As part of the weekly staff meeting, the Austin Tennis Academy coaches move on-court to analyze and clean up specific strokes of a player in the Academy. The idea is that if the coaches do this as a group, they will 1) Learn to communicate the same information with a common language, and 2) Expedite the development of the players stroke.

This week, Coach Newman asked the group to take a look at the Hunter Goertz forehand. Led by Coach Davis, the group decided that a small grip change would allow Hunter to more easily make the necessary adjustments in his stroke. See how it unfolded below.

The coaches talked about how his current forehand grip needed to be moved slightly to allow more range of motion. As a staff, the coaches use a number system in reference to grips so a player can easily get the same information from different coaches.

"The grip mandates the entire forehand stroke," Coach Davis said.

Once a conclusion was reached, Coach Davis traced the correct hand position on his grip with a sharpie so Hunter could correct himself.

Next, the staff took a look at Hunter's preparation.

"The first thing you have to address [after correcting the grip] is his preparation," Coach Davis said.

Coach D explained to Hunter and the coaches that when the left arm comes across, it must be level with the right arm.

As a group, the coaches concluded that working on a simple 'prep and point' drill would help to lengthen Hunter's stroke. They explained to Hunter that the front tip of his racquet needed to point behind him more rather than angling back towards the back of his head.

Coach Davis made sure Hunter prepared correctly as he hit a few forehands.

He then showed Hunter what exactly the staff meant by lengthening his stroke. This is the 'point' portion of the drill. The student starts in the correct preparation position, and finishes with the racquet pointed towards the target.

Coach D shows Hunter exactly where to finish.

Coach Newman then fed Hunter some forehands to try and work on his newly adjusted stroke.

"The shot quality is dramatically different," Coach Davis said. "Your ball is now penetrating the court," Coach D said to Hunter.