On the 234th episode of the GreatBase Tennis podcast, Steve Smith and Dave Secker talk tennis with Mat Cloer. Mat holds a senior position with the USTA's Player Development Department. Their conversation is centered around tennis analytics.

The saga of the GreatBase Tennis Education (GBTE) continues. Our non-profit organization shares free educational tennis content. 225+ podcasts, 5 educational courses, 15+ years of daily Facebook posts, 1000+ Instagram posts and much, much more.

In the 233rd episode of the GreatBase Tennis Education (GBTE) podcast, Steve Smith, Dave Anderson, Dave Secker, and Ivan Ozerets share their thoughts regarding tennis academies. Their conversation covers a wide spectrum of points and should serve the purpose of helping to educate the tennis consumer.

Thanks for listening and thanks for caring about the growth and welfare of the game of tennis.

The 232nd episode of the GreatBase Tennis podcast is based on a question Steve Smith asked Dave Anderson. Steve asked David, "What should be a theme to help US tennis?" David answered, "Back to the future."

In basing a podcast episode on Dave's answer, Steve stated that there would be no one better to address the topic than the legendary Chuck Kriese. To make an understatement, the words of the veteran coach should be heard.

Richard Hernandez joined Steve and Dave. The three asked Chuck questions but unfortunately, Richard's reception was lost halfway through the discussion. Our apologies.

Hopefully, our listeners will find the session to be informative and insightful. Most importantly, hopefully, our listeners will find the session to be worthy of their time.

On the 231st episode of the GreatBase Tennis podcast, Steve Smith and Ilja Semjonovs re-visit thoughts and principles shared by the late Don Meyer. Mr. Meyer was a basketball coach who touched the lives of thousands of people. His contributions should not be forgotten. He mentored legends of his sport.

To take in his humor, simply YouTube: Don Meyer at the ESPY's.

To read more about his story, read the book "How Lucky Can You Be" by Buster Olney.

On the 230th episode of the GreatBase Tennis Education (GBTE) podcast, Steve Smith, Ilja Semjonovs, Richard Hernandez, and Dave Anderson discuss mentoring and its significance. Listeners are assured of a few laughs and a few nuggets for their tennis treasure chest.

Please note that one can find more free educational tennis content on GBTE's website (www.greatbasetennis.com). Five courses with optional certification exams are available. Additionally, there are books, articles, and much more.

On the 229th episode of the GreatBase Tennis podcast, Steve Smith, Ivan Ozerets, Andy Fitzell, and Dave Anderson discuss the ins and outs of making resolutions for the new year. As always, we hope our listeners find value in listening and occasionally can chuckle at our attempt at humor.

We wish everyone all the best for 2025.

Happy New Year

Merry Christmas

On the 228th episode of the GreatBase Tennis podcast, Steve, Ivan, and Andy interview Peter Kobelt. To make an understatement, Peter's journey in tennis is remarkable. As a first-year student at Ohio State University (OSU), Peter red-shirted. Then as a red-shirt freshman, he only played doubles.

By the end of his collegiate career, he held the OSU record for most doubles matches won and tied the record for most matches won in a single season. Furthermore, he earned the #1 singles ranking in doubles and the #2 national ranking in doubles.

He was honored as an All-American multiple times and then proceeded to travel the world playing pro tennis. He reached the ATP rankings, 332 in singles and 378 in doubles. Following his pro career, Peter spent two years working as a volunteer coach at the University of Kentucky. From there, he moved on to the University of Nebraska as an assistant and, at the young age of 34, was promoted to the head coach position.

On the 227th episode of the GreatBase Tennis Podcast, Steve Smith and Andy Fitzell talk about some tennis books from the GreatBase Tennis library.

The GreatBase Tennis library now includes all the tennis books from Vic Braden’s library. Overall, the GBTE has over 1500 tennis books.

Andy Fitzell being with Steve Smith when the last shipment of Vic’s books arrived was quite appropriate. The two spent decades under Vic’s tutelage.