Model and influencer Presley Mattea came to the Mouratoglou Academy on the French Riviera, and it turns out she can seriously play tennis. In this full coaching session, I fix the one thing that was costing her power on every single shot: her grip pressure.
If you've ever been told to "hit harder" and it didn't work, this lesson is for you. The truth is counterintuitive – the tighter you squeeze the grip, the more you lock your wrist, and the more power you lose. Presley was gripping at a 9 out of 10. Within ten minutes of loosening up, Patrick told her she'd just hit the best backhand of her life. Then they rebuilt her serve from scratch and gave her a real slice second serve.
Full session: backhand power, forehand racket-head orientation, and the slice serve that turns a weak second serve into a weapon.
⏱️ CHAPTERS
0:00 Today's episode 0:32 Presley arrives at the Mouratoglou Academy 0:45 Her tennis level: competing, and why her UTR dropped 0:56 "How do you create pace?": the instinct that kills power 1:33 The counterintuitive truth: tight grip = locked wrist 1:51 How the pros do it: free wrist, racket head snapping back 2:09 Drill 1: let it go and don't judge the result 2:37 "Do you realize the power you have?" 2:53 Adding topspin: from back-to-front to down-to-up 3:12 Let the racket drop below the ball 4:19 Drill 2: brushing the ball with the wrist only 5:13 The 1-to-10 grip pressure test (she's a 9, aim for 2) 6:06 "Imagine you throw your racket" 6:27 "It's the best backhand you've ever hit" 7:11 Same principle applied to the forehand 7:37 Racket face orientation: why the ball flies long 8:14 Why 90% of players grip the racket too tight 9:10 Throwing a ball: because serving IS throwing 9:53 "I feel like I have no power on my serve" 10:04 Serve assessment, first serves 12:02 The second serve problem: hitting soft out of fear 12:23 Applying the loose wrist to the serve 12:47 Why spin is what makes a second serve real 13:16 Flat vs slice vs kick: where you hit the ball 13:45 A good second serve never decelerates 14:13 Building the slice serve 15:01 The frame drill: hitting with the edge of the racket 15:28 Her first real slice serve 16:13 Dialing the racket face back to the middle 17:02 Closing the hand and pushing the arm toward the T 17:40 "The ball really turns" — a true second serve 18:25 Congratulations
🎾 WHAT YOU'LL LEARN Why holding the grip tight destroys your power (and what to do instead) The grip pressure scale, where you should actually be from 1 to 10 How to let the racket head drop to generate topspin on the backhand The "throw your racket" image that instantly unlocks racket head speed How racket face orientation controls depth on the forehand Flat, slice and kick serve explained simply — the contact point is everything How to build a slice second serve that's consistent AND fast Why your second serve should never be a slow, safe push
The Mouratoglou Academy French Riviera welcomes players of every level, from complete beginners to top 10 ATP and WTA professionals. Presley Mattea trained here as part of her stay, and this session shows exactly how a small technical change can transform your game in under 20 minutes.
Subscribe to my channel for more immersive tennis coaching sessions.
For even more tips, join my email list 👉 patrick.mouratoglou.com
A tennis coach helps a player increase power and consistency by teaching them to loosen their grip and adopt a \"throwing\" motion. By shifting from a rigid approach to a relaxed wrist, the player improves their groundstrokes and serves, specifically mastering the slice serve to enhance control and effectiveness during matches.
How are you?
Good, how are you?
Let's do it with the backhand.
The harder you hold the grip, the more you lock your wrist.
If I lose here, and I made zero effort, back, you're going to go from down to up.
I know you for 10 minutes, but I think it's the best backhand you ever hit.
Show me your serve and we're going to solve it.
And what you want is this.
Oh yes!
I'm really happy with the slice.
Oh yes!
Congratulations.
Yes, thank you.
Press it.
How are you?
Good, how are you?
Nice to meet you.
Yes, you too.
How is it going?
Going good.
How is this guy treating you?
He's great.
Thank you for saying that.
No, he's great.
We're working on backhand.
Do you play very often?
Yeah, so I compete and I've been doing, well I was doing tournaments, and then I stopped
for about a year, so my UTR went down.
So now it's only, like almost a four.
It's nothing.
Okay, let's do it with the backhand because you were hitting backhands.
Yes.
How would you do to create pace?
It's more, I kind of go around the ball like this.
I back up a lot.
So I mean, I go in a circle.
Okay, sorry.
I'm going to say it different.
If you want to create strength in the ball.
I hold on to my grip tight and like, do it really, go back really fast.
