Tennis Pro Series – Meet Tait Becke

Tait, so glad you’re willing to share some information and facts about yourself.

BACKGROUND

Where and when did you start to play tennis?

I started playing tennis at the Ottawa Athletic Club back in 2016, when I moved back from the UK, with the idea that adopting the coaching lifestyle would be a better fit than sitting in an office for me. I was extremely fortunate to have great coaches early, Carlo Zambri and Tony Roth, and I was able to advance relatively quickly. I began coaching full time in 2017 with many of the beginner programs that were running at Noble Tennis. Previously I had taken private lessons for a year or two with Carlo back when I was 9 or 10 years old, but didn't really start playing earnestly until I was 24. 

Memorable moment that inspired you and made you passionate about the sport. 

I've always been passionate about the sport, my mom is a big fan, and I have many fond memories watching Agassi vs Federer in the US Open, as well as the great rivalry between Rafa and Roger. But in terms of actually getting to play, nothing would beat watching the Noble Tennis Endless Summer Tennis tournament, particularly watching the play of Jeremy Gibbens-Schneider, Carlo Zambri, Jordan Sweeney and Ben Etheve-Meek. After the matches I was invited to hang out with them and during the general banter I was roped into playing a match against a 9-year-old the next day. Having not really played in 10 years, I got smoked by this 9-year-old girl, and I was basically locked into trying to get better since then! 

Mentors and how they inspired you. 

My mentors and role models are all the Noble Tennis School staff that I started learning with.  The team at Noble Tennis was absolutely amazing, they were all so welcoming and encouraging - it felt like a family, big shoutout to Carlo, Tony, Benny, Johnny, Greg, Dan, and Alex. They helped me get into coaching and because of their attitude and influence, coaching never felt like work! 

Fondest childhood memories. 

As children we used to bike to our local tennis courts in Chelsea and play on weekends, sometimes as a family. We didn't do it often, but playing doubles with my siblings and my dad was pretty fantastic. 

When and why did you choose to become a tennis pro?

While living in the UK, I was a part-time freelance musician and working full-time marketing concerts for a music company. Between those two things, I didn’t have much time to do anything else, period. When I was back in Ottawa visiting my family, I had breakfast with Carlo and the conversation encouraged me to formulate a plan to move back home to try to get into tennis. My main driving factor was just hating my working life trapped in an office. I was looking for something much more active and social, and involved with sport. I felt with tennis I had people that could show me the way. My basic approach was to save up as much money as I could for the rest of the year in the UK and then spend the next year taking lessons with Carlo and training as much as I could with the Noble Tennis School. Luckily for me, back in those times at the OAC, you could actually get tennis courts and play on a semi regular basis. I did a little trip to Paris to watch the French Open final (Djoker and Murray, with Djoker winning in 4 boring sets) and then moved back home after my work finished up in June 2016.  I spent the next year having lessons with Carlo. I had to supplement my income by working on my family's farm. So, I would shovel out horse stalls in the mornings and then come into town and do my tennis lessons.  I played everyone as much as I could and settled into that pattern. I was super lucky that year playing a lot of guys who helped me get better when I wasn't that great. Johnny Martin was huge letting me play in his Sunday night league which meant I got to play great matches.  He also would crush me in our matches back then, and that helped me get better too! Mark Chew played with me a ton, Mike Devine, and Adam McCosham were early training partners as well! By May 2017 I was able to pass my instructor certification and started coaching in the summer camps. By the end of the summer my level was decent enough that I was able to join as a full-time coach for the winter of 2017/2018 and that's how it all got going. 

 

LIFE AS A PRO

What are the most challenging things about being a tennis pro? Best things? 

Most challenging thing about being a tennis pro is always making sure you are bringing the right energy and atmosphere to practice. It can be difficult sometimes, especially with newcomers to tennis.  Your energy and passion about tennis can really get them excited about the sport, which is obviously so important, but it can also be draining.  

Best things by far are the relationships you build with the students. They continuously develop and change. I'm still working with the same group of junior players that I started with back in 2017. Watching them go from 5/8 years old to now being 16-19 years old is absolutely wild and so rewarding. Teaching so many great kids and adults, has enabled me to make so many friends and build so many cool relationships. The tennis community is absolutely awesome! 

Best moment while teaching tennis? Worst moment? 

I absolutely love travelling with the kids for tournaments.  There is a great atmosphere at most the events, and it’s always so cool to see how everyone else is playing, and where you stack up!

I like to say it’s always a good day if I get to be teaching tennis or being on court, or the opportunity to reply to how's it going with 'Always good!' and its true, I really can’t think of any bad memories coaching. Although I did once have a 4-year-old pee on the court…

THE GAME

What have you seen change the most in tennis during your life? What was the impact?

