The Link Between Talent and Skill in the Game of Tennis 

Hey you're a talented coach tho

I have several years of experience as music student and performer, and I can tell that the link between talent and skill is very similar as it is in sport. Usually, the best teachers are those who studied and worked hard to thoroughly understand the roots and mechanisms behind every aspect of the game. The "naturally gifted" often bypass some steps due to their natural talent, so it often happens that they are unable to properly teach techniques step-by-step. If I had the chance to choose one tennis coach to teach me for just one lesson, that would be Nick. No doubts about it. So competent, expert and, most of all, passionate. Thanks a lot, Nick! 🙏

I'll say this. I only started playing tennis around 3-4 years ago, and I have no inch of talent in my body. I got cut from my highschool team freshmen year because I couldn't even hit the ball. However, I stuck with the sport because I found it fascinating and through years of not only watching your videos but endless repetitions I was able to become one of the top players at a local club of mine but also become one of the better players on my team. I worked so hard on my game that people are surprised that I only picked up the sport a few years ago. Im short 5'5 and so my speed and forehand are my biggest assets and keep me in the game. I would like to thank you for all your videos because its truly remarkable how much you've helped my game!! Thank you!!

As it is written on Court Philippe Chatrier at Roland Garros: "Victory belongs to the most tenacious." This applies not only to tennis, but basically to every sport as well as success in school, university and your professional career. .

Nik, I want to compliment you on how you described your journey growing up. It's not easy to admit to having limited talent, skills, or passion for tennis at any stage of life. I've been observing you off and on for a while now. You're a good coach-patient and honest with your students about their issues. You don't sugarcoat things like some coaches do because they worry about upsetting their students or their parents. Keep up the good work.

Nick, I don’t know whether or not you’re a “talented” player. However, I do know you’re an amazing advocate for the game, a talented coach and instructor. No question you’re a skilled player at a very high level. I have no doubt you have influenced many people around the world-and certainly with those you work directly. Your honest direct from the heart videos stand apart. Tennis is lucky to have you.

Probably one of the best, most practical videos I've seen from a coach in a long time. The motivation levels need to be carefully, CAREFULLY managed, if the goal is a long term commitment to the sport. I could say a lot more, but just wanted to agree with Nick here.

Yeah I understand what he means about effortless when I first started reversing big trucks I used to get alot of reactions becuase they could see how much effort I had to do to back a huge truck but now that I can do it fast an effortless an no body notices not that I care it's just true there's nothing is effortless alot of time an hard work goes into skills

Last scene was a touch of art

When you're talking about your past I truly feel passion , knoledge and sentiments. Mostly directed to your father and to your homeland. We really appreciate your effort to teach the technic and moreover the deep thoughts behind the game and the human being

6:04 the mouse!!! :D 7:13 and back!

As a parent, wonderful video, thanks Nik

100% agree with every word spoken Nick. 2 years ago I started playing and have been hooked ever since. The passion and enjoyment I get from the sport is seeing the dramatic or even slight improvements in the weak areas of my game as time goes on. Being able to beat players that destroyed you initially (like in your story). The endless improvement and refinement you can get out of tennis makes it so enjoyable.

You played at Murray State! You got coached by Mel the greatest College coach of modern times. GOD bless his soul! You have a beautiful game, and I love watching you play tennis.

Nik, spot on and this is the same message I gave to my players as a coach. Just a quick story, I had a small freshman girl come out for tennis and she struggled with everything on court. She could barely hit the ball and I could tell she was taking everything personally in the sense she felt she was no good at anything. After about a year of working with her, she started hitting topspin forehands one day (I took advice from your videos) and I could see this light come on in her eyes and she hit 4 or 5 more forehands after that. She is my proudest accomplishment in coaching, not because of the technical achievement, but seeing that belief take over in real time is something I will cherish forever. Talent is a nice bonus, but obsessive work ethic will outpace the talented ones when you make them feel uncomfortable.

