Nicola, why do you not have him practice his slice return at all? or you just don't show it on video? I mean honestly, sometimes you have to right? back "in the day" my hitting partner and I would play serve return games where one player has to serve and the other return until the score is 25, win by two; our assumption was the server should always win and if not then he really needs to pick up his serve game. Good exercise or not? oh man, my buddy had an excellent return and I can remember serving over 10 deuces some games which was brutal but really prepare you for those hard games where you feel like you opponent just won't "die," because he keeps winning the add point.
Great video. I like how Shamir wasn't afraid to ask the "obvious" questions, as in a lot of lesson videos the student is a mute. I've been watching your videos for a few weeks, and it's crazy how I'm actually seeing minor improvement to my technique without doing the lesson in person.
I also really appreciated Shamir's questions. A question and answer format tends to be more engaging, especially when the questions appear to be genuine, nand not just rhetorical questions. Seeing Shamir's mistakes was also useful - we can see what to look out for. Sometimes the reactions to the questions sounded a tad harsh, like "obviously!", but Shamir seemed fairly thick-skinned so it was OK!
I'm just 3 weeks from the first time i picked up a tennis racket. This channel has quickly become my favorite. Shamir asks great questions and the instructor has a great way of making his answers very easily understood with great explanations! Thank you!!
One of the great things you do as a coach, Nick, is teaching your students how to analyze what their problem is in a particular situation and what the remedy for this is. A good example is around 13 min in your video. Practically none of the many coaches I've had over the years do this despite the fact that it is a critically important skill.
I'm gonna have to start using these tips because I'm a 4.0 and still tend to return from right at the baseline. I played all through middle and high school, but never received much formal instruction. It's cool how this video feels like I'm getting in-depth coaching compared to other videos I've seen.
What a great lesson Nik. I'm really enjoying these videos. Some great advice, especially to watch the ball. I learnt something today about the kick serve return. I appreciate having Shamir be candid and ask questions along the way. Can't wait for the next video...
Good lesson : It’s exactly what I needed. “... Don’t step towards the ball if it’s coming at you fast with pace ... cuts down on time ... take a lateral step .....”. Exactly!! 😆. Shorten everything. “Judge the ball after it has been struck”. “.... look at the ball!..,”. I’m 4.5 I can handle most serves thrown at me. But 5.0 and above is very difficult and challenging! 😆. The reference to Wawrinka was informative. I never knew why he bounces like that. I don’t get or understand the split step technique. I basically just sway subtly from side to side on the balls of my feet when returning a serve. Good advice as usual Niko. Thank you.
One thing that I immediately noticed was the fantastic quality of Nick's kick serve. He has an effortless motion that produces a great deal of action and height. This makes me want to practice my serve even more. Oh yeah, the return advice was great also.
Absolutely wonderful. Big thanks to you and Shamir for doing this. All the time on TV tennis we hear how "oh he's got a read on his serve now" and I think a lot of us, myself included, try to become poker players picking up these tells and speaking for myself very unsuccessfully. I gave up looking for tells a while ago and have just relied on pure reaction to save myself some stress. These tips though are amazing and new to me. Actual measurable, improvable skills and not just "improving guess work". Love it. Thanks again
I really appreciate the biomechanics and physics he uses to explain good technique. This makes a lot of sense to me , so thank you for that application coach.
I want to congratulate for your channel. You are an incredible teacher: clear and effective. You go so deep in tennis but you always remain focus on the prospective of your student. Every word you say has a precise meaning and it's pounded wisely. Great job
Thanks for your useful lessons. I'm a recreational player and find your videos very simple and as your title suggests - intuitive . Most importantly, it is easy to understand and connect with what I am doing currently . Much appreciated
Another great lesson. One of my absolute favorite youtubers. Also love teachers that are direct and not overly cushioning the feedback..... 11.44.... :)
Wow, great lesson Coach Nick! Good to see that Shamir made a lot of great progress. And it's eye-opening to see that even a 4.5 level player can have such a difficult time handling big serves.
I watched the older video on returning serve that was a couple years ago prior to this one... and I was surprised to not here Agassi mentioned. That may date my age, but I remember him and Sampras and the amazing returns Andre had. Both legends in my mind!
Thank you very much for all your amazing videos from Malaysia. It greatly elevates my game as intermediate club player, which I won't have a chance to access to such top quality coaching!!
Thank you. So insightful, Nick. I'm amazed how it takes watching this to realize why I've framed or whiffed so many fast serves. Can't wait to practice these tips.
