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2018 usopen tennis champions

Learn tennis strategy from the best in the business.

Craig O'Shannessy is the strategy expert for Wimbledon, Australian Open, ATP World Tour, Team Djokovic, Italian Tennis Federation & The New York Times. Craig has 25+ years of coaching club tennis, running junior academies & working on the pro tour.

Craig works at the elite level of our sport... and passes that expert knowledge on to you.

ATP World Tour

Craig covers all the Grand Slam & Masters Series finals for the ATP World Tour. Craig digs deep into the serve, return, rally and approach patterns at the elite level of the game, simplifying pro strategy on the biggest global stages.

Infosys Beyond The Numbers

This is the beating heart of the next generation of tennis analytics. Craig writes a weekly story on the ATP website, revealing new numbers and percentages that provide a brand new insight to our sport.

USPTA Tour Coach / Year

In 2015, Craig was awarded with the Tim Gullikson Touring Coach of the Year award by the USPTA. Craig first started coaching on the pro tour in 1995, and graciously accepted the award at the World Conference in New Orleans.

Wimbledon

Craig is the tournament analyst for [email protected], breaking down the biggest matches at the world's most prestigious tournament. Craig showcases the patterns of play and winning percentages that dominate our sport.

ATP World Tour Finals

Craig covers the Barclays World Tour Finals in London, analyzing the Elite Eight players in the world at the end of year championships. When the best of best compete, Craig finds out where the separation is.

Tennis Channel

Craig’s expert strategy debuted on the Tennis Channel in 2015 in the USPTA Series, "OnCourt with USPTA." The first show focused on serve strategy, while the second highlight winning patterns of baseline play.

Australian Open

Craig covers all the Grand Slam & Masters Series finals for the ATP World Tour. Craig digs deep into the serve, return, rally and approach patterns at the elite level of the game, simplifying pro strategy on the biggest global stages.

New York Times

Craig has been writing for the New York Times since 2011, providing their discerning readership with a deeper, richer analysis of why why matches are won and lost. Craig's main focus in 2016 is the US Open.

Head/Penn Advisory Staff

Craig joined the Head/Penn advisory staff in 2016, with an emphasis on bringing to life the winning patterns & percentages of Head staff players on the pro tour - and sharing it with the Head family around the world.

EIGHT Strategy Products. All IMMEDIATELY available on this website.
1. GamePlan (NEW)

($149.95) The player development pathway finally has new metrics: 650K points / 20M+ data points.

Junior tennis has never been examined through a data lens. We have never seen analytics for boys and girls 12’s, 14’s, 16’s,18’s, college tennis and the Challenger tour. And because of that, we guess. A LOT! Should we do this drill or that drill? What should we focus on in 12’s that will be a lot more important in 14’s?

Look at a typical one-hour junior lesson – anywhere in the world. What do coaches typically work on? What’s the mantra? Here it is…

  1. consistency
  2. shot tolerance
  3. repetition
  4. one more ball

There is no denying that those elements are part of the overall plan. But they are not THE plan by any stretch of the imagination.

This is important: The vast majority of the data in GAMEPLAN comes from juniors practicing on BROKEN PRACTICE COURTS. It is critical to understand that the data comes from a massive amount of groundstroke practice and very little serve, return and volley practice. Kids all over the world hit groundstrokes cross court ALL.THE.TIME. When do they practice second serve returns? When do they practice Serve +1 forehand combinations? Don’t worry – we are going to fix that problem!

GAMEPLAN delivers with massive metrics. We need to look at the numbers to simplify the development pathway so players are improving today – and also getting ahead of the curve so they can win tomorrow.

2. 25 Golden Rules Of Singles Strategy (Best Seller)

($49.95) The world's best patterns of play, learnt from the best players in the world.

You can break tennis down into four key elements - serving, returning, rallying and approaching. Each part has specific patterns of play that consistently deliver higher winning percentages than the others. No more guessing. No more opinions. All facets of our sport are covered in this exceptional product, clearly outlining what patterns to gravitate to, and how to best construct the practice court. Data comes primarily from the 2015 Australian Open.

Building Blocks

  • MEN = 70% errors / 30% winners
  • WOMEN = 74% errors / 26% winners
  • Forcing errors is the best way to construct a point.

You can simply break tennis down into primary and secondary patterns of play - and they are all covered here. Primary patterns include serve and return direction, forehands v backhands, and the best way to approach the net. Secondary patterns include drop shots, serve & volley and 1st volley options. If you play tournaments, this product will greatly help you simplify the singles court.

3. The First 4 Shots

($149.95) Why don't we practice exactly what happens in a match?

You think it is the start of the point. It's actually the end. The First 4 Shots clearly shows that we spend way too much time practicing what hardly happens in a match. Points in a match are "front-end loaded." The practice court is way too "back-end loaded." That's a big problem! By far the majority of the action, and the winning, takes place in The First 4 Shots. The practice court is full of long rallies. Matches are dominated by short rallies. There is a massive disconnect occurring.

We spend too much time grinding, banging balls up and down the middle of the court – that have no real benefit to winning tennis matches. If winning matters to you, The First 4 Shots will completely change how you organize your practice court, and go about your business of winning tennis matches.

There are 3 specific rally lengths in tennis. Here is their percentage breakdown of total points.

  • 0-4 Shots = 70%
  • 5-8 Shots = 20%
  • 9+ Shots = 10%

The First 4 Shots involves the serve, return, Serve +1 groundstroke and Return +1 groundstroke. Those are normally the shots that get practiced the least, but actually matter the most to winning tennis matches. Also contained in the First 4 Shots of a point are the average rally length and the mode - the most common rally length in tennis.

