I started seriously working with Jim about 1 year ago in 2022, as I wanted to put the time and effort into seriously improving my tennis. Prior to seeing Jim, I had hit with another coach and a couple friends, but was still very new to the game as I had just started in the spring of 2022.

Over the course of the past year, Jim has taken me from effectively 0 to a 3.5 player that can reliably hit a very strong forehand and backhand with topspin and accuracy. He has taught me fundamentals of the game including how to develop early vision for where a ball is headed, how to use the best footwork to attack the oncoming ball, and how to best position myself to produce the best, reliable swing-path and recovery each and every time. At the end of the day, this consistency, vision and technique is part of what makes a great tennis player.

Jim has a number of strong abilities as a coach, but what truly differentiates him from others is the ability to “see” what a person needs to do to improve their game. Once he hones in on a weakness, he is phenomenal at incorporating focused skills building exercises and drills that improve your game very quickly.

Therefore, when you work with Jim, you aren’t just hitting the ball with another tennis pro. You’re hitting the ball with a tennis pro that is observing each of your movements and developing a plan of attack on how to make you the best possible tennis player you can be.

I have not found this ability in any other coach to the same degree, and for that reason, I would strongly recommend Jim as a tennis coach for minors and adults. He is absolutely fantastic and I can’t imagine what my tennis game would be like without him.

Matt Fierstein

I took both private lessons and group lessons with Jim. I used to to hit my backhand strokes like I was playing golf. But after Jim went over the basics of setting up with my foot and swinging the racquet the correct way, now I can hit backhand strokes more comfortably. Jim is very passionate about teaching tennis. He gets as excited as you when you hit the ball correctly. Even during group lessons, he still watches evey student carefully so he can tell us how to improve. Either private lesson or group lesson, you can’t go wrong with Tennis Approach. I highly recommend Jim as a tennis instructor for people at all levels.

-Michelle

My daughter barely 4, who is not very athletic type, joined Tennis Approach last summer. She has a long way to go, yet I could see the improvements in her weak areas just within a month of time. My daughter’s motor skill development, flexibility, mental focus, physical stamina, footwork and love for sports are getting better and better, thanks to her teacher Jim Alfalla took great efforts to asses and evaluate her skill level and then determined best teaching method suited for her. He is a great teacher who is very friendly, gives right cues, rewards right appreciation, encourages with enthusiasm, pays sharp attention to details and has patience to correct student’s repeated mistakes endless times over and over. He is very creative to keep kid interested through warm up, stretching regime and introduces new attacking techniques with zen like calmness.  From the very beginning he drills the ability to play from any area of the court, my daughter is still young but starting to understand how to hit correctly through the ball and understand imparting spin. The best part is-this all is becoming her second nature, her muscle memory is becoming strong and reflexes sharp, she is enjoying every minute of the class and all I can say is “WOW”! Thank you Tennis Approach for giving my Ananya much needed athletic edge! Rupa Sha ” – Thanks !

”  My daughter who is 9 years old has been training under Jim for around 3 years. She has developed skills to play tennis at a competitive level. She has learnt skills to play longer rallies, improve her serves and play both forehand and backhand strokes. My daughter has also participated in some tournaments based on her skill level. Jim was kind enough to accompany her on couples of occasions and guide her during the tournaments. Having seen my daughter progress in tennis under Jim, we also introduced tennis to my younger son who’s 4 years old. He has been learning tennis for the past 1 year. Jim has been very patient with my younger son and has a good knack of working with younger ones too. Both my kids enjoy playing with Jim and we surely recommend Jim to anyone who would like to learn tennis under his guidance. Jim has the right attitude, commitment and the great skills as a coach to guide kids of different ages !  Indu ” – 9 Year Old Daughter Trina

“Raina is 8 this year and  has been learning tennis from Coach Jim at Tennisapproach for a few years now. She really enjoys it. Coach Jim is very methodic but at the same time full of fun and energy. His training sessions are well designed with the newest approach for young children (using the less bouncy balls) so that they can learn to rally much more quickly than the traditional way. This enables them to really start enjoying and really “playing” tennis early on. Vivian Ouyang ” – Raina Ouyang

“When our son was three and a half years old we were looking for a coach who could nurture his penchant for hitting a tennis ball thrown at him. We tried a couple of coaches and came back dissatisfied. They were more interested in running a business than making kids love the game and learn. Jim started teaching our son when he was about 4 years old. Three years hence our son loves Jim, tennis and his game has developed nicely. One of Jim’s greatest attributes is his patience with the young ones and ability to get through to them. His approach is wholistic, he focuses on movement, balance, speed and intuition as much as on proper technique. With the game the way it is, we think we have the right teacher! ” – Anuroop Yadav

”  Tennis Approach is an excellent place for kids especially for kids under 10 to learn tennis and have some fun. Our daughter has been with Tennis Approach since she was 3.5 years old, ( now 7.5 years old)  and there has never been a day where she has not enjoyed playing the game. She continues to learn new techniques and skills on an ongoing basis. Jim continues to be a great coach and mentor to her and focuses on both, strengths as well as on areas that need further development. He gears every class to her individual needs and teaches not only to exceed on the fundamentals skills but also gain advanced skills for her age group. We would definitely recommend Tennis Approach to anyone interested in tennis… ” – Deepika and Patrick Paul

