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The Mechanic

Comprehensive unified tennis knowledge base — Fundamentals, Stroke Analysis, Reference Library, and more

The Mechanic

and The Magician

Paul Annacone

What type of player are you? A Mechanic? A Magician? Or some combination of the two--like Roger Federer. At Indian Wells John Yandell had a chance to sit down with arguably the leading and most successful coach on tour, Paul Annacone. Listen to this fascinating analysis of the two major types of players, how to coach them, and the surprising implications for junior development. Another Tennisplayer exclusive!

Figure from The Mechanic

Paul Annacone has coached two of the greatest players the game has ever seen in Roger Federer and Pete Sampras. Not to mention Tim Henman. In the past he has also been director of player development for the USTA and the English LTA. Accustomed to seeing him in the coaches' box at the majors, many people forget that Paul was an elite tour player for over a decade, winning three tour singles titles, 14 doubles titles, and being ranked as high as #12 on the ATP computer. Known for his pure attacking style, Annacone is undoubtedly the greatest player yet to come from eastern Long Island, where he still lives in East Hampton.

Source: tennisplayer.net archive — The Mechanic and the Magician.docx (John Yandell teaching library, 2002-2022). Extracted and rendered as HTML for Tennis Future Lab.