Tennis coach · the Court Sense method
Your practice game, in matches.
For years my tennis looked great in practice and disappeared in matches. What fixed it was training how I see, move and compete, not just my strokes. That became my method, Court Sense. Work with me 1:1 online, or start on your own with the two apps.
Why online coaching works
One lesson a week fixes a stroke. It rarely fixes how you compete.
An hour on court with a coach feels productive, and then you're on your own for six days. Nobody sees your matches, nobody checks what you practised, and the same things go wrong at 4-4.
Online coaching works the other way round. We build a plan around your game, you train with it all week, and I'm there between sessions to adjust it. Your matches become the material we work on, not something that happens after the lesson.
Mindfulness and pressure
Routines between points and before serving, so the big moments feel familiar instead of frightening.
Match strategy
Two or three patterns you trust, and a clear idea of what to do when they stop working.
A personal plan
Built from your strengths and gaps, with clear goals for the eight weeks and a way to measure them.
Tennis-specific fitness
Movement, speed and endurance that hold up in the third set, not just in the first game.
Structure every week
You always know what to work on, and why. No more turning up and just hitting.
Support between sessions
Send a message or a voice note after a match. You get a reply within 24 hours.
Three ways to train
See it earlier. Move on it sooner. Compete better.
Vision trains what your eyes pick up before the ball arrives. Reaction trains how fast your feet, racket and head act on it. Coaching puts it all together in your matches, with Joaquin in your corner.
Measures and trains how you see: reading the serve and spin early, tracking, peripheral awareness, eye speed and processing.
- 19 drills on screen and 6 routines off screen
- Seven vision skills, each with its own score
- Free assessment with screen calibration
Trains what happens next: split step timing, first-step speed, quick preparation, decisions under pressure, focus and mindfulness.
- 13 drills on court and 10 focus drills
- Arrow, colour, voice and picture cues
- Five levels in every drill, adapted to each player
Eight-week programmes built around your own matches: handling pressure, decisions, technique and fitness, with Joaquin as your coach.
- A personal plan and video analysis every week
- Messages any time, reply within 24 hours
- Court Sense Vision and Reaction included
Why both
Read early and move late, and you still arrive late.
Time you win with your eyes can be lost again by your feet, and the other way round. The biggest gain comes when the read and the first step both happen early.
Where to start
Pick the one that matches the problem.
Not sure which one you need? Start with whichever line sounds most like you. Many players end up combining them: Vision at home, Reaction on court, and coaching to bring it into their matches.
Start free
Before you start, find out where you stand and what to improve first.
Each app starts with a free baseline and three free drills, with no card. Pricing and plans are on each app’s page.
Calibrates your screen, checks your dominant eye and convergence, and runs one drill from each of the seven skills.
Start the assessmentA reaction test and a split step rhythm test that show your speed, accuracy and whether you split early or late.
Start the testsBundle
Vision + Reaction: €19 a month instead of €26.
Both apps in one subscription, about a quarter less than two separate Player plans. Or €194 a year, instead of €264.
Who I am
I'm Joaquin. I learned this the hard way.
The eyes
On the ITF Futures circuit I did vision work with an eye doctor. The drills had nothing to do with hitting a ball and changed how I saw the game more than most hours on court. That work became Court Sense Vision.
The head and the feet
As a junior I lost matches I could have won to nerves and temper, until a coach brought mindfulness into my training alongside tactics. That, and years chasing a tenth of a second on the first step, became Court Sense Reaction.
The coach
After D1 tennis at Sacramento State and four years on the ITF Futures circuit, I now coach club players, competitive juniors and professionals, in Barcelona and online. In 1:1 coaching I bring it all together around your own matches: handling pressure, making better decisions, and the technique and movement that hold up when it counts. Coach with me →
Free guides
Start with one of my free guides.
Short, practical and written from my own matches. Pick the one that fits who's playing.
For parents of junior players
Ready to Compete
Ten signs your child is ready for tournaments, most of them about mindset rather than strokes, and what to work on first if they're not there yet.
Get the checklistFor league and tournament players
The Practice to Match Playbook
Five things that keep your best tennis stuck in practice, and simple ways to start closing the gap this week. About a five-minute read.
