The United States Professional Tennis Association.
Unique insights & playing analysis
USPTA certified pro Rob Muir is our Tennis Whisperer. Rob is a tennis professional with 40+ years’ experience in coaching adults, junior and tournament players.
The great majority of players focus on stroke development without really understanding how to develop their own game, i.e based on their innate abilities or limitations. And as we age, those limitations can increase rapidly, diminishing how we play — and consequently, our enjoyment of the game.
For adults, Rob’s focus is on overcoming specific weaknesses whether in technique (e.g volleys, serve) , injuries (e.g tennis elbow, mobility) as a result of playing styles or improving strategy to enhance overall playing performance — and on-court enjoyment.
For advanced juniors, Rob’s emphasis is on building a playing style built around the individual’s strengths: e.g. superior eye/hand coordination, faster speed around the court and mental strength. These strengths underpin the majority of successful professional playing styles: “First Strike”, “Speed” or “Patience”. Rob has successful coached junior players to elite nationally ranked and USA collegiate levels.
He is the author of our Ask the Pro series.
Jimmy, Rob’s first pupil, was a lefty with one eye and took up the game to play with his mates — yes, social interaction is another benefit of tennis. Early on, through Jimmy, Rob learned the lesson of the Peanut’s cartoon below: the impact of the dominant eye particularly on backhands. It took Jimmy about 3 months to learn to play a set with his mates which gave them both the immense satisfaction of Jimmy being accepted by his peer group.
Rob’s playing pedigree includes winning Australian and USA national championships at both professional and age division levels.
Click here for enquiries
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Rob Muir2020-07-28 10:26:062020-07-28 10:26:29Ask the Pro: Volley 101
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Rob Muir2020-07-22 16:33:282020-07-22 16:37:57ATP: Quick Guide to the Art of Doubles Play
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Rob Muir2020-06-18 16:59:182020-06-24 13:19:17ProTip: When Should I Attack or Defend?Our Approach
Our Tennis Whisperer approach is NOT like your typical tennis lesson hitting lots of balls. Each session is focused on one key issue. Our approach is designed for intermediate and advanced players seeking simple improvements to maintain their competitiveness and/or recover from injury. Tournament players may want to focus on playing strategies to improve their win/loss record.
Clinic Appointments are scheduled for 90 minutes and involve a peer group. Clinics focus on developing a particular core skill set associated with the three (3) core tennis elements: watching the ball, balance and rhythm — and their particular application to each tennis stroke. Sessions conclude with doubles play to learn basic patterns and associated court positioning. There’s plenty of time for individual questions.
For Term 1, we have been asked to stage two (2) Ladies Clinics:
1) Monday Ladies Doubles Clinic 9:00 – 10:30 am. (Intermediate)
2) Wednesday Ladies Doubles Clinic 9:00 – 10:30 am. (Advanced)
Numbers are limited and players must meet a minimum playing standard at Rob’s discretion. Sign up here for Ladies clinics.
Rob is happy to put on other clinics upon request. Contact Rob
Individual Appointments are scheduled for 20 minutes. Your appointment focusses on diagnosing your particular issue, creating a simple yet dedicated program to remedy your issue, and helping you improve your capability — without substantially changing strokes or grips. For example a lack of balance is the root cause of most serving issues.
Very often your remedy will involve either off-court or on-court exercises you can practice independently. You are then free to choose how to practice your ‘remedy’ either by yourself, with your own practice partner or a tennis coach of your choice. Contact Rob to set up an appointment.
[email protected] charges $30 for both Individual and Clinic Whisperer Appointments.
Payments by Tap & Go at MTC for any appointment.
What You Need to Know
- Simple sign up on web to book an individual 20 minute appointment or a clinic session.
- Rob will contact you to set up a suitable appointment time and/or confirm the clinic session.
- During individual appointments, Rob will focus on one (1) key issue specific to you and demo one or more approaches to address during the session. Rob wants to help you improve without significantly changing your game.
- Here’s a list of typical issues most players have highlighted:
- How do I improve my backhand?
- How can I volley better?
- Why is it so difficult to get a reliable serve?
- When should I pull the trigger on a ground stroke?
- What are the basic elements for doubles strategy?
- How should I play singles?
- What are the three main issues I could improve to play 50% better — requires assessment of your individual skill sets.
- How do I play in the wind?
- How do I get a bigger ‘sweet spot’ from my racket?
- How do I play a ‘leftie’?
- Rob may video you as well during the session, particularly to help you better understand/remedy your issue. You will get a copy of the video for future reference.
The Tennis Whisperer program focuses on the three essential tennis biomechanical skills which underpin playing better tennis: ball watching, balance and rhythm — and the development of the core supporting muscles to both enhance those skills and prevent injury.
