Oscar Wegner's Articles (15)

What is wrong with the idea, on the forehand, of turning the body and the feet sideways, taking the racquet back early, stepping into the shot, and following the line of the ball?

Simply, everything.

The reason why the modern forehand is naturally open-stance is two-fold:  1) the open stance keeps the hand closer to the ball, making it easier to find it. Imagine…

The tennis court seems very big to cover. Could that be an illusion? Is that really real, or a matter of viewpoint?

If you are in the center of the baseline, it only takes three or four steps to get to the…

I hope you had the chance to watch both the WTA Championships in Istambul two weeks ago and the ATP World Tour Finals in London last week.

Although it looked like a superb mastery of the game, all performances showed brilliance interspersed with unforced errors galore.

Why is it that champions can make such astounding shots but err so often when the…

Roger Federer is still full of promise. His recent performances reveal that he is in great shape and playing close with Novak Djokovic and Rafa Nadal.

All he needs to do is fix a few mishaps on his forehand and regain the confidence in what was at one time the best forehand in the world.

Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray and Juan Martin…

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.…

It is usually thought that to control the ball you need to slow down your game.



That is, if you lack topspin.

With topspin, you can exert your power without any doubts of your shot landing on the court.

You may hit some balls short, but they are still uncomfortable for your opponent due to the spin.

It is also thought…

Tennis is easy to learn, to play, to teach and to enjoy.  The shocking truth is that tennis has been made difficult. So ingrained is the false data accepted as truth about a century ago that it has affected, to this day, coaches, commentators, sports writers, even pros.

Something fateful happened to tennis in the birth of the 1900s. The Doherty…

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…

Tennis is usually a reflection of the emotional tone level and the technical knowledge or “feel” of the individual.  Learning from the emotional “tone scale” research by L. Ron Hubbard, we can see where the individual places himself to play tennis.  Anger or fear, apathy, interest, enthusiasm, anxiety; some people are ingrained in an emotional tone level, while others…

Is tennis difficult?

Most players at every level would agree.

Nonsense. It has been made…

Have you ever used a sponge ball (those oversized orange/yellow now sold for kids) and played it back and forth over the net with your hand?

This is perhaps the most basic and most helpful drill of all.

If you don't have a partner, you can do this drill against a wall or your garage door. Once you are proficient with your hand, then do it with a racquet,…

Many players react by separating the hands and moving the racquet first, losing valuable time to reach a distant ball.

It is best to keep the non-playing hand on the racquet, so you make with your torso (and…

Most players have the goal of hitting the ball on the center of the racquet.

They succeed unless there is a difficult situation.…

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…