Nikola, ti si najbolji! Hvala za sve lekcije i savjete. Apsolutno se slazem da rad, rad i rad su 95% uspjeha❤

Luka Doncic, Joker, Larry Bird and Magic think & thought and felt the game in their blood and they are some of the greatest ever with subpar physical talent. I took up tennis beginning of pandemic cuz I was going stir crazy. And your channel was and still is my favorite because I can sense your passion and see your skill as a coach and player. Since I saw people play tennis at my recreational center, I was in love. I spent my life being best basketball player I could be and I was best in my class and neighborhood. But, I’ve never enjoyed a sport like tennis this much and I have true passion for it. I am 47 and overweight with aches and pains but, I know I have talent for tennis. Wish I had successful father who could’ve guided my talent and love for tennis. You got that and ure the best tennis channel imo. Thanks for the help and tips and knowing you got the most out of your ability is a blessing many of us didn’t get. You are blessed and appreciated coach. 💪🏻

Good one Nik. I'm a tennis father and recently started volunteer coaching at my son's highschool. Very rewarding. We're not a top tennis school but majority of these boys work hard and want to get better. Your lessons and discussions are useful here.

Thank you!! I was about to drop the towel just yestarday, I have learnt since february of this year, I´m 32. This is the first time I really play a sport. I started running like 10 year ago. (but its not the same at all, but that gave a good mentality) Also I learnt to swim to years 2 ago (And that help me with coordination, also Im not good at swimming XD) Im naturully good with endurance but doesnt help much here. It's hard to suck to effort and to not see any result. Also its hard to find the resources you need to improve (like time, classes, a court, a wall, an empty wall, a partner, a coach, money, logistics, even the clothes and tennis shoes etc etc) I want to run a marathon this year... but learing tennis is taking so much of my time and to see no results its hard it looks like im wasting my time. Anyway... thanks lets keep working hard.

Thank you for making this video "Hard work will beat talent when talent doesn't work hard" Timeline 4:47

I have no talent or skill lol. Started tennis near 50 yo so trying to develop skill, and loving the process! I enjoy practicing as much as playing.

Hard work beats talent!

You have a great talent for these tennis content videos... it only can come from someone who is truly thinking deeply about tennis. I'm a tennis mom and we will continue making sure my daughter associates positive memories with each tournament or significant win that she achieves.

Excellent video. Some players just rely on their natural talent, causing them to not reach their full potential (Leconte or Ríos) or not permitting them to have longer careers on top (McEnroe). When Lendl, a player with some natural talent, but combined with lots of hard work, reached his best level, McEnroe, who relied on talent, didn't have the physical strength and resistance to compete with him anymore. Federer had tons of talent, but didn't sleep in his laurels, and put in tons of hard work. The result is his long and successful career, still being able to compete with two younger upstarts, like Nadal and Djokovic. When Navratilova put in the work, to overcome her natural physical deficits (slightly chubby when younger), along with her natural talent, became a machine. The result, Evert started working hard to meet the challenge, and they became one of the greatest rivalries in tennis. Agassi, great talent, but like Lendl, "couldn't win the big one" early on. Agassi started working hard, and became the first male player to win the career Golden Slam and had a relatively long career. What you said, "Hard work without talent beats talent without hard work" is so true. The moral, for us normal players, is "work hard to become the best possible version of yourself". And it not only applies to tennis but every aspect of life. Love the video, Nico. Keep them coming. Greetings from Chile. 🇨🇱🎾🇭🇷

Finally my 14 year old son is interested in playing tennis with me😃 He would only play 5 minutes at the most, I never pushed him to play! Now suddenly he is wanting to play tennis with me😃💖✨ We are both watching your awesome beginner lessons, teaching him the correct fundamentals from watching your videos💖🎾✨ Wish I had the gift to teach tennis someplace tropical while watching the sunsets! 💖🌴🍍

Thank you! The world of tennis is lucky to have you.

I realized that everyone has its own stage of maturity. You are the best coach I ever watched in RU-vid or even in real life, cudos Nick! Some people are great tennis player but cannot teach. You are doing amazing!!! Thanks for videos!

Thanks for all your videos Nick, i improve my game thanks to you, you are very talented and passionate tennis coach

Your efforts and dedication as a coach really show in your videos, you don't stumble upon some of those teachings by accident. Thanks for sharing!

You're a talented coach Nick!

A very inspirational speech. That clip at the end made me chuckle for some reason. Thanks for making these, Nick.

