Quinn Gleason: What a pro doubles player thinks about at the net (and how it can help you improve)

Hey everyone, on today's episode we have Quinn Gleason. She's currently ranked 52nd

on the WTA Tour in Doubles, and is won 21 professional titles. On today's episode

we discuss her mindset at the net, what she's thinking before serving and returning, and

how to handle playing with tons of different partners. So sit back, relax, and prepare

to become a smarter tennis player.

Alright Quinn, welcome to the pod. Thank you so much for having me.

I'm so happy to have you on. I met you in intense last winter. I think it was maybe

in December. And we did an Instagram video together. I'm actually going to put it in the

YouTube link, but I was trying to rip feeds at you at the net. And first of all, you're

incredible at it. But also the thing I didn't even realize at the time was on your forehand

reflex volley, you had your left hand on. And I've got a ton of comments about like, well

it's a two hand forehand volley or what's going on there. So I would love for you just

be able to explain your methodology for when you're close to the net and you're reflexing

like that.

That's so funny. So last summer I was just working on it, exactly the drill we did. And

I was trying to figure out how I can make it more stable and more repeatable. And I figured

out like, if the balls coming right at me, if I have my hands on a swivel, it kind of

works better. And I can actually react faster and take less of a backswing. So it's more

stable, more controllable, more repeatable. So I've just kind of stuck with it. But yeah,

I was just kind of something I developed randomly almost.

It's funny. So I don't know if your, you know, your coach is there. But like, are you

pretty open-minded? Because I think most people would say, well, a two hand forehand volley

with your left hand, like literally on the throw to the racket is probably not something

that's ever been taught. But then also if it works, then like, that's the whole purpose,

right?

So do you kind of seek solutions like that for things in your game usually like trial

and air experimentation? Or you kind of like a more by the book person?

So I like to experiment and see what works. And I think that kind of worked right away.

So I was really excited about it. And honestly, it wasn't that big of a change, just like

a reaction when the balls come and fast. So you just kind of keep that hand on. So I

would recommend it to anyone that's facing like really fast balls and having the reactions

tested.

I love that. Okay. So I'm going to put that in the show notes on Apple. It's going to

be in the description on YouTube. But it's actually a sick volley. For the rest of

the day, I actually want to get super nerdy with you because I love talking with you

when I met you. And I just kind of want to know how you think through things and doubles

as someone who's top 55 in the world, you're an incredible player. The first thing I want to know

is just kind of like how you and your partner, I know you play with multiple partners,

but how you guys work through just like what you're going to do? Like what formation are we using?

Where are we serving? How are we using the net player? How the score factors in? How do you

and your partner call plays on your serve?

So on my serve, I've been really working hard on developing like, I don't have the most

power, but I am pretty good at like variation and using spin. So I try to keep the people guessing,

kind of like Greg Maddox as a pitcher or Nester Cortez, those are two of like my inspirations.

But you know, if you're, if I'm serving slowly, if I can use variation of like placement,

I think for me, placement is super important. And then using different spins that can kind of

keep the opponents guessing. And then using eye formation, I think, has been a big change

I've made in the past year where I almost exclusively use eye formation first and second serve.

And I love it because I can kind of dictate as a server like based on if I hit my target and if

my partner goes here, they're going to get the ball 80% of the time. It's like the only option

for the returner to go. So for example, like if I execute my, let's say I'm on the do side and

I hit a wide serve out of I, I'm going to hope that the opponent is going to return late and

they're going to go line with the return. So my partner, I'm going to have her go that way and

expect a back end volley and try to hit a short angle volley winner. Does that make sense? So like

yeah, so there's just plans with every serve. There's going to be an accompanying volley.

And that's kind of the plan you set out to. You try to like make a plan for the first two shots

of the point. And then obviously you're going to have to improvise. But if you, the best you can

control the first two shots, I think the best chance you have as a serving team.

