Posts by Jeff Greenwald

We’ve all seen it happen, and maybe even experienced it. You are dominating your opponent and suddenly you miss a few “easy” shots. Instinctively, you attempt to fix it, try harder to execute, and then, become hyper-focused on your technique, “I need to get the ball deeper, accelerate more, don’t take such a big backswing.” But,…

Pre-Covid, when we could safely go to the gym, I often remember pulling out my old headphones wondering how they could get so tangled, especially since I know they were definitely not tangled after my last workout. Each time, as I sat in the locker room untangling the cord, I remember being struck how our…

If you tuned into the 2021 Australian Open, you probably heard how much the top players increasingly talking about their “mental” games. After Stefanos Tsitsipas defeated Rafa Nadal in a five set thriller he said: “How would I describe myself?” he mused afterward, asked to describe his mind-set after winning what proved a pivotal tiebreaker.…

1 Idea, 1 Anecdote, 1 Action adapted from Jeff’s book, The Best Tennis of Your Life I’ve been asked how the best players in the world compete so well when the stakes are so high. “How do athletes deal with the stress with so much on the line?” Answer: They learn to thrive in it.…

The King of Clay, Rafa Nadal, won his 13th French Open Title last Sunday and tied Roger Federer’s Grand Slam record of 20. Here’s what Rafa said about it immediately following his win: “When I lose it’s not a drama for me, and when I achieve something important I don’t see it as especially amazing…

What’s New? 1-1-1 with Jeff Greenwald Over the next ten weeks I will be sharing ONE Idea that can transform the way you think and live, ONE Analogy to drive it home, and ONE Action you can take to see its effects in your life. These time-tested ideas–drawn from 22 years working in the field…

While waiting to play tennis with a friend yesterday (I’ll call him Shane), I asked him how many of his friends were happy from his perspective. He said, “Most of them, actually.” “Because you probably don’t want to be around negative people, right?” He quickly responded, “Exactly.” But, he did acknowledge that many of the…

A few days ago my son, Will, asked me to jump with him on the trampoline. He particularly likes it when I bounce him really high, which I do by using the well-known technique where I jump right next to him just before he lands sending him twice as far into the air as he…

I know we can all feel low and sometimes our motivation, or even the belief in ourselves, can fluctuate. Clearly, we all have good reason to drag at this moment. But, we don’t have to lay down and give in for too long. That said, if you are struggling, as many people are these days,…

With our desire for immediate results and a lack of self-awareness, we often don’t even see the learning opportunities in front of our eyes. Engaging in the learning process is a critical step toward achieving goals on the tennis court.  Recently, I was practicing my serve for an upcoming tournament. On the court next to…

In the near future, perhaps sometime next month or early June, this first wave of Covid will be behind us. This will be a relief for everybody. Will you be depleted and burned out when you re-emerge? Or, will you have a new appreciation for the little things in life, including your relationships with friends…

Before reading my suggestions below, please understand that anything you’re feeling right now is completely normal. We are all facing the same external situation, but each of us will have different reactions based on our personalities, values and life experiences. Yesterday, I spoke with an anxious entrepeneur in his early fifties who had to close down all of his…

Last week a player at my club stopped to tell me, “Jeff, what I didn’t realize is how hard it is to sustain your focus in a match.” She was trying to tell me that she used my tools between points and that they were working, but was stunned by how much energy it required…