Nicole Havlicek Tennis

As a 3.5 player hoping to be 4.0 sooner than later — I have been taking regular clinics with Nicole since last year, and have been very happy with my progress. She is encouraging for everybody to try to improve as much as they want, and her positive pro-​active attitude works well for me. I like how she always has plenty of of specific ideas for what we can focus on during any given session — but she also always asks first if anybody has specific things that they’d like to work on – and she’s then easily able to adapt her plan to accommodate some alternate skill-​specific work.
Since Nicole is such a good player with a strong tennis background, her instincts to get to the net and poach and mix it up with a variety of strokes — are good for me to observe. I didn’t take up tennis seriously until my middle-​aged years, and feel like I need the reminders/​demonstrations/​encouragement to be as aggressive as one should be to be a 4.0. And that being said, Nicole has never made me feel like a coot :) — she always seems to assume that I’m as capable and full of potential as anybody else, and I appreciate that.
Whatever the skill level or age of the tennis enthusiast, I would not hesitate at all to recommend Nicole to help them build their tennis skills!

My wife found Nicole on Unilocal as we’re looking for a new tennis coach. She had great reviews and use to play for UC Berkeley (extra credibility right there). We were looking for a coach as my wife has a tennis competition in a few weeks and want to improve her game (I’m just a beginner).
We did one lesson with Nicole and improved our game right after the first lesson! We’ve been on a weekly schedule ever since.
Since our first lesson, we really like Nicole’s ability to point out mistakes on our fundamentals & providing immediate feedback, different drills to improve our game as a whole, ability to identify our weakness and focus on making them better andd very creative in coming up with different drills to make it fun (i.e. my wife vs me on multiple drills).
As for Nicole, she loves tennis and her enthusiasm shows on the court. She’s very responsible (first to the court, let us know in advance on weather conditions) and has a great personality. From her experience playing competitively for a number of years, she makes tennis look so simple as she plays with great fundamentals with the right mechanics.
There’s always a lot more to learn and we hope to continue improving our game. We’ll definitely recommend Nicole to our peers at all levels of tennis.

I was fortunate a friend tipped me off to take lessons with Nicole. I’ve worked with a variety of coaches, some individually and others in clinics. I definitely was impressed — and still am — that Nicole played Division I tennis at UC Berkeley. It’s great that Nicole has the bona fides and, like anything, finding the right tennis coach is about chemistry.
I really and truly enjoy working with Nicole. I always have a sense of anticipation and excitement before our lessons. Nicole is incredibly warm and down to earth in addition to being professional and focused. With her natural energy and enthusiasm, Nicole creates a safe, fun space to learn. That’s key, because sometimes, as adults, we have forgotten that learning is a process.
I wasn’t new to tennis when I started working with Nicole. I did, however, feel stuck at the level at which I’d began when I started competing on USTA league teams in 2009. Working with Nicole has improved my game. Our work together helped me bump up that initial rating.
Specifically, Nicole has helped me address my backhand, which I used to wrap rather than extend. We’ve spent some time addressing my wonky serve. It feels like what we’re doing together is collaboration — we’re working in service of improving my game. I take a long view of that process.
When I won my first match in singles as a 3.5-level player this season, the first person I wanted to tell was Nicole. That wouldn’t be so unusual, except for the fact that I hadn’t been able to work with her for some months for budgetary reasons. Nicole was so incredibly supportive when she heard my news. It was cool. I like having someone in my corner. Isn’t that what we all want when we work with a coach?

Nicole is everything you would want in a couch. She has been working with my daughter for the past year. She has helped her so much with her stroke, serve, physical conditioning, and the mental part of her game. She is truly one of the few coaches that we have had (and believe me we have had quite a few throughout the years) that truly truly cares for the development of these kids. She wants to make sure she takes them to their next level. She is fun, yet very firm when needed. She is the best and I would highly recommend her.

I’ve been playing tennis since I was a kid (with a long break in the middle) and have had some excellent coaches, but Nicole is the best.
She teaches with enthusiasm, ease, organization encouragement and humor. And, she uses effective, sometimes creative, methods that work. For example, she had me wear a hairband elastic around my elbows to practice my volley and keep me from flailing and swinging like a maniac (as I tended to do). I was dubious, but, lo and behold, I finally felt how I should be moving my arms to volley well (or at all) and my volleying has improved 150%.
I started semi-​private and private lessons with Nicole last fall and just completed my best 40+ and 18+ USTA seasons ever as an adult player. I think I’ve improved because she not only has identified my weak spots and provided the right feedback and focus to correct problems, she has also evaluated my strengths and found ways I can improve those too. The results have been solid, especially for an aging amateur such as myself. I envy kids who can engage her experience, talent and enthusiasm at an early age — I expect she will be a great mentor for aspiring kids hoping to play competitively in high school, college or beyond.
Also, we have also used Nicole for team clinics and they were fun and helpful — we will do that again.