What is the matrix on how you wait things? So you're choosing a play, but what serve do you feel

most comfortable with? And then well, what volley do they feel most comfortable with? If they're

going to get something, right? And then it's like, well, if they don't get the volley, what ground

stroke or first volley are you most comfortable with? So how does that play into when you're calling a

play? Like, do you just go out there and go, look, I like serving wide. So that's what we're going to

do. And then here's the formation that we're going to use off of that serve. Right. So I've been trying

to like make sure I own all of my spots. So I have all the options as a server. I think that's been

something I've been working on really hard the last few months. If there's a big point, I'm going

to love my kick serve. I think that's something I rely on heavily. Just get it out of the strike zone

on the back end on the opponent. Hopefully, I will have a partner that is comfortable going to

both their back end and forehand volley. That's not always the case. So I'll definitely adjust based

on that. For me, on the baseline, I don't have a huge preference if I go to forehand or back end.

So that kind of leaves it open ended. I think that's helpful. But yeah, it also depends on the

returner. So if they're like late hitting a back end return and you can expect that, I think you

call that play, you know? And I think, yeah, it really just depends on the situation. So

situational awareness, how you're feeling that day also like can really dictate what plays you

want to call this surface sometimes. So like slices obviously works are well, super well in grass

courts. So if you want to go like on the ad side, IT and your net person goes left, they're going to

be late a lot of times on grass, you know? And their only option is to either like lob or to go

late contact. So yeah, you'll have a good play on it either way. Yeah, from a communication standpoint,

like you said, it does depend on every day. Like you feel differently. Sometimes your best serve

isn't working or the court is so slow, it makes it not beneficial or that returner has a great

answer for what you guys like to do. Do you usually evaluate that stuff in between the points on

that serve game or is that usually a conversation where like you go to the change over after getting

broken, you're like, hey, that's not working today. Like when do you guys figure that stuff out?

There's a lot of film prep that goes into like preparing for a match. So usually I know like,

I try to know exactly what to expect from the opponents. And then in the warm up, you kind of

generally have a good sense of how you're feeling that day, what serves might be useful on that

surface. So you kind of go into the match with a good game plan. And then if you find it's not working,

you try to make adjustments on the fly. Like you don't want to wait until you're broken, obviously.

So if you're noticing after the first two points of your service game that, you know, maybe they're

guessing where you're serving, which is obviously that happens or they're adjusting well to where you're

serving, then you want to make a change as soon as you can. Yep. So I want to talk about the flip side

now. So you're the net player. Your partner is serving. So this is what most adults that I coach,

they're working on, right? Gaining confidence at the net or even junior tennis players because they

don't work on ballies ever. And I feel like I get two responses from adults. It's either like,

I say, what are you thinking about when you're at the net there? And the first answer is usually like

nothing. Like I don't know what to think about or they are thinking about 87 things, right? It's like,

whoa, that's a lot. Okay. So I would love you are professional. You have a lot of things dialed in,

but I would just love to know, you know, let's say your partner just calls whatever the standard

dues court play is and you're jogging to the net. What is going through your mind up until when

the point starts? That's a really good question. And kind of a shift I'm working on making right now.

So I used to think like very technical and very like specifics, but now I'm just trying to like

trust my instincts. I think that's the biggest thing. So in practice, you want to hone in like

all the details. And then once you're in a match, that's when you just let your instincts take over.

So like, if there's a few cues that help me during matches, which is like time the split step.

So I really want to make sure I'm splitting on time with the returner. That's one, but honestly,

I don't think of any target. Like I try to like perfect those in practice. And I think like as a

net player, it's super important to like hunt the ball. So you want to have like a broad range of

coverage as the net player. That's like a big thing. So you just want to like make sure your

eyes are ready and you're watching the opponent's grip. Be ready for the chip lob or anything that

comes your way. So when you go up there, you you almost see like a territory at the net where you're

okay, we call it a play. Let's say it was for you to go left out of the eye. You see a part of the

net and you're like, I'm going to get the ball there. And then you're just going to react with

whatever ball they give you. That's how you're going to choose the volleyball target. Exactly.

You really don't have time to think as the net player, like the balls coming at you fast, you're

just going to have to trust yourself in your training. Have you heard of there's a thing in golf?