Okay.
Yeah.
No, no, but there is no, I just want to know how you do it.
That's interesting what you say because if you want to create pace, the feeling of having
power, I know it's counter-intuitive, but you have to do the exact opposite.
Okay.
The harder you hold the grip, the more you lock your wrists, and the more you play only
with the arms and not with the wrist.
So if I hold my grip very tight and I go here, this is the result.
If I lose here, and I made zero effort.
If you look at all the videos of the tennis players, if you look at whether it's a forehand,
the backhand, any shot, you see that when they prepare, the wrist is completely free,
the head of the racket goes really far and comes back very fast.
Got it.
You see this?
Mm-hmm.
Yes.
Exactly.
Okay.
So don't try to hit hard.
Mm-hmm.
Just let it go.
No.
Back.
Front.
Back.
I don't care if the ball is in the wall, I just want you to hit it that way just to have
this feeling.
Mm-hmm.
Okay?
Okay.
Ready?
Yeah.
Perfect.
Okay.
Thankfully, nobody was passing at that time.
Yeah.
No, no, no.
It's a joke.
But so just a question, do you realize the power you have?
Yeah.
You see?
Did you try to force?
No.
No?
You're relaxed.
Just hit it.
Yeah.
Okay.
So why did it go this way?
Just because the head of the racket was like this, so it went up.
Mm-hmm.
If the head of the racket is more like this, it's going to be spin.
Okay.
Now, but we do the exact same thing.
Okay.
The only difference is instead of going from back, relaxed with the wrist, from back to
front, you're going to go from down to up.
Okay.
But having the wrist completely loose.
Same.
Okay.
So make sure.
So no, not like this.
Wait.
I wasn't clear.
Sorry.
So the way you do it, as he explained, you let the racket drop.
Your wrist is loose.
That's perfect.
Let the racket drop.
And then it comes back very fast.
Mm-hmm.
This way.
Got it.
Okay.
This way.
So follow through.
Up.
Mm-hmm.
Okay?
Okay.
Just do a few without the ball.
So I can see.
Drop the racket.
See?
The racket is still here.
You're not going to spin like this.
You have to let it drop.
Got it.
Okay.
Yes.
Exactly.
So from here, remember what you did with him?
He asked you to start with the racket up and then do some kind of a buckle like this.
Same with the forehand.
Here.
Yeah.
Yes.
Like this?
Yes.
Okay.
Not like this.
Mm-hmm.
Yes.
The important motion is this one.
Here.
Up.
Go.
That's much better already.
Okay.
Oh, super.
Merci.
Again.
Low.
And up.
Yeah.
Again, again.
And we're going to do one last thing.
Come with me.
But you have something to work on.
But now you have the power.
Yeah.
Way different, huh?
Yeah.
Okay.
We're just going to do this one that I always do with players when we work on this.
You're close to the net.
The ball is low.
Yeah.
So if you play flat, you're going to hit the net.
Mm-hmm.
Oops.
So racket down.
Racket up.
With the wrist only.
Up.
Okay.
Because this is exactly what you're going to do when you're going to play from the baseline.
Okay.
Mm.
Very good.
Do you see the ball turn?
Yeah.
Yes.
Oula.
He tried to kill us.
Very good.
Okay.
And then you will...
It's a little spin.
You need to work on it.
But this exercise is very important.
Okay.
So you basically...
Instead of hitting the ball in its back...
Mm-hmm.
You can...
You brush it.
Yeah.
Okay?
That's exactly what you do.
And then when you have the full motion, the wrist is free.
The head of the racket goes down, and you brush it.
With the hand.
Okay.
And you continue your motion.
I always ask between 1 and 10, how hard do you hold your grip before?
Like...
You try to be as close to 10 as you can.
Yeah.
Close as 10 as possible.
Probably 9.
As much as I don't think it is.
Yeah.
I hold it really tight.
Okay.
If you can be at 2, 3.
Uh-huh.
Perfect.
No, no, really.
Okay.
Completely free.
Mm-hmm.
That's what you want.
Then you have the power and the ball turns.
Okay?
Yeah.
Again, we don't judge the result.
We just want to feel...
Yeah.
The acceleration of the hands.
Okay.
Ready?
Mm-hmm.
No problem.
That was not bad.
But the fact that you finish here makes the ball go down.
Just finish up.
But for the moment, forget about this.
Just relax and hit the ball as you usually do.
Again.
So, I give you one image.
I don't know if it's going to help.
Imagine that you have your racket and you just want to throw your racket.
You want to throw it on the other side.
Yeah.
