This week’s question comes from another mid level club member. “I play doubles at the club a couple of times a week. What can I do to improve my tennis without making major changes inmy game?“
As an avid tennis player, you know that the key to success on the court is constant improvement. While you enjoy playing doubles at the club a couple of times a week, you also recognize that there are areas in your game that could use some work.
However, you don’t want to make any major changes that could throw off your entire game. So what can you do to improve your tennis without making any major changes?
First, start by assessing your strengths and weaknesses. Consider which parts of your game are already strong and which could use some improvement. For example:
Are you struggling with your footwork? This is typically a problem of your balance and inertia accelerated with age.
Is your serve not as consistent as you’d like it to be? Typically a poor ball toss due to lack of rhythm and balance.
Are you having trouble with your backhand? Typically a dominant eye issue.
Could your volleys need some help? Typically a ball watching issue causing you to be slow to react to the ball.
Note these suggestions are simple and DO NOT require you to make major changes in your game!
In 1933, Mercer Beasley wrote a book titled “How to Play Tennis.” Beasley was the coach of the tennis legends of his time, including Vines, Austin, and Parker. In his book, Beasley outlined the three greatest tennis tips of all time: 1) Keep your eye on the ball, 2) Get your racket back as quickly as possible, and 3) Move your feet
Although there have been advancements in racket technology, court surfaces, and shot selection, the fundamentals of the game have remained unchanged. Our Whisperer Notes provide a timeless reference to elaborate these tennis tips. They may help you identify your area(s) of weakness, and the simple steps you can start to focus on improving them.
Finally, if you are willing to make an investment in $$$, and the time/frustration to change, you might consider taking a couple of private coaching lessons to get some expert advice on specific shot(s). A professional coach may help you identify areas for improvement and address them.
Remember, improving your tennis game is a continuous process that requires patience and dedication. By making small adjustments, at any age, you can improve your tennis without making any major changes to your overall game.
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This week’s question comes from a mid level club member. “With Badge about to start, what are some simple strategies I can use to improve my doubles play?”
Overall, the key to successful doubles play is to communicate with your partner, play to your strengths, and be aggressive when the opportunity arises.
Drilling down, here are a few strategies to consider to help you improve your tennis doubles play:
Communicate with your partner: Good communication is essential in doubles. Make sure to talk to your partner before, during, and after the match. Discuss tactics, shots, and weaknesses that you can exploit.
Play to your strengths: In doubles, it is essential to play to your strengths. If you are good at the net, try to play aggressively and move up to the net as much as possible. If you have a strong backhand, use it to keep the ball deep, and either setup your partner and force errors.
Use the lob: The lob is a great shot in doubles, especially if your opponents are playing close to the net. It can be used to push them back and create space for you to hit a winner.
Stay in position: Make sure you and your partner are covering the court properly: particularly the middle of the court which covers 80% of doubles play. Stay in your assigned positions and be ready to move quickly to cover any open spaces. It’s a trap to try to “guard your side line” — which takes you out of the main game!
Watch your opponent’s body language: Pay attention to your opponent’s body language. If they are shifting their weight or preparing to hit a certain shot, you may be able to anticipate their next move and adjust your position accordingly.
Serve and volley: Serving and volleying can be an effective strategy in doubles. It puts pressure on your opponents and can help you win points quickly. And it’s a good surprize tactic if you normally stay on the base line when serving.
Take risks: Don’t be afraid to take risks and go for winners when appropriate. In doubles, the court is smaller, and there is less time to react, so aggressive play can be rewarded. Even so, your primary objective must always be to get into the point!
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It may be the oldest question about sports… Does tennis teach character or reveal it?
Some would answer both or even neither, but after coaching for more than 40 years now. I have come to a conclusion based on more than 65,000 hours of teaching tennis on the court.
Tennis CAN teach character, but only if it is intentional. The coach needs to have character as one of the pillars of his teaching philosophy.
