Jeff Counts has been filming and studying professional tennis strokes for several decades, a project which culminated in hi-techtennis.com, his instructional website.
He works as a part time coach in Northern Virginia, offering video analysis and on court instruction to help maximize technique for players of all levels. Jeff works full time as a software engineer and also is the technical editor for Tennisplayer.net
In my first article on the straight armed forehand (Click Here) I explored how the modern straight armed forehand works and suggested some possible advantages to this technique, including a contact point further in front, and more leverage from shoulder...
In my last article, "The Forehand: A Spring Event", I suggested that the visual illusion of professional forehands as whippy and wristy and immediately coming across the body has led many instructors and tennis commentators to mistakenly conclude that "racket...
At Wimbledon this year Fabio Fognini took Carlos Alcaraz to five thrilling sets (click here for highlights), something that nobody saw coming. Fognini is at the very tail end of his career. At 38 years old, the Italian hadn't won...
In 1988, John released his breakthrough instructional video, "The Winning Edge". It was one of the first tennis instructional videos to use clear slow-motion video and stop-action footage of top professional players (John McEnroe and Ivan Lendl, no less) as...
I have always been enamored with the underdog. In every sport, an unlikely David will emerge with a chance to somehow, in someway, take down Goliath. And it's this possibility, however small, that draws me in every time. In hockey...
Advanced elements that came close to a forming a great stroke. When John first contacted me, he said that he was a 4.5 level player who hit with top juniors in Taiwan on a regular basis. However, he was very...
Straighten the Arm? So far I have focused exclusively on the "double bend" forehands where the hitting arm is bent at varying degrees and the wrist lays back, forming the hallmark structure of today's big weapon. If you witnessed Djokovic's...
Ching's windshield wiper forehand - what will close observation, and a pro comparison, show us? We looked last month at Ching Lee's serve, and this month we will take a look at his forehand. On the right you can see...
Why is Ching unable to flatten out his serve? This month in Your Strokes we take a look at the serve of Ching Lee. Ching is a 4.0 level player, looking to take his game to the next level. When...
What's obvious to the naked eye, and what can only the camera reveal? This month in Your Strokes we take a look at the one-handed backhand of Ron Milenko. Ron recently asked me to film his game to see where...
I would like to continue my exploration of the double bend forehand by looking at how top hitters maintain a very solid hitting structure, yet are still able to generate momentum into the ball, as well as make contact well...
In my first two articles on the professional forehand, (Click Here), I discussed why I think the "double bend" structure leads to such blistering pace on professional forehands. Now let's see the role of this underlying structure in the windshield...
When I watch professional tennis, I see the same things you do. Rackets whipping around the body. Incredible racket head speed resulting in blistering pace and spin. This visual evidence, combined with tennis commentator's awe at today's "racket head speed"...