Nicole is working with my son, a high school varsity singles player. She quickly identified aspects of his game that need improvement and designed drills specifically tailored to work on those areas. She is teaching him to capitalize on his strengths. He is learning to serve like an ATP Pro. She expects and gets his best effort at each lesson. I am a USTA 4.0 rated player and am present during each lesson. I have been able improve my strokes just by watching them work and practicing with my son. I would recommend Nicole to anyone who is serious about tennis and wants to improve their game right now.

What I like about how Nicole has been teaching our 8-​year old daughter:
— Her attention to detail
— her «old school» approach, making sure my daughter is learning a variety of strokes with the proper technique in a methodical way
— she makes it fun and challenging
— she works on all the strokes, proper volleying technique, both slice and topspin ground strokes, overhead and serve with the continental grip
— she is teaching not just how to hit the ball, but why you would hit down the line or cross court, when to hit the short ball and move to the net
— she really cares about developing good fundamentals for young players as a foundation for fun and success down the line
— she make sure my daughter «gets it», by having her describe what’s she’s doing and why
— My daughter’s game is really improved
— My game has improved as well, from just watching and listening to Nicole!

Without a doubt, Nicole is an amazing tennis coach and person. She has immensely improved my son’s tennis game over the past 6 months. In particular, Nicole has worked on his forehand and second serve to be more consistent and penetrating. My son is 11 years old and has a mercurial type of personality; however, Nicole has a way of talking to him so he can focus on the task at hand. I definitely recommend Nicole Havlicek to be your next tennis coach!

Nicole has taught me that I can hit with wicked-​strong ground strokes that still feel relaxed and effortless. I can finally play at a competitive (4.0) level of tennis, and not have the shoulder pain I developed from my previous training.
And if you want to develop a powerful and difficult-​to-​return
second serve, Nicole is definitely the right person for that. Just don’t send your opponents to her! ;)

In addition to having the credentials of being a highly successful top collegiate player, Nicole is a fabulous coach and teacher. Not all great players make great coaches, but Nicole sure does.
Specifically, I sought Nicole’s help with my serve. As a tall lefty, I should be able to have more power and make use of lefty spin more effectively. Nicole was able to diagnose a small flaw in my technique and give me an actionable correction to vastly improve my serve. Now I have the serve to back up my 5.0 rating.
I have taken a lot of lessons over the years and most «tennis pros» are terrible… glorified ball feeders. If you truly want to improve something in your game whether it is technical or tactical, Nicole is a fabulous coach.

Nicole was a Cal Berkeley Division 1 Tennis Player! Need I say more. She’s an amazing player, and has the innate ability to see where you need improvement and guide you through the process.
She has done wonders for my ground strokes and especially my serve. A lesson with Nicole flies by because you are learning and having a blast at the same time.
She is a secret weapon and a good one to have on your side!

I have taken tennis lesson all over the world.
I belong to SFTC.
Nicole is –BY FAR– the most knowledgable Pro I have taken from.
She actually has the tennis chops to back up what she is teaching.
She is a CAL SUPSTAR–
There are pages and pages (I stopped looking at 3^rd page) on her if you GOOGLE her — PRO AND COLLEGE (div 1) tennis play. I am pretty sure she played against Hingis professionally— that is real sh! t…
Google your current Pro– see what comes up ?? pretty Sad Stuff
I am super dedicated –but she has moved me forward in the last 8 months ridiculously fast.
I have won 2 tournaments and my USTA rating got bumped up.
So if you are like me and don’t want to waste your time with hacks or posers
AND
you are serious about moving your game forward — Nicole is your Coach/​Pro.

Nicole is a fabulous tennis resource for players of all ages and levels.
She has given lessons to myself, a 3.5 recreational player, and my son, a competitive junior. She identifies areas of the game that need to be improved and works on the technical corrections for strokes, as well as match play strategy and the mental game. She also is a great person to play practice matches with. I’ve also participated in and observed group lessons and clinics she has given to adults and juniors.