Studies show that sports participation does NOT in and of itself teach character. In fact, studies show that the more time and energy athletes put in to becoming elite, that more likely they may be in justify cheating.
Just looking at the professional world of sports and you can see many examples of this happening from using illegal performance enhancing drugs as an obvious example.
Today we have a multitude of players that feel like they are failures because they don’t win as often as they think they should. A big reason is that players have been taught by peers, parents, and coaches, that winning is the ultimate goal.
Instead, we need to realize that tennis is a nearly perfect vehicle to teach players the many life lessons that are so important for all champions to learn.
Below is a list of these core values that tennis COULD teach, if the coach is intentional:
1. CHARACTER: Through the responsibilities each player has to call the lines on their side of the court, keep score accurately, and give the opponent the benefit of the doubt, tennis offers a great opportunity for players to build character.
A player’s character can also be seen in the way they keep score during a drill or even by their line calls while they drill. Good coaches can be very helpful if they can get the players to realize that their self-worth as a person has nothing to do with how well they strike a little yellow ball.
2. COURAGE: Tennis gives players the opportunity to play through tough times. The one-on-one style of competition certainly requires the guts to put it on the line. Few other sports require as much courage from their youngest athletes as tennis does in this area. Another example is when players find it necessary to confront or question someone that is cheating them.
How many times have we seen players avoid that uncomfortable job, only to wait until the match is over to tell the entire world how their opponent was the biggest cheater on the planet? Think of it, aren’t those skills the exact ones that will best serve the players in their adult life? It’s all about how you look at the situation.
Some will think this is an awful burden that no young player should have to endure, while others recognize it as a great opportunity to teach an important life lesson and skill.
3. HONESTY: Tennis is one of the only sports where the players make calls on each other’s shots. Can you imagine a Little League game where the batter calls the balls and strikes? Although this huge responsibility in the hands of immature competitors can and has caused problems, no other sport allows for the development of honesty like tennis does.
Parents and coaches can facilitate the development of this core value if they seek out opportunities to compliment players when the players get it right.
4. SPORTSMANSHIP: Like in other sports, tennis players will play opponents that are jerks and try to cheat. In the short run, this is uncomfortable for players and parents, but it does give young kids the chance to start to develop coping skills with these kinds of people.
I know many competitive junior players are mature beyond their peers in this area simply because they have had more chances to practice these skills than non-tennis players. Parents should view these episodes as opportunities and resist the urge to get involved and “save” the child.
5. INTEGRITY: More than any other sport, tennis has the potential for “retaliatory” calls because it allows for your opponent to make calls that directly affect you. There will be times when people get cheated, whether on purpose or by honest mistake. How a player reacts to these times offers the player a chance to test and prove their integrity.
Will they get even, or will they do the right thing despite the opponent’s actions? Refusing to retaliate will teach players that they should avoid situational ethics by refusing to get even “because he did it to me first”.Players that succeed in this area can have a profound sense of satisfaction even if they lose the match, but only if a coach or parent is dedicated to looking for and rewarding their successes in this area.
6. COMMITMENT: Reaching the highest level of tennis requires a great deal of commitment on the player’s part. The lessons of self-discipline and delayed gratification are great life lessons that will surely serve the player later in life.
Even within a player’s game, they will need to make decisions to try new techniques that may hurt them in the short run. Commitment to these new techniques is critical for future tennis success and teaches a valuable life lesson that players will surely benefit from as adults.
7. HUMILITY: Through competition and partaking in drill classes, players soon come to realize people do not look upon arrogance very highly. Tennis offers players the chance to learn the difference between arrogance and confidence.
Team settings and class settings are the best arenas for players to learn this. Parents and coaches can not shun their responsibility to tell players when they are acting arrogantly.
8. EXCELLENCE: I believe the practice court is the best arena to teach players to strive for excellence. Many players find it difficult to practice with the proper level of intensity after a long day at school.
