About Brent

Hi, I’m really glad you’re here. And I’m hoping you’ll give me the chance to help you with your tennis. But…

I gotta be honest with you from the start. I’m respectful of your time and I don’t want to waste it.

Just so you know, I do NOT teach extreme tennis stroke mechanics and boring baseline only strategies in hopes that you will be able to play just like some of today’s top players (Rafa, Hewitt, Roddick, etc.).

If you’re hoping to learn how to play tennis with extreme grips and swing shapes from 3-5 feet behind the baseline, well, then I’m not your guy.

I only teach what is called “All-Court” tennis.

If you’d like to honestly make some changes to improve the quality of your tennis game and then take your enjoyment of tennis to new levels, then this might be the most important info page you’ll ever read for making that happen.

If you’re hoping and trying, or even worse, being taught ”to play just like the pros”… then, we gotta talk, because you’re heading for real trouble.

Andy Roddick…

I love watching this kid play, I love his attitude, I love his passion for the game, & I love what he does off the court.

But hello, come on, this is NOT the model you want to copy for your strokes and strategies if you want to play tennis for your lifetime.

I can show you how to…

Dramatically improve any or all of your tennis strokes.

• serve
• one-handed backhand groundstroke
• forehand groundstroke
• two-handed backhand groundstroke
• forehand and backhand volleys
• returns of serve for singles & doubles
• overhead
• lob
• drop shot
• singles & doubles strategies
• mental skills for competitive players
• and the list goes on, after 35+ years of teaching All-Court tennis, I know I can help your tennis game

What Are You Going To Learn?

Stroke Fundamentals - There are several common denominators that run through all of the strokes.  Once you practice & implement these must-have fundamentals & work them into your game, I encourage you to put your own personality on top of those fundamentals.

I’m  not teaching you to play the game to become a robot like everyone else, but there are a set of fundamentals that have to make up the foundation of your game.  Without them, tennis will always be a frustrating mystery to you.

Footwork - Understand the simple yet essential keys to Footwork – yep, this is a game of movement, right?…! You can quickly improve a decisive first step, efficient movement, proper spacing away from the incoming ball for a perfect hitting position.

Mental - Develop the necessary mental skills for practice and competition Are you sick and tired of playing great in practice situations and then stinking up the place in either league or tournament matches?

Court Positioning - Reap the benefits of becoming more focused on court positioning – where you are on the court at any given moment.

Finally understand exactly how superior court positioning in your singles and doubles strategies can have an enormous effect on challenging your opponents.

Fitness - Get fitter and learn simple exercises for tennis specific injury prevention, greatly reduce the risk of of tennis elbow, rotator cuff, and other tennis related injuries.

Strategies - Learn to become an “all-court” tennis player, how to stop being a one-dimensional predominately baseline player.

Play For Your Lifetime - Enjoy this beautiful game for your lifetime, and while you’re doing that, just plain have more FUN with your tennis…!

Here’s WHY I can help you.

If you’re unsure, let’s put any doubts aside now.  My system simply gets results.

My students become “all-court” players who are proficient at both singles and doubles.

If you become one of my students, I promise you that you will improve in those areas that need the most attention in your tennis game.   Promise.   Guaranteed.

There is no risk on your part by allowing me to help you with your tennis.

My instructional products are 100% guaranteed or your money back.   No questions, no nothing. I am supremely confident that I can help you.

Look, I’ve been teaching tennis for over thirty years.

Over that time, I’ve developed an “all-court” tennis instructional system that is based on the true fundamentals of the game.

I’ve been incredibly fortunate to have trained with some of the game’s great teachers, such as Tom Stow, Dennis vanderMeer, and Vic Braden.  In 1979, I convinced Tom Stow to take me on (begging and pleading no less…!), and he simply took me from a low “B” level hacker to the USTA National 35s Doubles title in four short years and was ranked #1 in the USA in 35 & older doubles that year.

I play the way I teach.

I recently won the 2009 USTA National 60s Hardcourt Singles title and was also rewarded with being named to the 2009 USA 60s World Cup team where we were the runners-up at the World Cup tournament in Perth Australia.

Fortunately, I’m still able to compete at a high international level, having recently reached the quarterfinals in singles at the 2009 ITF World tournament in Perth and also won the 3rd place Bronze medal in doubles.

I started this “all-court” instructional website and weekly newsletter in July 2002. There are currently over 21,000 subscribers, tennis players just like you, asking and getting answers to their questions.

