On the 211th episode of the GreatBase Tennis podcast, Steve Smith has a conversation with Mike Valentine and Mike McLaughlin. The three old men all worked for the late Vic Braden. 

Mike and Mike recently made the journey to the Wintergreen Resort in Wintergreen, Virginia to observe and contribute to Steve's students. They left assured that Steve and his students are still honoring the work of the late Vic Braden. 

The trio reminisce and reflect upon the genius of Braden. By listening, one is assured of laughing and learning.

The life story of Arnaud Guillemard is definitely different. Be ready to go from island living to Paris, college tennis to the oil fields, education to being a young parent, and directing junior and high school tennis tournaments.

Arnaud is Steve Smith's guest on the 210th episode of the GreatBase Tennis podcast. Ironically 210 is the area code of San Antonio, Texas, the place where Arnaud resides with his wife and two children. 

By listening one will collect more golden nuggets for their tennis treasure chest. Just as important as the pearls of wisdom learned from life lessons are the laughs enjoyed and the perspectives gained.

Thanks for listening.

Tribute to Jim Poling
1949-2024

Our condolences to Jim's wife, Marianne, and their children, Matthew, Lilian, and Karl. Our thoughts also go out to their family members and their close friends.

On the 201st episode of the GreatBase Tennis podcast, Steve Smith discusses his connection with Jim.

Roger Federer Retires

On the 111th episode of the GreatBaseTennis podcast, Steve Smith and Andres Barbosa discuss Roger Federer's remarkable tennis career. Words cannot sufficiently define the class, elegance and beauty of Roger the person and Roger the player.

His life, both on-court and off-court, has truly been an inspiration. Thank you, Roger. 

On the 110th episode of the GreatBase Tennis podcast, Steve Smith has a conversation with John Posey.

Posey was the kid that every tennis program needs. He was cut from his college tennis team and returned a year later after having dedicated endless hours to   improve and, fortunately, earned a spot in line-up. 

One of the best compliments for parents to hear is that their kid is low maintenance. Google low maintenance and a photo of Posey should pop up. His shoulder bag was a garbage bag. He would hit balls until both his shoes and socks had holes and his toes were bleeding. On his day off, he would hit the backboard from sun-up to sun-down. 

To make an understatement, we feel our listeners can find great value by listening to Steve and John reminisce. 

On the 109th episode of the GreatBase Tennis podcast, Steve Smith has an in-depth conversation with Patrick Geoffrion-Amorim. Steve's guest, Patrick, is a passionate and dedicated tennis teaching professional based in Quebec, Canada.

As a junior player, Patrick trained at numerous academies in both Florida and Spain as well as in his native Canada. Patrick played college tennis at the University of Maryland Baltimore County. Currently he works at CDL tennis club in Montreal.

Patrick speaks from the heart and tells a story that should be heard by players, parents and coaches.

On the 108th episode of the GreatBase Tennis (GBT) podcast, Steve Smith and Austin Krajicek have a tennis conversation. The two have known each other for twenty-five years. A couple of weeks before Austin turned 8 years old, Steve produced a narrated slow-motion analysis for Austin and his parents, Rob and Sherry. Austin was on his way to a national event (Little Mo). Steve suggested that the family wait until they return from the tournament for Austin to begin the process to re-building his technical base. 

 To make an understatement, Austin has an extremely impressive resume. He is a Kalamazoo (US national 18's) champion, a six time All-American, a member of the Texas A & M Hall of Fame and a US Olympian. In singles, Austin earned a top 100 ranking. In doubles, he currently is ranked 15 in the world. Most recently, he and his partner (Ivan Dodig) reached the French Open finals.

We are confident that our audience will thoroughly enjoy listening to this podcast. Austin certainly knows his way around the tennis world and has an abundance of tennis and life experiences to share.

On the 107th episode of the GreatBase Tennis (GBT) podcast, Steve Smith interviews Henry Park.

Henry discovered our free educational content by surfing the Internet. He immersed himself in the information starting at the age of thirteen. Now a little more than three years later, he has a story to tell.  

Self-learning and peer teaching are cornerstones of the GBT tennis curriculum. A quote from the late Vic Braden applies, "Never underestimate the capacity of the learner."  We are confident that our listeners will find Henry and his story to be refreshing and inspiring.

On the 106th episode of the GreatBase Tennis (GBT) podcast, Steve Smith talks tennis with Dave Secker.