You kind of remind them of it. They call it think box and play box where like

you're behind the golf ball. And that's when you think about the yardage and you know,

oh, the wind is doing this. And here's where I want to be or here's where I want to void. And here's

my strength. And then when you step across that line, they're like, you're just supposed to swing

which is harder for golf. The ball just sitting there. But it sounds to me like you've done some

thinking before the match, you might be doing some talking with your partner. And then when you're

jogging up, you're kind of like just trusting yourself to play. Is that sound right? Yeah, exactly.

That's what I'm trying my best to do. It's not always the easiest. Sometimes like in the pressure

moments, you start over thinking things, but the less you think and the more you trust yourself as

like an athlete. And I think that's that's the best way. Love that. I want to flip it to return

targets. So I actually don't know this is terrible. I don't know what side you play usually.

Okay, that's honestly fair because I flip flop the past few weeks. Okay, good. Okay, so what

is your preferred side? Right now, it's funny. I always grew up playing ad side. But the past year,

a partner asked me to switch to doose just to try it out. And ever since then, I've been like,

I love the doose side. So all my best results have been doose side. So what do you what do you

love? So what do you think is suited your game? What do you love so much about it? I think I

I love that forehand return. If it's body, I do a pretty good job of being able to still pull it

across or or go line. And I also like a huge upside is the chip lob is over the backhand of the

righties. So I love that play and follow that to the net. And then the final pieces, I love like

the return partners volley. It's my backhand. And I'm pretty good at like closing the middle

with that backhand volley. Oh, so when you're yeah, when your partner is returning and you're

the net player, you're actually good with the backhand volley. Yes, I love that volley. Yeah.

Interesting. Because most people struggle with that. That's why they don't want to play the doose

because most recreational players are just better with like that hammer forehand volley. And that's

right. That's interesting. What about catching that backhand late for a nice little inside out return?

Is that something? That's true. That's true. I'm still working on that. That's I think that's

one of the hardest returns in tennis is that backhand and set out. I think it's like, yeah,

still working progress for getting there. How do you pick a return target? Like, are you before the

point kind of trying to anticipate what their play call is? Hey, they're going, I, I think they're

going to serve me here. I want to try to either use this lob because they've been poaching or do you

kind of react as the ball is coming to you, which I assume would be pretty difficult. So again,

it really depends on the opponent. If you know they like that cross court rally with their dominant

stroke, you don't want to get in that rally with them. You know, you kind of want to disrupt their

rhythm. So I would say generally, if you see them lining up, I, you want to go down the line,

you know, that's usually to a righty's backhand volley and to a righty's backhand from the baseline.

So I think that's that's always a good play. Last week, let's say I played to a lefty and a girl

who likes her backhand better. So you're going to shift your targets completely. So what I ended up

doing is I ended up lobbing cross and coming in. So now I have the weaker volley and the weaker

stroke. So it really depends. But sorry, I got away from your question there. Usually you try to make

like a like a plan with your partner before like, Hey, I'm going to try to go line. Usually,

you'll give a signal based on how they line up. But it's tough to stick to that. Sometimes you

have to be more reactive, you know, so like throwing a chip lob if you're on defense. And I think

it's like a balance of having a plan, but also reacting if you need to. Just a quick break from

the show to call out ADV. They just handed out 48 beautiful bags to my Indian Wells campers.

And they've just added a new quartile to their lineup as training picks up for the spring and summer.

It's 100% organic cotton, no synthetics, no dyes. So it feels great on your skin and it's hypoallergenic.

It's also double-sided made with a waffle-like texture on one side and Terry cloth on the other.

If you're curious, the link in the show notes has more details. I know each match is different,

but do you find there's a more common way? So like, you could go about returns two ways. You could

say, we're going to try to put all of them in play. We're going to make as many as possible and make

these players work. But then if you're playing someone who's really capable over there, they could

just be finishing ballies and it's like, okay, it has to be of a certain quality. Once I up the

quality, then of course, I will start missing more. And I've got to balance that out. So do you find

that one of those methods is maybe a little more consistent match to match with breaking? Or do you

even switch that in a match where you might try to make a few more returns, maybe at five four,

but at two one in the first set, you're like, let's just kind of go for broke here and see if we can

get a lead. That's a really good question. And again, I'm sorry to say it depends. So last year,

I had a partner who would either hit an amazing return or missed the return. So with combining

with her, I had to be the steady returner. So somebody had to put returns in the court and the

other one was going for riskier shots. And I think that is a great combo, like a little bit of both.

