On the 221st episode of the GreatBase Tennis podcast, Steve Smith, Ivan Ozerets, Dave Anderson, and Andy Fitzell pay tribute to Rafael Nadal. The over-used cliche, there will never be another, applies.

We all have heard the phrase, never say never. Yet in the history of tennis, there is one situation that comes to mind where the word never can be used. Never again, will one tennis player win 14 French Opens.

The commentary of our foursome is certainly more of a review of Rafa's character than his tennis. With total humility, Rafa displayed the absolute best example of the human competitive spirit. Every curriculum for tennis development from this point forward should have a chapter dedicated to Rafael and his team.

On the 220th episode of the GreatBase Tennis podcast, Steve Smith and Ivan Ozerets discuss tennis with Mike Custer. To make an understatement, Mike has put a lifetime of thought into the whys and why-nots of the tennis industry.

He is an accomplished player and veteran tennis teacher with more than 40 years of diversified experience. He started his professional pathway by studying tennis with Steve and then he worked for the legendary Dennis Van der Meer. He has worked with all levels of players but has primarily worked with adult players throughout his career.

Mike's input strikes a chord with our mission. The connection of logic, truth, scientific rationale and common sense will ring loud and clear for tour listeners.

On the 219th episode of the GreatBase Tennis podcast, Steve Smith and Ivan Ozererts interview Jodie Johnson.

Jodie had the ambition to be a major athlete but his dreams were side-tracked with childhood health problems and injury after injury.

His journey kept him connected to sport through attempted comebacks and tutoring. Even during his work as an engineer and entrepreneur, he kept a career in sport in the forefront of his mind.

We are confident that our listeners will learn to respect Jodie's intellectual curiosity and 25 plus years in the fitness industry. For a 15 plus year period, Steve's tennis school and Jodie's gym were just miles apart in Tampa, Florida. Steve, on a first-hand basis, observed the improvement and results of Jodie's athletes.

On the 218th episode of the GreatBase Tennis podcast, Steve Smith and Ivan Ozerets discuss tennis information pertaining to basic stroke-production with Andy Fitzell. Andy is the founder of the GreatBase Tennis podcast and, like Steve, spent decades working with the late Vic Braden.

Vic passed away ten years ago on October 6th, 2014. The goal of the GreatBase is to continue to shine a bright light on the wonderful contributions Mr. Braden made to the game of tennis. His work will always be relevant because his findings were all based on scientific principles.

The episode will serve as a solid introduction to first-time listeners and reinforcement for those who have followed the GreatBase content for years.

On the 217 episode of the GreatBase Tennis podcast, Steve Smith, Richard Hernandez, and Dave Anderson ask Clayton Stanley questions. The four were part of a unique tennis culture in the 1980s. Clayton started his tennis journey with Steve as his instructor when he was 6 and Steve was 26.

Steve and Clayton's father, David, were basically partners in raising a tennis kid.

When Richard first observed a young Clayton's ball striking skills, he left his job as a tennis teacher at a nearby club to join David and others from around the world to study tennis. All these years later, Richard and David have collectively developed hundreds of college tennis players.

The story at hand started 44 years ago and clearly points out that one would be wise to take a deep dive into the free educational content provided by GreatBase. The pathway is proven.

Clayton, Happy 50th.

Robert Lansdorp
1938 - 2024

On the 216th episode of the GreatBase Tennis podcast, Steve Smith and Ivan Ozerets pay tribute to the late Robert Lansdorp. To make an understatement, he was an American tennis treasure.

The common sense, toughness, drive and gut-wrenching honesty of Robert Lansdorp should not be forgotten. Everyone connected to the development of players and coaches would be wise to study the purity and simplicity of Robert's principles.

Excerpts from Ken Thomas' (Radio Tennis) interview with Robert highlight Steve and Ivan's discussion. To listen to the entire interview please follow this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=929nO-I7_9k.

Joey Scrivano, Baylor Bears

On the 215th episode of the GreatBase Tennis podcast, Steve Smith and Ivan Ozerets have a conversation with Joey Scrivano. He is currently leading Baylor University's women's tennis team.

He has served the university for 23 years. Steve lists off a long, long list of accomplishments that highlight the careers of Joey, his coaches, and his players.

Parents of college tennis hopefuls would be wise to listen, as would, players, coaches, and everyone connected to the pursuit of tennis excellence. The session is filled with inspiration, insight, ideas, and information.

By listening to Jeff, one will quickly discover he understands the nuts and bolts and X's and 0's of tennis to the nth degree. The development of a tennis mind takes time, lots and lots of time. Simply put, one needs to study tennis to truly be a student of the game.

Jeff was first introduced to Steve and his body of work at the age of fourteen and he has been working the information ever since. Thirty years later, Jeff easily has acquired a level of tennis teaching expertise that very few possess.

For more free educational content, one may follow Jeff at jefflewistennis.com and victorytennisprograms.com. Also, visit his YouTube channel and Instagram at youtube.com/jefflewistennis and instagram.com/jefflewistennis.

Laughing and learning are guaranteed.