The GreatBase Tennis Podcast

• How Analytics Shape Tennis

  In this episode of the Great Base Tennis Podcast, Steve Smith welcomes USTA performance analytics expert Mat Cloer and coach Dave Anderson for a deep dive into the USTA’s new coaching initiative and its effort to strengthen education and certification for American tennis teachers. Cloer explains his role inside Player Development, using Hawkeye data, video analysis, and match statistics to help players and coaches better understand patterns in serving, returning, transition play, and net effectiveness. The discussion highlights how analytics are becoming a core tool in shaping modern training.Episode 278's conversation also explores Cloer’s time around the tour and his close work with Ben Shelton, along with insights from Billie Jean King Cup team events. Steve, Mat, and Dave connect high-level trends back to junior development—emphasizing doubles, all-court skills, proper fundamentals, and a genuine love for competing. They underline a clear message: the best players blend strong character with strong information, and the data only matters when it elevates teaching, learning, and long-term development.

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• Lessons from Steve Denton

  In this episode of the Great Base Tennis Podcast, Steve Smith and co-host Dave Anderson sit down with Texas A&M head coach and former world No. 11, Steve Denton. Denton opens with the incredible story of the Shanghai Masters, how former Aggies Arthur Rinderknech and Valentin Vacherot, first cousins, battled their way from qualifying and alternates into a dream final on one of tennis’ biggest stages. He explains their roots at Texas A&M, why developing an all-court, forward-moving game takes longer, and how subtle changes in style and mindset can unlock a pro career.Episode 277's conversation ranges through Denton’s own tour days, doubles with Kevin Curren, the evolution of college tennis, the importance of doubles as a pathway to making a lineup, and why “lifers” like Austin Krajicek and Jackson Withrow keep finding success. Along the way, you’ll hear rich Texas and Trinity tennis history, locker-room stories involving McEnroe and Connors, and Denton’s perspective on what parents and players should really value in the college and pro journey.

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• Training a Tennis Mind

  In this episode, Steve Smith and Dave Anderson sit down with Tim Ross, who spent over a decade at Ernst & Young before making a full-time leap into tennis coaching. Tim shares his early years at the Julian Krinsky School of Tennis, how mentors like Arvin Aravindhan and David Detweiler shaped his development, and how his corporate background now helps him approach coaching with structure and intention.Tim also discusses his time volunteering with the Isha Foundation and how meditation, breathwork, and inner-work practices have transformed his emotional control and on-court performance. The conversation explores practical tools players can use, breathing patterns, mantras, routines, and daily habits, to develop calm intensity, stronger focus, and a healthier relationship with competition.Episode 276 finishes with insight into junior tennis culture, the pressures young players face, and why mindset training must accompany technical training. Tim starts his new coaching role at Doylestown Tennis Club, and Steve and Dave offer advice, encouragement, and stories from decades of teaching and competing.

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• Blueprints for Smarter Tennis

  In this episode of the GreatBase Tennis Podcast, Steve Smith and Dave Anderson highlight the final two pillars of the GreatBase curriculum: Bill Jacobson, the pioneer of CompuTennis and modern match charting, and Vic Braden, whose scientific approach revolutionized how the game is taught. They discuss how both men were decades ahead of their time—using data, geometry, physics, and fact-based instruction long before the rest of the tennis world caught up.teve and Dave share stories from the early days of charting, insights from Vic Braden’s research, and examples of how these principles still shape effective player development today. They also connect these lessons to the upcoming Tennis Golden Growth Opportunity workshop at Ave Maria University, where their goal is to honor past teachers and bring true tennis education back to the forefront.Episode 275 is a must-listen for coaches, parents, players, and anyone who believes tennis should be taught with clarity, accuracy, and purpose.

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• Raising the Bar in Tennis Coaching

  In this episode of the GreatBase Tennis Podcast, Steve Smith and Dave Anderson continue their series on the eight pillars of the GreatBase curriculum, focusing on two coaching icons, Peter Burwash and Harry Hopman. They explore how Burwash set new standards of professionalism and service in coaching, while Hopman embodied fitness, discipline, and respect for the sport.The hosts also discuss the upcoming Tennis Golden Growth Opportunity workshop at Ave Maria University, designed to honor the methods of these great teachers and pass their lessons on to today’s players, parents, and coaches.More than a history lesson, episode 274 is a call to action, to bring back the work ethic, professionalism, and purpose that once defined tennis instruction.

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