Addicted to Sets Tennis Podcast

Listen in to my interview with Lakecliff Racquet Club tennis pro Mac Roy, and learn how his knowledge of martial arts and 37 different weapons helps make him an expert strategic tennis player, and has such an eye for teaching club players like us. A privilege to interview such an interesting human!

In this Addicted to Sets Gives Back during Covid-19 episode, Tennis Professional Catherine Harrison (#264 Singles, #194 Doubles, and UCLA grad) and her Coach Damien Spizzo discuss how Covid-19 has impacted her life as a pro.

-Hear how they are to preparing for the season.

-Learn about the huge difference in prize money between rankings and why.

-Hear how Catherine is ahead of her time wearing masks and using Lysol on planes pre-Covid-19.

-We discuss if professional tennis will start being played without crowds during Covid-19.

-We discuss the Men’s and Women’s tours combining, good or bad idea and why.

Support Catherine during this financially difficult time by purchasing merchandise from: https://addicted-to-sets.com/collections/dedication-motivation-success. 100% of the profits go to Catherine.

Covid-19 has impacted all of us in so many ways. One industry that has been hit hard, but we haven't seen in the news much is tennis. Tennis professionals that are used to getting up and working hard each day are sheltering at home for the safety of others and have lost their livelihoods. In this episode, I interview the fabulous teaching pro Marcus Reese. If you'd like to support Marcus during this time, his Venmo account is @Marcus-Reese-5.

I'm not worthy......but thrilled to interview professional tennis player Catherine Harrison and her Coach Damien Spizzo (she trains in Austin, Texas!) We talked about various topics: what do you need to get to the next level, (the answer is surprising), an important part of the mental game involving your opponent, and why both Catherine and I use a 2-handed forehand, and why Damien teaches it to his juniors (my two new favorite people in the world).

Send your thoughts and prayers to Ryan.

Go Fund Me Page:

https://bit.ly/2NHn9qz

‘Addicted to Sets’ is a podcast covering the passions of tennis fans and players, co-hosted by avid tennis enthusiast Michelle Nipko and teaching pro Ryan Vega just outside of Austin, Texas. In its most recent episode, the podcast features Cliff Drysdale, International Tennis Hall of Fame legend and the longest serving broadcaster at ESPN.

Cliff began by talking about how his broadcasting career started during a Davis Cup match between USA and South Africa. Tony Trabert could not be the commentator for this match as he had been the captain of the USA Davis Cup team. Cliff was thus asked if he could take Trabert’s place as he was also from South Africa and knew the players.

This was forty years ago, and Cliff could have never imagined it would be the start of a pivot in his career. He went on to cover the US Open for CBS (“they thought it was awful!”). He was subsequently picked up by ESPN and WCT (“in those days, there was no cable”). Drysdale was on the job just one week after ESPN debuted for their first tennis telecast when Argentina took on USA at the 1979 Davis Cup in Memphis, Tennessee.

Drysdale was one of the first players to introduce a two-handed backhand in professional competition. Though there were others, Drysdale counts himself as the first successful tennis player to have used this technique. He shares another unique aspect of the 1960s tennis scene: there were no coaches, masseurs, managers or psychologists.

Among other topics, Cliff spoke about his experiences as the first ATP President, the recent bushfires in Australia, winners’ awards and prize moneys, the importance of big serves and muscle power in the game, Nick Kyrgios, the players to watch out for today in men’s and women’s tournaments, and more.

Parting advice from Cliff Drysdale: “Be yourself. Go with the flow. Like a tennis player needs to trust his or her swing.”

Happy New Year! Michelle and Ryan talk how to make changes to your game. We all know it is difficult to change your body's muscle memory and sometime it takes taking one step backward to move forward. Listen to this week's podcast as we discuss!

Match preparation...and Merry Christmas from Michelle and Ryan!

Ryan explains why footwork is one of the most important elements of your tennis game. Listen to learn the best strategies for footwork in all parts of your game!

Michelle and Ryan are on location at Lakecliff Racquet Club in the beautiful hill country in Spicewood Texas. They discuss tennis ball pace and location strategy, among other things. During the podcast they receive a text from tennis player and ESPN sports commentator Cliff Drysdale congratulating Michelle and other co-owners on the purchase of the new club. Very Exciting! Sign up for the Podcast Drill Starting on December 21. Link in show notes.