I think The lesson format is the best approach. Great tips. I also strand on the same spot. I will try to back away somewhat which maybe also works with the ground stroke
Thanks for the lesson Nick, A+ 👍. I'd like to see an advanced part on aggressive return especially on/for a one hand backhander.. in a Double situation!
I came up short against a really good kicker server the other day. In the same boat as Samir. Things are not quite 'obvious' to me, but thanks for explaining the geometry out. This is such a great lesson for returns.
what you said was so true about aiming for the middle on a service return and then hitting the ball late and it miraculously goes down the line for a winner and you end up looking like a bold genius.. LOL!! It's happened to me before and while I maintained a straight face to all who were clapping in the stands, I looked at my racquet like 'where did that come from'.. hehehehe
What about blocking serves in? Here you had your student return everything with a topspin shot. Would that be your general advice, i.e. to try and come over the top of the ball with every return? (Unless you're stretched so wide it's impossible to hit topspin and are forced to block the ball in, of course.)
@@IntuitiveTennis Understood. Can't wait to see it, then! You're a very good coach. You have a solid understanding of the game which allows you to explain very well not just what to do, but also _why_ to do it!
Nice tips. I tend to just block the return of serve. Nice idea to hit a full follow through. I guess there is more control with this method. And aim for centre of court.
This is a model lesson, indeed! I've been experimenting with kick serves and I've found something interesting for the recreational level playing. If the kick serve (either 7-1 and 8-2) is hit relatively slowly about 82-85km/h and when it's hit relatively fast 95km/m gives amazing notable differences! When slow the ball travells straight without curving, but it bounces up with really significant angle, it's something about one meter (3 feet approximately) to the side thus spoiling all the opponent's preparation to hit it back, usually resulting is a terribly jammed return or missing at all! But when this service is hit fast the ball's trajectory becomes curved but the bounce up loses almost all the angle and jumps along aligned with its flight trajectory. Personally I haven't developed my kick and spin serves faster than 95km/h, but a flat and slice serves of mine are a bit faster, often 105km/h
Very few coaches know how to effectively use shame to motivate their charges. It IS an effective technique when used in the gentle way you do. Bravo. BTW this is intended as a complement.
great tip not to try and anticipate the ball, but judge the direction after it's been hit! Also when you do the split step, you do it to be ready to hit, to be explosive, like you said, so it's important to make the student understand the actual purpose of the split step. I for one, am soooo ready to attack the return, I'm fully onto it, I hop and split as if my life depended on it, and I expect the fastest serve on this planet ;) but when the ball is actually hit towards me, I sometimes lose the rhythm (it's especially visible when the serve is surprisingly slow). I somehow....freeze after the split, and that's what makes it really difficult to return at all. My coach serves ca. 130 km/h against me. This is enough to get the return completely wrong if you over-anticipate.
@@IntuitiveTennis Thank you for the info! I found it, so if anyone would like to read the blog, it's right here: intuitivetennis.com/blog/what-is-the-perfect-height-for-tennis
Luv the video and I agree with 85-90%of it,my big problem with this is Shamir is always ready with the right grip,he obviously knows what side you’re serving to,most recreational players have more trouble regriping the racket when returning serve....thanks
You show him a half and quarter swing 5 times and he still does a 3/4 swing the whole time, also he has no split step only a little bouncing. Great video, thank you very much.
Hi! What would be the difference in returning 1st vs. 2nd serve, i.e. fast and weak serve? I.e., where would be the fine line of how much to attack the serve and still not make an error?
Why we return from close to the doubles alley 👉 ua-cam.com/video/wja8bgYzX0U/v-deo.html
Nicola, why do you not have him practice his slice return at all? or you just don't show it on video? I mean honestly, sometimes you have to right? back "in the day" my hitting partner and I would play serve return games where one player has to serve and the other return until the score is 25, win by two; our assumption was the server should always win and if not then he really needs to pick up his serve game. Good exercise or not?
oh man, my buddy had an excellent return and I can remember serving over 10 deuces some games which was brutal but really prepare you for those hard games where you feel like you opponent just won't "die," because he keeps winning the add point.
You should be paying Shamir by now. He's such a great character to have in these videos. Great student, too.
Can't wait to apply this to my game in Mario Tennis Aces
😂
Lololol
😅
🤣🤣🤣
Great video. I like how Shamir wasn't afraid to ask the "obvious" questions, as in a lot of lesson videos the student is a mute. I've been watching your videos for a few weeks, and it's crazy how I'm actually seeing minor improvement to my technique without doing the lesson in person.