Dave Secker and his boss, head coach Simon Earnshaw, are orchestrating a tennis success story that is getting better and better. Dave updates and reports on the North Carolina State women's tennis team. The team's climb has been fast and fabulous. 

Dave, who was previously a guest on the GBT podcast, shares invaluable tips, insightful wisdom and a few laughs. We are confident that our listeners will thoroughly enjoy a second-go-around with Dave.

 On the 105th episode of the GreatBase Tennis podcast, Steve Smith interviews Ed Weiss.

To make an understatement, Ed is a passionate and dedicated student of tennis. He shares his experiences from his lifetime journey in tennis. He learned the game from accomplished instructors and observed others. Ed was part of a national championship program as a college player and was honored as an All-American. He has had an instrumental role in building a program for underprivileged children, coached high school tennis, read hundreds of tennis books and written a fabulous book on Welby Van Horn.

With great humility, Ed wondered why I would want to interview him? After talking with Mr. Weiss on the phone for years and then working with his associates and him in Connecticut, I knew his story would be enjoyable for our listeners and that his wisdom would prove to be more golden nuggets for one's tennis treasure chest.

On the 104th episode of the GreatBase Tennis (GBT), Steve Smith interviews Phil Ritchie. 

Phil,  a triplet from New Jersey, earned his stripes completing a summer internship with GBT. We are sure our listeners will find Phil's thoughts interesting and insightful. To make an understatement, Phil's performance was outstanding and he made major contributions to everyone connected with the summer of '22.  

On the 103rd episode of the GreatBase Tennis (GBT) podcast, Steve Smith interviews Lorenzo Panariti.

Lorenzo grew up playing junior tennis in Italy and played college tennis in the US. Upon completing his undergraduate work, he moved to back to Europe  to further his education in business. He currently is coaching tennis in Odense, Denmark and recently brought a small group of juniors to work with Steve.

 We are confident that our listeners will enjoy Lorenzo's tennis story. To make an understatement, the tennis world needs more coaches with Lorenzo's passion and dedication.

On the 102nd episode of the GreatBase Tennis (GBT) podcast, Steve Smith has a conversation with Andres Barbosa.

Andres is a veteran tennis coach who resides and works in Miami. In the early years of his career, Andres's teaching and coaching was influenced by several highly reputable tennis minds. For last ten plus years, he has been a follower and supporter of the body of work Steve has provided to the tennis industry.

He also is the "fact-checker" for the GBT podcast. In other words, Andres helps Steve with his senior moments and brain cramps.

We are confident that you thoroughly enjoy this podcast

On the 200th episode of the GreatBase Tennis podcast, Steve Smith talks with Adam Borr. Steve's guest has a lifetime in tennis. His family built an indoor tennis club when he was just 5 years old. He played junior, high school, and college tennis. The family of his first wife also owned a tennis club. Along with his wife, he raised three daughters. One child became a nationally-ranked junior and played for a Power Five conference.

To make an understatement, Adam has been surrounded by all facets of tennis throughout his life but he has always been an on-court guy. His pied piper personality makes him a natural for leading a large department for the main Center Court tennis facility in Chatham, New Jersey. He has over 300 Orange Ball students and over 30 years of experience.

Our chat with Adam will have our listeners laughing and learning. Thank you, Adam. You have definitely delivered golden nuggets for one to add to their tennis treasure chest.

On the hundred and first podcast of the GreatBase Tennis (GBT) podcast, Mat Cloer is interviewed. Being #101, the theme of the conversation between Mat and Steve Smith is Basics 101.   

To make an understatement, Mat has a thorough understanding of the history and educational merit of the free educational content the GBT offers to assist players and coaches with tennis development. Mat and Steve have worked together on numerous projects over the last fifteen years.

After nearly six years of serving as a national coach with the USTA, Mat and his family have relocated to Gainesville, Florida. Mat will work as the associate head men's tennis coach under Bryan Shelton.  One can find an in-depth report on Mat's playing and coaching background on the University of Florida Athletic web site

On the 100th episode of the GreatBase Tennis (GBT) podcast, Steve Smith interviews Jeremy Wurtzman. The two have known each other for 30 years, so their conversation goes back to when Jeremy was 10 years old. Now 40, Jeremy is the father of three children and the Head Men's Tennis Coach at Indiana University.

