10 Questions To Ask To Become a Great Tennis Player

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The Test of a Good Player

Ask yourself the following 10 questions to measure your progress toward becoming a great tennis player.

  1. Covering the Court
  2. Hit the ball
  3. Control my shots
  4. Setting up the points
  5. Control my nerves
  6. Learn from my mistakes
  7. Intimidate my opponents
  8. Pressure my opponent
  9. Enjoy the battle
  10. Handle the outcome  

In this series, we will go over the 10 fundamental questions every tennis great player asks themselves to become even better.

The first one is Covering the Court.

Time is very important in tennis. If you cannot get to the ball before it bounces twice, you lose the point. Does your footwork waste time? Do you start so you get a good jump on the ball?

Do you take more steps than necessary? Do you arrive early enough to take your time hitting the ball or are you always rushed? Good footwork can make up for lack of speed. It can also allow you to get their much faster which will allow you to hit the ball more on balance.

There are many different modern footwork sequences that you can use to cover the court faster. We will be going over this in our next series.

 

How to Hit Consistently with Pace and Accuracy

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In this post, we are continuing understanding the 10 questions to ask to become a better tennis player.

Last time, we went over covering the court. Today, we are going to go over hitting the ball, specifically the pace of shot and how to throw your opponent off balance with changing the pace.

The Test of a Good Player

Ask yourself the following 10 questions to measure your progress toward becoming a great player.

  1. Covering the Court
  2. Hit the ball
  3. Control my shots
  4. Setting up the points
  5. Control my nerves
  6. Learn from my mistakes
  7. Intimidate my opponents
  8. Pressure my opponent
  9. Enjoy the battle
  10. Handle the outcome  

Pace of Shot

Once you learn to stroke the ball, the question arises, how fast should you swing? If yous wing faster or slower with the same form, the ball will go harder or softer accordingly. In tennis 

Some coaches recommend changing the pace in order to upset the rhythm of your opponent. This is very difficult to do. Most errors come from over­hitting or dumping the ball in the net. I recommend finding the pace where you can hit the ball consistently and accurately and don’t change it. 

Let your opponent try to get you out of your rhythm. If you have the skills to change the pace of the ball and change the height, you might want to try getting your opponent out of rhythm and see what happens.

Because Hitting as Hard You Can Does Not Win Matches

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Controlling your shots

In this post, we will cover why hitting as hard as you can will not win you matches.

So what will? Controlling your shots and using directionals to move your opponent from side to side. When I was a Junior growing up, I remember playing a player who was ranked top 10 nationally. I thought to myself how in the world is this little kid who was 110 pounds and under 5ft tall winning against players much bigger and older then him.

I quickly learned how. He was able to move bigger, stronger, more older players from side to side using a variety of spin and angles that took away all the power from the bigger boys. You can apply this same principle to your game as well.

The Test of a Good Player

Ask yourself the following questions to measure your progress toward becoming a good player.

  1. Covering the Court
  2. Hit the ball
  3. Control my shots
  4. Setting up the points
  5. Control my nerves
  6. Learn from my mistakes
  7. Intimidate my opponents
  8. Pressure my opponent
  9. Enjoy the battle
  10. Handle the outcome  

Controlling the Ball

As we just learned, hitting the ball with power is not enough. You must hit it over the net and in the court. It is even better if you can hit it where you are aiming it. The follow­through of your shot in combination with the angle of your racquet ­face will determine where your shot will land. Do you follow­through every time you hit the ball? If you don’t give the ball direction, don’t expect your shot to be accurate. 

These first three topics: covering the court, hitting the ball and controlling your shot, are what you should expect your tennis instructor to show you. The remaining topics are more in the realm of “coaching “. If you continue to take lessons, your instructor will probably spend less time on your hitting techniques and more on the coaching aspects of the game.

Ball Setup

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Setting Up Points

A smart tennis game is like a game of chess. You are playing at least two points ahead and setting up for the next shot.

The Test of a Good Player

Ask yourself the following questions to measure your progress toward becoming a good player.

  1. Covering the Court
  2. Hit the ball
  3. Control my shots
  4. Setting up the points
  5. Control my nerves
  6. Learn from my mistakes
  7. Intimidate my opponents
  8. Pressure my opponent
  9. Enjoy the battle
  10. Handle the outcome

Whenever you hit a ball in a game, you should have a plan in mind. For example, when serving in the deuce court, hit a serve wide to the left corner and follow it up with a shot to the right sideline. If they get it back, be ready to hit it to the left sideline. Another example is to hit a drop shot followed by a lob over your opponent’s head, which you follow to the net.

There are several patterns you should know so that when an opportunity presents itself, you can capitalize on it. If you practice these patterns, they will work more often in a game. Prepare faster. 