I also really appreciated Shamir's questions. A question and answer format tends to be more engaging, especially when the questions appear to be genuine, nand not just rhetorical questions. Seeing Shamir's mistakes was also useful - we can see what to look out for. Sometimes the reactions to the questions sounded a tad harsh, like "obviously!", but Shamir seemed fairly thick-skinned so it was OK!
Shamir is everyone of us. Great choice for video content with a student.
You give the absolute best lessons on youtube!
This is true
@@ext230 YESSSS
Shamir is a quick learner and a good student.
I'm just 3 weeks from the first time i picked up a tennis racket. This channel has quickly become my favorite. Shamir asks great questions and the instructor has a great way of making his answers very easily understood with great explanations! Thank you!!
Great to hear!
Shamir is a great student of the game. I respect that!
One of the great things you do as a coach, Nick, is teaching your students how to analyze what their problem is in a particular situation and what the remedy for this is. A good example is around 13 min in your video. Practically none of the many coaches I've had over the years do this despite the fact that it is a critically important skill.
Thank you George 🙏
The return of serve is the most underrated shot in the sport IMHO. Good for Shamir working on it. Great lesson coach!
'A quarter take back and finish the return with more spin'.....the best return of serves lesson ever! Thanks Nick!
I'm gonna have to start using these tips because I'm a 4.0 and still tend to return from right at the baseline. I played all through middle and high school, but never received much formal instruction. It's cool how this video feels like I'm getting in-depth coaching compared to other videos I've seen.
You can tell Shamir is a science student. He looks at everything like an engineer.
i thought he was a math student based on his questions
I love Shamir and his questions. You can tell he is processing everything and truly internalizing it.
What a great lesson Nik. I'm really enjoying these videos. Some great advice, especially to watch the ball. I learnt something today about the kick serve return. I appreciate having Shamir be candid and ask questions along the way. Can't wait for the next video...
Good lesson : It’s exactly what I needed. “... Don’t step towards the ball if it’s coming at you fast with pace ... cuts down on time ... take a lateral step .....”. Exactly!! 😆. Shorten everything. “Judge the ball after it has been struck”. “.... look at the ball!..,”. I’m 4.5 I can handle most serves thrown at me. But 5.0 and above is very difficult and challenging! 😆. The reference to Wawrinka was informative. I never knew why he bounces like that. I don’t get or understand the split step technique. I basically just sway subtly from side to side on the balls of my feet when returning a serve. Good advice as usual Niko. Thank you.
One thing that I immediately noticed was the fantastic quality of Nick's kick serve. He has an effortless motion that produces a great deal of action and height. This makes me want to practice my serve even more. Oh yeah, the return advice was great also.
Absolutely wonderful. Big thanks to you and Shamir for doing this. All the time on TV tennis we hear how "oh he's got a read on his serve now" and I think a lot of us, myself included, try to become poker players picking up these tells and speaking for myself very unsuccessfully. I gave up looking for tells a while ago and have just relied on pure reaction to save myself some stress. These tips though are amazing and new to me. Actual measurable, improvable skills and not just "improving guess work". Love it. Thanks again
Great point Gumaro 🙏
11:43 "obviously" lmaoo love seeing some joking around and personality in these tennis lessons
i dunno if that was a joke..
yeah i laughed when he said that
Hahaha that killed me. The way Shamir was like “oh yeah idk why I asked that” 😂
I really appreciate the biomechanics and physics he uses to explain good technique. This makes a lot of sense to me , so thank you for that application coach.
Great return-of-serves lesson! Your instructions are tailored, relevant and applicable. Love it!
Damn those kick serves are crazy wonky, I've never faced anyone with those types of serves. Looks crazy difficult to return.
power shots
I want to congratulate for your channel.
You are an incredible teacher: clear and effective.
You go so deep in tennis but you always remain focus on the prospective of your student.
Every word you say has a precise meaning and it's pounded wisely.
Great job
Thank you Michele
Thanks for your useful lessons. I'm a recreational player and find your videos very simple and as your title suggests - intuitive . Most importantly, it is easy to understand and connect with what I am doing currently . Much appreciated
Love the way lessons are based on feeling and seeing what happens
Another great lesson. One of my absolute favorite youtubers. Also love teachers that are direct and not overly cushioning the feedback..... 11.44.... :)
this guy is so awesome at explaining and showing what to do incredible would love to work with him
What a GREAT lesson. I love the way you teach and how matter-of-fact everything you say is. Awesome!