These challenges are similar to the ones they will have in college, and ultimately when they enter the workforce and become parents. The ability to work hard when you don’t feel like it is a major life lesson in the area of striving for excellence.
If we can produce players that strive to excel in these areas and look at tennis as a vehicle to become a better person, then they will have learned valuable life lessons and in the process experience less stress in competition.
This is because they will no longer view the “win” as the ultimate goal. Instead, they will be aiming at a more important target. Almost every tough loss in tennis can be a victory if the player is tuned into the life lessons that tennis offers.
Jorge Capestany, USPTA Master Professional
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We often tell our players at the club that tennis is the world’s toughest sport.
In the beginning, they think we are kidding, but after reading the reasons laid out in this post they grow to appreciate just how tough our sport really is. Below are 15 reasons why tennis is the most psychologically demanding sport.
1) TENNIS IS AN INDIVIDUAL SPORT.
In tennis, you are all alone on the court. No one shares in the glory or the blame. There is no teammate to pass off to if you are playing poorly and you cannot be taken out of the game for a while you recuperate from your poor play.
2) NO COACHING IS ALLOWED.
Tennis is one of the only sports where young players are not allowed to receive any coaching. Except for a handful of exceptions like HS tennis, Zonal teams, or Davis Cup, nearly all tournaments do not allow for coaching. The no coaching restriction is unusual in sports and clearly forces young competitors to deal with the pressures and problems of playing on their own.
3) INTENSE PRESSURE AT A YOUNG AGE.
Many successful professional players have reported that the stresses of junior tennis were the greatest of their entire career. For example, Chris Evert has reported that she felt more pressure during her junior career than she did at any other time as a player. The junior player must deal with the same frustrations during tournament play as the adult, but with fewer resources and life experiences to handle them.
4) TENNIS PROVIDES NOWHERE TO HIDE.
Tennis players must remain in full view of spectators, regardless of how they perform. They may desperately wish to hide from the world but they cannot due to the structure and rules of the game. Embarrassment, discouragement, anger, choking, euphoria, they’re all there for everyone to see. Some players dislike this aspect of tennis while others embrace it. Either way, tennis provides little shelter for the emotions that accompany such an exciting game.
5) NO SUBSTITUTES / NO TIME-OUTS.
Many sports allow players to regain their composure or get back on track through the use of substitutions and time-outs. This is not the case in tennis. Players must stay in the game, regardless of how bad or uncomfortable things may get. This is particularly difficult considering that matches can be two or three hours in length.
6) ONE-ON-ONE COMBAT.
Tennis is similar to boxing. You have a real one-on-one opponent that you must defeat to emerge victorious. A match can quickly become a personal confrontation between opponents, especially if an opponent resorts to gamesmanship tactics. Such direct competition can fuel intense rivalries and threaten friendships in powerful ways among young players.
7) THE ACCURACY OF LINE CALLING.
Completely objective, professionally trained linesmen make mistakes all the time. And they are motionless and concerned only with one line. Expecting players in a match to call the lines with the same accuracy is at best unrealistic. Balls traveling at speeds over 50 miles per hour with fractions of an inch separating “out” from “in” provide distinct opportunities for conflict and controversy. Recent studies show that players are actually legally blind at the moment they land on the court when running, this is added to the fact that many matches can be dramatically changed with only one bad call, makes mistakes unavoidable and it is easy to see why tempers can flare. (Imagine what would happen if the batters in little league baseball were responsible for calling balls and strikes against themselves)
8) THE “HONOR” SCORING SYSTEM.
Unlike most other sports, in tennis, a player can take a point that is rightfully their opponent’s by deliberately calling a shot out that had fallen within the lines. The point can be the most important of the match, yet the call stands. There is nothing a player can do about it. Pressures associated with being cheated or being accused of cheating can place tremendous psychological strain on young players.
9) TENNIS REQUIRES TOUCH AND FINESSE.
