So, I’ve been messing around with different tennis coaches for ages, trying to find something that actually clicks, you know? Kept hearing this buzz about F Corwin’s method. People were saying it’s totally different from what everyone else is doing. Honestly, I was skeptical. Like, how different can hitting a tennis ball really be? But curiosity got the better of me, so I decided to check it out for myself. Signed up for a session last month.
First Impressions: Not What I Expected
Walking onto the court for the first lesson felt… strange. No basket of balls lying around. Coach didn’t even have a racket in hand. He just stood there, calm, watching me walk on. Weird, right? Instead of launching straight into forehands or serves, he started asking questions. Really basic stuff, but stuff no other coach ever asked:
- “Why do you want to play tennis?”
- “What feels awkward or frustrating for you right now?”
- “When was the last time playing felt genuinely fun?”
It threw me off. Other coaches just dive into the lesson plan. This felt like a therapy session disguised as tennis! We spent that whole first session mostly talking and walking around the court. He’d have me move, stop, notice where my weight was, how my feet felt. Barely touched a racket. I paid money to talk? I wasn’t sure.
The Weird Drills Started
Second session, still minimal racket work. He brought out these weird little exercises. Like, standing sideways near the net post and just swinging my arm slowly, focusing purely on how the shoulder blade moved. Not hitting anything, just feeling the rotation. Or lying on my back on the court, arms up, practicing that shoulder turn motion against the ground. Felt ridiculous! Everybody else has you pounding balls right away. Here I am, flat on my back, looking at the sky.
He kept emphasizing feeling the connection between my feet, hips, spine, and shoulder. “Forget the ball for now,” he’d say. “Can you feel the coil here?” Poking at my obliques. It was so unlike the constant “step here, swing like this, hit there” instructions I was used to. Less telling, more asking me to feel things.
Tiny Tweaks, Big Differences
Finally, around session three or four, we started hitting some balls. But even that was bizarrely slow and deliberate. Instead of feeding me dozens of balls fast, he’d toss one, maybe two. Then we’d stop. “What did you feel in your feet when you hit that?” “Did you feel grounded or did you jump?” “Where did your eyes go?”
He’d point out the tiniest things I never noticed. Like how I always lifted my left heel too early on my forehand, cutting off my power. Or how I held my breath right before contact. We’d then go back to those silly slow-motion drills, focusing only on keeping that heel down, or remembering to breathe.
Other coaches fix the symptom – “your forehand sails long, bend your knees more!” Corwin went after the root cause – the faulty movement pattern that made the ball sail long in the first place. His corrections felt almost embarrassingly small, but man, when they clicked…
The Lightbulb Moment (Literally)
This one drill did it. We were working on my serve. Instead of focusing on the trophy pose or the racket drop or hitting up, he had me stand at the baseline, eyes closed, just practicing the toss. Over and over. Feeling the lift of the arm, the release point. Then, eyes still closed, he had me do the full motion super slow, without letting the ball go. Just feeling the full chain of motion – legs, hips, core, shoulder, arm.
He kept saying, “Feel the stretch here… and here… Now, hold it. Breathe. Release smoothly.” When I finally opened my eyes and actually served, it was… different. Effortless power. A fluidity I’d never felt before. Not because I was thinking technical thoughts, but because my body had just felt the movement pattern. It wasn’t mechanical. It was organic. That was the massive difference – building awareness and trust in my own body’s mechanics, not memorizing positions. Total game changer, and honestly, way more fun.