How would you do that?
Show me.
Okay, do it.
But keep your racket in your hands.
But imagine you throw it.
Okay.
I think...
Yeah.
I know you for 10 minutes.
Yeah.
But I think it's the best backhand you ever hit.
Am I right?
Yeah.
And I didn't even, like...
Yeah.
Like, try.
That's the thing.
Yeah.
Okay.
We throw the racket again?
Yeah.
Without expectation.
Don't expect to do the same one.
Just throw the racket.
That's it.
Again.
Throw it freely.
You didn't throw it.
Okay.
Great.
No, no, no problem.
We don't judge the result.
Mm-hmm.
Amazing.
Mm-hmm.
Double...
I think twice more...
Twice more power.
Really?
Without trying?
Yeah.
All right.
We do the last three.
Great.
Now I want to hit forehands.
I know.
Because you failed something with the...
Yeah.
With throwing the racket.
Mm-hmm.
Can you throw the racket with the forehand also?
Yeah.
Great.
Again.
Throw your racket.
Yes.
Throw your racket.
Yeah.
Throw your racket.
Good.
Very good.
Way better.
Huh?
Way better.
Now you have the power.
You need the spin.
Yeah.
Once you have the spin...
And it has a lot to do with the orientation of the racket head.
Mm-hmm.
With the backhand, your orientation is this way.
Yeah.
So the ball goes this high over the net, so it's in.
Mm-hmm.
With the forehand, the moment you hit the ball, your racket head is more like this.
Yeah.
So it goes like this.
And as there is power, it goes forward.
Yeah.
So the moment you have the impact with the ball, for the moment, try to correct it and
be more like this.
More straight.
Mm-hmm.
Okay?
But same.
Throw your racket.
Okay.
Great.
Super.
Again.
Throw your racket.
Great.
Throw your racket.
Yes.
Good.
Thank you for saying that.
Thank you for saying that you are trying to hold your racket as hard as you can.
I always try.
No, because I spend my time on social media explaining to people, you want more power?
Yeah.
Loosen up your wrist.
And I always ask them and I find out that 90% of the time, they are very, very high
in terms of holding the grip tight.
Yeah.
So that's great.
Yeah.
I feel like it's like an instinct.
I just like automatically, I don't think about it and hold it really tight.
Because it's intuitive.
You think you have to muscle the things to create the power.
And it's actually the exact opposite.
And the best players, they're so loose, they're so fluid.
They make you feel that they make no efforts.
Yeah.
Because they're loose.
And they're actually spending, doing way less effort than us.
Yeah.
And their ball is three times faster.
Yeah.
Your racket here.
You're just going to take the ball and you throw it to me.
I throw it to you and you do the same.
Like this.
Oh, got it.
Sorry.
Okay.
It's a little warm up.
But more than anything, I want to see how you throw the ball.
Because serving is literally throwing a ball.
Throwing, yeah.
If you think about it, it's the same position from the trophy position.
It's the same, exactly the same motion as if you wanted to throw your racket.
Yeah.
But this way.
Yeah.
You can take the racket.
Okay.
Right.
Stay there.
That's the number one thing.
I feel like I don't have power on my serve.
Show me your serve and we're going to solve it.
Why are you laughing?
How was it?
I don't know.
I feel like it was bad.
It was bad?
Was it?
Why?
I think it...
I feel like...
Let me warm it up.
Let me see.
But why do you feel it was bad?
Because it was in the net?
Yeah.
Oh, okay.
Yeah.
I mean, how many does Sinner hit in the net per year?
Thank you very much.
It's not bad.
It's good.
Last one.
You think you're serving okay today or you're not happy?
You can do better?
I can do better.
Yeah.
Okay.
You have a last chance.
Good.
Yeah.
Okay.
Well, so you want to have more power versus Sinner, right?
Yeah.
Okay.
Before that, just show me your second serve.
Okay.
Wait.
Okay.
More.
Okay.
Is your second serve consistent?
That's the problem also.
Yeah.
That's when people say second serve, that's like my second serve.
But if I'm in a match and I'm scared it's going to be inconsistent, I just hit soft.
Yeah.
But you expose yourself because the opponent can attack you.
Yeah.
Okay.
Just the power first, and then we're going to do the second serve.
Okay.
The power, you remember what you've done from the baseline.
Relax completely your wrist.
And imagine you're throwing your racket.
Yeah.
Imagine you want to throw it on the other side.
Do it.
The first thing is to be able to use your strength.
Mm-hmm.
And from the baseline, for me, it was much, much better.
Yeah.
