and the story of a match
46:41 Serve bots and the contrasting surfaces
51:23 Heart problems leading to self-reflection
58:40 Screen time and social media
Thomas Alm is a Swedish coach with 25 years of experience coaching professional tennis players. He can be called the David Goggins of tennis, as he is an ultra-marathon runner and is all about going all-in. Professional tennis is all about winning after all.
Time stamps
00:00 Intro
00:27 What’s up in your life?
02:55 The importance of personal chemistry between player and coach
05:51 Tennis coaching culture and finances
11:49 What went wrong with Swedish tennis?
18:42 The money on the pro tour
24:24 Physical vs Mental coaching
32:06 Celebrity coaching and other approaches
43:24 Making technical changes as a pro
47:24 Dealing with losses
53:24 The importance of data in tennis
1:01:10 Are people softer today?
1:06:18 Passion for running
Allen is an Australian tennis enthusiast and the creator of the YouTube channel AC Tennis. His channel focuses on in-depth racquet reviews and comparisons. He’s been playing tennis since he was 5 years old and loves everything related to tennis gear.
Time stamps
00:00 Intro
00:45 The Happy Slam
07:25 Allen’s tennis schedule
11:16 How did you improve?
15:43 The racquet review process
19:51 How good is the new Blade V9?
34:23 Match racquets
56:19 Swing weights and quality control
1:05:50 Blade V9 vs the World of 98s
1:13:09 Racquet brands, updates and cosmetics
1:20:42 Tennis ball problems
1:26:43 The weirdness of pro racquets
1:36:24 The one-hander and the future of tennis
Philip Fama is a coach, player and content creator with his brand called Tweenerhead. He reached out and wanted to discuss the tennis ball problem, and I thought, why not do it as a full podcast and also talk about other thing about tennis? We had a great conversation, and Phil's passion for the sport we all love truly shines through. This is what the podcast is about, our love for tennis and how we make it stronger as a sport.
Timestamps
00:00 Intro
01:02 The tennis ball issue
11:11 Tennis is a gear-driven game, for better or worse
16:04 The best tennis balls
26:08 What changed tennis
32:14 A demanding sport for new players, hence…new racquet sports!
38:13 Is Tennis doing well?
43:58 Working in a tennis shop
46:48 Back to competitive play
57:06 The sometimes sad grind of the tennis tours
In this episode, I’m joined by Ashley Neaves, also known as “The Tennis Mentor.” Ashley is an award-winning coach who works with everyone from kids to recreational to high-level competition players. He creates content on social media and recently released a course with Liam Broady’s coach, David Sammel, called Bulletproof at the Baseline.
Time stamps
00:00 Intro
01:56 Hanging out with the pros in 2023
04:03 Testing racquets on a smart court
06:17 Tennis is exciting. How do we market it better?
13:07 Working with Felix Mischker, Tennis Brothers
17:49 How to get new players to enjoy tennis
25:51 The Four Pillars of Tennis
31:00 The tennis nerd gets a great tip
39:24 Playing competitions
44:55 Ashley’s talented tennis brothers
50:18 What is Bulletproof at the Baseline?
53:52 Your journey with YouTube
59:10 Plans for 2024
Today, it is something for you gearheads. Beckett Chung is a fellow tennis nerd reviewing racquets and talking about gear-related topics on his channel Tenncom. He is very knowledgeable, so check it out!
Time stamps
00:00 Intro
01:27 Tennis in Canada
03:00 Beckett’s gear journey
08:50 The quality control conundrum
13:43 Our spec range and racquets
21:01 Testing products you don’t enjoy
29:21 Grail racquets and Federer’s personal frame
35:30 Talking to the racquet brands
42:50 Older racquets vs new
50:34 What racquet feels the best right now?
55:14 The right racquet for the right style
1:02:06 Understanding your specs
1:09:30 Next-level nerdiness
1:15:25 The curse of being a play-tester
1:18:56 Surprising racquets
1:24:09 A Tennisnerd signature racquet
Dr. Nivedita Uberoi Jerath and legendary coach Rick Macci are here to talk about mental tennis, mental health, motivation, and their new book, Billion Dollar Mind: A Practical Guide to the Game of Life. In this episode, we cover plenty of topics on and off the court related to how you can strengthen your mind. You will find plenty of powerful wisdom nuggets in this one.
