Never Stop Learning - July 2026

Heckelman - Toroian - Bergonzoli - Rapport - plus LinkedIn Gold

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Rod Heckelman, Victor Bergonzoli, Cassandra Toroian & Ian Rapport
June 26, 2026

Table of Contents

Rod Heckelman: Is There an Injury Alarm?

Heckelman reveals some shocking numbers.

Is There an Injury Alarm?

The number of injuries at the top level of tennis should be alarming to all coaches. Why, because what often is a trend at the professional level almost always makes its way down to the rest of the tennis world. These injuries should raise concerns for all coaches who are developing new adult recreational and competitive players, as well as junior players. Players who are in the early stages of learning their stroke production provide coaches the best opportunity to ensure they are learning proper, safe strokes that will contribute to long-term tennis experience. 

Professional Tennis Registry: Wimbledon qualifying has begun. 🎾
As the world's best players step onto the grass courts of Wimbledon, we're reminded that every champion's journey is shaped by great coaching.

At the pro level, the speed and power these players execute is off the charts. Serves that go over 140 miles per hour, groundstrokes, the tip of the speed scale at 100 MPH. Add to that the spin they can generate on the ball, and the movement needed to handle these new skills is astonishing. All these upgrades are hard on any athlete’s body, especially in the three-out-of-five set matches at the Majors. But what about the average recreational player, or a new player taking up the game at a very early age? They may not play that level of tennis, but it would be natural for those newbies, especially juniors, to aspire to emulate those professionals. That may be a very bad decision, and an important moment for a coach to intervene and review to find a safer path forward.

That intervention is the best time for a coach to match the proper stroke production for that individual player, again taking into consideration the physical skills, strength, and the time they can invest in practice. Let’s look into some of those adjustments and why they are so significant.

These evaluations usually begin with a student's footwork. How a player moves on the court sets the foundation for their game and, in turn, the balance they need to avoid bad falls or awkward, stressful movements. Not everyone who takes to the court has the same attributes for judging, preparing, and moving. The coach will be looking for ways to help each student become as efficient and graceful as possible. That begins with focusing on the first and last steps they take when moving on the court. The old style of pivoting to move in any direction put unnecessary stress and wear on the ankles, knees, and hips. That movement has been replaced by what is often referred to as a gravity step. This is when the foot closes to the direction a player will need to move, instead of pivoting, steps slightly back on its toes, under the player, causing the body to lean in the direction they will be taking. It is much like watching an ice skater start in a short race. Their front skate is under them on the tip, and the body is leaning forward.

Victor Bergonzoli:
As Wimbledon approaches, millions of fans around the world will be watching some of the best tennis players compete on the sport’s most iconic surface.

But grass court tennis is very different from clay or hard courts. The ball stays lower. The points are shorter. The serve becomes more dangerous. Movement becomes less about speed and more about balance.

When a player closes in on the best position to execute their strokes, they need to take a few short steps that will allow micro-adjustments to execute a stroke with proper positioning and balance. Not every shot can be performed with balance, so it is important to train all players to adjust rather than compensate. The goal is to find the most comfortable way to just get a ball back in play. This will help limit the stress that can happen with late contact.

Late contact is one of the greatest contributors to stress on the body, especially on the wrist. A player's wrist relies on muscles, which are actually located in the forearm. Rather than housing the muscles themselves, your wrist acts as a mechanical relay station where muscles from the forearm pass through via tough, rope-like tendons attached directly to your hand and finger bones. Unlike muscles, tendons or ligaments, when injured, take much longer to heal and can remain vulnerable for quite some time.

Note again that, at the top level of tennis, this late contact resulted in several top tour players having wrist injuries… i.e., Andre Aggasi, Juan Del Potro, and most recently Carlos Alcaraz. At their level, with so much strength to hit their forehands with speed and topspin, their wrists are very vulnerable. This action is amplified by the modern topspin forehand, which is often executed with a tremendous amount of pronation. Again, if these premier athletes can incur an injury like this, the rest of the tennis world is probably very vulnerable.

