Archive for the ‘Tennis Tips’ Category
I found an interesting article where 11 time Grand Slam Champion Bjorn Borg is talking about an important lesson he learned about tennis when he was young:
“I used to be one of the worst behaved kids on the tennis court. When I was 11 or 12 years old I played for my hometown club outside Stockholm where I grew up and one day the club arranged a meeting with my parents to do something about my behaviour.
Swearing, throwing racquets – you name it, I was doing it. My parents were really embarrassed.
The club decided to suspend me for six months and I was really sad and disappointed because I loved to play tennis.
That was a great lesson for me at the time. When I came back after six months I did not open my mouth and that’s probably where I got my temperament from.
Sure you have feelings and you get emotional and angry but I kept everything inside because I think I still had that thought in my mind – I didn’t want to get suspended again.
My dream as a kid was to play Wimbledon and maybe one day to win Wimbledon but to win it five times in a row, I remember my match against John McEnroe in 1980 walking off that court, it was the best thing to happen.
To win that last point in the Wimbledon final – that’s the most wonderful feeling you can have as a tennis player. That was the best that I could perform.
Of course I felt sometimes inside that I could show an outburst of emotions but I kept them inside and I could still focus and concentrate on the game.
It is a learning process. When I was practising as a kid, I always wanted to win.
It didn’t matter if it was a practice, I wanted to win every single point. I practised five hours a day and I wanted to win every single point in those five hours.
Still in my mind I had the suspension when I was a kid and I think by being very serious on the court, learning how to play well under pressure, I could play really well on the important points in the match.
I think that was probably one of my strongest points.
I lost my motivation a little bit when I lost to John McEnroe in the 1981 Wimbledon final.
I still played good tennis but I did not have the same focus that I had for many years. I always gave 100% and loved to win and hated to lose but if you lose that little bit of an edge it is very difficult to do well.
Something was missing and for me as a person that is not right.”
I’d like to introduce you here probably two of the most famous tennis strings (good quality strings I mean) and probably the most used on the pro circuit: In fact 65% of the ATP top 100 and 40% of the WTA top 100 players use it. Know which one I am talking about? Exactly, Luxilon Big Banger Original and Luxilon Big Banger Alu Power. There exist of course varieties of those two strings, they are for instance available in a rough version for more spin etc., but those two are the most common ones. Let me give you a brief introduction here:
Big Banger Original exists as 1.30mm and 1.38mm. Luxilon recommends to install this string 10% looser than other strings. Big Banger Original is a very fast string with a lot of power and a maximum of control and playability. Players like Filippo Volandri, Davydenko Nikolay, Coria Guillermo, Nalbandian David, Puerta Mariano, Gasquet Richard and Ferrero Juan Carlos use Big Banger Original. One big difference between Big Banger Original and Big Banger Alu Power is that the Original gives more spin to the ball, no wonder so many Spaniards and Latin Americans use it.
I would personally recommend this string only to more advanced players and using a racket with a string pattern of 16/19 for maximum spin and control.
The price of a Luxilon Big Banger Original 200m roll is approximately 240 US Dollars or 190 Euros for our European friends.
Luxilon Big Banger Alu Power is available as 1.25mm. It combines great durability with impressive power and good control. It is definitely a string with maximum acceleration and control combining at the same time a very good durability. Used by several ATP Tour professionals, including Gustavo Kuerten, Andre Agassi & James Blake and at some point Roger Federer.
Then again I would not recommend this string for amateur players, only more advanced ones and using a racket with a string pattern of 18/20 for a maximum of power and control.
The price of a Luxilon Big Banger Alu Power is approximately 300 US Dollars or around 220 Euros.
For those of you who have already tried them I would love to get some feed backs and of course your own opinions about those strings.
A found something very interesting for those of you who don’t know it yet. This is for all the coaches out there who want to improve their coaching skills, becoming coaches, players who want to work on themselves, in short for everyone who wants to improve his knowledge about tennis.
I saw on the itftennis.com homepage that they publish a review from time to time called “ITF Coaching and Sport Science Review”. The last issue has been published in December 2008 and is available in three different languages (French, Spanish and English).The articles are on subjects ranging from nutrition, history of tennis, anti-doping, biomechanics of the serve, tennis participation, psychological aspects of tennis, coach-player relationship, dealing with external conditions (heat, wind etc.) and so on…
So for all knowledge hungry tennis fans enjoy yourselves! (Click here for direct link)
With the tight schedule that the professionals, both men and women, have nowadays, injuries become more and more frequent as we could see at every end of the season for the past few years. We had frequently Federer and Nadal missing at the last Masters Series of the year in Paris Bercy, and Nadal even missed last year’s Masters Cup in Shanghai.
