MASTER YOUR TENNIS
with Javier
Professional Tennis Coach
My professional experience and unique approach will provide the traction necessary to maximize your tennis in every single aspect of this magnificent sport.
I personally work with each trainee to help them achieve their individual potential, to reach your maximum.
I push but I also motivate.
Early on, I identify what each client is capable of with my goal being to help them reach, then exceed, that potential.
I base my knowledge and experience strictly on scientific research, combined with players experiences, my personal experience ,and proven results.
ABOUT ME
My Experience, My Passion
I am Javier , Senior Tennis Professional , certified by the Argentina Tennis Association, 30 years of international tennis coaching experience, at tennis academies, international schools, colleges, in USA, Europe, Australia, Singapore,
providing lessons for those interested in start tennis, training and coaching for those who already play and wish to master their technique and game.
Learn the tennis technique following biomechanics science, respecting the natural body movements applied to tennis, preventing from injuries, and at the same time to be more efficient on the game.
The physics laws principles and mechanics in Tennis didn't change, but the racquet technology evolution makes the game faster, so the movements efficiency, proper shots technique, and fitness for top performance is a key to adjust to the actual faster game more than ever before.
With the most valuable information after their studies provided by 2 pioneers on tennis physics and sports science, Professor of physics at the University of Pennsylvania Dr. Howard Brody, the foremost scientist of tennis, former ITF and USPTA science advisor, and Vic Braden, Master in Psychology and Tennis coach, together they develop "Science and Myths of Tennis", and the constant updates in sport science, which I will expose to you to give you a complete understanding of the physics of tennis making sure your tennis is moving only in the right direction.
"A master is a full time student"
"Great things are done by a series of small things brought together"
"Success is how high you bounce after you hit the bottom"
“Failure does not come from losing, but from not trying“
"Failure is a success,if we learn from it"
"The difference between winning and losing is most often not quitting "
“If you’ve a good time playing the game, you are a winner even if you lose“
“ Every pro was once an amateur, every expert was once a beginner “
“ If you want something you’ve never had, you must be willing to something you’ve never done"
CLIENT TESTIMONIALS
Many thanks for the excellent tennis lessons. My game has made more progress in the past week than it has in the past 2 months, and I've been seeing 2 pros per week for the past 8 weeks.
I recommend Javier, I took several lessons from Javier at the ShangriLa in Singapore.
He really helped me with my footwork and timing. Very knowledgeable, professional and patient. He's a great coach!
Tom Mc Guinness
San Rafael
California
Javier Torresan is a true international tennis professional with
decades of experience. He speaks several languages and regardless
of your tennis level, from beginner to world class player, Javier will
improve your game.
I have received hundreds of tennis lessons and camps all over the
world and have found Javier to be the most knowledgeable.
Of course he can teach proper technique on all strokes, but for me
what sets him apart from all others is strategic tips that go far beyond
the basic strategy you get from others.
I certainly credit Javier with all my tennis championships and successes
over the years. Each time I take the court, I have confidence that I
know a little more about the game and how to find and exploit my
opponent's weaknesses because of his instruction.
I can not recommend Javier Torresan highly enough as a tennis instructor
or coach. He is fun, friendly and really knows tennis.
David Huntley
Atlanta GA. USA
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Javier is a all-round coach, he can identify the best way for you to imrpove your strokes and strategy. He is fun and cool but determined and extremely focused. I love training with him !
Olav Beruto
Italy- Dubai
I have improved my tennis since I have been training with Javier over the past 2 years.
If you are looking for someone that teach/coach from the beginner to a top tier tennis player, then he is the coach for you.
His coaching has brought my game from a 3.0 NTRP (National Tennis Rating Program) to a strong 4.5.
The strategy and methods he has taught me are very much in-line with the way the professional play today, which gives me great confidence in his teaching abilities.
Karlos Braggs
Texas, USA
Javier is the best tennis coach I know.
I was in Bangkok for a week to catch up with friends and I decided to take tennis classes.
It is always a difficult decision to get a tennis coach in a city where you have no connections.
