Hit the practice court today, worked on a little bit of everything but spent the most time on the serve. I have been having a hard time coordinating the toss, the take-back and the pronation, so decided to eat my own advice about just throwing it up over my head, loading the quads i,e bend the legs and then jumping upm and smashing it down. Didn't have to think too much and was quite pleased with the results.
If I had a mental image, it would be of this chap. The best server ever I believe.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KqRqdbBEzUM
And this is how I want to serve and volley.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=emPy439hmCQ
Cheers.
Sunday, 30 June 2013
Monday, 17 June 2013
Saturday, 15 June 2013
First Post
Tennis has dominated much of my spare time over the past few years, and yet the strange thing is, I haven't really improved much. Well, I should say that a bit differently. I am actually a much better player than when I started, but my level of skill and level of play has fluctuated over the years. Maintaining the skill level and play level has been a challenge, and I guess that's part of the reason I started this blog. It's more of a journal to remind me what to do and what to avoid when it comes to tennis, on the court and off of it.
So what should I address first? Skill level or play level? The reason I think of those two things separately is that the skill level would be the mechanics of moving and hitting, while the play level would be the mental, strategic and tactical aspects of the game, which are different for singles and doubles, social and competitive (social competitive???). I should also add some other aspects such as training and practice, mental preparation, physical fitness, and perhaps even nutrition (what to eat and drink, before, during and after a match).
Pete Sampras once said that with all the emphasis on power, no one remembers that movement is the most important factor on the court. Makes sense. If you can't move, you can't prepare, and if you can't prepare, you can't hit. I just watched a Youtube with a simple tip to remember with regards to movement and it is this: Turn your body, then move to the ball. You can watch this here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uGCjPT_keJQ
The other thing I remembered about movement, and this is not so much about the mechanics of movement, comes from one of my early coaches in the game. The court has three zones. When you are at the baseline, you should be Patient (at the baseline, keeping the ball in play. Today, Nadal would be the perfect example of this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QPnxNAMz8_s). When the ball lands in no-man's-land, it's time to get Positive (attack! Federer is the perfect example) and get into Position (the net) where you have arguably the best position of ending the point in your favour because you have your choice of angles and options, and your opponent has to hit a passing shot on the run. Of course, you better have a good putaway volley and/or overhead of you're going to be at the net. And you should! But even if you don't, just block it back into the open court.
In all three zones, remember to Place that ball. Pace is nice to have, but we don't always have our silver bullets with us when it's game time, and Placing the ball deep and wide is easier to do (hint: it's all about spin) than trying to blast the ball past the sound barrier. The best example on the tour of someone Placing the ball deep would be Djokovic.
Above all this, is the quality of patience. At the baseline, it's easy to grasp (or maybe not so easily remembered in the heat of battle, but that's another topic for another post), but at the zone of Positive, I need to remember to take my time and pick my target so that the court is opened and the opponent is forced into running. At the net, even if the volley or overhead is a good one, the point isn't over until the ball bounces twice, so again, remember to be patient because the opponent might just shovel it back. It's okay; make that bastard run. Keep making him run. Run him into the ground if that's what he wants. Good things come to those who wait. And waiting in this context doesn't mean stopping and doing nothing. It means to keep on playing, and placing that ball.
This post feels like it could get overly long and rambling so I'll end my inaugural post with a summary of takeways:
Turn your body then move to the shot. Turning your body is halfway towards preparing for the shot.
Patience (take your time, because it will take time) and Placement, whether you're at the zones of Patience, Position or Positive.
So what should I address first? Skill level or play level? The reason I think of those two things separately is that the skill level would be the mechanics of moving and hitting, while the play level would be the mental, strategic and tactical aspects of the game, which are different for singles and doubles, social and competitive (social competitive???). I should also add some other aspects such as training and practice, mental preparation, physical fitness, and perhaps even nutrition (what to eat and drink, before, during and after a match).
Pete Sampras once said that with all the emphasis on power, no one remembers that movement is the most important factor on the court. Makes sense. If you can't move, you can't prepare, and if you can't prepare, you can't hit. I just watched a Youtube with a simple tip to remember with regards to movement and it is this: Turn your body, then move to the ball. You can watch this here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uGCjPT_keJQ
The other thing I remembered about movement, and this is not so much about the mechanics of movement, comes from one of my early coaches in the game. The court has three zones. When you are at the baseline, you should be Patient (at the baseline, keeping the ball in play. Today, Nadal would be the perfect example of this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QPnxNAMz8_s). When the ball lands in no-man's-land, it's time to get Positive (attack! Federer is the perfect example) and get into Position (the net) where you have arguably the best position of ending the point in your favour because you have your choice of angles and options, and your opponent has to hit a passing shot on the run. Of course, you better have a good putaway volley and/or overhead of you're going to be at the net. And you should! But even if you don't, just block it back into the open court.
In all three zones, remember to Place that ball. Pace is nice to have, but we don't always have our silver bullets with us when it's game time, and Placing the ball deep and wide is easier to do (hint: it's all about spin) than trying to blast the ball past the sound barrier. The best example on the tour of someone Placing the ball deep would be Djokovic.
Above all this, is the quality of patience. At the baseline, it's easy to grasp (or maybe not so easily remembered in the heat of battle, but that's another topic for another post), but at the zone of Positive, I need to remember to take my time and pick my target so that the court is opened and the opponent is forced into running. At the net, even if the volley or overhead is a good one, the point isn't over until the ball bounces twice, so again, remember to be patient because the opponent might just shovel it back. It's okay; make that bastard run. Keep making him run. Run him into the ground if that's what he wants. Good things come to those who wait. And waiting in this context doesn't mean stopping and doing nothing. It means to keep on playing, and placing that ball.
This post feels like it could get overly long and rambling so I'll end my inaugural post with a summary of takeways:
Turn your body then move to the shot. Turning your body is halfway towards preparing for the shot.
Patience (take your time, because it will take time) and Placement, whether you're at the zones of Patience, Position or Positive.
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