Here’s HOW I help you…

• A free weekly instructional VIDEO blog delivered directly to your email InBox with a real tip or two that you can use in your game immediately.   No worn out tired tennis teaching clichés here, real instruction that gets results.
• Online detailed stroke and strategy lessons that feature simple to understand instruction using text, photos, audio clips, and video clips.
• A line of high quality instructional products developed by Brent (DVDs, CDs, instant video downloads, etc.) that are designed to help you get the results you want in an easy to understand, plain English format and practice plan.
• Live instructional teleconferences and Webinars where I present a certain topic where you can ask specific questions about your tennis game and get answers right then and there.
• Follow up. The key to any high quality instructional program is follow up. I stay with you throughout your learning process, giving you the opportunity to ask questions via email or my toll free line.
• Quality learning aids. I endorse only a handful of what I consider to be important and useful learning products. I offer these to my subscribers at very competitive prices.

FREE Weekly Tennis Tip Blog Updates PLUS Free Access To My Tennis Tip Vault

Click here to get signed up!

So, if you’ve stayed with me this far, then I know you’re serious about making some changes to your tennis game. And I’m with you on that count, because I know I’ll always be a devoted student to this wonderful and beautiful game…!

I’m a serve and volley player, and there isn’t a shot hit to me that I don’t consider as an approach shot opportunity!

I grew up across the San Francisco Bay in Berkeley playing tennis at the Berkeley Tennis Club.  I had the good fortune of seeing some of the game’s great players each Fall at the Pacific Coast Championships at the BTC.  From the early 1950s for 20 years, we had all of the best men’s and women’s players come and play the tournament and stay in our homes.  As they say, “those were the days”!

If you remember the names Maria Bueno and Darlene Hard, they stayed at our home during the Pacific Coast tournament for many years.  Having the # 1 player in the world staying at your house during a tournament, well, those days are long gone…

I had my first teaching job as a summer camp junior counselor at John Gardiner’s Tennis Ranch in Carmel Valley, CA in 1966.  From there, tennis has taken me to teaching jobs in France, Memphis, Key Biscayne, and other clubs in California.  I’ve pretty much taught tennis non stop since 1970.

I worked in the real estate development business in the 1980s, however, I continued to teach on a private court on a part time basis.  I’ve taught with Barry MacKay, Donna Floyd Fales, Dennis VanderMeer, and other top players and coaches.  Needless to say, I’ve been incredibly lucky to have been in the right place at the right time to have been able to work with these folks.

But the one person who really made a dramatic impact on my tennis was Tom Stow.

Tom was not well known outside of northern California, but this guy knew more about how to hit the ball and play the game than anyone I’ve ever met.

Tom coached some of the game’s great players such as Don Budge (Grand Slam 1938), Sarah Palfrey Cooke, Elwood Cooke, Jim McManus, Bill Crosby, Cliff Mayne, Hugh Ditzler, Doug King, Steve Stefanki, Steve Cornell, Pixie Lamm, and many other top players.

In fact, Tom himself was a fine player as he won the 1926 NCAA Doubles title with Bud Chandler while attending the University of California.

I knew Tom when he was the Head Pro and Manager at the Berkeley Tennis Club when I was a kid.  But I didn’t get on the court with him until much later in 1979.

At the time I was a pure hack with absolutely no clue of how to really hit the ball and play.

With a flick forehand, a chop backhand, a serve that was so sliced that it made no sound, and the flattest volleys ever hit, I was just pathetic…!  He gave me two years until his health took a turn for the worse.

Tom presented the game to me in a light that I’d just never considered before.  Needless to say, Tom gave me the success I’ve enjoyed as a player and a teacher.

Within 5 years of seeing him, I’d won a national championship.  I was lucky to have known him.

This stuff works and you can learn it, even if you’re not the most athletic guy or gal on the block or if you don’t have 5 hours a day seven days a week to devote to getting better.

The heavy top-spinners grinding from the baseline are easy pickings in tournaments and eventually their arms are either going to fall off or their brains will just blow up from the boredom and frustration of being so one-dimensional.

As we get older, we play more doubles than we did when we were younger.  Players with extreme grips who mostly play singles from behind the baseline normally make pretty pathetic doubles players.

Don’t let yourself do it, get on the right track with strokes you can use forever and give yourself a game for a lifetime… tennis.

Thanks for listening…   Brent

Please feel free to contact me at askbrent@webtennis.net or the WebTennis office at 925-246-5551.  I’m always open to new suggestions and ideas.

That’s right… The very lucky Dad & Husband

Brent, Cassie, Georgie, Molly, & Mai

May 2010 – Georgie’s Graduation from Georgia Southern University