Learn how to Play the Ball and Not your Opponent.

Every opponent is different.

The ball is the one constant.

When players learn to understand and control the ball first, they become more adaptable, confident, consistent, and capable of making better decisions—regardless of who is standing on the other side of the net.

Coach Elsio’s approach connects:

Ball Control • Technique • Movement • Consistency • Shot Selection • Point Construction • Competitive Decision-Making

The objective is not simply to hit more balls.

It is to learn how to play the game.

The Competitive Edge is in the Palm of Your Hand.

Coach Elsio teaches five fundamental elements of ball control that players can remember on one hand:

1. Ball in Play
Develop consistency first. The point cannot be constructed until the ball stays in play.

2. Height over the Net
Learn to manage net clearance to create margin, depth, trajectory, and spin.

3. Depth & Direction
Move the ball with purpose. Control where the ball lands and begin creating space on the court.

4. Speed & Spin
Understand how flat, topspin, underspin, and sidespin influence the flight and bounce of the ball.

5. Pace
Add pace with control and consistency—then return to the first fundamental:

Can you still keep the ball in play?

Private Tennis Lessons

Every player develops differently.

Private instruction allows Coach Elsio to build a development plan around the individual rather than forcing the individual into a predetermined lesson.

Sessions may focus on:

Forehand & Backhand Development • Serve & Return • Volley & Transition Play • Court Movement & Recovery • Ball Control • Depth & Direction • Speed & Spin • Shot Selection • Point Construction • Match Play & Competitive Strategy

Technical development is connected to movement and decision-making so players understand not only how to execute a shot, but when and why to use it.

Adult Player Development

Progress Through the Game With Purpose

Boca Tennis provides structured development for recreational, league, and competitive adult players.

Rather than treating NTRP ratings simply as labels, Coach Elsio uses them as a developmental pathway.

Intermediate — NTRP 3.0
Development Focus: Reliability & Ball Control

Develop greater consistency, directional control, serve placement, return of serve, volleys, overheads, and the ability to keep the ball in play with purpose.

Intermediate Advanced — NTRP 3.5
Development Focus: Movement, Shot Selection & Tactical Awareness

Increase consistency standards while developing efficient court movement, angles, shot combinations, improved net play, serve placement, and tactical awareness.

Advanced Intermediate — NTRP 4.0
Development Focus: Shot Combinations & Point Construction

Connect individual strokes into purposeful patterns using greater depth, more precise targets, faster movement, transition patterns, variety, and intentional point construction.

Control the Ball → Control Your Movement → Understand Your Options → Construct the Point → Compete With Purpose

Coach Elsio’s Specialty Clinics

Doubles Trouble™

Positioning, movement, communication, shot selection, transition play, court coverage, and smarter doubles decision-making.

Learn to understand the geometry, movement, teamwork, and decision-making behind successful doubles—not simply where to stand.

Tennis IQ™ — Stroke of the Week

Mastering Ball Control, Depth & Direction and Point Construction

Designed to help developing players make the crossover:

2.0 → 3.0
3.0 → 3.5

Develop greater control, consistency, shot selection, directional awareness, and an understanding of how individual strokes become part of a complete point.

Mastering the Keys to the Serve

Develop the complete serve through:

Rhythm • Toss • Balance • Contact • Spin • Placement • Consistency • Confidence

Learn to use the serve as the beginning of point construction.

Mastering On-Court Movement — Be First to the Ball™

Develop:

Footwork • Anticipation • Split-Step Timing • Balance • Positioning • Recovery • Efficient Movement Patterns

Get there earlier. Arrive balanced. Create more options.

Skills, Drills & Live Ball Play!

A high-energy player-development clinic connecting:

Technical Skill Development • Purposeful Repetition • Movement • Rally Situations • Competitive Patterns • Live-Ball Point Play

Learn the skill.
Repeat the skill.
Move with the skill.
Then use it when the point becomes live.

USTA Team Coaching & Player Development

Coach Elsio works with USTA players and teams to connect practice with actual match performance through:

Team Practices • Doubles Development • Match Strategy • Point Construction • Court Positioning • Competitive Decision-Making • Player Development

The objective is not simply to prepare for the next match.

It is to help players continue developing throughout the season.

Small Groups

Small-group instruction combines individualized coaching with the movement, decision-making, and competitive situations created by additional players.

Sessions can focus on:

Stroke Development • Doubles • Serve & Return • Movement • Ball Control • Point Construction • Live-Ball Training

Small groups are ideal for friends, teammates, doubles partners, and players of compatible levels who want a focused developmental environment.

More Than a Tennis Lesson

Coach Elsio’s philosophy has developed through more than three decades of coaching, competition, continuing education, mentorship, and thousands of hours spent working with players.

The court provides an opportunity to develop more than strokes.

Players learn to manage:

Fear • Doubt • Pressure • Expectations • Decision-Making • Confidence

Through concepts including The Competitive Edge and Defeating the Monsters of the Mind, players are encouraged to become more aware of how they respond to competition and adversity.

Because sometimes the most difficult opponent isn’t standing across the net.

Pebble on the Beach

The opponent changes every match.
The ball never does.

When you learn to understand the ball first, you begin to understand the game.

Consistency builds confidence.
Confidence creates opportunities.
Opportunities win matches.

Tennis is a sport of enduring and a lifetime sport. You will never get it completely done, and you can never get it completely wrong.

Enjoy each moment, remain open to growth, control the ball, build the point, and trust your preparation.