Get the playbookPlayers and parents
What players say.
[Two or three lines from a player about what changed in their matches.]
[Two or three lines from a parent about their child's matches.]
[Two or three lines from a player, or a short video.]
Work on the part of tennis almost nobody practises.
Begin with a coach in your corner, or on your own with your eyes and your feet.
Sports vision for tennis
Every decision on court starts with what you see.
Technique, tactics, movement — all of it runs on information your eyes gathered first, and none of it can be better than that information was. Train the seeing and the rest sharpens with it: you pick the ball up earlier, your timing settles, your choices come sooner. Players describe the effect as the game slowing down. Nothing slowed down. They just stopped arriving late.
Works in any browser. Nothing to install. Fifteen to twenty minutes, three times a week.
The problem
Nobody loses points because they can't hit the ball.
They lose them by reading the shot late, committing to the wrong side, or losing the opponent the moment they look at the ball. That is true at every level — it is simply measured in tenths at the top and in halves further down. None of it is fixed by more forehands, all of it is trainable, and almost nobody trains it.
Late on the serve
The information is in the toss, before contact. Most players wait for the ball — and against a big server, waiting is already too late.
Hitting into covered space
Eyes lock onto the ball and the opponent disappears. The shot goes where they have already recovered to.
Timing
A fuller turn and an unrushed swing. The technique didn't change — you just got there early.
Cleaner contact
Most mis-hits are a racket arriving late, not a bad swing. Know where the ball is going and it comes off the middle.
Decisions
A choice made in a panic is barely a choice. A quarter of a second more and the options get weighed properly.
The game feels slower
Everyone describes it the same way. Nothing slowed down — they stopped arriving late.
What it buys you
Reading the ball earlier gives you more time. Everything else is spent out of that.
The ball takes as long as it takes. What changes is how much of it you have already read — and every tenth of a second you win back is a tenth to move, prepare and choose in.
Who it's for
Anyone who has to read a ball.
Every drill finds your ceiling in the first minute and works there, so a ten-year-old and a touring professional get sessions that are equally hard for them. Nothing here is a beginner exercise that a good player has outgrown.
What's inside
Seven skills, measured separately.
Every drill produces a number, and every number rolls up into one of seven skills, so you find out which part is actually behind instead of guessing. Each drill adapts until it finds your ceiling, whether that is a first-year junior or a touring professional.
Eye speed
Jumping to a target and landing clean.
3 drillsSeeing detail
Fine detail on a ball that will not hold still.
3 drillsTracking
Staying with it when it changes.
3 drillsPeripheral vision
Reading the edges, eyes locked centre.
3 drillsReading the game
Serve, spin and length, called early.
4 drillsProcessing
Choosing fast and holding what you saw.
3 drillsAway from the screen
Focus, convergence, a wall chart and a partner.
6 routinesStart here
Fifteen minutes to find out what's weakest.
Before any training, the assessment calibrates your screen against a bank card so the measurements mean something, finds your dominant eye, checks your convergence, and runs one drill from each category.
Calibrate
Hold a card to the screen. Scores convert into arcminutes — the unit an optometrist uses — instead of pixels that mean nothing on another device.
Check
Dominant eye and near point of convergence, both guided with animated diagrams, with clear flags for anything that belongs with an optometrist rather than in training.
Baseline
Six drills, one per skill. From then on the app builds each session around your weakest areas while keeping your strongest ones ticking over.
Pricing
Try it before you pay for it.
The assessment and three drills are free, with no card. Everything else is one subscription, and paying yearly takes 15% off.
- Full assessment and skill profile
- Three drills, unlimited
- Progress saved on your device
- All 19 drills and 6 routines
- Adaptive sessions built from your scores
- Full history, charts and skill ranking
- Progress synced across your devices
- Everything in Player, for up to 15 players
- One dashboard across your roster
- Session reports you can send to parents
- Invite players by link
Bundle · save about 25%
Add Reaction and pay €19 a month for both, instead of €26.
Vision + Reaction in one subscription. Or €194 a year for both, instead of €264.
Prices include VAT. Cancel any time from your account; no notice period, no call.
