On April 24, 2024, I lost my tennis coach, Dan Steiner.

I played a lot of tennis for over 3 decades after college. As a beginner I took a few basic lessons, but then I just played. Because I was athletic, I was okay but not great. Due to a lack of the proper stretching, in 2010 I was unable to serve properly and retired from tennis. Several years later, I met a physical therapist/trainer who worked with me to rehab my broken body. And to my delight was able to play tennis again.

In 2021 ten years after my tennis retirement, I met Dan Steiner at Ascension Genesys Health Club in his Skills & Drills Class. He was about my age but in amazing shape. Over time I would observe his workout/exercise routine which seemed to last most of the day, and it included both general physical conditioning and also hitting thousands of tennis balls with the ball machine.

Dan was the real deal. He was a tennis scientist. He had coached many successful high school tennis players over the years. He would spend hours understanding tennis biomechanics and he studied all the great players online. So, my classmates and I were the beneficiaries of his deep tennis knowledge. He would videotape us, watch the video at home, and then offer suggestions at our next class.

He instructed us as if we were teenagers with a lot of years ahead of them, and young bodies with high potential. I won’t mention the other students, but I am in my eighth decade. Dan Steiner treated me like I was 16 years old. He behaved with me like I had a lot of potential. However, I was very skeptical. In high school, I was referred to as a “coach’s ball player”, which I guess meant that I would listen to my coach and attempt to do what he told me to do.

Well, over the months I experienced a gradual improvement in my game. Then one day, Dan told us he was going to have heart valve surgery, but would be back, which he was. And then sadly the pancreatic cancer was discovered. He was in and out of chemo treatments with serious side effects and pain, that he never complained about unless we asked him. Almost every Tuesday and Thursday at 10am, he was court side to instruct us. As the months went by, one of the other coaches, Ben, would hit the balls to us, while Dan would provide the teaching and correction to our strokes.

The picture above was his last day of instruction in late February 2024. Ben was hitting the balls that day, but Dan physically put my arm into the correct position to hit a proper serve.

So, Doubting Thomas learned how to play the best tennis, including ground strokes, serve, and net game, that he has ever played. Most of you have probably never played tennis. When you hit your ground strokes correctly there is a “popping” sound. Today because of Dan Steiner, this old guy’s ground strokes make that beautiful sound.

Dan Steiner was truly an extraordinary coach who believed you could do things you doubted. I will forever be thankful for my second chance at tennis and my special coach and friend, Dan Steiner.