🎾 Tennis Kids & Instagram: Healthy or Harmful?

More and more junior players are being featured on IG—but is it helping their development or hurting it?

Chris breaks down the positives, the pitfalls, and the ethical questions every parent and coach should be thinking about.

👇 Listen now and decide for yourself

0:00 Should You Put Your Tennis Kid on Instagram?

0:59 Is It Healthy? The Big Question

2:08 Casual Sharing vs. Dedicated Accounts

4:17 Different Types of Tennis Parent Posting

5:05 When Posting Becomes Branding

6:20 Proud Parent or Building a Business?

8:24 Why Parents Build a Brand Around a Child

10:49 Is It Healthy for Kids?

12:08 Pressure, Performance, and the Camera

13:09 The Tony Nadal Perspective on Humility

15:03 Ego, Attention, and Character Development

17:05 Protecting Your Child’s Mental Health

18:54 When Social Media Becomes a Production

19:44 Scouting, Exposure, and the New Tennis World

20:56 What If Things Go Wrong?

22:01 Monetizing a Child’s Tennis the Right Way

23:39 How to Protect Kids While Using Social Media

24:10 Preview of the Next Podcast Episode

🎾 The Prodigy Maker Tennis Show (PMTS) explores the intersection of junior tennis development, cutting-edge sport science, fitness, health, and human performance. Hosted by world-renowned coach Chris Lewit — author of The Secrets of Spanish Tennis and Winning Pretty, and developer of numerous No. 1 juniors in the U.S. — PMTS brings together coaching wisdom, research, and technology to shape the future of tennis and human performance.

👉 Subscribe and listen on

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-prodigy-maker-tennis-show/id1456148452

https://open.spotify.com/show/3Wu0PXf9IXneu0ogrzujZN

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLR2QscfBfEs9dtttR6XNhduNlWYmZIfy-

🌐 https://shows.acast.com/the-prodigy-maker-tennis-show/about

📖 Books: The Secrets of Spanish Tennis | Winning Pretty

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Prodigy Maker Show EP 118

A replay of one of our popular shows

Building the Modern Forehand

Toni Nadal says the forehand is the most important shot in tennis. Chris may not fully agree, but he understands why Toni sees it that way.

In this replay of Episode 118, Chris breaks down the secrets of the modern Spanish forehand and explains how he teaches players to build it from the ground up.

This was a lively episode with great audience questions, strong debate, and a special cameo from Chris’s sidekick and cohost, Sammie the Tennis Dog.

In this episode, Chris discusses:

Why he broke away from teaching the traditional old-school forehand

The key technical reference points of the modern forehand

Whether kids should begin with a closed or open stance

Eastern vs. semi-western grip

When to teach the kick serve to children, and how to teach it safely

The biggest safety concerns for young players learning the kick serve

How legendary coaches like Robert Lansdorp, Rick Macci, Luis Bruguera, Pato Alvarez, Emilio Sanchez, Toni Nadal, and others teach the forehand

Important terms Chris uses, including extension, parabolic shape, open stance, inverted finish, and drift

Spanish terminology and theory for forehand development

Why the speed at which a coach develops a player matters

Why the best coaches are often faster and more efficient, and why that affects what they can charge

Technical trends from the last 40 years on the pro tour

The dramatic evolution of backhand technique, and where Chris believes forehand training is headed next

Why it’s important to challenge long-held beliefs in the coaching world

Why calculated risks are sometimes necessary to develop better training methods

Why Chris is shocked that Toni Nadal still teaches an old-school forehand model to young players

Check out Chris’s YouTube channel for more videos and drills used in Spain to help build the Spanish forehand.

Spanish Forehand Course:

https://clta.teachable.com/p/whip

0:00 Intro + Sammy the Tennis Dog

1:20 Why the show exists

3:51 Forehand topic overview

6:17 Why Chris questioned traditional forehand teaching

10:45 Building a modern forehand safely

13:37 Q&A: Eastern backhand grip for kick serve

17:26 Why the “classic” forehand is outdated

20:35 Teaching open stance first

24:14 Circular swing shape and inverted finish

27:19 Hands-on teaching method and feel

28:11 Grip choice: semi-western and low finish

30:38 “Drift,” figure-eight patterns, and modern forehand terms

34:14 Demo: inverted forehand finish

40:47 Why topspin is essential from the start

43:29 How Spanish coaches teach the forehand

46:19 Q&A: String position on the backswing

48:23 Why speed of development matters

51:26 Extension vs. cutting the swing short

56:15 Why many coaches still teach an old model

1:01:06 Comparison to the evolution of the two-handed backhand

1:06:19 Why coaches “correct” naturally modern swings

1:09:18 Forehand finish variations

1:11:44 The Spanish development path

1:16:03 “Marathon vs sprint” in junior development

1:20:12 Final thoughts on faster, safer player development

1:24:15 Outro + where to follow/listen

🎾 The Prodigy Maker Tennis Show (PMTS) explores the intersection of junior tennis development, cutting-edge sport science, fitness, health, and human performance. Hosted by world-renowned coach Chris Lewit — author of The Secrets of Spanish Tennis and Winning Pretty, and developer of numerous No. 1 juniors in the U.S. — PMTS brings together coaching wisdom, research, and technology to shape the future of tennis and human performance.