Honestly probably the biggest difference in professional tennis has been many of the top players getting more similar. I feel like there is less room for crazy styles to thrive in today’s game. I miss the days of Fernando Gonzalez crushing massive forehands, or Ivo Karlovic with his monster serves, or Taylor Dent with his serve and volleying, or Leyton Hewitt counterpunching. I feel like everyone on the tour is pretty good at everything but there are less outstanding single tool players.

How do you determine your opponent's strengths and weaknesses? What is your favourite strategy to use in competition?

I tend to use the first three games of most matches as an assessment period to try to get a feel for my opponent’s game, and attempt to build a successful strategy from that point. During that time, I try to play to bigger targets and hit a lot of balls to make them play a lot of balls too. This way I get time to properly assess their (and my own) strengths and weaknesses. 

If I get to pick, and if it works, I like the Rafael Nadal strategy of just going after the opponent’s backhand and covering as much of the court with my forehand as I can, make them feel like there is no way out, and I'm going to make them do the same thing over and over and over again until they get tired, or miss. I love the grindy nature of tennis, the idea that there is no finish line, and you can always come back. So, extending matches, and making every point as physical as possible and pounding away at the backhand would be my favorite thing to do!

When you feel overwhelmed or unfocused while playing tennis, what do you do? 

I like to let the physical dictate the mental, so anytime you are unfocused or overwhelmed, it starts with yourself. Are you bringing the right energy, are your feet moving, are you bouncing before you return the serve, and being activated before you serve? I often find if the physical engagement is at the correct level, it’s super hard to lose focus because your so locked in on what has to be done physically. 

What skills or lessons learned from outside of tennis do you blend into your tennis game and/or tennis lessons?

I feel like this is actually something I'm pretty good at! I played many other sports growing up, but really not that much tennis, so I find I’m blending skills from ultimate frisbee, soccer, football and hockey, and finding crossover techniques that can be adapted in my tennis technique. When I coach, to make it easier for my student to develop a skill, I try to bring in similarities, such as the throwing of a football and serving in tennis. I'm also getting better at spotting which other sports students may have played, such as those with a great slice, but not many other strokes, chances are they played squash before. Or if they have an awesome serve, but other things are weak, they might have played football or volleyball. If someone has a crazy overhead and serve, but are much less natural at other strokes, it’s a good chance they played badminton. A great two-handed backhand comes from hockey. There are many examples of this, but it’s always fun to be right when I'm guessing! 

TIPS AND ADVICE

What advice would you give to your younger self?

Start taking tennis seriously earlier you idiot! Super wish I had played as a junior! So many matches and so much training time I missed out on!  

What is the best advice you have ever been given?

Best advice is the simplest advice. Watch the ball. Your body knows what it has to do, but you need to see it to let it happen, and it’s still shocking how often you can play and then realise your not really watching what's happening or seeing it clean enough. 

Advice to ignore? 

A coach in one of my first tournaments once told me to not worry and play my normal game against John Savone and I would be fine. I was not fine. In fairness to him, I don't think I could have changed anything anyway, but it would have been nice to have a heads up that he stands directly on top of the baseline and takes everything incredibly early! 

next generation of professional, and College athletes

What is one of the best or most worthwhile investments you've made in your tennis game? 

Any time I get to have a lesson I feel so lucky, and it's super worthwhile and nice, especially as a coach, to have someone else look at your game and guide areas to improve upon. Just because you can look at others and assess what's going on doesn't mean you can assess yourself and having an outside opinion that you trust is so important. It’s so hard to see what's going on in your own game while you are playing matches.  

What tips do you have for newcomers to tennis?

Don't be afraid to play matches. It's one of the fastest ways to improve. As soon as you can serve and keep score, you can play a match. And by putting yourself in that situation and using your tools to try and play the actual game, they will get better! Equally from a coaching standpoint, it’s so much faster to work from a point of 'I played and I feel this'. So, you go and fix that and then play another match, and probably something different will break, whether it’s your serve or forehand or backhand or volleys or whatever. So, you go train and fix that, then play again, it breaks again, you fix it again. Carlo says, 'Let the game be the teacher' and that's a perfect way of learning. 

What recommendations do you have for players to avoid injury?

I'm a huge believer in yoga, hydration, and nutrition. Love doing my yoga sessions to make sure everything is loose and working properly. For me I know I tend to get tight in certain areas from coaching and playing, so I tend to target those areas in my yoga sessions.  Combining that with some decent hydration and a bit of care on diet, and I've been lucky to not be injured all that much. I'm a big Tom Brady fan, and he has a great book called the TB12 method - it's a great starting point.