4. Short Ball Hunter

($149.95) The world thinks you can't come to the net anymore. The world is wrong!

If you love playing tennis for fun, spend as much time at the baseline as you like. But if you compete – if the score matters – then you must turn your attention to the net to maximize your potential.

The “herd mentality” in tennis thinks it’s too tough to approach the net in today’s game. The conversation starts with improved string technology, more powerful rackets, and finishes with stronger, faster athletes. The herd think approaching is a relic of the past. Simply not so.

Average Win Percentage

  • Baseline = 46%
  • Net = 66%
Data from ALL Grand Slams provides the facts about approach and volley, and the data is crystal clear – it’s immensely better than staying back at the baseline, grinding for a living.

Welcome to a better way. A higher percentage, proved way to win more matches. Short Ball Hunter uses facts to dispel myths. We don’t need to listen to opinion anymore when we have clear, concise data to analyze. The facts are indisputable. The net is a fantastic place to play at all levels of the game!

5. Num3ers

($149.95) There is a lot you can't see when you watch a tennis match.

The baseline is a tough place to create separation. Here's how to do it. At the 2012 US Open, only 7 men and 14 women had a winning percentage from the baseline. At Wimbledon 2016, Andy Murray won the title only winning 52% of his baseline points - and he is one of the very best at it in the world!

Num3ers deeply explores the data that rules points, especially from the back of the court. Take a "deep dive" into all three rally lengths (0-4, 5-8, 9+), and winner and errors totals from the elite level of our game. The numbers will shock you!

All 4 Grand Slams

  • Forcing Errors = 41% Men / 37% Women
  • Winners = 32% Men / 29% Women
  • Unforced Errors = 27% Men / 34% Women

Num3ers is very much like putting a jigsaw puzzle together. It's about bringing together different data sets together to create the big picture. Num3ers has huge implications for the practice court, and even predicts the direction our sport is headed. Let's get ahead of the curve, and know what direction success is most likely attained.

6. Between The Points

($49.95) When you play a match, you actually play two matches. Between The Points is the most important.

When you walk out onto a tennis court, there are two matches that you are about to play. The first is during the point - a part of the match that you have spent a lot of time preparing for on the practice court. But there is a second match, that takes place in the 20 seconds between the points. This is where the mental and emotional aspects of our sport kick in.

Let's face it, there will be adversity in almost every tennis match that you play. The storm clouds are coming. How bug they are, and how long they last for, are up to you.

Between the points is very tennis specific. It provides a roadmap for the 20 seconds between the points, teaching how to handle the adversity that will surely come, and how to build on the successes that will also be present. Your mind is your biggest asset in a match, and Between the Points takes your hand off the self destruct button and stops you beating yourself.

7. 25 Golden Rules Of Doubles Strategy (Best Seller)

($49.95) The conversation starts & ends with the Center Window.

The doubles court is like an hourglass. There are two big ends, but a small neck in the middle where all the action happens. Once you learn the power of the Center Window, where you stand to start the point will take on a lot more significance.

Doubles is a lot more about situations, with four people on the court all "dancing" with one another. Learn all the best doubles patterns, broken down for the server, returner, server's partner and the returner's partner.

Doubles Situations

  • The "J" - the most ideal movement for the returner's partner to attack the net.
  • The "V" -  a better way of understanding where the server's partner should move to.
  • Volley Targets - there are four main areas to attack. Know which ones are higher percentage.
  • Back Volleyball - the idea of a "setter" and "spiker" is ideal for the doubles court.

There are certain parts of the court that the ball travels to a lot, and other low percentage areas that you really don't want to cover at all - like the alley! In general, the serving team wants to keep the ball in the middle of the court as much as possible (to help the server's partner), while the returning team benefits from hitting wider and creating more chaos in the point.

8. Dou8les Num3ers

($149.95) Every recorded match from the 2015 Australian Open - Rd2 to the final.

There is a lot happening on a doubles court. Situations and strategies are constantly being adjusted to create mis-matches with court position. It's hard to keep track of - until now. Dou8les Num3ers is the most comprehensive analysis of doubles data in our sport. The focus is on how a point ends, and it's broken down eight ways to Sunday. Specifically, you find critical information on:

  • Winners rise to the #1 way a point ends (over forced & unforced errors)
  • Rally Length. 0-4 shots = 81% Men / 69% Women
  • The last shot of the rally is overwhelmingly struck at the net.
  • Center Window - the most important part of a doubles court to control.
  • Stephen Huss - an in-depth interview on Wimbledon's Centre Court with the 2005 Wimbledon Doubles Champion.

Dou8les Num3ers leaves no stone unturned. Percentage breakdowns of how often the server or receiver hits the last shot highlight the dramatic influence of the serve. The last shot of the rally is significant, and is broken down into the following categories: volleys, overheads, passing shots, lobs and groundstrokes.

The First 4 Shots Video.

2015 Wimbledon: Dustin Brown def. Rafael Nadal 7-5, 3-6, 6-4, 6-4

Craig O'Shannessy assisted head coach, Scott Wittenberg, with the game plan for Dustin's spectacular victory on Centre Court against Rafa. Here's Craig's interview with Mats Wilander & Annabel Croft.

OK, SO WHY BRAIN GAME?

Glad you asked. Well, lots of reasons, but most importantly because...

Tennis looks like a game of pinball, with the ball careening here, there, and everywhere. But it's not. It's actually the exact opposite. Tennis is a game of repeatable patterns in four specific areas - serving, returning, rallying and approaching. Study the patterns, learn the winning percentages, and make the game simple. That's what Brain Game Tennis stands for. No more guessing. No more opinions. Just the facts please...

THANK YOU from Centre Court at Wimbledon.

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