Hey just wanted to say thank you… I have been playing for just over a year now (“serious” matches with friends so far) and your videos have helped my game tremendously! I send a lot of your content to them so I don’t feel like the only one getting this good information. I plan on soon joining a local club to expand my horizons to new opponents! I think when you’re having a good time competing, the passion comes easy 🔥

I played your videos numerous times before and after practice. You are a excellent, top notch tennis coach. Many tennis coach are not worth the price they ask for. I see many that just continuosly hitting balls to their student without correcting them, just letting their time fly by. But you are the creme de la creme tennis coach! Coach for the star competition level players. You can quickly spot player's mistake and weakness and you convey it in a simple to understand way to the student so it becomes easier to execute. Just one lesson, i see student improve by leaps and bound with you! As someone said in your tennis wall video, you played with the passion of a child, yeah i agree, so happy to play like a child!

I ❤ this. You’re very humble and I get a lot from your vids - both educationally and as a source of entertainment. Keep up the good work. As with most things - things from the outside often look different than from the inside. To say you’re talentless is rather ridiculous…..even though I understand the point you are trying to make. Keep working!

In 2023, I made my tennis DTB coach license - with 55…. Never won a tournament, only reached no 407 in ITF doubles but the passion to teach children and the feedback you get, is the best feeling I ever got….

I’m a former professional footballer and this is all true about football too. I played in the lower leagues, where every player was either not that naturally talented and had worked hard to maximize their ability to become a pro, or had top-level talent but was missing the mindset to be a top-level pro.

Well said.

most inspiring talk ever about how you develop skill in tennis! it was Heart work!

I got distracted on 5:52 with the rat running in the background. Awesome Advice! Love it! Thank you! I need to apply a lot of this to my tennis I sometimes don't even know what the score is!

You have a lot of great content, but honestly this is your best video. Trying to see how to light the spark in my girls without being the overbearing sports dad, and you have some great nuggets.

Super video!😊thanks

You have talent for tennis video for sure

One of your best videos. thank you.

Love this background and love to hear some of your history (whatever comfortable sharing)...thanks Coach

I think the "will to win" is a slightly misleading term. I think what sets the competitors apart is the self-belief that they can win even when things aren't going their way. The more unshakeable that self-belief, the less they panic, the more clearly they think and the better they play. On the other hand, fear of losing can lead to heavy feet, stiff muscles, bad tactical decisions, poor shot selection, cramps, frustration. To quote Rafael Nadal himself, "Losing is not my enemy. Fear of losing is my enemy".

Thank you for sharing your experience!

Well said. Always wearing a collared shirt which is a professional look.

YOU HAVE THE MOST IMPORTANT THING

I dig your intuitiveness

1:30 Nice service

Amazing Very interesting and very true

Great Video Nick!!! I would suggest you also read the book "The Talent Code" by Daniel Coyle about psychological and physiological mechanisms of skill development through, as you said repetition and deep (mindful) practice. The book elucidates so more on the subject and would really help encourage or help you encourage those who feel that they have plateaued.

Wow - what a great message Nick. Completely resonated with me. I have no idea why I am in love with tennis - having started at the age of 44 and struggling for last 3 years; but suddenly something has started to click in the last 6 months or so… I think it’s the combination of all those factors you mentioned. I did have some doubts as to whether I am “talentless” and should quit; but with Roger’s speech, my recent hard work reaping success and now your video - it’s all falling in place. Thanks 🙏

At least you are a very talented youtube tennis coach, hah hah! But seriously, your videos are top quality and your tennis rants offer a interesting but old school view and perspective to tennis. Keep making videos, they are an awesome resource.

Amazing video coach! Priceless inspiration! Thank you 🙏🏿

Great video!!! Great point!!!👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏

I have had passion for the game since the very beginning of my playing at about 10 years old when I found an old racket and can of balls in the attic from our house. I spent hours hitting on walls trying to get good enough to make the HS team-which I finally got a bottom slot on the roster. It is rewarding when you finally start to see results of the hard work.....but love of the game still keeps me going.

Absolutely love it.

You are a good coach

Luv this💖🎾✨

Thank you, Nick. In the final part, you discussed associating tennis with something positive. This is, in theory, called behaviourism. This is a type of conditioning (operant conditioning) where you reinforce or punish a behaviour through a stimulus. For example, if the kid holds his temper on the court, then their parents will take them for ice cream. If not, then some punishment. What you have said is if the kid goes to practice, then rewards. Most importantly, parents should know their kids and set appropriate conditioning for appropriate behaviours.