On the GBT website, there is a free educational course called "Tennis Intelligence Applied" and one of the short videos is a pre-post of Jeremy. He re-built his technical base under Steve's tutelage and the improvements reveal change for the better. Becoming the #1 ranked singles player in division I tennis is just one of Jeremy's numerous accomplishments.

We are confident that those who can make time to listen to Steve and Jeremy will thoroughly enjoy their conversation.

On the 99th episode of the GreatBase Tennis podcast, Steve Smith and Malhar Patel address a topic that made Wayne Gretzky, Wayne Gretzky. We realize there are few from the world of tennis who don't know 99 was Wayne's number when he was breaking over 60 records in the best hockey league on the planet.

Under the guidance of his father, Walter, Wayne completed routine after routine on their back yard rink (Wally's Coliseum). Hockey players find ways to work on hockey skills in their basement, driveway and the street in front of their home. From our experiences, most tennis players do not have "at home" tennis routines.

On the 98th episode of the GreatBase Tennis podcast, Steve Smith covers a requested topic: Situational Training. Steve is assisted by Malhar Patel, a student assistant and goal-oriented player.

Webster's dictionary defines situation as a set of circumstances in which one finds themselves. The same definition applies to competitive tennis. We are confident that our listeners will acquire at least a couple of golden nuggets to add to their tennis treasure chest in this week's episode.

On the 97th episode of the GreatBase Tennis podcast, Steve Smith is joined by Malhar Patel. 

Malhar, a student-assistant and goal-oriented player, keeps tally of Steve's communication hiccups during the podcast. Steve encourages the coaches he trains to record themselves to reduce their "OK's" & "Add-ons."

Steve reviewed the purpose, procedures and principles as well as other points of the tennis assessment he has conducted for five decades.

On the 96th episode of the GreatBase Tennis Podcast, Steve Smith and Roberto Calla have a conversation on the task of being competitive. One's true competition is in the mirror and the challenge of having goal-oriented players break comfort zones is becoming more and more difficult. Ego is quite often the enemy and one self-destructs through the unnecessary interference they create.

We are confident that tennis enthusiasts will find at least a few pearls of wisdom to add to their tennis treasure chest by listening to Steve and Roberto's points.

On the 95th episode of the GreatBase Tennis Podcast, Steve Smith and Karla Navarro Wojick interview Alex Slezak. Their guest is a physical education teacher and high school tennis coach in Pittsburgh, PA. 

Alex has spent decades studying tennis, fitness and coaching. Over the last seventeen years, he has held the same position and has built a positive and productive tennis culture. 

Alex utilizes the GreatBase system in his programs and believes the body of work  can be a catalyst to improve the level of high school tennis in America.

On the 94th episode of the GreatBase Tennis podcast, Steve Smith and Roberto Calla have an in-depth conversation with Chad Berryhill. Currently, Chad is the Head Men's and Women's Tennis Coach at St. Leo University in Florida.

Chad has nearly twenty years of experience as a college tennis coach. Upon graduating from Ferris State University's Professional Tennis Management program, Chad worked with Steve and Roberto for five years. During that period, he completed his master's in Physical Education at South Florida University, managed a twenty-eight court complex, worked 24/7 with goal-oriented juniors, and won an NJCAA national title as one of the youngest in the history of college tennis.

On the 93rd episode of the GreatBase Tennis podcast, Steve Smith and Roberto Calla covered another segment centered on practice. The focal point of their conversation was on technical routines that can be completed by a player within the comfort of their own home. Additional tennis information, ideas and insights were shared to help deepen one's understanding of player development.

On the 92nd episode of the GreatBase Tennis podcast, Steve Smith and Roberto Calla have an in-depth conversation with one of their former students.

Alex Vuckovic is a parent yet his son is too young for his father to be a tennis parent.  Alex is not currently a player or a coach either. Nevertheless, his passion for the game alone qualifies him for a tennis audience filled with everyone from a beginner to a veteran.

We encourage our listeners to find at least ten-minute segments throughout the course of their week to listen to Alex. We cover the whole gamut of Alex's tennis journey: transitioning from high school to college, the SAT's, playing for Princeton, teaching top juniors, the pain of regret, ego, maturity, and why the word "options" is the most important word in the game of tennis.

On the 199th episode of the GreatBase Tennis podcast, Steve Smith and Ivan Ozerets have a tennis conversation with Miron Mann. He had a successful career as both a junior and college tennis player.  He also has had a great deal of success as a coach. Miron currently leads one of the best junior development programs in Canada.

