“I’ve traveled all the way across the country for you to show me how to hit more winners.” Hank Irvine had a suggestion!

Rod Workman, PPTA Professional Director of Racquets at the Onwentsia Club in Lake Forest, IL, recounted the experience in a column on intermediate and advanced instruction in PTM:

Sixteen years ago, I was teaching a paddle camp in Eureka, Montana with the “Godfather of Paddle,” Hank Irvine, when my ideas on the winning shot began to take shape.

A gentleman from Long Island arrived at the camp and said to Hank, “I’ve traveled all the way across the country for you to show me how to hit more winners when I play.”

Hank’s blood pressure spiked and he swiftly responded, “Sir, my suggestion is that you get on the next available plane back to New York because we won’t be teaching winners at this camp. The game is not about hitting winners but never making errors!”

With that, I adopted Hank’s style of teaching and playing, which I still use today.

Source: Platform Tennis Magazine, Vol. 10, Issue 2, December, 2008