Watching Tennis Lessons from Tennis Legends
Online and streaming entertainment may become the super glue that holds tennis fans over this long Winter. The Australian Open and ATP Cup have been pushed back to Feb. Indian Wells has postponed after March. Will we see Top 10 Tennis in the USA before Miami?
After spending many hours over several weeks watching the latest online streaming tennis, here's this month's breakdown for each platform's pros and cons below. Opinions expressed are purely that of this site alone - which do not necessarily reflect those of the USPTA.
Even with inflation, TopCourt is still only $15/month. Now it has over 50 pro players.
The depth of the academy grows as they add more star-studded talents each month. Filming for the next season has recently wrapped in Florida.
My Favorite Streaming List and Favorite Shows:
- Disney+ (The Mandalorian)
- Netflix (Queen's Gambit)
- CBS (Young Sheldon, Amazing Race)
When it comes to the "Marvel Universe vs DC Comics debate" - we're a solid Marvel fan, so your miles may vary with your superstars.
Fans should compare TopCourt for free then you be the final judge!
Tennis Streaming Showdown Competition - Round 2
To give our tennis fans a full comparison, we reviewed nearly all the other major online platforms each month that feature tennis video packages. Some legends who have a large fan base created their own video products. Free previews with a money-back guarantee.
Topics: Warmups, Drills, and Mental Toughness
Length: 20 chapter lessons, 1.5 hours
Skill Level: Intermediate (3.0-3.5+)
Coach's Rating: B+
Pros: You learn a lot about Maria and her life, mindset, and strategies. Solid warm-up routines. Good suggestions for tweaking certain shots and key focus points. Her monologues are clear.
Cons: Costs more ($69?) for just her one course alone?! Wait for a sale or promo. Players must have all core shots in their bag to get the most out of this series. The vast majority of the videos feature her personal reflections on her own career.
We recommend Maria fans to try the 7-day free trial offer with the All-Access package. Try the other sports stars' commentary. The multi-sport pros give good pep talks to motivate home athletes. For me, it's still too new and needs more talent in the lineup to compete effectively at this price.
Topics: Fundamentals and Technique
Length: 9 chapter lessons, 2 hours
Skill Level: Beginner to intermediate (2.5-3.0+)
Coach's Rating: B
Pros: Great Filming, lighting; In-depth narrative; Beginner-friendly. MasterClass packages a wide range of (non-tennis) topics and subjects with gurus of their own craft.
Cons: Focuses heavily on one stroke - the serve. Basic tennis advice.
The student's ability to get video critique and peer review period is over;
Note: We found
TopCourt's Gold membership has many interactive features. Gold students get access to many more tennis pros for Q&A, plus even a chance to attend future live filming events.
Topics: All Strokes and Player's Mindset
Length: 10 chapters, 1 hour
Skill Level: Intermediate to advance (4.0+)
Coach's Rating: A-
Pros: Love Agassi's lectures; great stories and clean format. Invaluable tips for the tournament players; Udemy certificate included; lifetime access for review. Only ~$15 on sale. I support his efforts as a proponent of education and would recommend his course.
Agassi's bestseller autobiography "Open" is my definitive must-read. Vital if you want to deeply understand the life of any tennis pro.
Cons: Limited angles; the video quality is limited to only 1080p. Students should be familiar with tennis basics and fundamentals before starting. About one hour's worth of content - I really wish there was a sequel.
TopCourt gets A-Team with their Champions and Coaches
ATP and WTA heroes are joining the TopCourt team lineup for 2021 including Karen Khachanov, Madison Keys, and Kyle Edmund.
WTA Triple Threat of Former World #1's:
Venus Williams, Chris Evert, and Arantxa Sanchez Vicario.
Each with at least two dozen grand slams in their careers.
Hall of Famer Nick Bollettieri (coach of Agassi, Courier, and Seles) joins the ranks with Paul Annacone and Brad Gilbert. Stacking a century's worth of tennis wisdom, they have guided several strong talents into the path to becoming future world champions.
TopCourt Revisited, 6 months later - areas for improvement?
Perhaps they now have too much content?!
Like Netflix, you won't be able to easily digest it in just a few sessions.
It now has a library of over a hundred episodes, while revealing about two more players each month.
Narrowing the field might have to come in the future. In some episodes and interviews, I skipped over because of my difficulty with a few player's accents. Currently, it has a large Pickleball library of players, another sport added to the fray.
Our Wish List features for tennis enthusiasts:
- A voice-over replay explaining a player's technique while he/she is hitting in slow motion.
- Pros rallying full speed against each other in live points. Play analysis by TopCourt coaches.
- Visual cues to pick out the one truly excellent shot example from all the other good ones.
- Feedback Mechanism: a rating system to allow fans to give "likes" at favorite video keyframes.
TopCourt's growth is the most comprehensive and promising out of all the platforms screened to date. There is a lot of value to a solid team and building a strong, well-balanced group of players. It's the chance to display the player's own authentic self while offering budding talent the opportunity to build a bigger fan base online.
Honorable Mentions
YouTube Tennis Channels
YouTube is great for watching highlights and replays. But it's a mixed bag when it comes to quality lessons and developing your own tennis game properly.
Some YouTube channels I enjoyed:
The Wild West of tennis content.
Everyone has their own ideas and style. There is a lot plenty of "click-bait," and often lessons are over-simplified into single 3-5 min videos with flashy titles. Still, the quality of content has a very wide gap and some ideas need to be more concise.
The negative is that you might learn the wrong technique or make bad assumptions if you try to learn purely from YouTube. Recording yourself and doing a visual comparison with a pro is recommended.
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