Straight answers
Questions worth asking.
Does this actually make you play better?
Yes and no, and the distinction matters. The anticipation work — reading the serve before contact, calling length early — has decent evidence behind it and is one of the clearest differences between any two levels of player. Generic visual training, meaning acuity, contrast and raw reaction speed, measures real things and those numbers do improve with practice, but whether that improvement shows up in match play is much less settled.
What it will not do is fix your technique or your fitness. What it does is sit underneath both. Seeing the ball earlier gives you more time to prepare, so your timing improves without changing a thing about your swing. It gives you longer to choose, so your decisions get better without learning any new tactics. It is a multiplier on the ability you already have, not a replacement for building that ability.
How long does a session take?
Fifteen to twenty minutes. The app builds you a session of about six drills weighted towards your weak areas, or you follow a fixed three-day week. Doing all nineteen in one sitting is how people stop after a fortnight.
Do I need any equipment?
For the screen drills, a laptop and a bank card for calibration. The off-screen routines need a pen, a wall and in one case a partner — they are optional, and the app tells you what each one needs before you start.
Is it suitable for juniors?
Yes. Every drill adapts to the player in front of it, so a twelve-year-old and a touring pro both end up working at their own ceiling rather than against a fixed difficulty. Under-14s in Spain need a parent to create and hold the account, which is how signup is set up.
Will it work on a phone?
It runs, but several drills measure how much detail you can resolve across a given visual field, and a phone screen is too small for those numbers to mean much. Use a laptop.
Who built it?
I'm Joaquin Marquez, a coach in Barcelona. I played four years on the ITF Futures circuit after D1 college tennis in the United States, and I coach club players and professionals.
The idea came from an eye doctor I worked with while I was competing on tour. The drills he gave me had nothing to do with hitting a ball and changed how I saw the game more than most of the hours I spent on court. I have thought ever since that this is the most undertrained part of tennis — a whole layer underneath technique and tactics that almost no one touches, and that can fundamentally change how a player reads what is in front of them. This is that work, built so it can be measured and repeated.
Find out what your eyes are actually doing.
The assessment is free and takes fifteen minutes.
Start the assessmentReaction and footwork for tennis
Seeing it early only helps if you move on it.
Most balls you are late on, you saw in time. The split step landed after the hit, the first step went the wrong way, or the racket only went back once you got there. That gap between seeing and moving is trainable. Put your phone on the fence, react to real cues with your feet and racket, and the same legs start covering more court.
Runs on your phone. On court or in the gym. Ten to twenty minutes, three times a week.
The problem
Most late balls are late feet, not late eyes.
Players lose points by splitting after the hit, pushing off in the wrong direction, preparing late, or carrying the last error into the next point. None of it is fixed by hitting more balls from a basket. All of it is trainable, and almost nobody trains it on purpose.
Late split step
Land after the opponent has hit and the first step is gone before the point has started.
Late preparation
The racket goes back after you arrive, so every ball feels rushed, even the ones that are not.
Wrong-way commits
Guessing early on a disguised ball. Speed without control is just a faster mistake.
A faster first step
Land on their hit and push off on the read. The same legs suddenly cover more court.
Calmer between points
A short reset routine means the next point starts from zero, not from the last error.
Focus on demand
Plan between points, ball during the point. Focus becomes a skill you practise, not a mood.
What it buys you
Splitting on the hit gives you more time. Everything else is spent out of that.
The ball takes as long as it takes. What changes is when your first step starts, and every tenth of a second you win back is a tenth to get there, set up and choose the shot.
Who it's for
Anyone who has to get to the ball.
Every drill has five levels and adjusts to the player in front of it, so a ten-year-old and a touring professional get sessions that are equally hard for them. Nothing here is a beginner exercise that a good player has outgrown.
What's inside
Seven areas, trained on your feet.
Cues come as arrows, colours, voice calls or pictures of the stroke, and a ball rhythm on screen teaches you to land your split step on the opponent’s hit. Every drill shows a short animated example first, and keeps your settings for next time.
Split step
Land on the opponent’s hit, then push off.
4 drillsQuick preparation
Read the call, turn, racket back. Inside-outs included.
