{"podcast":{"title":"Insider's Playbook:  Smart Strategies for Competitive Senior Tennis Players Over 50","slug":"insider-s-playbook-smart-strategies-for-competitive-senior-tennis-players-over-50-7487951","podcast_index_feed_id":7487951,"rss_url":"https://api.riverside.fm/hosting/aFDkn5JG.rss","website_url":"https://mike-tennis.com/playbook","image_url":"https://hosting-media.riverside.com/media/podcasts/4bf732e4-2eb8-4a9b-8be5-10d929c13cba/logos/49620cd4-ae27-4753-bcc4-5a8f9f293e2c.png","author":"Mike Rogers - Founder of Senior Tennis Unpacked","episode_count":50,"summary":"If you’re over 50 and still driven by competition, Insider’s Playbook is built for you. This podcast goes beyond generic tennis advice and into the strategic, physical, and mental edge senior players need to compete longer and win more matches. Hosted by senior tennis tournament competitor Mike Rogers, and founder os SeniorTennisUnpacked.com , each episode features elite coaches, national champions, and performance experts sharing real strategies to help you move smarter, train efficiently, stay injury-resistant, and out-think opponents who rely on youth alone. Subscribe now and step inside the playbook that top senior players use to keep raising their game.","last_synced_at":"2026-09-09T04:17:02.640971+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/insider-s-playbook-smart-strategies-for-competitive-senior-tennis-players-over-50-7487951"},"episode":{"title":"Why Your Serve Is Getting Worse — And It Has Nothing to Do With Your Arm I John Craig","slug":"why-your-serve-is-getting-worse-and-it-has-nothing-to-do-with-your-arm-i-john-craig","published_at":"2026-04-28T13:00:00+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/insider-s-playbook-smart-strategies-for-competitive-senior-tennis-players-over-50-7487951/why-your-serve-is-getting-worse-and-it-has-nothing-to-do-with-your-arm-i-john-craig","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/insider-s-playbook-smart-strategies-for-competitive-senior-tennis-players-over-50-7487951","url":"https://api.riverside.com/hosting-analytics/media/db6ab96dc951097001d8b9b6fde1bbcb4dd0870e1505b85347052292c4c3f3d1/eyJlcGlzb2RlSWQiOiI4Y2Y5NWRiYi1hZDA3LTQxZTEtOTkzNi0yODA1ZjQ5MjYzZDUiLCJwb2RjYXN0SWQiOiI0YmY3MzJlNC0yZWI4LTRhOWItOGJlNS0xMGQ5MjljMTNjYmEiLCJhY2NvdW50SWQiOiI2ODY3Y2VhODhmNjcyZTZiZWJjZTJjYmIiLCJwYXRoIjoibWVkaWEvY2xpcHMvNjllZmRhNjM2ZTJjNGY3NWMzMmE0OWQxL2luc2lkZXJzLXBsYXlib29rLWNvbXBvc2VyLTIwMjYtNC0yN19fMjMtNTEtMzEubXAzIn0=.mp3","audio_url":"https://api.riverside.com/hosting-analytics/media/db6ab96dc951097001d8b9b6fde1bbcb4dd0870e1505b85347052292c4c3f3d1/eyJlcGlzb2RlSWQiOiI4Y2Y5NWRiYi1hZDA3LTQxZTEtOTkzNi0yODA1ZjQ5MjYzZDUiLCJwb2RjYXN0SWQiOiI0YmY3MzJlNC0yZWI4LTRhOWItOGJlNS0xMGQ5MjljMTNjYmEiLCJhY2NvdW50SWQiOiI2ODY3Y2VhODhmNjcyZTZiZWJjZTJjYmIiLCJwYXRoIjoibWVkaWEvY2xpcHMvNjllZmRhNjM2ZTJjNGY3NWMzMmE0OWQxL2luc2lkZXJzLXBsYXlib29rLWNvbXBvc2VyLTIwMjYtNC0yN19fMjMtNTEtMzEubXAzIn0=.mp3","summary":"If your serve has quietly gotten shorter, slower, and less reliable over the last few years, you've probably blamed your shoulder, your elbow, or just \"getting older.\" John Craig has coached hundreds of senior players over 40 years and says the real culprit is almost never what you think — and the fixes most players are chasing are making it worse. In this episode, we get into what breaks down first as we age, why stability beats jumping every time, how grip tension is silently killing your racket head speed, and why hunting serve tips on YouTube is basically building a jalopy out of junkyard parts. Key Takeaways: Stability over jumping — You lose almost no power by keeping your feet on the ground. What you lose is control when you don't. Tension is the silent killer — The death grip doesn't just hurt your speed, it masks every other problem in your serve. Fix this first. The racket drop isn't a move — it's a byproduct — Stop trying to manufacture it. Relax, sequence correctly, and it happens on its own. The frying pan grip has a ceiling — If you're still serving Eastern forehand, John explains exactly why your serve will never get where you want it — and how to test whether your mobility even allows the transition. Quality over buckets — Shadow your serve before you touch a ball, and separate technical work from target practice. Hitting 250 balls with the wrong pattern just grooves the wrong pattern 250 times. Contact John Craig: https://performanceplustennis.com/john-craig-director/ http://www.youtube.com/@PerformancePlusTennis #tennistips #tennistrategy #seniortennis #tennisserve #tennisover50 ⏱️ Chapters: 00:00 Introduction 01:17 What Actually Breaks Down as We Age 03:14 Control Over Power: The Senior Serve Mindset 05:49 Grip Tension: The Silent Serve Killer 07:12…","meta_description":"If your serve has quietly gotten shorter, slower, and less reliable over the last few years, you've probably blamed your shoulder, your elbow, or just \"ge…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":1375,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/insider-s-playbook-smart-strategies-for-competitive-senior-tennis-players-over-50-7487951/episodes/why-your-serve-is-getting-worse-and-it-has-nothing-to-do-with-your-arm-i-john-craig/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/insider-s-playbook-smart-strategies-for-competitive-senior-tennis-players-over-50-7487951/why-your-serve-is-getting-worse-and-it-has-nothing-to-do-with-your-arm-i-john-craig.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}