Cheating in junior tennis is one of the toughest parts of competition—for players, parents, and coaches. In this video, we break down the biggest myths about cheating in junior tennis and talk about how to handle bad line calls, unfair behavior, and tense match situations with confidence and composure.

This is a classic show from our archive!

You’ll learn how to respond without losing focus, how to protect yourself mentally during a match, and what players and parents can do to stay calm, smart, and competitive. The goal is not just to win points—it’s to build resilience, sportsmanship, and match toughness.

Whether you’re a junior player, tennis parent, or coach, this video will help you navigate one of the most frustrating parts of the game.

0:00 Welcome Back & Show Update

1:26 The Dirty Tricks Department

2:52 Writing the Article & Other Topic Ideas

4:49 Junior Tennis and High Performance Focus

5:45 Story of a Student Who Uses Dirty Tricks

8:11 Mixed Calls and Mind Games

9:16 Tennis as Psychological Warfare

12:17 Score Manipulation Tactics

13:47 Why This Could Be a Book

15:17 Why Tennis Encourages Cheating

17:11 Big Points and Why Cheating Matters

19:17 Time, Downtime, and Mental Distraction

22:30 Why Kids Quit Tournament Tennis

24:23 Should Coaching Be Allowed?

26:17 How Manipulators Get Opponents Thinking

29:18 The Late Call / Played-Out-Ball Trick

31:51 Why Players Should Not Engage in Conversation

33:41 Personal Match Story: Telling an Opponent to Stop Talking

35:22 Myths Coaches and Parents Tell About Cheating

36:44 The Drop Shot as Psychological Warfare

38:12 Other Legal Mind Games: Lobs and Moon Balls

40:15 A Future Book: Dirty Tricks and Solutions

41:32 Four Common Dirty Tricks Recap

45:47 Psychological Warfare Can Beat Better Technique

47:11 Tennis Resources and Where the Article May Appear

49:40 Final Thoughts on the Dirty Tricks Department

50:15 ProdigyMaker Blog and Coaching Influences

52:00 Life in Vermont & Sign-Off

#JuniorTennis #TennisMentalToughness #TennisParents #TennisCoaching #Sportsmanship #TennisTips

🎾 The Prodigy Maker Tennis Show (PMTS) explores the intersection of junior tennis development, cutting-edge sport science, fitness, health, and human performance. Hosted by world-renowned coach Chris Lewit — author of The Secrets of Spanish Tennis and Winning Pretty, and developer of numerous No. 1 juniors in the U.S. — PMTS brings together coaching wisdom, research, and technology to shape the future of tennis and human performance.

👉 Subscribe and listen on

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-prodigy-maker-tennis-show/id1456148452

https://open.spotify.com/show/3Wu0PXf9IXneu0ogrzujZN

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLR2QscfBfEs9dtttR6XNhduNlWYmZIfy-

🌐 https://shows.acast.com/the-prodigy-maker-tennis-show/about

📖 Books: The Secrets of Spanish Tennis | Winning Pretty

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

🎾 Tennis Kids & Instagram: Healthy or Harmful?

More and more junior players are being featured on IG—but is it helping their development or hurting it?

Chris breaks down the positives, the pitfalls, and the ethical questions every parent and coach should be thinking about.

👇 Listen now and decide for yourself

0:00 Should You Put Your Tennis Kid on Instagram?

0:59 Is It Healthy? The Big Question

2:08 Casual Sharing vs. Dedicated Accounts

4:17 Different Types of Tennis Parent Posting

5:05 When Posting Becomes Branding

6:20 Proud Parent or Building a Business?

8:24 Why Parents Build a Brand Around a Child

10:49 Is It Healthy for Kids?

12:08 Pressure, Performance, and the Camera

13:09 The Tony Nadal Perspective on Humility

15:03 Ego, Attention, and Character Development

17:05 Protecting Your Child’s Mental Health

18:54 When Social Media Becomes a Production

19:44 Scouting, Exposure, and the New Tennis World

20:56 What If Things Go Wrong?

22:01 Monetizing a Child’s Tennis the Right Way

23:39 How to Protect Kids While Using Social Media

24:10 Preview of the Next Podcast Episode

🎾 The Prodigy Maker Tennis Show (PMTS) explores the intersection of junior tennis development, cutting-edge sport science, fitness, health, and human performance. Hosted by world-renowned coach Chris Lewit — author of The Secrets of Spanish Tennis and Winning Pretty, and developer of numerous No. 1 juniors in the U.S. — PMTS brings together coaching wisdom, research, and technology to shape the future of tennis and human performance.