It often takes a very longtime to recover from injuries in tennis, since they often involve joints, ankles, neck, shoulders, in short all very sensitive parts of the body. Unfortunately, our common medicine often has no treatment for such injuries besides asking the patient to rest until it goes away. This is one of the reasons why, more and more tennis player started to use alternative medicine, in our case acupuncture. One of the earliest player to use it was all time injured Mary Pierce (FRA) who said after being asked what her biggest problems were:” Probably my back, which kept me out from May 2001 until the start of 2002. Basically it was two discs in my lower spine. One was herniated and the other was bulging. The best thing for this was just to rest, so that’s what I did. This was followed by acupuncture. I am quite a believer in alternative medicine.”
To this list we could add an endless number of names, be it Sania Mirza who when her right wrist fell apart and she was unable to compete after the Olympics last year (thinking her career might be over) visited an acupuncturist during the fall and amazingly recovered and now says she has her full range back. Another one would be Gael Monfils who used it at last year’s US Open to recover after his often exhausting games…
The tennis elbow, one of the most common diseases in tennis is probably also one of the easiest to treat with acupuncture and cupping. It shows a success rate of about 90%. Another name for tennis elbow is epicondylitis. It is due to constant over rotation of the wrist and forearm, which of course is why it is called tennis elbow, since this is one of the basic movements in tennis.Acupuncture tennis elbow treatment works effectively in this condition because it works towards improving the blood flow in the area and also the entire body, in an attempt to provide permanent relief from pain and to decrease effectively inflammation.
So if you too are an all time injured tennis player, it might be worth trying it. I have tried it a couple of times for my shoulders and I have to say it often helped me much more than just some conventional massages, or some expensive laser or ultrasound treatments.
In the game of tennis, there is an invisible force always present. Call it momentum.
In theory, each point should be independent of the previous point. However, this is very rarely the case. The momentum in a match can be built up between points, between games and between sets.
The momentum can be your friend or it can be your enemy. We will talk about both. However, let’s first talk about how to identify momentum.
The momentum is defined by winning it back to back points, back-to-back games all back-to-back sets. Let’s work was an example. The score within the game is 30-30. the person who won the last point, has a little bit of momentum however, if they were down 30 love they would have a lot of momentum. With his momentum they would be more likely to win next point. Momentum is basically when one person is getting upperhand on the other person.
Invisible momentum can be very powerful. If you were down 30 love and you win the next two points you are feeling uplifted and more confident to win the next point. Your opponent on the other hand, would be feeling negative having had such a strong lead and is now back to 30-30.
Momentum can be very powerful when a player wins a few games in a row. Momentum can swing an entire match. Momentum is a very powerful force, it can be your friend or it can be your enemy. Once you realise you have momentum either on your side or against you, you need to take action.
What to do when Momentum is on your side. When momentum is on your side you must nurture it. You must keep the momentum flowing. It is the time to concentrate and not let your opponent back into the game set or match. Do not play any loose points, nor go for any spectacular winners. Simply play good solid tennis and maintain your game plan. Having a nice lead is NOT a time to relax because, by definition, the momentum may swing back against you. In which case you’ll find yourself having to stop the momentum in the other direction.
When momentum is on your side you are trying to hit your opponent while they are down. You do not want them to get up off the ground. Do not open the window for them to jump through. Keep it tightly closed until the end of the match.
Tips that will help you keep momentum:
- Do not waste time between points. Move efficiently between points, do not rush, but do not waste time. Keep the momentum going and get as many points under your belt as possible. The stronger the momentum the easier the points.
- Move efficiently between games. Do not waste time and quickly get the balls down to the servers end. On the change of ends, only take a short break and keep going. Start the next game as soon as possible.
- In between sets, again move efficiently. Take the shortest amount of time possible, try and start the set as soon as you can.
What to do when Momentum is against you. This one is simple, you must stop it!!
There are many ways to stop momentum. They are actually the opposite of what I mentioned in the previous section. The goal is to change the environment. You must do something to break out of this spiral. Here are a few tips:
- take a long time between points
- straighten in your strings
- Tie your shoelaces
- change racquets
- stretch your muscles
- discuss something with a referee or umpire
Now some not so subtle actions
- Argue over a line call
- Hit a ball out of the court so it takes time to retrieve the ball
- Talk to your opponent on a change of ends. Find something to say to enter their mind
- Call for injury time
- Use every second of time you are allowed between, games and sets
- take a toilet break
We will discuss momentum in a lot more detail in future articles. But for now just be aware of it in your matches and matches that you watch other people play.
Michael
Every stroke has 3 basic – and obvious – parts. The Backswing, the acceleration, the follow-through.
When you watch the top tennis players they look like they hit the ball effortlessly. They hit the ball so clean and crisp, might have large and smooth strokes. In this article I am going to talk about the backswing in particular.