Generally, I'm the person that puts a return in the court. So if I'm in trouble, I'm going to

throw up a chip blob. I'm going to make them play a shot. And then a lot of times my partner is the

one going for like the riskier shots, kind of the more, yeah, if that makes sense. Yeah, absolutely

makes sense. And I've been looking at your results and like you've alluded to it, but not only are you

playing against different people all the time, but you have played with different people all the time,

right? So yeah, that's also something that pops up quite a bit for doubles players is they

recreational players are playing with different people all the time as well. How do you,

how do you balance playing to your strengths, staying true to yourself? Like you just said,

if you're playing with someone who's erratic, well, now you need to adapt your game, right? But

how much do they need to adapt to you? And so how do you strike that balance? Especially you might

just be playing with someone for like one week or two weeks. And it's not this lifelong partnership.

And you guys are just seeing like, how can we win matches in this 14 day window? How do you balance

those things? Right. I don't think you can really change someone's game or like what they're going to

do under pressure in the two weeks. So you're kind of going to have to roll with the punches and see

how the matches are going and kind of adapt. So especially if you're like missing returns, then it's

time to like maybe make a switch and mid match and be like, okay, I'm going to put balls in, you know?

So I guess it just depends again on the situation, the match, the opponents. Like if you're playing

girls with good serves that are making you triple up and like you don't want to go for big strikes

off big serves, basically, you know? Yeah. What do you think is the most challenging part for you

when you do play with different people? So you got you maybe go a two, three week stretch with someone

and then for whatever reason they're they're injured, they're not playing the next tournament,

they can't get in. And now you got a new partner like what is the biggest challenge of that?

I think the biggest challenge is knowing what they're comfortable with. So you have to have like a

very open and like honest conversation about like, do you like your backhand volley? Are you going to

be comfortable on a big point going to your backhand volley? Like poaching, like what's your mindset

on big points? Are you more conservative? Are you going to want to go for it? Because really the

last thing you want is a partner that's going to say they're comfortable to poach, but then you know

they don't trust themselves in that moment, you know? That's the biggest thing. So it's really just

you want to build that rapport as best you can on the fly. Yeah. What about the communication style?

Like is that a talk you have where like some people are like, you know what? Like I'm good if you

don't really need to talk to me, you don't need to pump me up or some people need quite a bit. Is

that a conversation you will actually have or is that like a feel thing where you kind of just

experience it and go, I can tell she's responding well when I'm giving her stuff or I can tell I

told her one thing and she looks pissed and so like I'm done. That's a good question. So you know

you never know how people are going to react when they're under pressure. So I think it is really

good to ask those questions before you take the match court. So like last year I was playing with a

girl who was very sensitive to the things I would say on court. And so like sometimes it pumps me

up to be like, oh, our opponents are really tight. Like this girl's not falling. Well, let's let's

target her. But that actually made my partner more tight in those moments and kind of shut her down.

So, you know, just you got to be ready for any kind of partner and what like

what they want from you as an energy wise, you know. Yep. I'm going to put the coaches hat on

you. So this is not about you. This is now your advice for everyone else. Okay. People kind of

ask me what kind of players should I partner with? Oh, I've got to come. I'm a good servant

baller. So should I partner with a good returner or should we just double up on our strengths and

just have monster serve games and then it's like, hey, we might not get broken or I'm someone who

likes to talk a lot. Should I be with someone who's quieter? Like, is there a blend in general or

you someone who likes to you think in general have a partner who kind of like makes up for your

weaknesses? Like, hey, if I don't, by the way, I did not return well. So like I should play with

someone who does make returns or I could just have another guy with me and we could be twin

towers and it's like, we're never going to break them and then just hope that the other team gets

tight. What is your philosophy there and kind of like mixing and matching styles?