👉 Subscribe and listen on

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-prodigy-maker-tennis-show/id1456148452

https://open.spotify.com/show/3Wu0PXf9IXneu0ogrzujZN

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLR2QscfBfEs9dtttR6XNhduNlWYmZIfy-

🌐 https://shows.acast.com/the-prodigy-maker-tennis-show/about

📖 Books: The Secrets of Spanish Tennis | Winning Pretty

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Prodigy Maker Show EP 118

A replay of one of our popular shows

Building the Modern Forehand

Toni Nadal says the forehand is the most important shot in tennis. Chris may not fully agree, but he understands why Toni sees it that way.

In this replay of Episode 118, Chris breaks down the secrets of the modern Spanish forehand and explains how he teaches players to build it from the ground up.

This was a lively episode with great audience questions, strong debate, and a special cameo from Chris’s sidekick and cohost, Sammie the Tennis Dog.

In this episode, Chris discusses:

Why he broke away from teaching the traditional old-school forehand

The key technical reference points of the modern forehand

Whether kids should begin with a closed or open stance

Eastern vs. semi-western grip

When to teach the kick serve to children, and how to teach it safely

The biggest safety concerns for young players learning the kick serve

How legendary coaches like Robert Lansdorp, Rick Macci, Luis Bruguera, Pato Alvarez, Emilio Sanchez, Toni Nadal, and others teach the forehand

Important terms Chris uses, including extension, parabolic shape, open stance, inverted finish, and drift

Spanish terminology and theory for forehand development

Why the speed at which a coach develops a player matters

Why the best coaches are often faster and more efficient, and why that affects what they can charge

Technical trends from the last 40 years on the pro tour

The dramatic evolution of backhand technique, and where Chris believes forehand training is headed next

Why it’s important to challenge long-held beliefs in the coaching world

Why calculated risks are sometimes necessary to develop better training methods

Why Chris is shocked that Toni Nadal still teaches an old-school forehand model to young players

Check out Chris’s YouTube channel for more videos and drills used in Spain to help build the Spanish forehand.

Spanish Forehand Course:

https://clta.teachable.com/p/whip

0:00 Intro + Sammy the Tennis Dog

1:20 Why the show exists

3:51 Forehand topic overview

6:17 Why Chris questioned traditional forehand teaching

10:45 Building a modern forehand safely

13:37 Q&A: Eastern backhand grip for kick serve

17:26 Why the “classic” forehand is outdated

20:35 Teaching open stance first

24:14 Circular swing shape and inverted finish

27:19 Hands-on teaching method and feel

28:11 Grip choice: semi-western and low finish

30:38 “Drift,” figure-eight patterns, and modern forehand terms

34:14 Demo: inverted forehand finish

40:47 Why topspin is essential from the start

43:29 How Spanish coaches teach the forehand

46:19 Q&A: String position on the backswing

48:23 Why speed of development matters

51:26 Extension vs. cutting the swing short

56:15 Why many coaches still teach an old model

1:01:06 Comparison to the evolution of the two-handed backhand

1:06:19 Why coaches “correct” naturally modern swings

1:09:18 Forehand finish variations

1:11:44 The Spanish development path

1:16:03 “Marathon vs sprint” in junior development

1:20:12 Final thoughts on faster, safer player development

1:24:15 Outro + where to follow/listen

🎾 The Prodigy Maker Tennis Show (PMTS) explores the intersection of junior tennis development, cutting-edge sport science, fitness, health, and human performance. Hosted by world-renowned coach Chris Lewit — author of The Secrets of Spanish Tennis and Winning Pretty, and developer of numerous No. 1 juniors in the U.S. — PMTS brings together coaching wisdom, research, and technology to shape the future of tennis and human performance.

👉 Subscribe and listen on

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-prodigy-maker-tennis-show/id1456148452

https://open.spotify.com/show/3Wu0PXf9IXneu0ogrzujZN

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLR2QscfBfEs9dtttR6XNhduNlWYmZIfy-

🌐 https://shows.acast.com/the-prodigy-maker-tennis-show/about

📖 Books: The Secrets of Spanish Tennis | Winning Pretty

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.