I enjoyed this video, I was the same talentless but I would work hard . My younger brother is a tennis director of a major tennis club in Orlando. I’m 63, when we play in your teenage years, he was doing the whole Borg thing, I was the right handed version of Vilas. He was more talented than I was. When we got older he moved up to play better players. I would find different ways to practice . I would hit against the wall of the garage I would hit against the wall at the club that we played at, I would take a bucket of balls and serve for an hour hour and a half if I couldn’t find anything else to do. I would pretend that I was serving for matchpoint against Eli Năstase, I made up different scenarios to make it interesting when I was practicing to serve. I had three goals in tennis and hit everyone, play college tennis ( Palm Atlantic College), to be state ranked, ( 2005 South Carolina 4.0 ), and people would who watched me play would tell me I had good strokes. That last one I guess was looking for some respect of my game. I love tennis.

Your content , and you way to explain is amazing !!

I am extremely talented, I started playing tennis at 13-14 and at 16 I was able to serve 140 mph with just some basic practice on my own from now and then at 6 ft, also extremely athletic being able to touch a basketball rim with my head. Only reason I stopped was because my talent wasnt recognized more than that my peaks where incredibly high but was inconsistent, ofc there was inconcistency if I learned tennis on my own and got to play with coaches in a group once a week.

My tennis coach (I'm italian) when he was 20 played in a tournament against another 15 years old promising italian player. He beat him relatively easily (6-1 at the third set) and he told me that at that time he had the feeling that the opponent would become quite strong in the future, but only at national level, nothing more. The name of the other player was..Jannik Sinner.

Talent without a good work ethic is a sad situation. Hard work without talent is inspiring regardless of the outcome. 🎾

I remember hearing that talent was the speed at which you could learn/pickup something. Hard work would still be the thing that will take you farthest, no matter the speed whoever is more constant wins

Thanks for sharing your story! Very insightful

6:22 Kyrgios is a perfect example, he has talent and skills but no discipline, questionable ability to handle pressure and focus

Awesome

Nick is 100% right. I cannot tell you how many tennis players I see with ZERO athletic ability or natural ability but they have skills and they can get the ball over the net and win matches. It’s amazing. That’s why I don’t consider tennis a true sport it’s more of a game of skill.

Hey this video is insperational and great. I really liked it

Great insight as usual!

Here's a video that's NEVER been done: The "3.5 over 50 Good Enough Serve." Almost every serve video uses pros as exemplars. But I don't want nor need a pro serve. I just need a pretty solid "good enough" serve to get through a match without throwing away points. I'm kinda' curious what that might look like, what mechanics would be retained, and what mechanics might be de-emphasized?

Thanks nic, 'as I golf coach' I understand the difference between talented and being skilled. To this day people will follow the pros, and always rate you on your play. I am a skilled player thru 1000 s of hours of practice....but that doesn't make me a good coach....the classic examples of pros sending the ordinary players in the wrong direction are Jack Nicklaus and Ben Hogan. Jacks swing plane on the back swing was way too steep for ordinary mortals and made it much more difficult to hit the ball on the downswing. Coaching is the art of teaching and performance improvement....

Being able to acquire skills fast seems to be the most useful kind of talent or skill.

One of my rehab / PT person said, "You are the most un-athletic athlete I have ever met." I can't tell you how good it made a 36yo feel. 4 years later I rode a pedal bike from Ushuaia to Quito

Great advice. I wish Elena will develop “the will to win even when things aren’t going her way”. That’s what is lacking in her game right now. She easily gives up or starts fighting for the match when it’s already too late (especially when playing lower rank) for her to come back but I know she’s trying her best.

I played the same way, serve and hit hard! I was nicknamed by my NCAA Coach "Stone Hands" 🤣

When will you upload the new tennis racket review clip?

Let's be real. Your main talent is being 6"5 which combined with your hard work created an amazing serve. With an infinite amount of hard work shamir's serve will never be half as good as yours.

You're the best

I am not quiet sure if your talent is so low considering how fast you were able to make German rankings (juniors) back then when tennis peaked in Germany (prime of Becker and Graf). Regardless, I hope your message is correct. I am the type of guy who tries to work on his weaknesses, but the frustration of backlashes (mainly with my very bad serve) sometimes makes it really hard to keep the positive mindset when training seems to not turn into improvements. My goal is to make German 40+ national rankings. But well, it's time to go to the court with my basket, my tripod and my smartphone for another serve session...