And as for the famous injury that was so common…tennis elbow, most of the causes have been addressed through modern racket technology. It's helpful that these new rackets, with proper stringing tension, are less likely to transfer vibration, but in addition, every coach should know what size and type of racket, as well as what type of string and tension is best for their students' style of play. Also, most coaches now are instructing their students that they should not hold their racket so tightly, as the saying goes, hold on to the racket like you would a live bird…don’t let it get away, and don’t harm it with too tight a grip.

The next part of the game that is very hard on a player's body is the serve. Why is the serve so important to learn properly and avoid injuries? The throwing motion requires significant coordination and anatomy. In addition, this motion is the fastest movement the human body can produce. The result is that any sudden or forced deviation in a swing can result in uncomfortable strain and possible injury. This is reason #1 that every coach should look at a player's service motion in the early stages of learning.

To make that happen, it all starts with the student mastering the toss. There are several tips for making that happen; first, a player has to find a relaxed motion that can consistently deliver a well-placed toss.

Leslie Banks: A unique moment at the RSPA Southwest Division Conference at Paradise Valley Country Club: serving as the Awards Chair and Presenter while also being recognized with the Industry Excellence Award.

What stood out most wasn't the award itself, but the opportunity to connect with so many professionals who are passionate about growing racquet sports and strengthening our industry.

Scott McCulloch: After returning from this year’s Racquets Summit and taking a day to reflect, I keep coming back to the same feeling,

My cup is full.

Not because of what we launched or what we accomplished, but because of what I had the chance to witness.

It may be the most sensitive movement in the entire game, and to add to that, it is the first movement a player has to make to begin a point. This could be why so many players bounce the ball several times, creating an opportunity to control their thoughts and find the feel they need through the softness of catching each bounce.

A good off-court practice is to have the student practice the toss with the windup. Then, above them, place elevated targets where their toss should peak. They want to learn the skill of elevating the ball so that it only softly touches the target. This exercise should always include the racket arm also going through the motion of winding up at the same time. Even better and more challenging, if possible, find a location where you can attach an empty tennis ball upside down and see if the player can softly, and with great accuracy, have their toss go into that can.

It’s also a healthy challenge to see if the student can hit a serve with their eyes closed. It’s a practice that will really open their eyes if they have a problem with their toss. (Sorry for that pun)  

There is also the concern these days with very young players trying to hit a serve with more kick or topspin. Some coaches may remember the American Twist Serve. That unorthodox movement put a great deal of stress on a young player’s lower back and shoulder. This was a great example of coaches trying first to have an effective serve, and not taking into consideration the physical risk to the players. There were several young top players who were forced to stop playing due to these injuries. If a coach wants to teach their student to hit a kick serve, make sure their growing body can tolerate the stress.

These are just a couple of issues that need to be addressed; there may be more, especially as the intensity of play increases at all levels. Then there are the common injuries…hit by a ball, fallen and having a bad landing, running into a fence…the kind of things that might happen to anyone and could be considered just the normal risk of playing a sport. If those types of injuries do occur, be sure that the student takes enough time to heal, recover, and slowly get back into the game. Developing a player’s game is not a sprint; it’s a marathon.

Professional Tennis Registry (PTR): Employee Spotlight. Say hello to Julie Jilly - a beloved member of the PTR family who has spent an incredible 40 years serving coaches and members with dedication, kindness, and heart.

If you're not sure that this injury issue is important to address, go to your A.I. source and ask about tennis injuries for top players, and this is what you will see…Sports science studies indicate that injuries account for over 12% to 50% of all professional tour departures, and historical data points to dozens of high-profile ATP and WTA players—as well as countless lower-ranked players on the ITF and Challenger circuits—who have had to stop playing professionally before their intended time. For this author, those are shocking numbers.

Rod Heckelman

Rod Heckelman's career started in 1966 when he began his 5-year role as a teacher at John Gardiner’s Tennis Ranch in Carmel Valley, California. Later, he opened as the resident pro for Gardiner’s Tennis Ranch on Camelback in Scottsdale, Arizona.

In 1976, he took over as head professional/tennis director at the Mt. Tam Racquet Club in Larkspur, California, and added the title and responsibilities of general manager in 1982. After 48 years, he retired to work exclusively in helping others in the industry. 