Is it better for children to dedicate themselves to only one sport, or to play multiple sports?

That’s such a tough question. Speaking as someone who played a little bit of every sport, I wish I had focused on one and been able to do more with it. Trying to do anything seriously will open so many doors, and you really don't know where those paths will lead you. Equally you look at someone like Andre Agassi, and there's a guy that was pushed into one sport and seems to have hated it. My feeling is that it's a case-by-case basis. If you’re having fun and love your sport, then go crazy with it. If that's not for you, and variety is the spice of life, then that's cool too. There's also obviously so many athletic benefits and physical literacy benefits to playing multiple sports that are hard to ignore. If I had to pick, I would suggest playing multiple sports up to the age of 10/11, and then figuring out what you really love and then go absolutely nuts on that sport. 

Any advice for people with disabilities / physical challenges on playing tennis?

I feel like tennis is for everyone! It's one of the best games to play with any kind of limitation or disability. No matter where you are physically, the game can be adapted and taught. There is a progression or a game within tennis that everyone can play. Most coaches can adapt the game to match what you are able to do, and as soon as you have some way of starting a point and keeping the score, you’re good to play the game in some form! 

In the last five years, what new belief, behaviour or habit has most improved your life? Your tennis game?

Honestly the most important thing for me is being able to play the game. The biggest thing in that area has been getting way more educated like I said before on my nutrition, hydration, and doing a much better job on my prehab to prevent injuries before they happen as much as I can. If I'm on court, I'm happy. So, I'm trying super hard to be able to play as much as I can, and take care of myself so that I'm able to do that. 

Biggest change in my tennis game has really been in the last two years.  I lost the ONEC Club Final against Owen Dunn back in 2022, but in that match, I actually tried to do something out of my comfort zone and serve and volley and come forward to the net much more after I got crushed in the first set hanging back and rallying. Even though I didn't end up winning the match, I won the second set being so much more aggressive, and I was close in the third. But I had been feeling so stuck improvement wise, and this just opened up a whole world of like 'oh yeah' there are so many ways to play the game.  I find that I can get super focused on one thing and this was the first time that I felt like I had to play a different way, and it worked. So, it really changed the way I approach the game!

Are there any quotes that you think of often or live by? 

There are so many great ones. Carlo has a great one I particularly like: 'Tennis is like a spiral staircase, you just keep coming back to the same topics over and over again, doing them at a higher level as your overall level goes up.' Its so true and so good. Other great ones are Stan Wawrinka’s, 'Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try Again. Fail again. Fail better'.  Love that one!  There is also Rafa's, 'Losing is not my enemy; Fear of losing is my enemy.' 

What is an unusual habit or an absurd thing that you love?

I'm not sure if its that unusual but my favorite place to be is my hot tub. Everyone is all into the cold plunges right now, but after a big day of tennis, there's nothing better than kicking back and having a nice dip in the hot tub. Just the absolute best! 

LAST WORDS

I've never written so much about myself before honestly!

The last thing is that I just became a partner in Performance Tennis (www.performancetennis.ca), a really cool tennis shop on the corner of Leonard and Hopewell in old Ottawa South. Everyone should stop by the store and come and chat tennis, possibly have me take a look to see if you need new strings, grips, tennis gear, shoes, whatever. If it’s tennis related, chances are we have it (or we can order it for you). We also have a fantastic demo racquet program, so if you’re looking to try a few frames out before buying one or just want to see what the new racquets feel like, we do that for no charge! You just have to leave your name and phone number, so we can harass you when you forget to bring the racquet back because you like it so much! Everyone who works there has great tennis knowledge; we can help provide personalized recommendations.  If you happen to come by on a Friday, Carlo is in (mostly he is anyway, it’s hard to pin him down hours wise), so it's always a special treat chatting with him! 

Thank you so much for this opportunity to get to know you better!

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Tait Becke is a Certified Club Pro 1 and a member of the Tennis Professional Association. Before joining the ONEC instructor team, Tait taught at the Noble Tennis School, previously located at the now defunct Ottawa Athletic Club. He is also part of Compound Performance, a full-service tennis academy aimed at developing the next generation of professional, and college athletes.

Tait can be reached at:

tbecke@hotmail.com (613) 712-2311

To learn more about the tennis programs at the Ottawa New Edinburgh Club, please visit:

www.onec.ca

www.onec.ca/tennis/lessons/

To register for any ONEC programs, please contact ONEC by email at info@onec.ca

or call (613) 746-8540

To learn more about Compound Performance tennis and fitness, please visit

www.compoundperformance.ca/