3 drillsServe plus one
Serve, split on the return, attack the first ball.
1 drillDecisions on the move
Decoys, rule switches and voice-only calls.
4 drillsMatch play
Points as intervals, with a guided reset between them.
1 drillFocus gears
Switch between reading the court, planning, the ball and reset.
8 drillsMindfulness
Breath focus and a guided session in movement.
2 guided sessionsStart here
Two minutes to find out how fast your first move really is.
Before any training, two short tests on the phone give you a baseline, so you know whether speed, timing or decisions are holding you back.
Reaction test
Tap the side the cue points to, as fast as you can, and hold back on the decoys. You get your average time, your accuracy and how often you were fooled.
Split step rhythm test
Watch the ball fly to the opponent and tap the moment you would land. The app tells you whether you split early or late, and by how many milliseconds.
Your level
Each drill starts at a level that fits. A strong score unlocks the next one, and a tough session drops you back a step to build the pattern.
Pricing
Try it before you pay for it.
The two baseline tests and three drills are free, with no card. Everything else is one subscription, and paying yearly takes 15% off.
- Reaction and split step baseline tests
- Three drills, unlimited
- Progress saved on your device
- All 13 court drills and 10 focus drills
- Five levels that adapt to you
- Full history and progress charts
- Progress synced across your devices
- Everything in Player, for up to 15 players
- Each player’s levels and history in one place
- Session reports you can send to parents
- Invite players by link
Bundle · save about 25%
Add Vision and pay €19 a month for both, instead of €26.
Vision + Reaction in one subscription. Or €194 a year for both, instead of €264.
Prices include VAT. Cancel any time from your account; no notice period, no call.
Straight answers
Questions worth asking.
Does this actually make you play better?
It depends on what you train, and the distinction matters. Reaction work built around real tennis cues — the opponent’s hit, a called stroke, a short or deep ball — has a much better chance of carrying into match play than generic light-tapping, which is why every drill here uses tennis movements and decisions. Raw reaction scores do improve with practice; how much of that shows up in a match depends on how close the drill is to the game.
What it will not do is fix your technique or replace hitting balls. What it does is sit underneath both. Splitting on the hit and preparing early gives you more time on every ball, so your strokes look better without changing your swing. It is a multiplier on the ability you already have, not a replacement for building it.
How long does a session take?
Ten to twenty minutes. Two or three drills before practice work as a warm-up, and Points and resets turns into a full on-court conditioning block when you want one.
Do I need any equipment?
Your phone, a few cones (water bottles work) and a few metres of space each way. A racket for the shadow strokes. Earbuds are optional for the voice-only drills.
Can the app tell if I moved the right way?
Not yet on court: the phone gives the cues but does not watch you. The tap tests measure speed, accuracy and split step timing precisely, and after on-court drills you rate how it felt so the level adjusts. With a coach watching, that is usually all you need.
Is it suitable for juniors?
Yes. Every drill has five levels and adapts to the player, so a twelve-year-old and a touring pro both work at their own ceiling. Under-14s in Spain need a parent to create and hold the account, which is how signup is set up.
Who built it?
I'm Joaquin Marquez, a coach in Barcelona. I played four years on the ITF Futures circuit after D1 college tennis in the United States, and I coach club players and professionals.
As a junior I lost matches I could have won to nerves, pressure and temper. What changed it was a coach who brought mindfulness and meditation into my training alongside match tactics. I walked on at Sacramento State with a coach who did not trust me yet, and finished as one of the best players in the lineup. The focus drills here come from that work; the reaction and footwork drills come from years of trying to get to the ball a tenth earlier.
Find out how fast your first step really is.
The baseline tests are free and take two minutes.
Start the tests1:1 online coaching
Play your best tennis when it counts.
Most players I work with train well and then play a different game in matches. The arm gets tight, the plan disappears at 4-4, and the score starts making the decisions. It isn't always mental. With my Court Sense method we work on all of it together: what you think, how you decide, how you hit and how you move, built around your own matches.
Fully online, wherever you play. Video analysis of your matches, weekly plans, and messages any time with a reply within 24 hours.
The problem
You train well. Then the match starts.