👉 Subscribe and listen on

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-prodigy-maker-tennis-show/id1456148452

https://open.spotify.com/show/3Wu0PXf9IXneu0ogrzujZN

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLR2QscfBfEs9dtttR6XNhduNlWYmZIfy-

🌐 https://shows.acast.com/the-prodigy-maker-tennis-show/about

📖 Books: The Secrets of Spanish Tennis | Winning Pretty

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Prodigy Maker Tennis Show – Episode 117

In Episode 117 of the Prodigy Maker Tennis Show, Chris dives deep into the philosophy behind Spanish tennis development and how elite Spanish players learn to produce the famous “heavy ball.” Drawing inspiration from the training systems that shaped players like Rafael Nadal and the modern generation of clay-court competitors, Chris explains how spin, velocity, and timing combine to create a forehand that feels heavy and explosive to opponents.

This episode explores the concept of Spanish velocity—training methods that blend high-repetition rally patterns, rotational power, and aggressive topspin mechanics. Chris breaks down a series of Spanish-style drills designed to increase signaling strength between the brain and muscles, helping players improve neuromuscular efficiency, racket head speed, and the rate of force development.

Listeners will learn how these drills train the body to accelerate faster through contact, build stronger kinetic chain sequencing, and develop the physical qualities needed to generate heavy, high-kicking shots that push opponents off the baseline.

Whether you’re a player, coach, or parent developing the next tennis prodigy, this episode offers practical insight into how Spanish training principles can be used to build a powerful forehand and a truly heavy ball.

0:00 Welcome to the Tennis Evolution community chat

0:25 Sunday night Q&A and this week’s new videos

1:12 What the Spanish heavy ball really is

2:23 How Spain spread the heavy ball forehand worldwide

3:12 Spanish acceleration drills for racket speed

4:18 Power + spin = the heavy ball

4:36 Luis Bruguera and the origins of the drills

5:09 How rapid-feed drills build whip and explosiveness

6:22 Why the drills also improve endurance on clay

7:08 Can kids and adults both use these drills?

7:57 Why Chris became a believer after years of doubt

8:37 Bruguera vs. Pato Alvarez on acceleration drills

10:22 Other Spanish coaches who doubted the method

11:31 First question: returning fast, flat serves

12:40 Split-step timing for better serve returns

14:32 Where great returners focus their eyes

16:10 More return-of-serve resources and tips

17:01 Why Chris now strongly believes in acceleration training

18:07 Why the Spanish forehand is special

19:31 Technical and neuromuscular benefits of the drills

20:11 Carlos Moya, Sergi Bruguera, and classic Spanish forehands

22:28 How western-grip players handle low balls

23:15 Learning to swing fast while staying balanced

24:23 Do coaches in Spain teach lag directly?

25:24 The ecological approach and guided discovery

26:45 Why Spanish coaching feels different

28:07 Luis Bruguera’s influence on Spanish teaching

31:59 Is the Rafa Nadal Academy the best in Spain?

34:31 Key takeaway: the heavy ball is built, not accidental

36:33 Why Spain had a competitive advantage

37:21 Common mistakes when doing acceleration drills

38:35 Why this method helped Spain rise in world tennis

39:45 Who benefits most from these drills

40:22 The challenge of combining pace with spin

41:25 Final thoughts and where to watch more videos

🎾 The Prodigy Maker Tennis Show (PMTS) explores the intersection of junior tennis development, cutting-edge sport science, fitness, health, and human performance. Hosted by world-renowned coach Chris Lewit — author of The Secrets of Spanish Tennis and Winning Pretty, and developer of numerous No. 1 juniors in the U.S. — PMTS brings together coaching wisdom, research, and technology to shape the future of tennis and human performance.

👉 Subscribe and listen on

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-prodigy-maker-tennis-show/id1456148452

https://open.spotify.com/show/3Wu0PXf9IXneu0ogrzujZN

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLR2QscfBfEs9dtttR6XNhduNlWYmZIfy-

🌐 https://shows.acast.com/the-prodigy-maker-tennis-show/about

📖 Books: The Secrets of Spanish Tennis | Winning Pretty

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.