Craig O'Shannessy, Author at Brain Game Tennis

2021 Australian Open: Serve Leaders After Two Rounds

Thursday, 11 February 2021 by Craig O'Shannessy

G’day, We started on Monday with 128 players holding big dreams of being the last one standing in Melbourne this year. Ninety-six have already packed their bags after four days of play, leaving just 32 players still alive in the singles draw. Of the players that are left, let’s take a look at who has

Published in Australian Open

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The Knockout B-A Return Of Serve Combo

Saturday, 30 January 2021 by Craig O'Shannessy

G’day, You are returning serve, and you need a plan to start the point. Some factors to consider are: Is your opponent hitting a first or second serve? What’s the point score? Does the moment call for aggression or patience to build the point? Where does your opponent expect you to return? Where is your

Published in Australian Open

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2015 Australian Open Rewind: 22 Slow-Mo Practice Videos

Wednesday, 27 January 2021 by Craig O'Shannessy

G’day! Here’s a little flashback to the Australian Open in 2015. I was walking around the courts one morning and decided to take some slow-mo footage of different players. Below are 22 short clips from practice. The players are: Roberto Bautista Agut Dominika Cibulkova Julien Benneteau Kei Nishikori Dudi Sela Martin Klizan Lucas Rosol Alize

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Candiss – How To Practice For 4.0 Success

Tuesday, 26 January 2021 by Craig O'Shannessy

On Friday, January 15, 2021, Candiss George from Vancouver, Canada, purchased The 25 Golden Rules of Singles Strategy and The First 4 Shots. She was hungry to succeed in 4.0 singles and her coach had recommended these courses to help her understand the strategy required to succeed at that level. It was later in the afternoon

Published in Tennis

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Has My Backhand Improved?

Saturday, 23 January 2021 by Craig O'Shannessy

Is My Backhand Getting Better? I posted a blog in August 2020 about my goal to come out on the other side of the pandemic with a better topspin backhand. I videoed it back in August and asked people what they thought of it, and what coaching tips they had for me. I received 111

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My Favorite Day In Tennis… Ever!

Friday, 22 January 2021 by Craig O'Shannessy

2015 Wimbledon: Dustin Brown def. Rafael Nadal 7-5, 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 I first started playing tennis when I was around 12 years old in my hometown of Albury, Australia. I was instantly hooked. I played a bucket load of junior tennis. I then traveled to the U.S. to play collegiate tennis and became an

Published in Wimbledon, Wimbledon Channel

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Australian Open: 50 Panoramas

Friday, 15 January 2021 by Craig O'Shannessy

G’day! The 2021 Australian Open is just three weeks away. To help you gear up for the “Happy Slam”, here are 50 panoramas I took with my iPhone in recent years. Enjoy! ????????????????

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One-Minute Clinic: Focus On The First 4 Shots In Practice

Thursday, 31 December 2020 by Craig O'Shannessy

You probably need to be practicing more serves & returns. The traditional tennis lesson is 50 minutes of grinding from the back of the court, hitting forehands & backhands ad nauseam. Then the last 10 minutes contain a few serves or returns or maybe some volleys sprinkled in at the end. Not any more. When

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One-Minute Clinic: The 2-1 Pattern

Tuesday, 29 December 2020 by Craig O'Shannessy

The 2-1 Pattern The baseline is a tough place to forge an advantage. One of the best patterns of play from the back of the court is the “2-1 Pattern”. This three-shot combo is broken down as follows: Shot 1 = Play deep to your opponent’s backhand to Position C to push them back. Get them

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One-Minute Clinic: Click It & Stick It

Tuesday, 29 December 2020 by Craig O'Shannessy

Improve Your Volleys The last thing you want when hitting volleys is to be really tight in your hand and wrist. Tightness takes away the all-important “feel” for the volleys. Having a “relaxed” grip is ideal, as it will help you absorb and redirect the power of the passing shot. When you volley with

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One-Minute Clinic: Catch The Volley

Tuesday, 29 December 2020 by Craig O'Shannessy

You have probably heard the phrase “punch the volley.” It’s not bad from an energy standpoint, but we can do better. The problem with the “punch” analogy is that energy is delivered to whatever is being punched, and it keeps driving through as the punch is delivered. If you take that concept to a volley, you

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Do match winners go to the net more than match losers?