Practice has no score, no opponent trying to beat you and nothing to lose. Matches have all three. The gap between the two is where most players lose, and it is trainable.
Tight on the big points
Serving for the set and the arm stops swinging. You push the ball instead of hitting it.
No plan when it gets close
At 4-4 you hit whatever feels safe, and the opponent decides how the point goes.
Practice doesn’t carry over
The shots are there in training. In matches they come and go, and you can’t tell why.
A routine for pressure
Between points and before serving, a routine you have practised, so tight moments feel familiar.
A simple match plan
Two or three clear patterns you trust, and what to do when they stop working.
Progress you can see
Match notes, video and numbers each week, so you know what is improving and what is next.
How it works
One coach, one plan, built around your matches.
Free call
Twenty minutes to talk about your game, your goals and what keeps happening in matches. If coaching isn’t the right fit, I’ll tell you.
Assessment and plan
We go through your game, your matches and what keeps costing you points across the four pillars, and I build an eight-week plan around it. Match or practice video helps if you have it, but it is optional.
Weekly work
Plans, drills and video analysis in the Kortsy app, a weekly check-in, and messages or voice notes any time with a reply within 24 hours.
Matches and review
Before matches, a short plan. After them, a review of what held up under pressure and what to adjust for the next week.
Programmes
Pick the one that fits where you are.
Every programme starts with a free call. We talk through your game first, and you only commit once you know exactly what the eight weeks will look like.
- All four pillars: mental, tactical, technical and tennis-specific fitness
- Personal plan, drills and video analysis in Kortsy
- Handling match pressure, worked on every week
- Messages any time, reply within 24 hours
- Court Sense Vision and Reaction included
- For players who already have a day-to-day coach
- Mental and emotional performance, and decisions on court
- Weekly 45-minute call and unlimited match reviews
- Contact before every match or tournament
- For juniors: a call with parents and a written report every four weeks
- Court Sense Vision and Reaction included
- On-court sessions in Barcelona combined with the online plan
- Standard and Premium four-week options
- Individual and shared lessons also available
The guarantee
No measurable improvement after eight weeks? The next month is free.
And if you are not happy in the first month, you get your money back. No questions.
Who it’s for
Players who are better than their results.
Players and parents
What players and parents say.
[Two or three lines from a player about what changed in their matches.]
[Two or three lines from a parent about their child's matches.]
[Two or three lines from a player, or a short video.]
Your coach
I lost the matches you are losing. Then I learned how not to.
The player
As a junior I lost matches I could have won to nerves, pressure and temper. A coach brought mindfulness and match tactics into my training, and it changed how I competed. I walked on at Sacramento State, earned a scholarship, finished as one of the best players in the lineup, and played four years on the ITF Futures circuit.
The coach
I trained alongside players who reached the ATP top 100, and I didn’t get there myself. That gap is what I coach: I know what the top level does, and I know what it feels like when your game doesn’t show up in matches. Today I coach club players, juniors and professionals from Barcelona.
Straight answers
Questions worth asking.
Does online coaching really work for tennis?
For the things that decide matches, yes. Pressure, decisions, patterns and preparation are mostly about what you do before and between shots, and video shows them clearly. Technical work happens through video analysis of your own hitting. If you need someone on court every day, the hybrid option in Barcelona or your current coach covers that.
What do I need?
The Kortsy app on your phone and the time to do the weekly plan. Filming your matches or practice helps, with a tripod or a fence clip for the phone, but you can start without it.
Is my level high enough, or too high?
The work is the same at every level: playing your best tennis when it matters. I coach adult club players, competitive juniors and professionals. On the free call we’ll check whether it fits.
Are you a sports psychologist?
No. I’m a coach who had the same problem and learned how to compete with it. If something goes beyond what a coach should handle, I’ll tell you honestly and point you to the right professional.
Do the Court Sense apps come with coaching?
Yes. Every online programme includes Court Sense Vision and Reaction for as long as we work together. I build their drills into your weekly plan, so the work on your eyes, reactions and focus fits into the same weeks as everything else.
Start with a free 20-minute call.
We’ll talk about your matches, and you’ll leave with at least one thing to work on, whether or not we work together.
Book a free call