That's a good one. That's a good question. So for me, I'm, again, I don't have the biggest serve.

I prefer to be the net dominant player of the team. So if I can partner with somebody with a good

serve, I think that that's when I have the most fun on the court and the most success because

my favorite thing about tennis is putting away like the plus one volley off the serve. So I try to

find partners with a good first serve. I also try to find partners with very steady returns.

I think I find personally that takes a lot of pressure off my return and kind of gives me more

more freedom to use my variety. I think that that's really fun. So when I put those two things together,

like a good server, good returner, a lot of times the issue is they're not a great servers partner.

So a servers partner is the value at the net when I'm serving. And again, because I don't have the,

like, the biggest serve, I'm usually looking to win points on my serve off the plus one shot.

I'm not going to win. I'm not going to ace. I'm not going to service one or two off. And like,

you know what I mean? Like realistically. So I need a partner that's functional at the net.

And sometimes that combo is like a little difficult to find. So like, obviously, obviously you want

like Serena Williams or Federer as your partner, but you can't always pick that. So you need to

kind of prioritize. And I think lately, the biggest thing I've been prioritizing is having a good

service partner, a good net player on my service games. Because if we can hold, like,

I'm a pretty good service partner. So if we can hold because of that, and if we can hold because

of their values on my serve, I think that takes so much pressure off as the server. Like, you don't

have to, yeah, go ahead. Well, how much do you think that actually happens on the tour? Because

obviously, there's so many good players that are already like matched up. So it's not like this pool,

like every week you go in, like, hey, let me just see how everyone's like volling at the net, right?

So like, you've got this, this changing small pool of players you could be with. And like you said,

you're looking for someone you specifically who can make a lot of returns, who can help you out,

right? I would assume that you're actually, I've seen you. So I know you're so good at the net

that if they're serve, like for me, just watching you, I would be like, hey, someone who doesn't serve,

well, you might be able to make up for that because you could actually volley so well. It'd be

easier if they had a good serve. So yeah, what is the difficulty of that? We're like, okay, well,

there's only five available players. And we've got to match up. And also like, I have to match

what they want to, like how difficult is that? Yeah, it's, I think it's actually the toughest part

about being a pro doubles player is like, yeah, and it's weeks a week and like trying to match schedules.

And again, there's like 50 girls, but like half of them, or probably 80% of them have like a regular

partner. So at my ranking range, like to try to get into the thousands, like, you're kind of

mixing and matching. And yeah, it's, it's really tough, honestly. That's the hardest part is

finding that partner. You were just telling me before we started, and I didn't even realize how,

you were saying getting into thousands is actually more difficult. So I think I checked right before,

I want to say you're 52 in the world right now. And I just assumed that like you're in Indian wells

because, like, I guess if you divide that by two, that's 26 teams, right? So I'm like, oh,

well, like she's in, and you would tell me how you went out. So why is that so difficult? Like,

explain that to the listener. Yeah, unfortunately, so like the Grand Slamzer draw of 64, the thousands

are a draw of 32. So online, there's a sign in 2014's get in. And those are the teams that are

only counting doubles ranking. And I happened to be number 25. So 24, I got in, I was 25,

and then on site, there's another sign in, but they can use their singles ranking. So you're

going to get a lot of top 10 singles players or like girls that are highly ranked singles that

decide to sign last minute. So yeah, it's tough to get into those thousands, but I think once

you get there, that's when you start getting like easier points, like one round at those

tournaments is like almost like winning a challenge or you know, so everything gets easier once

you're at that ranking to get into those. And you said you were going to go sign in for that,

right? Indian wells. Yeah, I'm going to call an FM one or two out. I'll go. So let's say you're one

out and you go there and you're signing in, like right now realistically, you're going to odds

I get in this tournament or what? So I do a lot of research before. So the last like four years,

I think zero alternates have gotten into Indian wells on site. So that's a little riskier. But

since Miami is the second week, you know, last year I actually got into Miami as an alternate

ranked 90. So I'm almost half that now. So I think there's a good chance for Miami just because

a lot of the girls had back to Europe after that one. So maybe not as high chance for Indian wells,

but for Miami, I will definitely be there no matter what alternate number I am. I think I was 13

last year and ended up getting in. So you never know, it's a week to week and based on the calendar.