I took classes before in Sri Lanka and in Prague, Czech Republic. I am a recreational player, intermediate level.
I booked a five-day intensive training with Javier to improve all the basic skills . He was a perfect coach.
The first I met he based all coaching on scientific explanations, rather than mere copying of what others say.
He was tough, but in the good way and very, very funny. He would correct all my mistakes instantly and come up with useful drills to improve and practice my moves.
He was able to adjust his coaching to my requirements, proving that he can train both young professional players as well as recreational players as me.
I can recommend Javier Torresan no matter if you are a to be professional, or just a recreational player who want to improve strokes.
Petr Navrat , Prague
Czech Republic
I recommend Javier, I have improved my tennis since I have been training with Javier , He not only teaches you the strokes but also the strategy and footwork.
I have had many teachers and Javier is the one who has been able to radically change my tennis.
Jorge Lopez Doriga
Spain
CLASSES AVAILABLE
Train for Success
GROUP LESSONS
Joining group classes, where I’ll teach you the ins and outs of the game, you have the possibility to share experience with other players with different characteristics.
I offer Group Lessons year-round for clients of any age and experience level, so is always a positive experience to alternate between different groups.
It’s a great opportunity for athletes to boost their performance, while having others players to measure your improvements.
Group Lessons are ideally up to 3 to 4 people per court, alternate hitting with other players, and play doubles game at the end as well.
Tennis
Tennis
Javier Torresan:Simeon Kostov #2 U14 Bulgaria 2014 Points half court
Javier.Torresan-Volleys-with-Jan.Carbonel.from.Barcelona-Bangkok-2014.
Javier Torresan Coaching Flavio 7 Years Old in his 2nd year
PRIVATE LESSONS
Private lessons are a great opportunity to improve your techniques, work in detail in every single aspect of your game, and to test individually different situations , and different levels of difficulty .
From the athletic point of view, to test and design the best ways to maximize your performance, in the most efficient way according to your personal characteristics.
Through a strategic mix of theoretical lessons and practical sessions, of course as match play, regular training of your choice as well, if you’re looking to elevate your game, Private Lessons with Javier are for you.
TENNIS TOPICS
TECHNIQUE
INTRODUCTION
Let's mention that Tennis, in different scientific research, is on the 10 topmost difficult sports, out of a list of 60 sports, top 5 on most mentally challenging, and in the ones that require more skills.
In Tennis we are dealing with balls coming at 200 km an hour on serves, average 130 to 150 km an hour, and even an under 100 km an hour ball, very slow and wide, or a drop shot can be very challenging since you will need to move fast and ultimately you will have to hit on the run which is really the most important shot to learn and master, since the highest and competitive level you play, the bigger will be the variables on precision, speed and type of shots.
For those interested to know more in detail how this works with science, i upload files and links .
For those who worry about changes and new experiences, first of all : " If you don't change anything, nothing will change".
An this article on "files" or just click it here which is linked, "Balancing old and new skills," will open your mind ,
a model explains how the brain can learn novel tasks while still remembering what it has already learned.
To learn new motor skills, the brain must be plastic: able to rapidly change the strengths of connections between neurons, forming new patterns that accomplish a particular task.
However, if the brain were too plastic, previously learned skills would be lost too easily.
Story Source:
Materials provided by Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
read the full story :
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/12/131209152306.htm
CONCEPT OF IMPACT - BIOMECHANICS
The essence of tennis are the tennis shots, consistency and precision are the keys, so we need to understand at least the most important and relevant points, of course there is science in tennis.
Understanding how every movement influences the next
Depending on how and where the ball strikes your racket, the ball is going to behave in a different way.
Here are simple answers of bio-mechanical principals of tennis.
1- Use the speed of the oncoming ball by reflecting it with the racket.
* Reflecting the ball
The service and the volley represent two extreme shots in tennis.
With the service you have to generate all the speed of the ball because the ball is stationary, while with a volley you can use the speed of the ball by reflecting it.
Ground strokes are a combination of reflecting the ball and generating power with the racket.
2- Play through the ball (the racket is an impact instrument).
