return, were all hit trying to keep my opponent from hitting the ball back. I never even realized this was happening. My competitive instincts did not allow me to follow the idea to hit the first few shots to set up the point. As a result, I lost to a lot of players who were consistent, but could not really do anything to hurt me with their shots. By altering my idea just slightly, trying to use my serve, return of serve and first couple of shots to set up the point, would have resulted in many less unforced errors on my side and a lot more success. I finally figured some of this out as I got ..read more

If you are looking towards your opponent when playing a match, you can see most, or all, of the court with your peripheral vision. As the ball is coming towards you, the amount of the court that you can see gets smaller. This is one of the reasons why we have such a hard time keeping our focus on watching the ball. Trying to pay attention to your opponent’s position, the shot that they just hit, and the shot that you are about to hit, is very difficult since you cannot watch all of these things at the same time. My advice is to keep your focus on the ball and not the player. Make contact with ..read more

There is no cookie cutter recipe to create the perfect player. Each player’s strokes are different, their style is different, their mentality is different, and even their movement is different. It is important for a coach to let the player develop along the lines of their own individual characteristics. If a coach can give a player the basic technique ideas and let that player incorporate some of their own unique ideas and methods into their game, it is likely to result in a more complete development of that player. There are many things that the best players have in common-early preparation ..read more

Almost everyone who plays the game of tennis has one baseline shot that they prefer. Most players favor their forehand, but as the level of the player increases, many develop stronger backhands. Regardless of which shot you would rather hit, you can use the other shot to help set up the point. The first step in this process is identifying and accepting that one shot is better than the other. Once you determine this, practice hitting three or four of your weaker shots in a row. This is important because your opponent is likely to target that side of the court. If you can show them that you will ..read more

Often, we are worried that if we try to hit the same shot  that was used in a winning point, our opponent will be ready for it. If you hit a great inside out forehand that wins the point, try to hit that same shot again. If you hit this same shot, you are likely to hit it well because your body and mind will work together using muscle memory. This repetition helps you do things consistently. If your opponent adjusts and starts anticipating your shot, just throw in something different once in a while. Your best plan is to hit shots that have been working during the match. Don’t f ..read more

The ready position is extremely important when preparing to react to a shot. Keeping the racquet head up will allow you to use your upper body turn with shoulders and hips to get the racquet in the correct position to move to the ball. This technique helps keep your wrist firm on the backswing and allows things to happen more efficiently. If the racquet head drops before you read the direction of your opponent’s shot, your arm and wrist are likely to take over resulting in a much more inconsistent path to hitting the ball. Keeping the racquet head up in the ready position will get your upper b ..read more

Taking time away from your opponent can make it very difficult for them to hit their shots well and execute their strategy. Hitting the ball faster is the most common way that players try to take time away from their opponent. However, there are several other ways to do this. One is to adjust your position on the court. If you can stand a step or two closer in, you will hit the ball sooner and decrease the distance between you and your opponent. To do this, you must be ready early and possibly shorten your backswing. On the same note, if you can hit the ball on the rise rather than waiting for ..read more

There are a lot of tennis players who are able to hit the ball extremely well. This is especially the case with groundstrokes. Most practice time tends to be spent rallying and hitting from behind the baseline so many players are comfortable bashing balls back and forth. If most points are being played from the baseline position, the player who hits the ball better is likely to win more of the points. However, if you recognize that your opponent is hitting better shots than you are, my recommendation is to use your head to make it more difficult for them to execute those shots. Try some differ ..read more

It is important to focus on the things you can control on the tennis court. This starts with your serve. The serve is the only shot you hit that is not affected by your opponent. Find a serve that you feel good about, can hit consistently, and helps you get control of the point. Direct the serve towards your opponent’s weaker side. This may change slightly from opponent to opponent, but try to pay more attention to what you are doing on your side of the net. Once you get into the point, focus on your preparation. Turn your shoulders as soon as you see where the ball is going, get your feet to ..read more

The trend these days is to stand further back to return serve. A large number of professional players are using this strategy to give themselves more time to take a big swing at the serve even if it is hit with a lot of pace. If the server hits the serve and recovers back to, or behind the baseline, this gives the returner the whole court to hit the ball to. With no pressure on them, it is likely that the returner can gain an advantage over the server, or at least get the point back to a 50-50 situation, thereby making the serve almost irrelevant. By serving and volleying against the deep retu ..read more