And I think any wells just has a history, right? Were more singles players just kind of played doubles

out there? Is that right? Yeah, I think because they know they have to stay in the US that second

week anyways. So that's a big reason, honestly. They're like, I have to be here anyways. I'm on the

road. So might as well get the free hotel, you know, right? Yeah, exactly free hotel, a little bit of

prize money. I want to shift gears at the end just moving forward. You are definitely a very

intelligent player just by your answers and watching you play. I'm curious what you've learned about

the game of doubles or about just performance in general in the last four or five months that maybe

have helped you. Like you said, last year at this time, your ranking was almost twice as high. So

what have you learned or implemented in that period of time that you feel like has helped you play

better? I think just over preparing for matches before watching a ton of film and like trying to

know my opponents better than they know themselves before. And then just I also think the biggest

shift I've made is being less reactive and trying to be more proactive in points. So I think

the higher the level you go up, the more you have to win points and not expect them to lose points.

So you're out there and every shot has a purpose. You're not hitting neutral shots. Basically,

if you return neutral middle, you're going to lose the point, you know, even if you make the ball.

You need to either go hard line hard, hard cross or lob. Like you can't hit neutral balls against

good players. They're going to take advantage of you every time. So just that mindset has helped a

lot. And then just having set plays and just honestly, I started working with a new coach

Roland Garros last year and just having his perspective and he coaches on the men's side.

So kind of trying to bring more of a men's doubles mindset into the women's doubles mindset if

that makes sense and trying to get on offense is much as possible off the surf. I think that's a big shift.

Yeah. Can you explain a little further what proactive means and how my fear is that someone just

heard that's like, see, I need to go for my shots. I'm like, maybe not at the 40 level compared to

like professional grand plan tennis, but also like there is a balance, right? You definitely

still have to make enough balls like at a certain point, right? Like you can't just go for shots all

the time and be missing. So how are you proactive while still maintaining some level of consistency?

When I say proactive, I don't always mean with like pace or aggression. It could be with placement.

So proactively setting up the point the way you're going to be most successful, right?

So proactive could also be like using the chip lob line to the players back in and coming in.

That's proactive, but also very safe play, you know?

Yeah, that makes total sense. I think that's the constant battle. Most players that I know deal with is

the balance of being solid yourself, obviously staying within yourself, but also trying to make

your opponent miss or trying to, I mean, I guess in doubles, sometimes you're trying to hit a

winner. Maybe if you're at the net more so, but like how you balance those two things seems very

tricky. Does that change for you at all during the course of a match where you're like, hey,

I'm always going to be proactive, but at five all in the third set, 10 point breaker, I'm going to

be proactively safe. Or like, obviously, it depends on the opponent, but like what is that balance

for you in terms of the match? For me, the more I can play on my terms, the better.

I think it's super hard to play like defensive doubles. So as quick as you can set up the point

on your own terms, like if that's like serving to an opponent's weakness as soon as you can,

or like returning to a weakness on the other side, I think that's proactive. You know what I mean,

not reacting or not letting them get the pattern they want. So I tried to like do that the whole

match, especially in a tie breaker, especially under pressure, you want them to be playing their

weakness, you to be playing your best. Now that I just said it out loud, I'd love your take on

tiebreakers, by the way. Do you do anything differently once you get to a breaker? Is the feeling

different? Is the strategy different? Obviously points are super valuable compared to like a 40 love

at 31 down a break, right? But like, how do you approach a tie breaker to be successful?

You know, I was having a tendency to be more passive earlier in my career in the tie breaker and

play more safe and like, you know, kind of be more reactive and wait for them to missballs, right?