Drive through the ball because the racket is basically an impact instrument with a “sweetspot”.
If the ball makes contact with the racket at the sweetspot, there will be no shock in the hand and maximum power will be transfered to the ball.
3 - Generating power
Generate speed of the racket head by driving with your hand up to the point of contact.
If you concentrate on contacting the ball in front of the body, either on volleys, or in groundstrokes taking the ball on the rise after the bounce , you will automatically generate power.
4 - String tension
The strings have a trampoline-effect on the ball.
The looser the tension of the strings, the more the trampoline-effect plays a role, and the faster the ball will travel, which is not always desirable.
With looser tension you easily hit the ball out at the back.
With tighter string tension you can convert more topspin to the ball with less chance of hitting it out at the back.
A new ball will bounce to about 53% of the height on a solid floor if it is dropped from 2.54 m (the ball will reach a speed of 25 km/h).
If it is bounced from a clamped racket it will bounce to about 80% and on a racket held loosely to 25%.
Older balls with less pressure will bounce lower .
With higher tension in the strings, the ball will bounce lower .
Tennis Raquet Physics http://www.physics.usyd.edu.au/~cross/tennis.html
SHOT PREPARATION - FOOTWORK
From the serve, to the quick reaction time to turn and prepare the shots,to return a serve,or the response to any shot, the most relevant key will be always the balance.
Breathing poperly of course is another key, there is at the end of this topic two links of a very interesting and useful complete explanation about a proper breathing tecnique by Dr. Alan Watkins, have 2 parts.
Point 1,start from reading the opponent shot, observing the opponent to know if is hitting topspin or slice,
and when we see the direction of the ball will turn to get ready the forehand or backhand.
The turn for preparation should be with complete body involved, since flexibility is the key for mobility, as the base of our balance and traction is always the feet.
Very important is the direction of the front toe, 45 degree to the front, that will determine the direction where we will turn to hit ,using that leg as a pivot, and will be the same direction where we will bend same front knee, avoiding any twist which is the cost most injuries.
Very useful is to observe the study about the running science explained to keep in mind about short and low steps for speed, link is at the end.
Turning sideway the shoulders, pointing the ball with our front shoulder will get ready the shot, since the arm and racquet will turn automatically together , elbows away from your body, wrist back.
And the grip, that is to manage the angle of the racquet to hit, depending on each shot, some players use very extreme grips, so this topic is to look at it in detail since have many variations and is very personal as everyone moves a bit different.
It is important to mention that is best to avoid twisting the wrist on shots, to avoid injuries, even that twist will change the angle of the racquet, and after impact ,which is a fraction of a second, when the ball leave the racquet , there no effect on the ball whatever we do with the arm, so there is no reason to force or change things on impact and after, and the last point is the follow through, which the real purpose as scientific study show :
helps maximize velocity or force at the point of impact,( of course if is followed naturally and not changed about the high or angles keeping the balance and motion longer, to hit solidly in the direction where you want it to go), and helps prevent injuries by allowing a gradual slowdown of a movement.
in the link below, an article with explanation:
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/01/150108130057.htm
The running science explained in 5 minutes :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jPgTnhJjU0I&t=17s
Breathing , Part 1 , Part 2 :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q06YIWCR2Js&t=37s
WARM UP / START HITTING
We prepare warming up jogging around the court few laps, and doing some light sprints from baseline to net and to the sides ending with stretching.
To start hitting consistent rallies, is important to start slow, finishing the shot well forward and balanced, getting ready instantly for next ball coming back, not rushing to the center but paying attention to where your ball watching your opponent shot, recovering slowly with side steps with balance, since we don't know which side the opponent will hit.
The importance of mental focus, no matter the level :
"That's why an expert tennis player has to warm up for an hour before a match,
The warm-up is not for their muscles, instead, the players need to recalibrate the neural networks that control different tennis strokes that are stored in the brain's motor cortex".
(You can find a link about this article at the end ).
Use as a reference the service line as a mark for contact point to start learning to choose when we should do volleys or hit after the bounce, using only half of the court to keep the rally going and practice control.