Check it out Billion Dollar Mind on Amazon
Time stamps
00:00 Intro and Billion Dollar Mind
03:46 How Rick and Nivedita met
09:13 Healthy mind, healthy life
21:40 Building positive habits
25:55 The mental diet
31:56 Reversing a negative trend
40:40 Finding YOUR motivation
44:25 Improving your presence
50:34 The importance of role models
58:20 Where to get the Billion Dollar Mind
59:28 What did you learn from the process of writing the book?
Liya Davidov is a Digital Programming Coordinator for the Tennis Channel and writes for tennis.com. She used to play college tennis for New Jersey, still follows the sport closely on her social media channels, and has a strong passion for writing in and outside tennis.
Time stamps:
00:00 Introduction to Liya, her work and tennis career
11:05 Doubles is underrated
17:07 Liya’s tennis background
21:45 The difficulty and solitude of competitive tennis
27:08 Pickleball or Padel?
31:47 How much tennis do you watch? And who do you like to watch?
40:48 Tennis is in a good place, but what can we do better?
48:52 Liya’s tennis schedule for 2024
Karue Sell is back on tour and on the Tennisnerd podcast for the third time. We talk about his return to pro tennis, life on tour, travel, what the ATP can do better, and, of course, his new racquet. You should check out his excellent YouTube channel My Tennis HQ, which gives some excellent coaching advice and other exciting content like match play footage from Karue and more.
Timestamps
00:00 Intro
01:40 How important is fitness to your success on the court?
10:05 Scheduling and planning as a tennis pro
18:10 The travelling is…
23:25 Capturing the essence of tour matches on camera
37:30 Hey ATP, we don’t like highlights
47:40 When is it time to bring a coach on tour?
56:52 Tennis is MMA with a ball
1:05:05 Everyone knows the choke! Mental tennis
1:15:53 Accepting your tennis journey
1:20:45 Using content creators to drive engagement for pro tennis
1:28:05 Karue’s new racquet
Henrik Wallensten returns to the podcast to discuss the new Blades V9, Strikes, Speeds, tennis shoes, and more. When talking, Henrik is at the Davis Cup match in Helsingborg, Sweden, where he strings for the Swedish team. The first part of the podcast was done a bit impromptu on the run, and the sound of the first part on my end is so-so, but it improves in the second half when I am back in the "studio."
Eliza returns to the pod! She is a digital strategist who comments on the tennis world on the rapidly growing account @Itselizasworld.
She now also has a YouTube channel called Liza West.
Today, we will get into the ongoing Australian Open, tennis fashion and branding, and the bigger picture of what is happening in the tennis world.
Time stamps
00:00 Intro
02:53 Australian Open moments so far
10:59 Ostapenko serving burgers
16:50 Exciting fresh faces in the draw
19:03 Sabalenka heading to the title?
23:06 What is Nike doing these days?
26:55 Not being able to buy the endorsed outfits
30:45 “Full-kit wankers” and rocking your on-court personality
36:36 Protecting your brand (IGA and LEGO)
43:10 Yonex and other colorful tennis kits
50:24 Balls at the AO
53:00 Sakkari in Grand Slams
55:38 The “glamour” of pro tennis life
58:31 Does Adrian Mannarino have a clothing sponsor?
1:02:35 The best-looking men’s kit
1:05:15 The future of Andy Murray
1:12:36 The bothers of Berrettini
1:16:40 The Men’s tournament
1:27:36 Zverev allegations
1:41:55 What is happening in Eliza’s world?
1:43:45 The Cancun disaster and the WTA
Nikola Aracic is one the most popular online tennis coaches in the world with his brand Intuitive Tennis. He is refreshingly honest and straightforward and has become one of my favorite people in the world to talk about tennis with. This is his third time on the podcast and we get into various topics as highlighted in the timestamps below.
Timestamps
00:00 Intro
00:46 What it requires to improve in tennis
19:05 Mental vs Technical skills
31:14 Coming to the court with different racquets
38:30 Racquets, racquets, racquets
1:14:11 Rafa’s return and sports legend’s desire to compete
1:29:16 Australian Open predictions
1:40:04 Technical improvements on the pro tour
1:54:19 Intuitive Tennis in 2024
2:01:00 Weird Swedish forehands
2:04:31 Kyrgios and lack of respect for the past
2:13:45 Is tennis in danger? How can we better market the sport?
