Essential Tennis Podcast #108 features an interview with Dave “The Koz” Kozlowski. Ian and Koz talk about an age old topic: power vs control. Discussion points included in this interview are: how do you develop control exactly? At what point should you start working on weapons and adding power to your game? How can you find a “rhythm” on the court as you play and make it part of your game? Definitely don’t miss this interview, Koz has a real passion for the game and is a pleasure to listen to!

Download Podcast #108 for free by clicking the link below. You can download the .mp3 file right to your computer or by using iTunes.

http://essentialtennis.com/podcast/

We’re leaving for the airport in about 30 minutes (it’s almost 5 in the morning — yikes!). We’ll be at the tournament tomorrow filming through the following Tuesday. If you want regular updates about what we’re doing follow me on Twitter @wihamilton.

Today Youtube rolled out a new feature: automatic captioning! Youtube is using Google’s speech-recognition technology to automatically transcribe what I’m saying and display it as a closed caption in the bottom third of the screen. Best of all, you can translate what I’m saying into virtually any language!

So how does this work? In the bottom right-hand side of the player there is a button with an “up” arrow (make sure you’ve started playing the video). If you hover over it with your mouse some additional options will pop up. One of these options reads “cc” with an arrow next to it. Hover over the arrow and a “transcribe audio” option will appear. Once you’ve transcribed the audio, you can repeat the process to translate what I’m saying into another language.

Google’s speech-recognition technology does an OK job of translating what I’m saying. Some words are way off… but maybe I’m not enunciating properly =)

You can try this new feature out on the video below –

As many of you know, we’re leaving Monday for the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, CA. We’ll have 4 HD cameras going, including a Red One (120 fps). Here’s an example of the Red’s footage –

We’ll be filming all the big-name players. Do you have any specific requests? Not necessarily players (”Get Nalbandian!”). Rather, a specific shot or camera angle. For example, a zoomed-in shot of Rafa’s footwork. Etc. Let us know in the comments!

Next Monday we’re flying to SoCal to attend the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, CA. Outside of the majors this is my favorite tournament.

One of the things that makes the BNP Paribas Open special is the practice courts. They are EXTREMELY spectator-friendly. Our videos of Roger Federer warming up at last year’s tournament should give you a pretty good idea of what we mean.

We’re going to be there from the 9th to the 16th. If you’re going to be there look for us! We’ll be wandering around the practice courts with big HD cameras so we should be pretty easy to spot.

This video discusses a simple-to-implement strategy that requires you to visualize two hula hoops on your opponent’s side of the tennis court. These two hoops (watch the video to figure out where to imagine them!) are the only two targets you’re allowed to aim at.

This is a great strategy for several reasons. First, it’s based on the fundamentals of court geometry. Second, it’s high-percentage and will reduce the number of unforced errors you’re making. Finally, it simplifies your decision-making process and allows you to make correct snap judgments during a point.

We’ve added a new feature to FYB Premium that we think is pretty cool / will help you become a better tennis player — a weekly live webcast where we answer your questions. The webcast happens every Monday at 9 PM EST (in a few hours as of this writing!) and lasts for an hour. If you can’t make the show, don’t worry — it’s recorded so you can watch it whenever you want.

Here are a few examples of the questions we’ve answered in the past:

– What’s the difference between the straight-arm and double-bend forehand?

– How do you increase racket-head speed on the serve?

– When do you poach in doubles?

If you’re on the fence I recommend you take the plunge — if you’re not satisfied you have 60 days to get a full refund. You can sign up HERE.

If you have a question about this new service post it in the comments below and I’ll answer it. Thanks!

Today Ian answers two listener questions. The first has to do with moving out of the way of a shot that’s jamming you up on the court, both returns of serve and volleys up at the net. What stance should you use to do this? Secondly he talks all about playing in windy conditions and give the top four things to keep in mind.

Follow THIS LINK to listen to the show right in your browser, download the file, or get it on iTunes!

Interesting article in today’s Washington Post — Roger Federer’s movement around the tennis court is the inspiration behind some of the dance routines in the Washington Ballet’s current production of The Great Gatsby. Said artistic director Septime Webre:

“You could see what Federer is doing is really dancing,” Webre said. “The directional changes are lickety-split. You want both changes in level, both up and down, and changes in lateral direction. Swift changes of direction and a mercurial kind of approach to the physicality make for an interesting dance phrase.”

You can read the rest of the article on the Washington Post’s website.

UPDATE – Thanks to everyone who participated — I randomly selected a winner and have sent that person an email. We had a great response w/this giveaway so we’ll be doing similar stuff in the future!

I’ve got two tickets to give away to the BNP Paribas Showdown at Madison Square Garden! The exhibition features Serena Williams, Venus Williams, Kim Clijsters, and Svetlana Kuznetsova so there’s going to be some serious hitting!

If you’re interested in winning these tickets all you have to do is post something in the comments below. It doesn’t matter what you post — something to the effect of, “I want to go!” works just fine. Next Friday I’ll go through the comments and pick a winner at random.

If you want to buy tickets to the event you can do so via THIS LINK. The event organizers were nice enough to provide us with a promo code that will get you $10 off your ticket.