Tennis is primarily a fine motor skill sport, meaning that it is comprised of many precise movements requiring “feel”. As such, these movements can be influenced significantly by subtle changes in emotion. Anger, fear, frustration, embarrassment, and other such emotions can be very disruptive to the delicate motor control needed in tennis skills such as serving and volleying
10) CONSTANTLY CHANGING CONDITIONS.
Changing temperature, wind intensity of light, court surfaces, balls, altitude, indoor/outdoor play, and equipment add to the depth of the competitive challenge in tennis. Players are forced to deal with changes such as these, many times within the same match. A player’s responses to these situations can provide an indication of their level of mental toughness. Those who are not affected by changes in conditions are often the ones who win.
11) LENGTH OF THE BATTLE.
Few sports require kids to concentrate and perform for as much as three hours at a time. It is not uncommon for 12-year old players to be required to compete in two singles matches and two doubles matches on the same day. Mental toughness and physical fitness become critical if a player is to become successful.
12) THE UNIQUE SCORING SYSTEM IN TENNIS.
The scoring system in tennis adds to the pressure a young player experiences. Unlike many other sports, there is no overall time limit. Play continues until one of the players wins two out of three sets. Consequently, there is no room for coasting on a lead or waiting for time to run out. Each player is always just a few points from a complete turn-around, and a lead is never safe. In contrast, if a basketball team is ahead by 30 points, they will almost certainly win, because their lead is too large to overcome within the time of the competition. In tennis, a player can be ahead 5-0 in the third set, lose two games, and immediately have reason to fear a loss and a huge comeback on their opponent’s part because there is no time clock to run out.
13) JUNIOR TENNIS RANKINGS.
Junior tennis establishes a clear pecking order very quickly through an intricate system of sectional and national rankings. For some young players, rankings become synonymous with self-esteem. They develop feelings of expectation, hope, and failure surrounding rankings, seeds, and titles. This can lead to a great deal of unhappiness if the player’s enjoyment is tied to winning and losing. If you’re one of the best players in 12 & under baseball players in your state, you still won’t ever be ranked so that you know if you are the 1st or 5th best player. But in tennis, you will know exactly where how you compare to your peers and friends.
14) “BIG vs. LITTLE” and “YOUNG vs. OLD”.
Another dimension of tennis is the fact that a nine-year-old child can successfully compete against a 14 or 15 year-old-teenager. A young girl of 14 may be capable of beating a seasoned veteran on the pro tour. Small can beat large, and young can beat old. A 12 year-old boy losing to a 9 year-old or a 6’3” boy losing to someone half his size can be extremely stressful.
15) TENNIS TRAINING CAN BE EXTREMELY EXPENSIVE.
Tennis training for the competitive player can be a very large expense for a family. Many times the pressures from these expenses can add additional stress to the young player who feels guilty if they are not winning because of all the money his parents are putting into his tennis.
Parents can quickly lose sight of what is important and begin to expect a “return” for their investment. This issue is one of the most frequently mentioned by families with players competing at the high national levels.
Despite all these difficulties, tennis is still the best sport for a child to play. It is the only sport that challenges players on the physical, strategic, and psychological levels. It is no coincidence that so many junior tennis players are the best students in their classes. The goal setting and work ethic needed to be successful in tennis are life skills that will help all players as they get older and enter society.
Even the difficulties experienced in junior tennis like dealing with an abusive or cheating opponent, are opportunities to learn life skills that will be an important advantage later in life. Few other sports offer as many of these types of learning opportunities.
Parents and coaches often make the mistake of wanting to get involved or “fix” on-court problems when they happen. The best thing to do is to recognize those episodes as opportunities to learn important life lessons. Children who develop the skills to deal with difficult people at an early age are usually far more successful.
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Craig O’Shannessy is a well known tennis statistician. He recently republished the stats below in the context of the Australian Open.
Our Tennis Whisperer attempts to explain the WHYs underlining Craig’s stats in simple terms of the three primary skills underpinning every tennis stroke: ball watching, balance and rhythm . [See WHY comments in these brackets].
