The GreatBase Tennis Podcast

On the 208th podcast, Steve Smith has a conversation with Spencer Johnson. The two have known each other for just over 10 years. Spencer is now 21 and last year, while playing for UCLA, he was named the PAC 12 Freshman of the Year. Most GreatBase students are trying to get to college tennis. Spencer, like many college players, now hopes to get to the level where he is playing for a living. By list...

On the 207th episode of the GreatBase Tennis podcast Steve Smith and Ivan Ozerets host Scott Perelmen. Their guest recently joined the men's coaching staff at TCU. He brings a ton of experience and a ton of wisdom to the table. Scott and Steve worked together over forty years ago. They were staff members at the famous Vic Braden Tennis College headquartered at Coto de Caza in Southern Califor...

On the 206th episode of the GreatBase Tennis podcast, Steve Smith and Ivan Ozerets host Matt Knoll. Matt built a championship culture at Baylor University that was highlighted by winning the 2004 NCAA team championship. Listeners will discover his formula for success. Common sense, grit, and hard work ruled the day. Every parent, player and coach will benefit from the pearls of wisdom and golden n...

On that 205th episode of the GreatBase Tennis podcast, Dave Anderson joins Steve Smith and Ivan Ozerets to talk tennis. They shared thoughts that mostly pertained to the 2024  Wimbledon. Dave has been based at the Brookhaven Country Club in Dallas for more than 30 years. To make an understatement,  Dave and his staff have made a major impact on the lives of hundreds and hundreds of tennis players....

On the 204th episode of the GreatBase Tennis podcast Cris Valverde, a teaching pro from Portland, Oregon, asks Steve Smith questions. Cris recently spent a week with Steve at the Wintergreen Resort in Wintergreen, Virginia. He traveled across the US with his two sons for an immersion camp. To make an understatement, Cris's passion for our sport is second to none. Cris's dedication to imp...

On the 203rd episode of the GreatBase Tennis podcast, Steve Smith, Ivan Ozerets and Andres Barbosa talk about tennis from the service line in. The whys and why-nots of going forward in singles and doubles are discussed.  The statement that one only goes to the net to pick up balls and shake hands used to only apply to little kids at the grass root level. Now the statement applies to all levels of...

Sir Hamlin is our guest on episode 202. Our podcast's fact checker, Andres Barbosa, and several others requested another opportunity to listen to Mark Hamlin. Great choice!  Steve Smith and Mark have known each other for 60 years this year. Mark, 71, worked directly with Vic Braden and has spent the last 45 years applying fact-based instruction to literally hundreds and hundreds of recreation...

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.

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...

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 wit...

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 m...

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 yea...

On the 196th episode of the GreatBase Tennis, Steve Smith and Ivan Ozerets talk tennis with Greg Moran. Their guest is a veteran tennis teaching professional, an award-winning writer, and a longtime club owner. Greg's third book, "The Truth About Tennis", was recently released. Like his long career, his latest book is complete. The read will certainly help further educate anyone and...

On the 195th episode of the GreatBase Tennis podcast, Steve Smith has a tennis discussion with Ainsley Catalano. His guest makes his living as an analyst in commercial real estate. Ainsley also has tennis experience as a player, teacher, and parent. Topping off his A to Z connection to our game, he owns his own red clay court. Steve and Ainsley touch upon many topics related to tennis. One being,...

On the 194th episode of the GreatBase Tennis podcast, Steve Smith and Ivan Ozerets talk tennis with Dave Anderson. Dave, a frequent guest, is a veteran coach with an outstanding track record.  He has worked at the Brookhaven Country Club in Dallas for over 30 years.  Their discussion is the fourth of four Dave's Do's & Don'ts. The first three lists were centered on parents, play...

On the 193rd episode of the GreatBase Tennis podcast, Steve Smith and Ivan Ozerets interview Javier Palenque. Their guest has an unstoppable passion for the improvement of tennis. He is totally committed to researching how tennis is governed around the world.  To make an understatement, he knows the problems. More importantly, he has solutions. In addition to our podcast, we have attached a forty-...

On the 192nd episode of the GreatBase Tennis podcast, Steve Smith, Ivan Ozerets and Dave Anderson address the USTA Player Development (USTA PD) program.  The following are attached: 1) A letter written by Jose Higueras on American tennis https://drive.google.com/file/d/1m8rnoacjivjOMt3sc5lRDo9Nccub9wgQ/view?usp=sharing 2) A letter written by Wayne Bryan on American tennis https://drive.google.com/...

On the 191st episode of the GreatBase Tennis podcast, Steve Smith has a conversation with Lawrence Hyde. The Englishman recently spent 350-plus hours studying with Steve. The primary topics covered were: tennis, tennis teaching, coaching, character development, player development, and the ins and outs of the tennis industry. Also, a healthy percentage of Lawrence's time was assisting with the...

On the 190th episode of the GreatBase Tennis podcast, Steve Smith has a conversation with Ilja Semjonovs. The theme of the session was based on the title of a hockey podcast called 32 Thoughts with Elliotte Friedman and Jeff Marek. Ilja, who has spent nearly 10 years working with Steve, formulated a list of 32 talking points. The information, ideas, and insights shared will help anyone and everyon...

On the 189th episode of the GreatBase Tennis podcast, Steve Smith and Ilja Semjonovs interview Andy Durham. Andy has a lifetime of diversified experiences in tennis. The veteran tennis educator has a deep connection with match analysis. He was mentored by Bill Jacobson, the father of electronic charting and the founder of Compu-Tennis. Andy is leading a campaign to have Bill inducted into the Inte...

On the 188th episode of the GreatBase Tennis podcast, Steve Smith and Lawrence Hyde talk tennis and life with Mark Bey. The discussion starts with Mark's beginning days in junior tennis. He also shares his experience playing college tennis under the legendary George Lott at DePaul University. Since graduating, Mark has logged over 30 years acquiring diversified skills and earning numerous awa...

On the 187th episode of the GreatBase Tennis podcast, Dave Anderson shares Do's and Don'ts for Players.  Dave previously shared a similar list for parents and coaches. His next list will be for tennis administrators. Dave joined Steve in 1985 as a student. Steve revised a general recreation curriculum into a comprehensive curriculum for students seeking occupational competency as tennis-...

Tribute to Andy Brandi 1952-2024 Our condolences to Andy's wife, Nancy, and their son, Chris. Our thoughts also go out to their family members and their close friends. On the 186th episode of the GreatBase Tennis podcast, Steve Smith discusses his connection to Andy. He worked for Andy in the late 1970's. At the start, Andy was 24 and Steve was 22. Steve states that Andy's highly su...

On the 185th episode of the GreatBase Tennis podcast, Steve Smith and Ivan Ozerets have a conversation with Lisa Pugliese LaCroix. To make an understatement, she has a story to tell. From hitting a backboard in her family's garage that her father painted with Wimbledon colors to becoming a Speech-Language Pathologist to establishing a non-profit organization called Love Serving Autism. As a j...

On the 184th episode of the GreatBase Tennis podcast, Steve Smith and Ivan Ozerets have a conversation with Luis Perez. Their guest is a tennis teaching professional who is based in London, England. Luis stumbled upon the free educational tennis content provided on the Internet by GBT.  From there, his intellectual curiosity and thirst for knowledge compelled him to travel across the Atlantic to s...