Preparation

Early preparation enables you to put your weight behind the your shot, keep your balance and maintain your form throughout the shot. It may even give you time to direct your shot instead of just hitting it back to your opponent. Tip­ Turn and move as soon as you see the ball come off your opponent’s racquet. This should give you time to stop and hit from a stationary position. 

A good example of setting up the points early is how Jimmy Connors played the game. He did not have a big serve so he set up his shots.

The Jimmy Connors’ Game

The Serve and volley game is coming back in men’s professional singles. If you have been watching the Australian Open, you have seen it’s benefits through players such as Roanic and Federer. It is a new way to pressure your opponent and end points quicker. There are other ways to play the game. One of the most successful was played by Jimmy Connors. JC did not have a powerful serve. So he rarely served and charged the net. Instead he spun in his left­ handed serve and attacked any short ball and followed it into the net, hitting an approach shot, while putting pressure on his opponents.

He was especially good at breaking serve. He attacked the second serve and charged the net. The result was often an outright winner or an easy volley.

So remember to set up your points to get easy winners, which will frustrate your opponents.

Nerves: The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly

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Commentators on tv constantly say that tennis is a game of inches.
They are right! It is a game of inches. 5 Inches to be exact from your left ear to your right ear unless you have a very big head. Tennis is more then just hitting the ball, it is the ability to control your nerves to play your best at the right moment, with the right shot, at the right time.

The Test of a Good Player

Ask yourself the following questions to measure your progress toward becoming a good player.

  1. Covering the Court
  2. Hit the ball
  3. Control my shots
  4. Setting up the points
  5. Control my nerves
  6. Learn from my mistakes
  7. Intimidate my opponents
  8. Pressure my opponent
  9. Enjoy the battle
  10. Handle the outcome  

Control My Nerves

There are good nerves and bad nerves. Good nerves make your feet move faster and your brain more alert. If this makes you play better, stick with it. If it causes you to overhit, you may want to try to calm down with some deep breathing, etc. Usually this happens at the beginning and you settle down as the match progresses.

Bad nerves make you freeze up. Your feet won’t move, your arm tightens up or you are afraid to hit the ball over 10 mph. If it is your feet, jump up and down while waiting for your opponent’s serve. If it is your arm, shake it between points. If you are afraid to stroke the ball, prepare early and then pause before starting your swing. Be sure to follow through.

If you tense up in every important match, tell yourself it is only practice and try out all your weapons. But let your opponent think it is life or death. Smile and forget the rest.

 

A New Way of Learning From Your Mistakes

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Learning from Mistakes

The Test of a Good Player

Ask yourself the following questions to measure your progress toward becoming a great tennis player.

  1. Covering the Court
  2. Hit the ball
  3. Control my shots
  4. Setting up the points
  5. Control my nerves
  6. Learn from my mistakes
  7. Intimidate my opponents
  8. Pressure my opponent
  9. Enjoy the battle
  10. Handle the outcome  

There are many mistakes we make when playing tennis. Some are pretty obvious. Did you fail to notice:

  • Your opponent was left handed?
  • He could run side to side but not forward?
  • He ran around all his backhands?
  • He had no overhead?
  • He had a weak second serve.
  • He popped up the service return.
  • He panicked every time you came to net.
  • His slice backhand sailed enough for you to have an easy volley.

A good example of gathering feedback and learning is reading the serve.  

Reading the Serve

One goal of serving is to mix up the direction. If you know where the serve is going, it should be easier to return. Ideally, one should be able to serve wide, down the center or right at the receiver with the same toss. In reality, few players can do this. Generally, most servers toss the ball to their side to slice it, over their head to hit it flat and behind their head to hit a topspin or kick serve. If you watch the server’s toss you may be able to read where he or she is trying to hit it. In addition, you will see the ball sooner if you watch the toss. 

To learn from your mistakes, you must recognize the mistake, figure out what to do about it and then practice the remedy so when it happens again you can win the point. If you don’t recognize your mistake or figure out the remedy, ask your teaching pro or an experienced player.

A :) Is More Intimidating Then Breaking Your Racket

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Smiling stimulates our brain’s reward mechanisms in a way that even chocolate, a well-regarded pleasure-inducer, cannot match.

In our last post, we talked about learning from our mistakes. In today’s post, we will cover why smiling is more intimidating then swearing or breaking your racket.

The Test of a Good Player

Ask yourself the following questions to measure your progress toward becoming a great player.