There is a big difference of going backwards rather than sideways to prepare when the ball is coming, going backwards will make you unbalanced and even get the ball late, to prepare we turn and move to adjust sideways , the key is to prepare the shot with fast reaction time to be ready,and if the ball is too fast of course there is less time, so thats why we do half volleys or volleys with less or no swing, as most
important is contacting the ball at front.
So in any case, to hit the ball :
1- Need to be near the ball, with the racquet ready,
2- Need to be balanced, to be able to control your knee balance and movement to consequently use your upper body to turn using the shoulders turn to push forward,
3- To hit most efficiently need to take the ball on the rise and at front of your body,
4- Finish the shot properly which means all the way through forward balancing with the back foot stepping it balance with the other one,without going up or backwards,
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/12/131209152306.htm
FOREHAND
Forehand is normally the strong shot, the most natural one for everyone.
Variations are
1-Topspin, low to high,
2-Slice high to low,
3-Flat with less spin or no spin.
as for evry other shots.
There are few variations on grips, after sometime playing and hitting everyone adjust with the one more comfortable,
but will be all related to the angle of the racquet to the contact point,
and the adjustments at the end comes always with the complete body balance since the upper body variations will change the racquet angle too.
BACKHAND
The backhand as everyone knows is the "weak" shot, everyone play to the opponent backhand, but don't have to be necessarily that way, in fact some players have better backhand than forehand.
There is always room to improve, most people todays days they play 2 handed backhand,which is more stable of course with 2 hands, 1 handed backhand requires much more stability, balance and very good technique.
VOLLEY - HALF VOLLEY - DROP SHOT
Volleys are really the most simple and easiest shot since need no back swing, less upper body movement .
most commonly everyone have the idea that should volley at the net , but actually knowing how to volley can be done from any part of the court and help the overall game since increase the choices and attitude to go always towards the ball , getting the ball always with a forward motion ,so never unbalanced or with the balance backwards.
At the same time will generate many situations where we will need to hit half volleys, improving the contact point early on the rise after the bounce .
And as the volleys are mainly a control and reflecting shots, we add the drop shots since are also control shots slowing down the motion making a short movement to give a short ball .
HIGH BALLS - HIGH VOLLEYS -OVERHEAD - SMASH
With high balls we really have more opportunities, since they are slower balls, so we have more time.
Still they are not really easy, since the ball is changing trajectory going up ,and the pace is very different than a faster more lower ball .
We can volley the high balls as first alternative, if taken after the bounce we need to take them early before they go up too high.
Of course,many players are not confident on volleys or taking the bounces early on the rise, they end up going backwards to hit when the ball goes down spending much more energy, and end up so much far back on the court,
and in many cases if the ball bounc too high they cannot even reach it just going over them.
SERVE - RETURN OF SERVE
The serve is really the most important shot in tennis, since is the first shot to start the game, who serve have of course the advantage having the first shot, so the key is to try to hold your serve every time.
First and most important key on serving well is the toss, and balance, so the preparation with racquet back, elbow and shoulder that hold the racquet lower,while the hand and shoulder that toss the ball is high pointing the ball, as everyone can see the position in many serve pictures, balance down with knees slightly bend ready to go up and accelerate to hit, the key is the shoulder turn, and angle of contact to clear the net .
The most natural grip to use for serves is the continental grip, used for volleys as well.
The return of serves is the 2nd next shot that follow after the serve, basically here as a receiver we will try to break our opponent serve, if we keep the idea to get the serve back in with control, rather thank hitting offensively without forcing it, if we manage to get the serve back in,and start a rally, our opponent don't have any more advantage with the serve, so we have the chance to challenge the point.
DOUBLES
Doubles is the most interesting and fun game in tennis, since offer many more options and situations than singles, even for training, and it is more social too.
Doubles teams communicate to decide and adjust during the match their strategy.
FITNESS
As an advance tennis players knows " We get fit to play tennis, not just play tennis to get fit ".
Still is a great exercise, but a good preparation, proper warm up, proper stretching, cardio, and correct body movements practice executing a fluid proper technique should be always observed to focus on coordination and balance, as well as taking care of proper nutrition and hydration.