These are the seven basics of tennis strategy and, as always, they will be the key to winning at this year’s Australian Open.
Lesson 1: Forehands and Backhands
Nine-time Australian Open champion Novak Djokovic has arguably the best backhand in the world. But who cares.
When Djokovic last won the “Happy Slam” in 2021, he struck 98 forehand winners and 45 backhand winners. That’s why you see players running around backhands to hit forehands. They desperately seek to upgrade.
The forehand is the sword. The backhand is the shield. The sword accounts for about two out of every three winners from the back of the court.
Forehand and backhand winners
M/W
Forehand winners
Backhand winners
Men
70 per cent (3228)
30 per cent (1386)
Women
64 per cent (2236)
36 per cent (1247)
[Whisperer: The NADAL VARIATION creates more extreme angles because of the racket position in relation to body.]
Lesson 2: Tennis is a game of errors
The Australian Open features the best players on the planet, who rally back and forth ad nauseam on the practice court with precious few mistakes. Then matches start, and errors flow.
Winners and errors
M/W
Winners
Errors
Men
34 per cent
66 per cent
Women
30 per cent
70 per cent
Winners are rising at Melbourne Park, jumping from 30 per cent for the men in 2015 to 34 per cent last year. In the women’s game, there was a jump from 27 per cent in 2015 to 30 per cent in 2022.
Because errors are so prevalent, it’s much smarter to make opponents uncomfortable and force mistakes than chase winners. Obsess over the bigger pool of points.
[Whisperer: Minimizing errors by staying in the point has always consistently won more points. ]
Lesson 3: Eight ways to force an error
There are actually eight ways to make the opponent uncomfortable and extract an error.
[Whisperer: WHY explained in Where column of the three primary skills in any stroke: ball watching, balance, rhythm—strength is NOT necessarily the key.]
Eight ways to force an error
#
8 ways
Where
1
Consistency
Court: Watching
2
Direction
Court: Balance
3
Depth
Court: Balance
4
Height
Court: Balance
5
Spin
Ball: Watching
6
Power
Ball: Rhythm
7
Court Position
Me: Balance
8
Time
The clock: Rhythm
These eight elements are the holy grail of tennis. If a player hits a shot that contains just one of these eight, such as depth, they will have gained the upper hand in the point.
If their shot includes two or more qualities, such as power and direction, they will be standing inside the baseline hitting with authority when the weak ball comes back.
If they combine three elements – such as height, spin and court position – the ball doesn’t come back.
Lesson 4: Rally length
Winning the short rallies is the best way to walk off court with a victory. The study of rally length started at the 2015 Australian Open and shook the foundations of the sport because of just how many short rallies occur.
Rally length
Shots
Men
Women
0-4
70 per cent
66 per cent
5-8
20 per cent
23 per cent
9+
10 per cent
11 per cent
[Whisperer: Impact of powerful racket technology and advantage to server. Corollary: get into the point as much as possible. Use typical Djokovic/Medvedev strategy of deep returns to put server off balance to nullify server advantage.]
Rally length is predicated on the ball landing in the court, not hitting the strings. So a double fault has a rally length of zero as the ball didn’t land in, and a missed return is a rally length of one as the serve went in and the return was missed.
Seven points out of 10 are contested by players hitting the ball a maximum of two times each (four-shot rallies) in the court.
The data also blew the doors off the myth that winning long rallies equated to winning matches. There are, typically, not enough long rallies to make a difference.
Lesson 5: Mode
The mode simply means the most common value in a data set. We can predict with certainty that the most abundant rally length at this year’s Australian Open will be the same as last year, and the year before that. One shot in the court. No more. No less.
Ask someone which rally length is the most frequent, and the typical answers are from four to eight shots. You can tell them that Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray thought they played more four-shot rallies than anything else. They were very surprised, like all players, that they play more one-shot rallies than any other. That equates to a made serve and a missed return.