And the second thing, generally speaking, I think for your game, what is important is
the spin in general.
Mm-hmm.
Spin from the baseline to be able to keep the ball in play and be consistent, as you said.
And spin on the serve in order to have a real second serve.
Otherwise, you're basically putting the ball like this on the other side.
Yeah.
It is a second serve technically, but you cannot really have a second serve that is
annoying for the opponent.
And for this, you need spin.
And the spin, as I explained to you, it's how you hit the ball.
Here, I hit the ball flat.
I hit the ball in his back.
Here, I slice the ball.
I hit the ball on the side.
And here, I kick the ball.
Mm-hmm.
I brush the ball in his back.
Yeah, brush it up.
Okay?
You naturally have a bit more slice than kick, I think.
So maybe we can start on the slice.
And a good second serve, you don't decelerate.
You hit the ball as hard as you would hit a first serve.
Yeah.
But the speed of your racket is used to create spin.
So the ball turns a lot, and it's less fast.
If you hit the ball in his back, it's like this.
Mm-hmm.
If I hit on the side, you see the difference?
Yeah.
It's the orientation of my racket head.
Here or here.
Yeah.
Okay?
Okay.
So let's do it without the ball first.
Mm-hmm.
Up, slice.
So up.
Okay.
So if you start with an ace, it's not going to work.
Mm-hmm.
Yeah.
That was an ace.
That was good.
I know.
That was good.
Okay.
That was good.
One more.
It was more spin than ever before.
This one was completely flat.
Mm-hmm.
But from behind, we could literally see that the racket head was like this when I hit the ball.
And what you want is this.
Okay.
Okay?
Mm-hmm.
Like this.
Okay?
We're going to do an exercise to feel it.
Mm-hmm.
It's to hit the ball with this part of the racket.
Like this.
Oh, I missed.
But it was a slice.
But that's a goal, by the way.
Yeah.
Up.
Like this.
Okay.
Okay?
Ready?
The result might be a bit funny.
Mm-hmm.
It doesn't matter.
You did your first real slice.
Yeah.
Wait.
That feels like...
But what I told you.
Yeah.
Instead of the ball hitting those strings and going...
It went like this.
Mm-hmm.
You brushed the ball on the side.
Okay.
One more.
Try to do the same.
Same goal.
Yes.
Mm-hmm.
Amazing.
Do you hear the sound?
Yeah.
Completely different.
It feels better.
Yeah.
One more.
It works every time.
It's incredible.
Yes.
Great.
I can feel it.
That was the first stage, and that's great.
Okay.
Now you see that the ball is going too much on the...
Yeah.
Which is normal.
Mm-hmm.
The goal was for you to feel it.
Knowing what you just did, being able to hit the ball really with the orientation of
the racket head almost perfectly straight.
Mm-hmm.
Just a little bit.
Mm-hmm.
You're gonna...
You're gonna make it a bit less.
Instead of being completely like this, you're gonna go a bit like that.
Okay.
Yeah.
So, in between the flat serve and the serve with this part of the racket.
In the middle.
Yeah.
I don't know.
It's not bad at all.
Come on.
That was flat, no?
That's what I thought.
Close your hand.
Now, the moment you hit the ball.
Mm-hmm.
Not like this.
Close it.
Yes.
Okay.
That's much better.
Okay.
The ball still goes there.
Mm-hmm.
I'll tell you why.
So, that's...
The orientation is very good now.
You're hitting the ball like this, but your arm is going there.
So, if both here and the arm goes there, it goes...
So, your goal is that your arm goes here, in front, as if you would want to hit the
tee.
Yeah.
But the orientation is still the same.
And here, you have the result.
Yes.
I'm really happy with the slice.
The ball really turns.
That's amazing.
Okay.
And it's so different from what you were doing.
Yeah.
I understand.
And it's normal that the ball goes to the left.
Okay.
Keep doing it, and push your arm.
Even try to hit on the other box.
Aim at the other box, and then you're going to find a way to hit the slice.
Okay.
Oh, yes!
Oh!
That was good.
Wow!
Again, again, again.
Very good.
Yeah!
Super.
Very good.
Again.
Oh, yes!
We have to stop on this one.
This one was amazing.
That was really good.
No, but it was getting better and better.
Yeah.
You feel it now.
Yeah, I do.
I do feel it.
And this is a great second serve.
Mm-hmm.
And when you get used to spinning the ball, you'll see that you are consistent with your
second serve.
And you can hit way harder.
Amazing.
Congratulations.
Yes.
Thank you.
You did a great job.
