Essential Tennis

Friends don't let friends play pickleball.

I’ve got something really exciting to share with you today—an insight that could instantly change the way you hit your tennis shots and help you play with more power and efficiency.

It's a concept I’ve been thinking about for a while, and it’s all about maximizing your Power Curve. This idea can be applied to every tennis shot you hit, and it has the potential to completely transform your game.

The Power Curve is a concept that describes the optimal point in your swing where you can make contact with the ball to generate the most power with the least amount of effort. Almost all tennis shots involve some kind of circular or rotational movement—from your body, through your arm, and into the racket.

This creates a natural curve of power (attached image)

At one specific point in this curve, you achieve maximum efficiency, allowing you to hit your strongest and most accurate shots. If you make contact at this "sweet spot," you’ll be able to deliver powerful shots effortlessly.

However, if you’re too early or too late in the curve, you’ll lose power and consistency.

Let’s consider Novak Djokovic for a moment. When you watch his forehand in slow motion, you’ll see that his chest rotates through a full 180 degrees—from facing the right side of the court during preparation, to facing the net at contact, to facing the left side of the court at the very end of his follow through.

This big, rotational movement allows him to make contact with the ball at the exact point in his power curve where he can generate the most force with the least effort.

Now, you might think, "Of course, Djokovic hits at the optimal point; he’s a pro!" But here’s the thing: every tennis player has their own power curve, and you can learn to find your optimal contact point too.

Many players make contact too early or too late in their power curve:

Too Early (Not Enough Rotation): If you make contact before reaching the peak of your power curve, you won’t have fully utilized your body’s rotational force. This results in weak, off-target shots that lack depth and power. These are "late contact" shots where the ball is way further back in your strike zone than it should be.

Too Late (Over-Rotation): On the other hand, if you make contact after the peak of your power curve, you’ve already lost much of your rotational force. I recently worked with a player who had this exact problem—his chest was already past the ideal position when he made contact, leading to inconsistent and less powerful shots. These are shots where the ball is hit way too far in front of the body, much less common than being "late".

The key to hitting stronger, more consistent shots is to make contact at the peak of your power curve. Here’s how to do it:

Identify Your Optimal Contact Point: Pay attention to where your chest and body are positioned at the moment of contact. The goal is to make contact when your chest is roughly facing the net, like Djokovic does. If you’re consistently early or late, take note of it. The only way to know for SURE is record yourself hitting and review frame by frame.

Adjust Your Timing: Whether you tend to be too early or too late, it takes conscious effort to recalibrate your timing. Start by focusing on making contact slightly later if you’re early or a bit sooner if you’re late. Small adjustments can make a big difference.

Practice, Practice, Practice: Like any habit in tennis, it will take time and repetition to make this adjustment feel natural. In fact, at first, making contact at exactly the right time may FEEL flat out "wrong". Verify using video to know for sure. Set aside time during your practice sessions to specifically work on finding the optimal point in your power curve.

Let me share a quick story about a student I recently worked with. He was struggling to hit the ball at shoulder height or higher. His shots were consistently low, lacking power and depth. After analyzing his forehand, we discovered he was making contact way too late in his power curve—his chest had already over-rotated past the ideal position: (attached image)

By adjusting his timing and recalibrating his contact point to the peak of his power curve, we were able to help him hit the ball higher and with much more power. Within an hour, he was hitting stronger, more efficient shots with significantly less effort. The change was incredible to see: (attached image)

Your Action Plan

1. Assess Your Contact Point: Pay attention to where you’re making contact with the ball. Are you too early, too late, or hitting it just right?

2. Focus on Rotation: Make sure your chest is in the correct position—facing the net at the moment of contact—to maximize the force of your swing.

3. Practice Timing Adjustments: Fine-tune your timing and ensure you’re making contact at the optimal point in your power curve.

4. Build New Habits: Whether you’re early or late, it takes a lot of practice to change your habits. Stick with it, and you’ll start to see dramatic improvements in your power and consistency.

Remember, every tennis shot involves some form of rotational energy, and there is always an optimal contact point. Finding that sweet spot on your power curve is crucial for hitting your best shots.