When we have a long match, or any extended training session then proper recovery is very important.
Many sports recovery methods don’t have solid science behind them
The human body is made to move and therefore has all the means to help you recover from exercise without needing outside help
If a recovery modality doesn’t have strong scientific evidence behind it, but makes you feel better and doesn’t harm you, it might be positive anyway.
Placebo effect
Most of the popular recovery methods we use work through the placebo effect, but that this isn’t negative because of the powerful body response this effect can encourage.
“It doesn’t matter if there’s science to back it up. If an athlete strongly believes that something works, the belief effect can overwhelm the real effect”
Researchers found that the lower stress levels of sedentary adults, the more their physical performances improved in response to training.
The methods most widely used are :
Ice bath , Massage, Compression Tights, hydration, supplements, massages, infrared saunas, meditation and floating, sleep and post-recovery nutrition.
Science research says that icing,supplements, post-workouts drinks and meals,infrared saunas and massage doesn't help.
Instead the ones that help recovery are :
Float tanks , meditation and sleep.
ITF - INTERNATIONAL TENNIS FEDERATION
https://www.itftennis.com/officiating/rulebooks/rules-of-tennis.aspx
VIDEO ANALYSIS
Video analysis is a great tool, specially the slow motion video, to observe in detail the movements so we can identify particular points to work for improvement.
FILES
VISION SCIENTISTS AT THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, BERKELEY, HAVE PINPOINTED HOW THE BRAIN TRACKS FAST-MOVING OBJECTS.
IT CAN TAKE ONE TENTH OF A SECOND FOR THE BRAIN TO PROCESS WHAT THE EYE SEES.
THAT 100-MILLISECOND HOLDUP MEANS THAT IN REAL TIME, A TENNIS BALL MOVING AT 120 MPH WOULD HAVE ALREADY ADVANCED 15 FEET BEFORE THE BRAIN REGISTERS THE BALL'S LOCATION
PRACTICE REALLY DOES MAKE PERFECT / DIFFERENT FOLLOW THROUGH.
STORY SOURCE:
MATERIALS PROVIDED BY UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE
OUR ELEGANT BRAIN: MOTOR LEARNING IN THE
FAST LANE.
IT TAKES A SURPRISINGLY SMALL CLUSTER OF BRAIN CELLS DEEP WITHIN THE CEREBELLUM TO LEARN HOW TO SERVE A TENNIS BALL OR LINE UP A HOCKEY SHOT.
RESEARCHERS AT MCGILL UNIVERSITY LED BY KATHLEEN CULLEN FROM THE DEPARTMENT OF PHYSIOLOGY HAVE DISCOVERED THAT TO LEARN NEW MOTOR SKILLS, NEURONS WITHIN THE CEREBELLUM ENGAGE IN ELEGANT, VIRTUALLY MATHEMATICAL, COMPUTATIONS TO QUICKLY COMPARE EXPECTED AND ACTUAL SENSORY FEED‐ BACK.
PADEL TENNIS
PADEL TENNIS
Padel Tennis is a young sport created from tennis , and with an ingenious idea simply from tennis players having a very tight little room on the back of the tennis court, the added to the game the walls after the bounce on the floor, so became a combination with squash.
Later on the created the Padel racquets which are different types of composite,shorter , type of a big Ping Pong racquet, no strings.
It is easier to play than tennis, give many more options and chances, and can be also a good easy start before tennis, it is always doubles so is absolutely always very social, and is actually the fastest growing sport in the planet, in fact there are more people in Spain playing Padel than Tennis , Spain is where the Padel was created and grow initially,followed by Argentina in number of players.
There are actually Padel federations in most countries in Europe, Canada ,Usa, Latin-america, started in Australia,and lately few courts are built in Asia.
There are Padel World Championships, you can check in the links below the Padel Federation website.
It is really much fun to play Padel, i look forward to promote it and organise coaching lessons for those enthusiast people to start Padel .
http://www.padelfip.com
https://www.worldpadeltour.com
