Moving forward in singles has become more difficult. In addition, many players are not sure how to move in and what to do once they are in a volleying position. The first step is to try to hit your approach shot deep and towards the side of the court you are already on-usually this is…
I have discussed this several times in different ways when presenting my tips. Hitting the ball and actually playing a point are two very different things. Hitting the ball well helps you play the point better. However, just randomly hitting the ball against a good player will not be very effective. I recommend focusing…
John McEnroe is a multiple time Grand Slam Champion and a tennis icon. His tennis mantra is, “Don’t Beat Yourself!” To most casual observers, he was an overly aggressive player who just “went for it” all the time. And it was his talent that allowed him to “get away with it”. But that could…
If you watch professional tennis, it seems that there are a lot of different ways to follow through. Although players tend to have different finishing spots and techniques, most have a lot of things in common on their follow through. First, and most important, the pro players tend to let the racquet continue through…
We often discuss controlling the controllable in the sport of tennis, usually referring to preparation before arriving to the competitive court. One of the simplest and most efficient ways of doing this in today’s tennis is through developing your mental fitness. World-renowned tennis specific psychologist Dr. Anthony Ross of Mentally Tough Tennis explains mental…
One of my “go-to” singles drills is to start both players in the center of the baseline and rally several balls each back and forth to the middle of the court. Once the players are doing this successfully, I have them add trying to find a way to win the point. One of my…
The game of tennis has evolved into a power struggle, with both players often trying to hit their shots through the opponent. An underused strategy is to hit the ball up in front of your opponent so that they have to deal with a short, low ball while moving forward. This strategy is especially…
One of the most frequent requests I hear from my students is how to achieve more power. After a short discussion and acknowledgement of the first priorities of getting the ball in and getting the ball in away from the opponent, the goal of power may be addressed. The two biggest components to execute…
Serving is all about the toss, timing and rhythm. Hitting a first serve more than 100 miles per hour and then hitting a second serve 20-30 miles per hour slower makes it very difficult to time the motion and point of contact. In addition, the variation in the speed often affects the toss because…
Watching the ball is the most important point of focus when trying to hit a tennis ball well. It is a necessity if you are striving for that consistently solid hit. Your line of vision is something that is rarely mentioned, but equally as important. If you can focus on the area to your…