🙏
Wow, great lesson Coach Nick! Good to see that Shamir made a lot of great progress. And it's eye-opening to see that even a 4.5 level player can have such a difficult time handling big serves.
Thanks keep doing these lessons with a student they are great and something you dont see alot of other tennis channels doing.
Cordial thanks, this lesson answered all of my questions on returning serves. Love your channel.
Odlicni tutoriali Nikola, hvala i pozdrav iz Zagreba!
Puno hvala Lucy
I watched the older video on returning serve that was a couple years ago prior to this one... and I was surprised to not here Agassi mentioned. That may date my age, but I remember him and Sampras and the amazing returns Andre had. Both legends in my mind!
Agassi return one of the best for sure
Thank you very much for all your amazing videos from Malaysia. It greatly elevates my game as intermediate club player, which I won't have a chance to access to such top quality coaching!!
Thank you. So insightful, Nick. I'm amazed how it takes watching this to realize why I've framed or whiffed so many fast serves. Can't wait to practice these tips.
Thank you SO much for your lessons. I'm an athlete but a novice player and coach (by default) I have a lot of learning to do...
I need to move into that neighborhood...The courts are always free😀
Right?! Over here in Dallas they stay full
Very nice class, congrats. I learned a lot from this channel and I have improved a lot my tennis.
Nik you're teaching is brilliant. As amazing you are with your Tennis records, you maybe even a better teacher. The videos are awesome. Keep it up!!
Thank you 🙏
@@IntuitiveTennis Subscribed. Cheers!
i love this guy. he doesnt waste a second of my time
Loving this lesson! Not sure how I missed it, but am glad to have found it Nick!
I love watching these lessons with him. I learn so much.
Great lesson. Especially the advice to make the first move extremely quickly!
I think The lesson format is the best approach. Great tips. I also strand on the same spot. I will try to back away somewhat which maybe also works with the ground stroke
Best video for fixing return. Thanks!
Great video. Your explanation was specific with visual examples. Really enjoyed it. Subscribed!
Thanks for the lesson Nick, A+ 👍. I'd like to see an advanced part on aggressive return especially on/for a one hand backhander.. in a Double situation!
Fantastic lesson. I enjoyed every second of it. Svaka čast, majstore.
Hvala 🙏
I came up short against a really good kicker server the other day. In the same boat as Samir. Things are not quite 'obvious' to me, but thanks for explaining the geometry out. This is such a great lesson for returns.
Wow what a great coach! I guess I had too many other weaknesses to work on that I just ignore the return of serve. Awesome video, my friend
Hopefuly no more home run hit .... got to do this quarter hit
wow. that's amazing kick serves!
thanks for the return lesson.
Glad I found this lesson. Super awesome. Loving it.
Really good lesson on ROS. Nice work thank you.
Nikola must have been having so much fun in the first 20 secs of this video! 😂
That little squawk noise before your serve is funny
what you said was so true about aiming for the middle on a service return and then hitting the ball late and it miraculously goes down the line for a winner and you end up looking like a bold genius.. LOL!! It's happened to me before and while I maintained a straight face to all who were clapping in the stands, I looked at my racquet like 'where did that come from'.. hehehehe
Nobody knows 😂😂
@@IntuitiveTennis I get so many lucky winners in tennis and squash that "appear" like good shots. I feel like a total impostor ...
Pieces of eastern europe tough love! Haha.. love it!
Thiem was on the back wall receiving Zverev's 1st serve at US Open
Best coach on UA-cam!
Just like to say I have seen a bunch of tennis tips on UA-cam, but none as good as your material. Congrats!
Such a good video lesson.....thank you for posting!
What about blocking serves in? Here you had your student return everything with a topspin shot. Would that be your general advice, i.e. to try and come over the top of the ball with every return? (Unless you're stretched so wide it's impossible to hit topspin and are forced to block the ball in, of course.)
I’ll cover block/chip return in separate video
@@IntuitiveTennis Understood. Can't wait to see it, then! You're a very good coach. You have a solid understanding of the game which allows you to explain very well not just what to do, but also _why_ to do it!
Glad you asked this!
My question as well. I usually end up slicing a backhand return. I’m very confident with my backhand slice return and has a 80% success rate.
Been watching allot of lessons this channel is the best 👍
Happy to hear that!
Favorite new channel. Amazing stuff.
Nice tips. I tend to just block the return of serve. Nice idea to hit a full follow through. I guess there is more control with this method. And aim for centre of court.
