ABOUT
Father. Husband. Dog Lover.
Coach. Author. Speaker. Video Analysis.
EXPERIENCE
ATP Tour and WTA Tour Coach
Division 1 NCAA College Coach (9+ years)
Author
Academy and Club Director (15+ years)
Former Partner at a Tennis Analytics Company
USTA National Team Coach / Player Development Manager
PTR Tester / Clinician
Speaker and Podcast Guest
—- Click here for STUDENT SUCCESS —-
Career Highlights:
Won a Gold ball at the Boy’s 18’s National Indoor Championship
Won a Silver ball at the Boy’s 18’s USTA National Clay Court Championships
ITF Junior world ranking #336
3-time High School State Champion (Illinois 1995 and Florida 1997 and 1998)
Played for and graduated from the University of Michigan
NCAA ranking of #28 while playing on Wolverine squads that ranked inside the NCAA top 20
All Conference Award (5th Year) at University of South Florida, helped team win Conference USA title and reach a team ranking of #17 in the nation
Career wins over top pros and NCAA champs: James Blake, David Martin, Jeff Morrison, Robert Kendrick, K.J. Hippensteel, Matias Boeker, and more.
Graduate school: Illinois State University in graphic design
Inducted into the Springfield (Illinois) Sports Hall of Fame in 2024.
COACHING AWARDS
2012 USTA Virginia Teaching Pro of the Year
2013 PTR Mid-Atlantic Teaching Pro of the Year
2014 PTR Virginia Member of the Year
2019 USPTA Mid-Atlantic Teaching Pro of the Year
Tennis runs in Coach McCain’s blood. Both of his parents have been college coaches. His Father, Dave, has coached dozens of top nationally and world ranked players, and served for years as the Director of Tennis at Saddlebrook Resort in Florida. His mother Susan played for and later coached at Southern Illinois University.
His sister Kelly won several national junior titles, was an All-American at Duke University, played in all 4 grand slams while achieving a WTA ranking of #117, and also coached the Duke women’s tennis team to a national championship.
With 10+ years of college coaching under his belt (9 years at the Division 1 level), McCain has also coached junior squads at the USTA National Team Championships, the USTA Mid-Atlantic National Team at Zonals, and many others.
For 3 years, Coach McCain served as the Co-Director of Tennis at the Higueras-Gorin Tennis Academy. During this time, he worked for legendary coaches Jose Higueras and Vitaly Gorin, who worked with a wide range of top nationally and internationally ranked juniors, ITF champions, and WTA and ATP pros who won titles at every level, including grand slams.
McCain was the USTA Manager of Player Development, where he worked with elite 9-13 year olds, helped organize sectional and regional training camps, ran parent education seminars, connected players and coaches, lead coaching education seminars, and served as lead coach for team competitions like The Maze Cup, The Pacific Cup, and more.
McCain has been a Head Pro and Tennis Director at Clubs in his 25+ years of experience. He has coached and traveled with players on the ATP and WTA pro tours, and worked with dozens of players that have won national, international, junior and collegiate titles. He has developed over 100 players that have received college scholarships and helped those families navigate their way through the recruiting process.
McCain’s published work and coaching experience have lead him to be a featured speaker at a number of events, camps, and conferences. This includes the PTR Symposium, USPTA Coaching Conventions, USTA Regional and Competitive Training Centers, College Exposure Camps, and Tennis Works Webinars. The Topics included Biomechanics, How Movement affects Tactics, Serve Mechanics and Strategy, Finding and Exploiting Opponent Weaknesses, Momentum in Tennis, Sport Psychology and Mental Skills in Tennis, Parent Education for Junior Player Periodization, Planning and Scheduling, Parent Education for Junior Player Psychological Needs, and more.
McCain has also been a Podcast Guest on Parenting Aces, a Tennis Channel Podcast, The Tennis IQ Podcast, and 10sJunkies, and The Approach: A Podcast on Tennis Development.
For 9 years, he worked with the PTR as a Tester and Clinician, running coaching education workshops part-time, while serving as the Tennis Director and Head Coach for Cape Henry Racquet Club in Virginia Beach. Click here for details on Coach McCain’s coaching certifications.
Author
McCain has published 6 books on tennis on topics ranging from raising a champion, goal setting, movement fundamentals, biomechanics, tactics and strategy.
His work provides readers with research and analysis from many of the most respected tennis minds in the world.
Creator and Founder of UTR (Universal Tennis Rating) Dave Howell said “This book is an Ace.”
How the Tennis Gods Serve dives deep into the technical and tactical realm of the sport’s most influential shot. The 6 stages of the Serve are revealed from videos and analysis of top pros. Proven strategies of how the tennis gods back up their serves with patterns of play, metrics and habits of elite servers are also included. Available only in ebook format, the content is driven by short videos and contributions from many of the top tennis minds in the world.
The critically acclaimed book Functional Training For Tennis has hit the Top 10 on the Amazon Bestseller’s List.
The International Tennis Performance Association said “Read this great resource from one of our ITPA members and a great coach and trainer Dan McCain.”
Movement Specialist to Grand Slam Champions & Olympians Allistair McCaw of the McCaw Method Sports Performance said “In today’s game, one thing is for sure: the best players are also the best movers. How the Tennis Gods Move is a must read for those who not only wish to improve their game, but better understand the mechanics and elements of better movement.”
Grand slam champions, NCAA champions, former players ranked in the top 20 in the world, & household tennis names such as Vic Braden, Tim Mayotte, legendary Stanford Coach Dick Gould, & ATP Tour veterans deliver life lessons and stories from their journey through the top levels of the sport.
Momentum in Tennis reveals the life lessons and perspectives on the mental game from the top coaches and players in the world.
The I Formation is a tennis player’s journal for goal setting, performance and life. Pages regarding strategy, tactics, game style, emotional awareness, momentum, & more also are included, encouraging players to evolve, simplify & solidify their tactical & technical goals, & understand what it takes to reach them.
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