Ich war über Ostern in Opatja auf der Anlage von Niki Pilić.Mein Kroatischer Trainer kommt dort weg und hat da ein Trainingscamp veranstaltet. Gefühlt kommen viele Talente aus der Gegend 😂

How about the mental part, the stress management? Can that be learned? Is it a "talent" versus "skill" paradigm?

Hard work will beat... . Exactly. Talent is a gift you may or may not have, but without hard work forget about the heights. Passion when combined with hard work is a winning combination. Look at Novak, literally destroying his body in meaningless matches 3 hrs after midnight. You almost must like the sport more than yourself😮. Btw, you have so many talents such as analyzing, demonstrating and showing patience with students. Exactly what tennis students need. Thank you coach Nikola for your honesty, humility and top notch tennis content. Ziv i zdrav bio🍀

Djokovic never struggled with "the will to win." He was allergic to gluten and didn't know it. Of course he faded in matches - his immune system was attacking him while he was trying to play.

Gibt es eigentlich ein Video von Dir mit Tobi Frieler beim TC Ahaus ( ich weiss, dass er 3-4 Jahre jünger als Du ist) ? 🙂

What motivates me is the style & technique of tennis. What demotivates me is getting beaten by players with no style or technique.

Maybe this is why you can explain the game so well?

At 7:15, can you tell that neighbor that they have a mouse/rat infestation. You can see it crawling along the pvc pipe. If it get into your tennis bag it is going to chew your tennis strings up. Lol

I love tennis I love htting the ball I love the feeling when I serve and get the ball fast and in the box..all people keep saying that my technique is beautiful but I keep losing to anyone ...I am now frustrated

I played my right hand on and off for 30 years (let’s say total 10 years) and still a 3.5 level player because my right hand has no talents. It has no talents because my dominant eye does not follow the ball and my arm doesn’t prepare and move smoothly and my mind doesn’t switch to follow the ball. On the other hand, I found out my left hand has the talent at 47. Within 1 year, my left hand plays better than my right hand effortlessly. Everything is slow to me when I hold my racquet in my left hand and now I can watch the short ball spinning and choose where I want to hit. I never can do that with my right hand. When it is easy for me, I don’t mind going on the court to practice and play. Talented players don’t realize that if you don’t have the talent, it can make you depressed and don’t want to play tennis. This coach’s father is a tennis coach. I am sure he inherits something from his father. Even it doesn’t, it gives him the access to good players to hit with. For most players, we don’t have that luxury and cost money to hire a coach and it is hard to find players to play with you. I can play with my right hand and win some 3.5 level matches, but I don’t really think I can get 4.5 level without at least 10 more years of hard work. With my left hand, even I am 48 now, I believe I can reach 4.5 with total 2 years with hard work. That’s the difference between talented and non talented. Non talented with hard work can never win hard work talented players. Just do what you are talented. If you enjoy tennis but no talent, just play but not make it as a career as a professional player but can make it as a coach. I am sure he is a good coach.

Rat on the beckground at 6:06

Talent is relative. I started at 19yo (other than a few weeks at 13yo) and went from #6 to #1 at a JC, then walked on and made the team at a mid major D1 at 23/24 yo. My true level was really about that of an average D2 player back then and college tennis is deeper now. That took talent, but I think it is safe to say that even if I had started tennis as a child I didn’t have the talent to be a top 100 player. Top 200 at best, more likely an average ITF guy, top 1000 and no guarantee of that, we’ll never know.

Hey Nik, can you please do videos of matchplay between your students. Can Shamir and that 4.5 teaching pro can do a match? or maybe do Alec vs Ema or Ema vs Milan or you?

Am a Kenyan 19 years how can I get in this game because I loved it since I was younger

In the book Outliers they use a research to peg that to 10,000 hours.

0:43 translation, please lol 1:46 dang, only 28 places behind Nicolas Kiefer! that's something!

Great video Nic! How do you tell if your kid actually enjoys the game? I want to expose mine to the game to see if he/she likes it, but am concerned that because of the time it takes to "break in"/initial difficulties I may not be able to tell the difference between them not enjoying it, or them just needing to get over a hump to see if they do or not.