Racquet tester and Swedish Davis Cup stringer Henrik Wallensten is back on the podcast. In this episode, we break down 2023 regarding gear and discuss all the racquets, strings, and balls we tested during the year. We also look forward to 2024 and reflect on the reluctance of several racquet brands to send demos for review.
Timestamps
00:00 Intro
04:06 From wooden racquets to…
09:00 Racquet releases in 2024, but no demos?
14:44 The beauty of the Blade 100
18:21 Wilson Shift - a new line
23:13 The Aero Rafa racquets
28:12 HEAD Radical
32:30 Yonex VCORE
35:30 Yonex PERCEPT
39:57 HEAD Prestige Auxetic 2 and Gravity
47:54 Wilson Pro Staff V14
52:33 Babolat Pure Drive 98
56:53 STIGA Supreme
1:02:00 Diadem Elevate V3
1:05:13 Strings
1:10:44 Shoes
1:21:44 Balls
1:28:09 Upcoming racquet experiments
Thanks, Mehrban, for having me on your podcast Tennis Files and asking some great questions about racquets and strings! Make sure to check out the Tennis Files on your favorite podcast platform.
Timestamps
00:00 Intro
01:13 Jonas’ First Racquet
02:42 How do you find your ideal racquet? Step 1
05:26 Recording yourself
07:33 Typical mistakes
10:42 How do you find your ideal racquet? Step 2
12:47 How to demo a tennis racquet
18:18 Narrowing down your selection
20:45 Buying and selling racquets
27:47 How many racquets do you have?
29:30 Where to go from the Pure Aero VS 2017
37:51 What about the Shift?
40:05 String sensitivity and honeymooning
42:28 Comfort-oriented racquets
45:36 Dunlop SX 300
47:17 Making a racquet less dampened
49:26 Racquet updates in 2024
54:47 Top 3 control racquets
56:36 The top power racquets
1:00:31 Balance points
1:03:36 Strings
1:10:31 Solinco Hyper-G
1:13:11 The Tennisnerd Podcast
1:15:28 The most under-rated racquet brand
You might have seen Alex’s engaging videos on Instagram, where he creates wide-reaching content about tennis. He also worked for 13 years in community engagement for the USTA and has been a certified PTR Coach since 2010, working with beginners and intermediate players. As far as tennis nerding goes, he has 16 years of stringing experience.
We get into his work on the grassroots level of US tennis and how to get more people to enjoy the sport we all love.
Timestamps
00:00 Intro and Alex’s background in tennis
05:26 Making tennis more accessible
11:23 Working with brands as a content creator
24:15 Watching tennis is connected to the player - Alex and Rafa
31:30 Tennis is doing well
35:58 Racquet talk
44:01 Social media addiction
52:37 Day job and grassroots
59:11 Tips to find more partners to play tennis with
1:03:51 How Alex stands out in the social media world
Ryan Burbary is the founder and owner of Velociti Tennis. Velociti tennis is a new tennis brand with a one of their products being the first bio-degradable tennis string in the world. It is called Catalyst and after testing the string I had to reach out to Ryan and talk about it. Ryan grew up in tennis stores and strung his first racquet when he was 12. A true tennis nerd!
You can try the Velociti Catalyst here: https://velocititennis.com/ Use the code TENNISNERD to get a discount.
Time stamps
00:00 Intro
00:40 Growing up inside a tennis store
02:17 How did the Velociti journey start?
09:24 Gauges and colors
14:50 Online vs Pro Shop when it comes to gear
21:48 String packaging
27:07 Sustainable tennis balls
36:51 Does being from Colorado influence you more towards nature and the environment?
42:16 Growing up in a tennis shop
53:54 Racquets are getting better
1:13:33 It’s a mental sport
1:18:52 Choosing the right racquet for your game
1:36:30 The future for Velociti and Ryan
I would love to test the Hawk Power, thats for sure ;) Thanks for the interview Jonas, great job! Best wishes from northern Germany Andre