In 2010, he was awarded “Manager of the Year” for the USPTA NorCal Division and the “Manager of the Year” at the USPTA World Conference. Rod has written several books, including “Down Your Alley” in 1993, “Playing Into the Sunset” in 2013, and most recently, “325 Ways to Play Tennis.”

He also produced the “Facility Manager’s Manual” and the “Business Handbook for Tennis Pros,” which is distributed by the TIA.


Cass Toroian: The Hidden Cost of the 20% Check

Toroian on competing where you actually can.


Cass Toroian: The Hidden Cost of the 20% Check

I spent a day at the IAPPF conference in Philadelphia two weeks ago, in a room full of some of the most serious pickleball and padel club owners in the country. As a silver-level member, I had every reason to talk it up — but I didn't have to. The sessions actually went deep into the questions owners lose sleep over, instead of the usual parade of glossing over topics by so-called experts and trend slides. I left glad we'd invested in being there. I’ve never said that about any racquet sport before.

One session stuck with me. The topic was the club shop, and one of the ideas on the table was the turnkey managed model: hand over your pro shop, someone else runs the buying, stocking, and staffing, and at month's end you get a check for your profit share — around 20%. I'll be fair to it, because it solves real pain. Inventory ties up capital, and a discipline most clubs don't have in-house is merchandising a shop well. A profit-sharing check for doing nothing looks like an upgrade.

But easy and free aren't the same thing. A managed shop gets stocked with commodity inventory, with pricing power being the argument for that — the same paddles, balls, and apparel your members can see at dozens of other clubs using that same model, or worse, can simply pull up on Amazon from the court bench, usually cheaper. When your shelf matches everyone else's, you've entered a price war you're structurally guaranteed to lose.

And you give up more than margin: you hand over the merchandising decisions, the brand relationships, and the data on what your members actually buy. You become a landlord collecting rent on your own square footage.

Here's why that matters. Our own DTC buyer data shows roughly 78% of purchases come from women aged 35 to 65, buying for themselves and as gifts — she’s a high-intent shopper who's in your facility several times a week. A generic managed shop likely misses the mark by showing her a wall of gear she can find in many places other than your pro shop. She’s a buyer, but she’s probably only spending some money in your shop. The size of her wallet share is hampered by the merchandising.

Professional Tennis Registry - PTR: The momentum continues. As we celebrate the inaugural cohort of the PTR & PPR Women Who Rally program, we're proud to spotlight more of the exceptional women selected for this groundbreaking leadership experience.

Let me tell you what a great pro shop can do. I grew up in the Philadelphia suburbs playing competitive junior tennis, and every year my dad would drive me four hours out to western Pennsylvania for a big tournament. The drive was a slog. But for a 15-year-old girl who spent two hours a day, 5 or 6 days a week on the court, the destination was a treat — a massive indoor facility unlike anything we had back home, with a pro shop that was a wonderland of gear and apparel brands I couldn't find at any club near me. Sometimes it was a simple discovery like a new brand of lead tape, a new tennis-focused t-shirt brand, or even a sneaker brand I had only read about in Tennis Magazine. Decades later, I still remember that shop. That's the real return: a retail experience that earns a permanent place in a member's memory.

A pro shop shouldn’t be treated as a hallway vending machine that delivers a trickle of revenue. It's one of the few spaces you fully control — a place members discover things they couldn't have found on their own. Handing it off isn't efficient. It's deciding not to bother with brand marketing and compete where you actually can.

In a companion piece, I'll lay out how to build a shop your members can't replicate on Amazon — and why "you can't find this anywhere else" is the only retail strategy that holds its price and can double your retail revenues.

Cass Toroian is the founder and CEO of VolleyBird, a multi-sport apparel and gear distribution and curation company that brings differentiated racquet and golf brands to facilities, private clubs, and specialty retailers. Its DTC subscription box business can be found at volleybird.shop.

Victor Bergonzoli: The Long Game

Bergonzoli reviewing Robert Mazzuchelli’s new book


Today, my partner, Robert Mazzucchelli, signed the first copy of The Long Game for me.