Steve and Miron collectively have 80 years of diversified experience with learning, teaching and coaching tennis. Although, the highlight of this episode is listening to Ivan. He has "lived" our free educational content for the last 18 months. 

By listening to Ivan one should be inspired to become a student of the game. One definition for teaching is "information" transfer" and Ivan's comments from observing two college matches are beyond insightful.

On the 91st episode of the GreatBase Tennis podcast, Steve Smith has a conversation with Roberto Calla. The Peruvian is not new to a large percentage of the GreatBase Tennis network and alumni because he worked with Steve for fifteen years. According to Steve, Roberto has a magic about him.  Roberto translates his life's journey and mastery of soccer with a complete and in-depth understanding of tennis.

We advise our listeners trying to acquire golden nuggets for their tennis treasure chest to find a few minutes here and there to listen to this week's podcast. 

The GreatBase Tennis Podcast Episode 90 - Steve Smith Q&A

On the 90th episode of the GreatBase Tennis Podcast, Steve Smith is interviewed by Will Reznek.

Will grew up playing junior tennis in Canada; where he earned top five provincial rankings and top ten national rankings. He played college tennis at Marist College; which is in Poughkeepsie, New York.

He has been a tennis-teaching professional since graduating with a degree in psychology. Will currently works in his hometown at the Toronto Cricket, Skating & Curling Club.

Will recently spent three weeks studying tennis with Steve.

On the 89th episode of the GreatBase Tennis podcast, Natalia Sorokin and Steve Smith interview Kim Wittenberg. Their guest has spent nearly fifty years teaching and coaching tennis.  A native of Southern California, he spent half of his career living and working in Europe. 

We are confident that our listeners will find value in Kim's insightful educational points. A major dose of honesty based on proven principles is healthy tennis medicine.

On the 88th episode of the GreatBase Tennis podcast, Steve Smith and Brandon Flanagan have a tennis conversation with Chris Cloer. Chris has a lifetime of tennis experiences. His first exposure to tennis basically started in the cradle because his parents have always worked in the tennis club business. As a junior, he became a blue-chip recruit and then posted an outstanding record while playing for Florida State. Upon graduation, he began his coaching career under the guidance of Harold Solomon.

Chris has coached competitive players at all three levels: juniors, college and pros. He served on the coaching staff for the men's teams at North Carolina State and the University of North Carolina. He also experienced the role of a travel coach on both the WTA and ATP tours.

On the 87th episode of the GreatBase Tennis podcast, Steve Smith and Brandon Flanagan interview Dr. Gideon Ariel. He is the founder and chief executive of the board of directors of Ariel Dynamics. 

Gideon is a world-renowned bio-mechanist, former Olympic athlete, author, inventor, breakthrough pioneer in the field of technology for human performance, and a funny, funny guy. 

To spark the attention of our listeners, Vic Braden considered Gideon to be his mentor. The two of them established their own research center and worked with world-class athletes from almost every sport under the sun.

Anyone who loves sport would love to listen to Dr. Gideon Ariel.

On the 86th episode of the GreatBase Tennis podcast, Steve Smith and Brandon Flanagan have Roger Crawford as their guest.

His story is truly amazing. Sports Illustrated called Roger Crawford one of the greatest achievers among all physically challenged athletes in all of sport. He played NCAA Division I tennis and he is disabled in all four limbs. We are sure everyone will enjoy the interview and we think all junior players with competitive goals should make the session a "must listen."  By doing so, one will have a better chance to never make excuses and to never ever feel sorry for themselves.

On the 85th of the GreatBase Tennis podcast, Steve Smith and Brandon Flanagan interview Steve Denton. Their guest has many stories to tell. He is a former world class tennis player and the current head coach of the men's tennis team for Texas A&M University. Steve Denton was once ranked #11 in the world in singles and #2 in doubles. The big serving Texan represented the US in Davis Cup and twice reached the finals of the Australian Open.

On the 84th episode of the GreatBase Tennis podcast, Steve Smith and Brandon Flanagan interview Mark Spann. Mark's journey started in South Africa under the tutelage of his mother, who was the holder of a Wimbledon title. In addition to teaching within his mother's school, Spann's School of Tennis, he worked for twenty-five years for the Julian Krinsky School of Tennis. For more than the last ten years, he has been the co-owner of the Upper Dublin tennis facility in Philadelphia.  

To make an understatement, Mark has a wealth of experience and we are sure our listeners will benefit greatly be listening to him.