But the higher I'm getting more, I'm realizing like I have to go and win the points. So again,

it's just about being proactive, being the brave one, I think under pressure always pays off,

you know, and I think it's always better to go off the court and be like, you know, I lost the match,

but at least I went for it and have no regrets that way. I know that's a lot less painful than

losing the match and letting them win it. You know, you got to go for your serve under pressure,

you got to like, trust, trust it and go for it. You know, that's the only way. How have you

gotten over that hurdle of trusting and being brave? Because I know a lot of players who like hear

that or like, they've even told me, oh, I want to do that. I just have to have the courage in the

moment to do it. How did you get to that point mentally? Honestly, I work on it every day, you know,

being brave, I think it's like, I spend about an hour every day before a match, like going over

mindset cues and like things that will make me feel brave on the court. And it's just you,

it's something you have to do every day and that's something you have to work on every day. I mean,

the best players get tight. Everyone gets tight. So it's a constant thing you have to work on, right?

What an incredible answer. I love that. I think when people think it's just like that you were, oh,

you're just a brave person or Quinn is just confident. I love to hear that you spend that much time

on it. That's incredible. I love it. Yeah, it's something I've been working on really hard

the last month, you know, yeah. Okay, so I've got a very difficult question to finish this, but

you've given us a lot of great info. That's the hard part of this. I want to know what your best

advice is for the 354045 adult player, the junior who's just getting going a piece of doubles advice

that you think could apply to all of them that you have not already mentioned. And I'll give you

a little bit of an out if you'd like to make it a 1a and a 1b, you can stress something you've

already said if you think it's super important, but I would like something new as well.

I would say know your game and play within yourself and like know what shots you're comfortable

making under pressure. Shot selection is huge in doubles. It's the biggest thing. So if you know

yourself and you know what shots you can make under pressure, that helps you a lot. And you know,

in those big moments, it tells you exactly what shots to go for, right? And then if you're on

the same page with your partner with that and you know what to expect from them, they know what to

expect from you. So that comes with playing with the same person a lot too. So just those two

things like know your game super well and know your partner's game as much as possible.

All right, quick follow up. Some players think they have shots that they can make under pressure.

And I've watched my players many times and I'm like, you do not have that shot under pressure.

You have it sometimes, right? So when you said that, what does that mean to you? It's a shot that

you think you're going to make 9 out of 10 times? Or you know, I just have this feeling like,

what does that mean that you own it under pressure? For me, it's like, I've made it enough times

to completely trust myself. And that just takes kind of self-reflection and like honest self-reflection

from each player. But yeah, if I can make it in the pressure points, I mean, time and time again,

then I start to trust it. So I guess if you know you can make the shot six, seven times out of 10,

then that's that's good odds, right? If you're making it two out of 10 times, like, why would you use

that? You know, in a match like that doesn't really make sense. I know it's fun. And sometimes it

does happen. Sometimes you have to, based on the point, but generally you want to play the odds,

right? This has been just as nerdy and informative as I'd hoped when I asked you to be on this has

been amazing for me. I've learned a ton. Hopefully everyone else has as well. And we're recording this.

What is this? Monday before Indian Wells. So when would you actually, if you do decide to fly out

there, when do you actually go? So the sign in is tomorrow at 6 p.m. Tuesday. And then I have a

like a cancelable flight for Wednesday very early. And the double starts Thursday. So me and my

partner, my partner is in Atlanta right now. The girl I'm going to sign on site with. So we're going

to talk on the phone Tuesday night and make a call then. Yeah. Okay. So this will be released

next Monday a week from today. So we will know if you got in. So hopefully in the outro of this

broadcast, I'll say she got in. And by the way, she won her first round because it's before the

match. But we'll be rooting for you the rest of the year regardless. And thanks for coming on the show.

Awesome. Thank you so much for having me. This has been a blast.

All right. I want to thank Quinn for coming on the show today. I met her a few months ago in Florida

at an intense tennis event and loved how she competed on the court and how smart she was as a tennis

player. And I think you can tell from this episode how important it is to know your game.

Think about your game off the court. What your strengths are, what you want to avoid is a player

and then come up a game plan so you can just on the fly better once you get into matches.

As always, thanks again for listening. I hope you just improved your tennis without even hitting a ball.