Friday, 18 December 2020 by Craig O'Shannessy

G’day! You can’t go to the net in today’s game, right? The conversation typically goes like this… The racquets are more powerful than they used to be. Much easier to rip passing shots past the player who is approaching the net. The latest strings generate massive amounts of topspin, which enables passing shots to get up

Approach & Volley

Published in Approach & Volley, Strategy Courses

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2020 US Open Final Preview: Thiem v Zverev

Sunday, 13 September 2020 by Craig O'Shannessy

G’day! It’s a very rare occurrence in recent times in the men’s game when we get a brand new Grand Slam champion. Today is one of those days! I looked through several metrics for both Alexander Zverev and Dominic Thiem in New York the past couple of weeks as well as their rivalry to highlight

Published in US Open

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2020 US Open Semi Final Preview: Thiem v Medvedev

Friday, 11 September 2020 by Craig O'Shannessy

Six points out of every 10 will finish with Daniil Medvedev and Dominic Thiem hitting a MAXIMUM of just two balls in the court in their semi-final of the US Open in New York this evening. That’s either no balls in the court (double fault) or one or two for either player. Happening. Whoever

Published in US Open

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US Open Back Stage: Come Stand On The Tennis Court In The Gargantuan Arthur Ashe Stadium

Friday, 04 September 2020 by Craig O'Shannessy

G’day, Arthur Ashe Stadium is the biggest tennis stadium in the world, seating 23,771 fans. That’s a lot of humanity all gathered together to watch a tennis match! It opened in 1997 with a cost of $254 million, and a roof was added in 2016 for $150 million, which was part of a $550 million

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Simona Halep: The Power Of Positivity

Friday, 14 August 2020 by Craig O'Shannessy

G’day, Simona Halep played the match of her life to defeat Serena Williams 6-2, 6-2 in the 2019 Wimbledon Women’s Final. Right from the first minute, you could sense that Simona was “on” and Serena was not. I broke down the final on the Wimbledon Channel right after the match. That video is below. Here

Published in Wimbledon, Wimbledon Channel

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The practice court is clearly broken. Here’s the proof.

Points are "front loaded". By far the majority of the action, and the winning, takes place in THE FIRST 4 SHOTS. The practice court is full of long rallies. Matches are dominated by short rallies. There is a massive disconnect occurring.

We spend too much time grinding, banging balls up and down the middle of the court – that have no real benefit to winning tennis matches.

There are 3 specific rally lengths in tennis. Here is their percentage breakdown of total points.

0-4 Shots = 70%
5-8 Shots = 20%
9+ Shots = 10%

The First 4 Shots is specifically the serve, return, Serve +1 groundstroke and Return +1 groundstroke. Those are normally the shots that get practiced the least, but matter the most to winning tennis matches.

The net is an extremely high percentage place to be!

If you love playing tennis for fun, spend as much time at the baseline as you like. But if you compete – if the score matters – then you must turn your attention to the net to maximize your potential.

The “herd mentality” in tennis thinks it’s too tough to approach the net in today’s game. The conversation starts with improved string technology, more powerful rackets, and finishes with stronger, faster athletes. The herd think approaching is a relic of the past. The herd is WRONG!

AVERAGE WIN %
Baseline = 46%
Net = 66%

Data from ALL Grand Slams provides the facts about approach and volley, and the data is crystal clear – it’s immensely better than staying back at the baseline, grinding for a living.

The baseline is a tough place to create separation. Here's how to do it.

At the 2012 US Open, only 7 men and 14 women had a winning percentage from the baseline. At Wimbledon 2016, Andy Murray won the title only winning 52% of his baseline points - and he is one of the very best at it in the world!