“As die hard tennis fans, my husband and I introduced tennis to Dhruv as his first sport. Dhruv as a 3 year old used to hit against the garage wall. When we moved back from London we were looking for a coach who could get him to learn the skills and enjoy the sport.I vividly recall the day when Jim assessed Dhruv for a good half hour and simply told me we can start from tomorrow. He patiently started training him, doing various drills, working on every stroke, every technique, advocating a healthy lifestyle and an overall good attitude and personality development . It has been 3 years with Jim and I have not seen a more patient and thorough coach especially with kids at a much younger age. Dhruv has not only become a good player , but a good and passionate athlete. Dhruv now plays matches and Jim only continues to make them enjoyable , positive and has Dhruv look forward to the sessions . His unique style of teaching techniques keeps Dhruv  engaged through out the session and looking forward to more. A hidden gem of Jersey City- he is one of the best coaches I have seen. Thank you Jim ” – Thanks JIm and TennisApproach

“I had played tennis with friends for many years but remained a beginning level player. I took lessons from Jim for two summers and my game has improved considerably. Jim focused on form and footwork. We covered pretty much everything from backhand to volley. Based on my physical attributes and old habits, we tried different techniques until finding the right form for each swing, especially the serve. In every shot, I’ve become much more consistent and confident. I highly recommend Jim Alfalla of TennisApproach to players of all levels.   ” – Alex Chang – Thanks

Coach Jim has been teaching my daughter for close to three years now, she started at age six.  Before Tennis Approach, we used another school that taught using the ‘old’ format – drop ball, hit ball, there was limited progress and interest.  The “10 and under method” introduces an appropriate sized court, lower compression balls and incorporates dynamic movement.  Jim makes learning tennis fun and interesting.  He incorporates kid-friendly techniques and most importantly makes it engaging to kids.  My daughter’s game has improved leaps and bounds since she first picked up a racket.  She continues to develop her forehand and back hand swing and is now incorporating footwork. I am confident that under Jim’s guidance she will continue to to improve her game and most importantly develop a love for tennis. ” – Alex Cabarcos

My daughter started taking lessons from Coach Jim as part of the after school enrichment program at Ps #37  when she was ~4.5 yrs old and in the initial phase (when she had just got newly introduced to the tennis) her hand-eye coordination was very weak and it was a bit frustrating to see her struggle and barely make contact with the ball etc. However, Coach Jim patiently worked on the movement fundamentals and now I’m seeing good improvements in her second set of group sessions. Also, my daughter seems to be quite enjoying the sport and actually looking forward to the drills. I personally volunteered for this program and have witnessed Coach Jim  working on each & every kid individually depending on their strengths & weakness areas. Instead of adopting conventional one size fits all teaching techniques,  Coach Jim basically customizes the format “tailor-made” depending on the specific requirements and factoring-in age (and physical attributes like height, weight and skill level etc.). And so overall I have seen great positive strides in the other kids participating in this program as well. Hence whether you are a beginner or someone looking to enhance and polish the game I’m confident that Coach Jim will be able to help and take it to the next level. Thanks, Asha   ” – Thanks TennisApproach

“I learned to play relatively “late” in life-in my mid 20’s and since have played and trained with several tennis pros both locally and internationally. I’ve also trained with pros at Harvard and so when I started training with Jim I already had an idea of how the lessons would be. But instead I was pleasantly surprised by the amount of knowledge Jim was imparting in a “group lesson”. At other places these group lessons are a mix of drills and some point play without much feedback for an individual. With Jim , I got personal attention in a group lesson with an emphasis on strategies to improve my game for the recreational level. They actually provided tips during point play to maximize gains in terms of types of serve, analyzing opponent tactics and ball anticipation. I’ve been incredibly happy to have played with Jim ” – Ashwin from Newport

“Apparently when I called Jim to inquire about tennis lessons two years ago, little did I know that I was signing up for an entirely different experience, albeit a pleasant one.  I was expecting run-of-the-mill tennis lessons where the coach feeds the balls from the other side and I would be expected to hit over the net as many balls as I can get to without much regard to the technique.  Boy, was I wrong.  From his infectious passion for the sport to technical acumen to tactical expertise, he had every attribute that makes a great teacher of the sport, in addition to his sensitivity and insight to pick up my personality and to adapt the lesson to my learning style.  He was the first instructor who taught me how to shorten my backswing, use the kinetic chain, load and unload onto the shot, which made a world of difference.  In the last two years, I have made improvements by leaps and bounds, something I never thought was possible.  I did take a few lessons growing up with my sister who is now a teaching pro and never did I come across a teacher who was able to help me discover the love of the game as Jim did, which motivated me to work harder.  And my sister and everyone I play with invariably asks me who taught me how to play tennis.  Although I am generally satisfied with the improvements I have made, Jim still somehow continually finds areas in which I need work and gives constructive feedback to the point where I have to jokingly remind him I am not going pro at the age of 35   To sum up, Jim embodies everything any late starter could ask for in a coach and I highly recommend him for any student at any age or level. Erin Jersey City ” – Erin

“I’ve long loved watching the Grand Slams on TV, but it was only on my 50th birthday that I decided to try to learn to play the game. Jim geared lessons to my level, and I have been really pleased at the progress I’ve made. He’s patient when I find the skills challenging, and the drills are fun and varied. Through Tennis Approach lessons, I’ve gained confidence in my athletic ability overall. “