All Articles Tagged 'instruction' (38)

The backhand return can be tricky for lots of tennis players to master. Most people end up hitting off the back leg and the ball pops up. This exercise will help you develop muscle memory that will have you moving forward through the ball. Enjoy.

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Pete

Tennis seems to be a very fast sport, but I have a surprise for you:

IT IS NOT!

Let me explain.

From baseline to baseline, a groundstroke loses more than half its speed.  A forehand hit at 100 MPH at one baseline gets to the other baseline at around 40 MPH. One hit at 50 MPH gets to you at 20 MPH.

A serve hit at 100 MPH gets…

A player needs to commit to a strategy. Obviously, you would keep a winning tactic, and you would change a losing one. 

If you are losing, and you see your opponent is better than you on groundstrokes, there is something you can try. Volley aggressively, do it constantly, and commit to it.…

In older times the ball was addressed squarely with the strings.

In modern tennis you approach the ball with the racquet’s frame, the upper edge, starting from below the ball for topspin, the lower edge, starting…

I have tested, for decades, an interesting experiment that has proven helpful to a lot of players, from amateurs to pros.  Rather than trying to position your body at a certain distance from the ball, track the ball with your playing hand or hands as if you were trying to catch…

How to Hit a Kicker...

and why it is the Best Serve at the Recreational Level…

The notion that we should hit “through” the ball has been around for decades, but what does it really mean? Can we really hit through the ball? How long is contact? With lighter racquets and faster racquet head speeds, is this instruction still relevant? If you’re curious to see if this instruction should be sent to your recycle bin, read on.

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TennisOne's Joe Dinoffer says that the one-time joke on tennis pros used to be, “Racquet back, bend your knees, that’ll be twenty dollars please.” And I'm inclined to agree. At least in the old days, this was more or less the standard of teaching tennis. After all, it worked quite well for millions of players in the 1960s and '70s, didn't it?…

One is - what 99% of the people that hold a racket play. That one is to try and hit the ball over the net. The other is what most pros and some college players are capable of, and that is utilizing the entire body and playing an effortless, precise, powerful and "natural" looking game. It's time for all of us to elevate our teaching and playing and get more players in that second category. Everyone can play the game utilizing their entire body to stroke the ball - on all strokes! Help…

Thanks to my new cyber friend Dan Martin (creator of TennisAbides.com) for so many kind words in his review -- Steven White, Author

24 Mar

How many times have you heard “bend your knees and roll your shoulder!” when trying to improve your tennis game? Of course that’s only one of the hundreds of things that we are…

Every up-and-coming tennis player, I’m sure, knows those frustrating periods when his or her game simply stagnates or falls flat. That seems to be because tennis is a sport with various plateaus of learning. After playing a year or two, your game appears to be stuck on pause. No matter how hard you try, the same players keep on beating you and you never seem to get beyond the early rounds of a tournament. That happens to professional players too.…

As your level of play increases, simply keeping the ball in play may not be enough to win matches. The amount of control you have over the ball then becomes an important factor. Your shot placements can make all the difference. Maybe your opponent has good ground strokes and is able to effectively stay in every rally with you. If you have the ability to hit the ball short to…

Some players like to camp out on the baseline and send back a steady stream of deep crosscourt shots. When you are facing such an opponent, never let him get in a groove – he’s just waiting for you to make the error that’s going to give him the point. Remember that most tennis matches are decided by who makes the least errors, not the most winners. So, instead of trying to…

Raw, young, talented players can often hit a variety of shots but have little sense when it comes to shot selection. This underestimated and under-practiced skill is so important that it alone can separate the levels in tennis.

Your mind will begin to operate much like a computer. For it to be able to work to your benefit, it must first be turned on, and then,…

GOOD READING: A new book for kids, "Bring Your Racquet: Tennis Basics for Kids" by Steven White offers some good advice for everyone's mental game.

"The first thing you should do if you ever find yourself choking is to slow down," White writes. "Slow down your breathing, slow down your walk, and, most of all, slow down your tendency to play fast. Attempt to clear your mind of all unwanted thoughts. Take a deep breath and recommit your thoughts to the challenge of the match. Long,…

Most of the points in a tennis match are over after only three or four hits. At every level, the majority of points are lost and not won. This means that most of the points are won due to errors rather than winners.

The best way to understand errors is to learn the four mistakes in tennis. They are:

• hitting the ball into the net
• hitting the ball over the baseline
• hitting the ball wide to the left
• hitting the ball wide to the…

As your level of play increases, simply keeping the ball in play may not be enough to win matches. The amount of control you have over the ball then becomes an important factor. Your shot placements can make all the difference. Maybe your opponent has good ground strokes and is able to effectively stay in every rally with you. If you have the ability to hit the ball short to him, high and low, in close and outside, then you will probably be able to discover more weaknesses as well as keep…

One of the best ways to gain control of a point in progress is accomplished by gaining control of the ball and the direction you want it to go. And although all of the great players in tennis history have learned the importance of quick feet, they have also learned that once they reach the ball it is equally important to use the correct swing to direct the ball with control.…

Nothing can hurt your game more than a negative attitude and a lack of enthusiasm for what you are doing. Ask your self a question. Who is responsible for your attitude? Well, I’m here to tell you that it is you and you alone. Strive to form positive thoughts in your head and in your heart whenever you walk on the court.

The fiercest opponent you’ll probably ever face in tennis is a “bad attitude”. Tremendous abilities can be wasted when a bad attitude sets in. It can block…