Num3ers deeply explores the data that rules points, especially from the back of the court. Take a "deep dive" into all three rally lengths (0-4, 5-8, 9+), and winner and errors totals from the elite level of our game. The numbers will shock you!

All 4 Grand Slams

Forcing Errors = 41% Men / 37% Women
Winners = 32% Men / 29% Women
Unforced Errors = 27% Men / 34% Women

Num3ers is very much like putting a jigsaw puzzle together. It's about bringing together different data sets together to create the big picture.

Every recorded match from the 2015 Australian Open - Rd2 to the final.

There is a lot happening on a doubles court. Situations and strategies are constantly being adjusted to create mis-matches with court position. It's hard to keep track of - until now. Dou8les Num3ers is the most comprehensive analysis of doubles data in our sport. The focus is on how a point ends, and it's broken down eight ways to Sunday. Specifically, you find critical information on:

Winners rise to the #1 way a point ends (over forced & unforced errors)

- The last shot of the rally is overwhelmingly struck at the net.
- Center Window: the most important part of a doubles court to control.
- Stephen Huss: an in-depth interview on Wimbledon's Centre Court with the 2005 Wimbledon Doubles Champion.

Dou8les Num3ers leaves no stone unturned. Percentage breakdowns of how often the server or receiver hits the last shot highlight the dramatic influence of the serve. The last shot of the rally is significant, and is broken down into the following categories: volleys, overheads, passing shots, lobs and groundstrokes.

When you play a match, you actually play two matches.

When you walk out onto a tennis court, there are two matches that you are about to play. The first is during the point - a part of the match that you have spent a lot of time preparing for on the practice court. But there is a second match, that takes place in the 20 seconds between the points. This is where the mental and emotional aspects of our sport kick in.

Let's face it, there will be adversity in almost every tennis match that you play. The storm clouds are coming. How bug they are, and how long they last for, are up to you.

Between the points is very tennis specific. It provides a roadmap for the 20 seconds between the points, teaching how to handle the adversity that will surely come, and how to build on the successes that will also be present. Your mind is your biggest asset in a match, and Between the Points takes your hand off the self destruct button and stops you beating yourself.

You don't have to be good at everything, but you have got to be good at something.

You can break tennis down into four key elements - serving, returning, rallying and approaching. Each part has specific patterns of play that consistently deliver higher winning percentages than the others. No more guessing. No more opinions. All facets of our sport are covered in this exceptional product, clearly outlining what patterns to gravitate to, and how to best construct the practice court. Data comes primarily from the 2015 Australian Open.

Building Blocks

MEN = 70% errors / 30% winners
WOMEN = 74% errors / 26% winners

Forcing errors is the best way to construct a point.
You can simply break tennis down into primary and secondary patterns of play - and they are all covered here. Primary patterns include serve and return direction, forehands v backhands, and the best way to approach the net. Secondary patterns include drop shots, serve & volley and 1st volley options. If you play tournaments, this product will greatly help you simplify the singles court.

The conversation starts & ends with the Center Window.

The doubles court is like an hourglass. There are two big ends, but a small neck in the middle where all the action happens. Once you learn the power of the Center Window, where you stand to start the point will take on a lot more significance.

Doubles is a lot more about situations, with four people on the court all "dancing" with one another. Learn all the best doubles patterns, broken down for the server, returner, server's partner and the returner's partner.

Doubles Situations

The "J" - the most ideal movement for the returner's partner to attack the net.

The "V" - a better way of understanding where the server's partner should move to.

Volley Targets - there are four main areas to attack. Know which ones are higher percentage. Beach Volleyball - the idea of a "setter" and "spiker" is ideal for the doubles court.

There are certain parts of the court that the ball travels to a lot, and other low percentage areas that you really don't want to cover at all - like the alley! In general, the serving team wants to keep the ball in the middle of the court as much as possible (to help the server's partner), while the returning team benefits from hitting wider and creating more chaos in the point.