Tennisnerd - Where we bond over tennis

Rackets and runners with Luca Berg

Luca Berg from the YouTube channel Rackets&Runners joined me on the podcast to talk about gear. His detailed and organized racquet reviews for tennis and pickleball are rapidly growing his fanbase. We had a great conversation about gear and the world beyond.

Nikola Aracic on the GOATs, heavy racquets and underarm serves

Nikola Aracic from Intuitive Tennis returns to the podcast to talk about the remaining GOATs (Rafa and Novak), why heavy racquets can be bad for you, why underarm serves are disrespectful and much more.

Time stamps

00:00 Intro
00:35 Rafa’s last rumble, Novak’s superpower and the player’s right to  emotions
34:05 Bublik and disrespectful and pointless shots like the underarm serve. Highlights culture on TennisTV.
58:16 The viewability of tennis, bad angles, shadows, lack of options
1:14:00 What is the white racquet? Nikola’s hunt for strings from the 90s and how his racquet preferences affect his game
1:32:19 Heavy racquets are not for everyone, but for some. Strings and more…

Tennis as therapy with Daniel Rutkowski

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.

 

New HEAD racquets and strings with Dennis Fabian

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.

Racquet madness with Henrik Wallensten

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...

Interviewing the Pros - Craig Shapiro

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, From Baseline to Pro

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 the David Goggins of tennis

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 from AC Tennis gets in-depth about racquets

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

The Tennis Ball Problem with Phil from Tweenerhead

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

Ashley Neaves, the Tennis Mentor

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

Beckett from Tenncom joins me to talk racquets, racquet, racquets

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

How to develop a Billion Dollar Mind with Rick Macci and Dr Nivedita Jerath

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's Journey from College Tennis to the Tennis Channel

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 about life on the pro tour

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