On the 83rd episode of the GreatBase Podcast, Steve Smith and Brandon Flanagan interview the founder of Tennis Analytics. Warren Pretorius, a native of South Africa, touches upon a wide range of topics related to tennis because of his diversified and international background. Warren is an accomplished player, former teaching pro, and pioneer in the field of statistical analysis. 

His story is a lifetime in tennis, sport, and technology. We are confident that our listeners will be thoroughly impressed with Warren's insightful information, humility, and sense of humor.

On the 82nd episode of the GreatBase Tennis (GBT) podcast, Steve Smith and Brandon Flanagan interview Cole Reeves. Cole's story is admirable, he wants to develop players in the state where he has grown up. Coach Reeves is based in Arkansas and has been following the GBT tennis content for over ten years.

One significant point is that Cole has primarily learned the GBT pathway via the Internet. He has made at least a half dozen in-person visits to work with Steve.

As Andy Fitzell always says, "Let's just observe how their students hit the ball."  During the podcast, Steve compliments Cole for being an outstanding teacher of technique. By listening, one will find out why and how he would receive such rave reviews.

On the 198th episode of the GreatBase Tennis podcast,  Steve Smith and Ivan Ozerets have a tennis conversation with Jackson Bowen. Their guest has been instrumental in the development of TennisBloc, a company that has over 100 instructors who operate at over 100 facilities.

Jackson's passion quotient for the growth and welfare of tennis is sky-high. To make an understatement, the vision and mission of TennisBloc needs to be adopted and implemented throughout the world. Jackson and his associates are simply making tennis more accessible and more affordable.

We are quite sure that our listeners will be both inspired and informed by listening to Jackson.

On the 81st episode of the GreatBase Tennis podcast, Steve Smith has a conversation with Karla Navarro Wojcik. Steve and Karla have known each other nearly forty years. At the age of seventeen, with basically just being able to say hello in English, Karla started out as a student in the academic program Steve ran of career-minded tennis teaching professionals.

Karla's first days in tennis started on a chicken farm in Cochabamba, Bolivia. She is the oldest child in a family with seven children.

Her father Willie, who loves tennis as much as anyone on the planet, found a way to have his children travel the world through tennis. With her husband, Robert Wojcik, Karla has three tennis playing children. 

To make an understatement, Karla and the rest her family continue to log a journey in tennis that is filled with fun and valuable stories.

The 80th episode of the GreatBase Tennis podcast is a special treat; it's a three-hour trip down memory lane. Carlos Goffi has a story to tell, his amazing life in tennis. The Brazilian tennis player from yesteryear touches upon topics from A2Z. 

In the mid-80s, he wrote his best-selling tennis book (Tournament Tough). For over thirty years, Carlos ran his "Tournament Tough" tennis camps and is now on the verge of launching an online version of his work (www.tournamenttough.com).

Einstein said, "If one truly knows their subject, they know the history of their subject."   Carlos was mentored by two of the pillars of the GreatBase, Mr. Harry Hopman and Bill Jacobson.  Additionally, Carlos worked side by side with too many other tennis legends to count. 

To make an understatement, this is a special, special podcast.

On the 79th episode of the GreatBase Tennis podcast, Steve Smith has a conversation with an assistant tennis professional. 

Gino Octa works at a club outside of Toronto that has supported the GreatBase Tennis curriculum since the late 1980's. Steve and Gino touch upon numerous points pertaining to player and character development. 

We are confident that our listeners will find value hearing the perspective and thoughts from a young coach.

On the 78th episode of the GreatBase Tennis podcast, Steve Smith and Brandon Flanagan interview Mike McLaughlin. Mike does an excellent job taking us back in time talking about a person who was always way ahead of his own time. 

Our conversation is based on Vic Braden and his contributions to the great sport of tennis.

We hope you find this episode as intriguing and entertaining as we did.

On the 77th episode of the GreatBase Tennis podcast, Steve Smith and Brandon Flanagan discuss specialty shots and emergency shots. 

We are confident that our listeners will be enlightened by the minor details pertaining to each shot, and will acquire a higher level of understanding for acquiring the insights into hitting all the shots required to be a complete player.

On the 76th episode of the GreatBase Tennis podcast, Steve Smith and Brandon Flanagan interview Dr. Domagoj Lausic. The main topic of their conversation focuses on sport psychology. Domagoj, a native of Croatia, has so much to share. 