With time and practice, you can learn to harness your body’s natural mechanics, hitting stronger shots with less effort.

I hope you find this concept helpful, and I encourage you to put it to the test in your next practice session. You’ll be amazed at the difference it can make!

Looking forward to hearing about your progress!

All the best,

-Ian Westermann

The #3 all-time tennis improvement book is less than $10 on Amazon for a limited time! Grab your A to Z guide to mastering technique, strategy and the mental game in physical, Kindle or audio formats. Thank you all for over 500 5-star ratings and climbing! 🙏❤

Really grateful for this space. Thank you all for the support that makes it possible!

Having an amazing time at the Citi Open, love being back in DC! Thanks so much Scott Baxter and Nathan Bolling for the hospitality! Look for me tonight if you're there 😊

Watching Alcaraz play is an absolute delight, and there's one particular aspect of his game that stands out and can be emulated by players of all levels.

It has nothing to do with talent, athleticism, or physical strength—it's about a mindset that all of us can adopt to improve our results on the court.

Carlos never gives up on a point. Even when he's in a tough spot, he runs, guesses, and makes a move. He doesn't stand there and concede the point just because he hit a weak shot. This level of effort can put significant pressure on his opponents, forcing them to hit one more shot, and sometimes, that’s all it takes to win the point.

I recently watched a match where Alcaraz was up against Alexander Zverev. During a critical point, Carlos found himself in a difficult position after hitting a weak shot. Instead of giving up, he made a guess and started running even before Zverev hit the ball.

This anticipation and willingness to keep going is something we can all learn from!

Practically speaking, here's what we can ALL do:

Commit to Hustle: Make a promise to yourself that you won’t stop running until the ball bounces for the second time or has physically landed out. This means chasing down every shot and never conceding a point prematurely.

Take a Guess: When you're in a tight spot, don't be afraid to pick a direction and go for it. Yes, you might be wrong sometimes, but over time, you'll start to guess correctly more often.

Add Pressure: By running for every ball, you will often force your opponent to hit one more shot. This can cause them to make mistakes, especially under pressure.

Even when you lose hustle points, your relentless effort will plant a seed of doubt in your opponent’s mind. They’ll start to think, “What do I have to do to get a ball past this person??” Which can lead them to take more risks, aim closer to the lines, and ultimately, make more errors.

Over the course of a match, this can pay huge dividends. You might "steal" a few points simply because your opponent feels pressured to hit perfect shots.

Next time you step on the court, channel your inner Alcaraz!

Commit to running for every ball, guessing when you need to, and adding pressure on your opponent. This simple shift in mindset can help you win more points and ultimately, more matches.

Remember, it’s not just about having a perfect forehand or backhand. It's about using your skills effectively under pressure and never giving up on a point.

I hope you find this insight valuable and that it helps you in your tennis journey. Keep hustling, keep improving, and I'll see you on the court!

Yours Truly,

-Ian

"12 Final Days" was incredible.

We're so lucky we had Roger as long as we did.

Quick note to let all course students know that we are aware of the technical issues and are actively working to fix them!

I'm so sorry, this has been the worst week I can remember for bugs and glitches.

Early in the week one of our primary video hosting services went down, then our courses website crashed completely and had to be re-launched from scratch when the database issue couldn't be resolved...
..and now the courses site is up and running but users aren't being let past the "Welcome, go to your dashboard" message.

😞

Thankfully we have a really skilled coder/developer actively working on the current issue so I'm sure it will be resolved soon but in the meantime I wanted to reach out and express my regret for all the trouble this week.

THANK YOU so much for your patience and for your ongoing support of the whole Essential Tennis team.

It means the world to all of us.

Your Coach,

-Ian

First video shot in the new studio! Thank you all so much for your support.

I LOVE using technology to coach. It gets me so excited when I have new tools at my disposal, tools that can help me more clearly and accurately explain the crazy thoughts in my head.

Big thank you to the great people over at Vibe! They sent me a new and updated version of their smart display to be showcased in the upcoming studio set. Can't wait to get it in there and start using it in lessons again!

Progress on the new studio space! Hopefully I'll be shooting videos from here in about a month.