  • Covering the Court
  • Hit the ball
  • Control my shots
  • Setting up the points
  • Control my nerves
  • Learn from my mistakes
  • Intimidate my opponents
  • Pressure my opponent
  • Enjoy the battle
  • Handle the outcome  

Intimidate your Opponent with Smiling

One of the best ways to intimidate your opponent is to always look like you are enjoying the match. If your opponent makes a beautiful winner, acknowledge it by holding up your racquet and clapping the strings with your left hand as if you were applauding. If he hits a mis s­hit winner, there is nothing more frustrating than playing an opponent who smiles all the time. It gives the appearance that he knows he is going to win and he is not feeling any pressure. Some sports psychologists recommend smiling to their “patients” who feel intense pressure (choking) during a tennis match. Some say certain “good” enzymes are released when you smile that make feel better.

So stop swearing and throwing your racquet. This only encourages your opponent and start smiling.

Let me know how this technique helps your tennis game in the comments below.

Pressure Tennis

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In the last post, we covered how intimidating your opponent with smiling is a much more effective strategy then shouting or swearing. In today’s post we will cover how to take away time and space from your opponent by applying pressure.

The Test of a Good Player

Ask yourself the following questions to measure your progress toward becoming a great player.

  1. Covering the Court
  2. Hit the ball
  3. Control my shots
  4. Setting up the points
  5. Control my nerves
  6. Learn from my mistakes
  7. Intimidate my opponents
  8. Pressure my opponent
  9. Enjoy the battle
  10. Handle the outcome  

Putting Pressure on your opponent with Confidence.

Due to the scoring system in tennis, the ability to “close out” matches, sets, games and even points will give you a huge advantage. One key to “closing out” is confidence. Lacking confidence at the important points in a match can be costly.

One way to build confidence is to master a strategy in practice. Whether it is serving wide and stroking the return to the opposite corner, or serving and volleying, or attacking the opponent’s second serve, plan it ahead and practice it. Then, when the match starts, try these strategies early in the match so you will use them with confidence on the big points. 

If you can master these patterns during practice and starting using them during a match, your opponent will have to adjust his game. This will usually result in them being out of rhythm.

5 Ways to Build your Tennis Game to Enjoy the Battle

Tennis Strategy, ,

Two warriors enter the battle field. The match ends with a handshake.
Both are winners. But the game is won way before the battle begins.
Remember to enjoy the battle. Win or lose.

The Test of a Good Player

Ask yourself the following questions to measure your progress toward becoming a great player.

  1. Covering the Court
  2. Hit the ball
  3. Control my shots
  4. Setting up the points
  5. Control my nerves
  6. Learn from my mistakes
  7. Intimidate my opponents
  8. Pressure my opponent
  9. Enjoy the battle
  10. Handle the outcome

Building your game to enjoy the battle

Here are 5 steps to building your tennis game whether you want to be a social player or a competitive player.

  1. Lessons. You need to know what to practice. Figuring this stuff on your own can take forever and by then you have such bad habits you can’t learn the good stuff. So save time and avoid injury by taking lessons.
  1. Ball Machine. Practicing on a ball machine speeds up the learning process because you can isolate a shot and hit it repeatedly without chasing after the ball.
  1. Rally. After your instructor has shown you what to practice and you have practiced it on the ball machine, you need to practice hitting the ball with another player where you don’t keep score but instead try to hit the ball “to” each other.
  1. Play Games. Play for fun. Then compete for fun

      5. Compete Under Pressure. Enter a tournament or play on a team.

And again, remember to enjoy the battle. Win or lose. Always shake hands and be gracious in victory or defeat. There is always the next tournament.

How To Handle The Outcome Of The Tennis Match

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The battle has finished. The two warriors meet at the middle to shake hands. Now, all that is left to do is to evaluate the match. Win or lose. Learn how to handle the outcome.

The Test of a Good Player

Ask yourself the following questions to measure your progress toward becoming a great tennis player.

  1. Covering the Court
  2. Hit the ball
  3. Control my shots
  4. Setting up the points
  5. Control my nerves
  6. Learn from my mistakes
  7. Intimidate my opponents
  8. Pressure my opponent
  9. Enjoy the battle
  10. Handle the outcome  

Handle the Outcome

Handling the outcome of a tennis match can be divided into 3 time periods: the conclusion, the aftermath and the period of the match when the outcome is being determined.

No matter how close and hard fought the match, the winner and the loser should be gracious at the end. When the match is over we return to real life and have to live with each other.

So encourage the loser and congratulate the winner. After losing a match, don’t beat yourself up. Try to figure out why you lost. Did you blow a lead by changing your game? Were you tired? Does one or more of your strokes need improvement? You will learn more from losing than from winning.

During the match, if you are struggling and getting frustrated, try not to show it. Frustration feeds on itself. Try to relax and tell yourself that the more balls you hit the better you will play. As we have learned in the previous post, remember to smile instead of cursing.  Shouting, cursing and throwing your racquet only ruins it for everyone including yourself so remember that tennis is after all a game. Most importantly, have fun, relax and enjoy every minute on the court.

And Smile 🙂