We are confident that this edition of our podcast will spark the intellectual curiosity of our listeners. 

On the 75th episode of the GreatBase Tennis podcast, Steve Smith and Brandon Flanagan have a conversation with Mark Walpole. He is a tennis coach from Great Britain who has resided in Southern California for over thirty years. As a compliment, we have labeled Mark as a trench pro. He is opposed to the assembly line found at most tennis academies as well as recruiting the kid who can already play.  We are confident that our audience will find Mark's honesty both refreshing and revealing. 

On the 74th episode of The GreatBase Tennis Podcast, Steve Smith and Brandon Flanagan interview one of the best teachers of character that our game has ever known. Our three hour discussion, in my opinion, should become a mandatory assignment for anyone connected to player development. Just the sayings from Chuck Kris's late mother are worth their weight in gold. A wide range of topics are covered and perhaps, the one Chuck addresses the most, is the pitfalls of shortening the scoring system in tennis. If you are not already a Chuck Kriese fan, we think you will be after listening to our interview with him.

On the 73rd episode of the GreatBase Tennis podcast, Steve Smith interviews Raleigh Grossbaum who is the assistant men's tennis coach at Dartmouth. Raleigh earned his opportunity to coach at one of the country's most highly acclaimed colleges by simply paying his dues. We would like to think that we put Raleigh through the School of Hard Knocks and, along with his other diversified experiences, have been part of developing a young coach who can make a difference in a player's game and have a major role in building a first-class college tennis program.

On the 72nd episode of the GreatBase Tennis podcast, Steve Smith and Brandon Flanagan interview Dave Anderson. Dave, a long-time associate of Steve's, leads the instruction at ClubCorp's flagship facility (Brookhaven Country Club) in Dallas. Dave and his team of coaches have developed nearly 500 collegiate tennis players. Dave is the first guest on our podcast to conduct a second interview. We have had numerous requests for Dave to re-visit his thoughts on ways to improve US tennis. During his first interview, he defined the solution to our problems with the title of a famous movie, "We need to go back to the future."

On the 197th episode of the GreatBase podcast, Steve Smith speaks with Nomena Raharinosy. To make an understatement, her tennis story is well worth listening to. Her journey with our sport covers three continents. (Africa, Europe, North America)

She started in a humble, low-key, no-hype tennis environment in her native Madagascar. From there, she was fortunate to spend several of her formative years in Paris, France. Her next adventure was spending the last two years of her high school days at a Florida-based academy. She was awarded a (US) college scholarship at the end of her junior career. 

Nomena enjoyed many highlights as a player. One would be representing her country in numerous international events. Another would be becoming a Texas Longhorn for life.

While playing for the University of Texas, she won the type of match that would make a movie script. She had the challenge of winning the last match out in the semi-finals of the NCAA national team championships. Her win clinched her team's trip to the final. With the opportunity, the girls wearing Burnt Orange won the coveted national title. 

Nomena now lives in Canada with her husband and their two children. She runs a business with one of her first childhood tennis friends. She also watches her children work on tennis fundamentals. One connection that helps ensure her confidence in the GreatBase pathway is that she now knows that two boys (Clayton Stanley and Chad Clark) who played at Texas when she did were brought up with the same scientific-based information. 

The title of the 71st episode of the GreatBase Tennis podcast sounds like a movie. Steve Smith has a lengthy conversation with Fergus O'Rourke of Dublin, Ireland. Those who listen to the entire podcast will be treated to the sound of a true Irishman singing. As always, we hope those trying to make sense of the weird, wacky, and wonderful world of tennis teaching are finding value by tuning into our podcasts.

On the 70th episode of the GreatBase Tennis podcast, Steve Smith and Brandon Flanagan have a tennis conversation with Ed Krass. From hanging out with Mr. Harry Hopman to coaching at Harvard, Ed has an extremely diversified background. His number one project is promoting the game of One-on-One Doubles. We certainly appreciate tennis enthusiasts and tennis experts listening to Ed because his efforts to improve doubles make him a guardian of our game.

Steve Smith and Brandon Flanagan discuss different types of male tennis-teaching pros on the 69th episode of the GreatBase Tennis podcast. 

Steve is proud that his number one mentor, Vic Braden, called him the Observer's Observer. Throughout a career that spans nearly 50 years, Steve has observed literally thousands of would-be, could-be, should-be tennis-teaching professionals. We hope our listeners find Smith and Flanagan's input insightful, informative, and even humorous.