This is a model lesson, indeed! I've been experimenting with kick serves and I've found something interesting for the recreational level playing. If the kick serve (either 7-1 and 8-2) is hit relatively slowly about 82-85km/h and when it's hit relatively fast 95km/m gives amazing notable differences! When slow the ball travells straight without curving, but it bounces up with really significant angle, it's something about one meter (3 feet approximately) to the side thus spoiling all the opponent's preparation to hit it back, usually resulting is a terribly jammed return or missing at all! But when this service is hit fast the ball's trajectory becomes curved but the bounce up loses almost all the angle and jumps along aligned with its flight trajectory. Personally I haven't developed my kick and spin serves faster than 95km/h, but a flat and slice serves of mine are a bit faster, often 105km/h
Very few coaches know how to effectively use shame to motivate their charges. It IS an effective technique when used in the gentle way you do. Bravo. BTW this is intended as a complement.
Hi Nik - Would you mind putting out a video on different stringing patterns (16x19) vs (18x20) and how it impacts play? Thank you!
Greetings from Cedar Key Florida 🏝. Brilliant your videos are and helpful!!
🏝🙌
These lessons are so good.
I wonder what grip Shamir is in when receiving. Hard to come over on backhand side (one handed) against a big serve
amazing lessons with great technical details
I am learning from your video and teaching my kids
great tip not to try and anticipate the ball, but judge the direction after it's been hit! Also when you do the split step, you do it to be ready to hit, to be explosive, like you said, so it's important to make the student understand the actual purpose of the split step. I for one, am soooo ready to attack the return, I'm fully onto it, I hop and split as if my life depended on it, and I expect the fastest serve on this planet ;) but when the ball is actually hit towards me, I sometimes lose the rhythm (it's especially visible when the serve is surprisingly slow). I somehow....freeze after the split, and that's what makes it really difficult to return at all. My coach serves ca. 130 km/h against me. This is enough to get the return completely wrong if you over-anticipate.
Great student x great instructor! You're sooo UH-MAY-ZING! 👏🏽🎾👑
amazing lesson, thank you!
Looking for a good return lesson this one is very good.
Invaluable lesson!!!
Thank you a lot!!!
Solid gold. 👍🏻
Great video, as always.
Really a very good lesson...
Hey Coach that was a great lesson. Could you please let me know how tall you are? Also, how does height impact the differences in style of play?
Thank you Matt, I’m 6’5. I wrote a blog on height...
@@IntuitiveTennis Thank you for the info! I found it, so if anyone would like to read the blog, it's right here: intuitivetennis.com/blog/what-is-the-perfect-height-for-tennis
Backing up always gives you more time to react to an angle anyway so consider it a neutral decision to staying closer to close the angle a bit.
Thank you for this video Great training and a wealth of info. Please keep doing these!
Luv the video and I agree with 85-90%of it,my big problem with this is Shamir is always ready with the right grip,he obviously knows what side you’re serving to,most recreational players have more trouble regriping the racket when returning serve....thanks
I discuss return grips in this video 👉 ua-cam.com/video/rbwtmCRRV5Y/v-deo.html
Very useful lesson as always. Which do you think is a good method to train your reaction time? thanks
Practice returns
Excellent video! So informative..
Such a talented coach...
I am one of the top seed of 4.5 in san diego , love to play vs Shamir lol
Good vid. Your man is still arming a lot of that forehand return, looks like he's not using enough core and pushing off of his legs.
Good tips. No mention of the split step, but Shamir seems to have that down.
You show him a half and quarter swing 5 times and he still does a 3/4 swing the whole time, also he has no split step only a little bouncing. Great video, thank you very much.
Great lesson
That high kick to the one handed backhand looks like a nightmare.
That's when you bust out the jumping 2 hander!!!
Eye opening watching this channel.
Can't wait to get on the court again and shorten up my backswing!
Hi! What would be the difference in returning 1st vs. 2nd serve, i.e. fast and weak serve? I.e., where would be the fine line of how much to attack the serve and still not make an error?
Great lesson!
Excellent tips~ Thanks
Great lesson, I got a lot out of this one.
Great lesson. Wish I could get a lesson here in ny
ive been takin lots of good lessons here in nyc ...on all the public courts there are very good coaches
@@soofitnsexy please share contacts? Looking for a good coach with One handed backhand. Tired of it being my liability. Thanks in advance!!
@@kstats8243 my email is khilljac@gmail.com
chris rocco
@@kstats8243 shoot me a message I will hook you up with a great one hand backhand coach! have a good day
@@soofitnsexy done. Thanks!
a lot of good content sir, thank you