The backswing plays a major part in how would you hit the ball, and most importantly how consistently you the ball.
The transition between the backswing and the acceleration phase is extremely critical. There should be no pause between the backswing and the acceleration forward. The racquet head should not stop moving.
If you take your racquet back to early, and you pause the two long, you will find that you have a very jerky swing. You will also find that you try use your body to accelerate the racquet. This usually results in ’spinning out’ of the shot. The ball will usually have an ‘inside out’ flight path.
Decades ago the technique was to prepare yourself early, take your racquet back, plant yourself for the shot, then accelerate through the shot. In today’s game, the technique is more like one single action.
To achieve an effortless swing, focus on the delaying the backswing to ensure there is no pause at the back of you stroke. You will find your body can stay in position for longer, your stroke will become smoother, and you’ll gain more power.
This is applicable to forehands, backhands and the serve. On the serve, the acceleration phase starts when your racquet is down the middle of your back. Your backswing and the height of your ball toss are important in having a smoother serve.
Try these few tips and let me know how it goes.
Michael
To learn when to come to the net, imagine that the court is divided into three colors, like a traffic light. The zone that the ball lands in should determine your response. The back court is the red zone. Do not move in when the ball lands in this area. The middle part is the yellow zone. If you get a ball there, proceed only if our opponent is out of position or you can hurt them with your approach. The front third of the court is the green zone. When the ball bounces here, get in as quick as possible.
Glenn Irwin – Noosa Springs Tennis Centre
Okay, firstly, the strength to winning matches is the ability to hold your serve. Usually, a set is won by holding every service game, then breaking your opponent serve. When this is the case wind the set 6-4.
If you serve the first game, you must to break at 5-4. If you serve the setting game you must break at 4-4.
Therefore, holding serve is the most important thing in a match. If you do loose your serve work VERY hard to break them straight back. You must put in 120% effort to break them immediately otherwise the whole match can change around in a few games.
Therefore your second serve is the anchor for the match. Potentially the second serve will be one of the major influences in the outcome of your matches. You need to work hard to develop a solid second serve you can rely on in ANY situation.
We often ignore serving practice. However we are guarenteed to need to hit that shot and hit it well !
Enjoy ! Michael
Even kids need a strategy. This is something I see all the time. People learning to play tennis are so focused on the technical aspect they have very little direction in a match. Children, in particular are focused on technique AND VERY vulnerable to distractions.
So, parents, here is a great tip to tell your children, just before they go out on the tennis court to play match.
* win the first two points of every game.
* hit two balls to the backhand, then one to the forehand.
By telling children to focus on just these two simple things, they now have a plan. When times get tough in the match they have a friend. Their plan.
People learning to play tennis do not have distinct strengths and weaknesses, therefore your opponent of equal ability really has no massive strength or no massive weakness. Therefore a basic plan really focussing on yourself will be the most effective.
Let’s talk about the two tips in more detail.
Win the first two points of every game. This actually applies to players at every level however it is very important to beginners who need to understand the importance of getting in front in an individual game. Beginners in particular are more likely to have a negative reaction to losing the first two points. They are more likely to throw the towel in, have a tantrum, drop their bundle. Especially kids. Therefore if you can focus on winning the first two points they may be handed the rest of the game with easy points.
Hit two balls to their backhand, then one to their forehand. the goal of this tip is to basically have some direction with every shot that they hit. So many kids just hit the ball aimlessly. Everybody needs direction with every shot. In actual fact, it doesn’t matter where the ball ended up, just as long as you have a plan. I have chosen to to the backhand won to the forehand because usually players backhands are weaker than their forehands. If there is an obvious weakness, play two shots to that side and one to the strong side.
Recently I saw a great example of this work. The standard of the two young players was very similar. Before the match I told his father, to tell his son, to concentrate on those two tips. During the match, the opponent became very annoying on court. He was screaming “come on” on a double fault. For an innocent ten-year old this is very distracting. By having the basic plan – this gave him direction during hard times. He was able to focus during a very distracting match and beat this opponent.
Let me know what you think !! Enjoy, Michael
Here is a challenge to everyone. The next time you are out on the tennis court try to take a step forward after you hit every volley.
Why? There are two reasons. The first reason is that it gets you going forward while you are hitting your volley. It forces you to go out after the ball rather than waiting for the ball to come to you. The second reason, is that your opponent will feel you getting closer to the net. Therefore, every single volley will put more and more pressure on your opponent. You will also gain volley angle options to finish the point from the net.
This both applies to singles as well as doubles. When you are watching the elite level doubles watch how each player moves closer and closer to the net.
Try this technique and let me know how it goes!
Michael
