Build the game from the baseline up.

I came up through the ITF junior circuit, good enough to travel and earn a few ranking points but never quite good enough to turn pro — and, like a lot of coaches, I learned more about the game from losing tight matches than I ever would have from winning easily. That understanding of how points are actually built and lost is what I bring to the court every day.

Thirteen years coaching later, I've put five juniors into national rankings and twenty-two onto state ranking lists, but the players I'm proudest of are the beginners who fell in love with the game because nobody rushed them. Juniors don't quit tennis because it's hard; they quit because they were pushed past their fundamentals for a trophy that didn't matter. I refuse to coach that way.

If your club or academy wants a coach who develops complete players for the long game — technically sound, quick on their feet, tactically sharp, and mentally tough — and who can run a red-ball beginner group and a high-performance squad in the same afternoon, I'm on court by 6 AM. Bring me your talented junior and your nervous beginner both.