The title immediately resonated. Winning an Emmy was a long game for us. Building companies is a long game. Creating a brand is a long game.

In a world obsessed with quarterly results, viral moments, and instant success, Robert reminds us that lasting value is built differently. It is built through relationships, reputation, consistency, trust, and purpose.

As entrepreneurs, we often underestimate how much brand influences every decision we make. As executives, we can become trapped by short-term metrics. As marketers, we sometimes chase trends instead of building something that endures.

The Long Game is a must-read for anyone doing business today, regardless of industry.

Whether you are an entrepreneur, a C-level executive, an investor, or a marketing professional at any level, this book offers practical and timeless lessons on how to think bigger, act smarter, and create sustainable success.

Thank you, Robert, for the signed copy and for reminding all of us that the strongest brands, the best partnerships, and the most meaningful achievements are rarely built overnight.

Victor Bergonzoli

Some things are simply worth playing the long game for.

More about The Long Game on Robert Mazzuchelli’s website.

Victor Bergonzoli


Victor Bergonzoli is CEO of SportsEdTV,
a global platform providing free access to expert sports instruction for athletes, coaches, and parents worldwide. With over 30 years in sports and media, he has scaled digital audiences to millions of monthly users and co-founded the International Sports Technology Association, uniting leaders across sport, technology, and research.

Ian Rapport: U.S. Blind Tennis Association Announces First-Ever National Championship

Rapport on top players from across the country competing in Pennsylvania

The U.S. Blind Tennis Association (USBTA) today announced the inaugural U.S. Blind Tennis National Championship that will take place from August 7-9 at Brady’s Run Park in Beaver County, Pennsylvania. The tournament marks the first U.S. national championship in the sport's history and showcases the continued growth of blind and low-vision tennis nationwide.

The championship represents a significant milestone for blind tennis in the United States, providing athletes with the opportunity to compete on a national stage. Through the USBTA's leadership, participation has expanded through local programs, clinics, and tournaments, creating opportunities for blind and low vision athletes of all ages to experience the sport.

“This championship is something our community has worked toward for years,” said Murray Elbourn, President of the U.S Blind Tennis Association. “For the first time, blind and low vision athletes from across the country will have the opportunity to compete for a national title while demonstrating the skill, determination, and passion that define our sport.”

Blind tennis continues to experience rapid growth around the world and has emerged as one of the fastest-growing adapted sports with the International Blind Sports Federation IBSA. As tennis participation continues to rise nationwide, blind tennis represents an important opportunity to make the sport more accessible and inclusive for all.

“Tennis has the power to bring communities together and create opportunities for people of all abilities to participate and thrive,” Evan Enquist, Director of Adaptive Tennis at the USTA. “The inaugural U.S. Blind Tennis National Championships is a historic milestone that reflects the tremendous growth of adapted tennis and the dedication of the athletes, volunteers, coaches, and advocates who have helped build this community.”

The U.S. Blind Tennis National Championship will take place August 7-9 at Brady's Run Park in Beaver County, Pennsylvania. Athletes from across the country will compete in singles and doubles competition across multiple sight classifications.

Kyle LaCroix: One of the greatest privileges in coaching is perspective.🔮

I may not remember every lesson I gave, every drill I ran, or every technical adjustment I made. But I never forget what it feels like to watch a kid you taught grow into an exceptional young adult.

I’ve taught these three young women since they were little girls. 20+ years. I saw them as precocious 4-year-olds, toddlers, and even an infant.

Today:
* Carys just graduated from Brown
* Hadley will be a junior at Penn
* Brynn will be a freshman at Dartmouth this fall

For more information about attending or participating, please visit www.usblindtennis.org

About the U.S. Blind Tennis Association

The U.S. Blind Tennis Association is the national governing body for Blind & Low Vision Tennis in the USA.

Ian Rapport is the founder of Golden Slam Marketing, the first PR and marketing agency dedicated to the racket sports industry. He has more than 12 years of experience working with brands like Old Spice, the NFL, Nokia, and the PGA Tour.