2015 Australian Open men: Most common rally lengths
Rally length
Percentage
1 shot
30
3 shots
15
2 shots
10
5 shots
9
4 shots
8
As you can see from the table above, one-shot rallies are incredibly frequent in a match (30 per cent). The next closest rally length is three shots at 15 per cent.
Notice that three-shot rallies occur more than two shots, and five-shot rallies occur more than four shots. That’s because of the halo effect of the serve, or how long the influence of the serve lasts before things become even in a rally.
[To repeat. Whisperer: Impact of powerful racket technology and advantage to server. Corollary: get into the point as much as possible. Use Djokovic /Medvedev strategy of deep returns to nullify server advantage.]
Lesson 6: You win a higher percentage at the net than the baseline
The baseline seems like a safe haven for players, while the net seems a risky place to win points. Nothing could be further from the truth.
The baseline as a safe haven?
M/W
Baseline win percentage
Net win percentage
Men
47
67
Women
48
66
If you rally from the back of the court, you are lucky to win half of your baseline points.
[WHISPERER: Volleys are an ESSENTIAL stroke for any serious tennis player, and particular for junior development, not an afterthought. Moving forward to the net (from GHOSTLINE) wins about two out of three points.]
The net has always been a fun, prosperous place to win points and nothing has changed statistically to think otherwise.
Lesson 7: Serve and Volley works
No tennis strategy has been more maligned and misunderstood than the serve and volley. Pundits say it belongs to another era and is too difficult to employ in today’s game. It’s simply not so.
Serve and volley works
M/W
Played/won
Percentage won
Men
709/1053
67
Women
36/57
63
Both men and women won about two out of three points serving and volleying at last year’s Australian Open.
That is a far superior tactic than serving, staying back and trying to eke out a living from the baseline to hold serve.
[WHISPERER: Enhances probability of winning the point because of the geometry and physics of relative court positions of each player]
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Too often, the average player’s focus is on their “Hardware” — coordinating muscles to hit the ball. True, for most, just coordinating your body to consistently hit the ball week in and week out is difficult to say the least. It quickly becomes very frustrating when playing in the wind, changing court surfaces or against, what I will call, an awkward opponent. And escalates even faster as we age and our muscles lose strength and coordination.
Our Hardware skills pathway includes three essential skills which underpin any tennis stroke: ball watching, balance and rhythm. The basic Tennis Whisperer program teaches the development of the core supporting muscles to both enhance those skills and prevent injury. As an example, just improving your ability to “really see the ball” rather than merely trying to “watch” it during play can go a long way to improving your consistency — at any age and stage of tennis. These basic skills can be taught or refreshed at any age.
But Hardware is only one part of the equation. Hardware is very much about muscles, joints and physical traits. “Software” is brain perception, action and decision making. Software is what often gives a player a head-start on those who might be physically stronger, quicker or, dare I say, younger! And from time to time, a win against the ‘better hitter’.
Your neural system is the third part of this equation, and in basic terms, connects a player’s “Software” to their “Hardware”.
Software should be view as a “Pyramid”. At its base be more aware of your end of the court: basic court positions when returning serve or covering the net. And the positions change depending on the opponent and the conditions. For the more powerful opponent, it’s better to play further back when returning serve — not only to give yourself a little more time to watch the ball, but more importantly to ensure you’re moving forward into the shot to stay on balance. This is why Nadal, one of the best players in the world, plays so far back to improves his balance by moving forward into each shot.
Moving up the Pyramid, and still at your end of the court, where you stand in the court, particularly in dubs, has a huge impact on your ability to stay in the point. For example, at ANY level of tennis, Tennis Physics means that EIGHTY PERCENT (80%) of shots fall in a two (metre) circle around the middle T of the serve line. Merely standing in that circle guarantees you’ll get a shot at most balls — you might not make the shot but you’ll be in the point.
As the Pyramid narrows, and looking at the opponent’s end of the court, action and decision-making comes to the fore. Your focus is on the Hardware of the opponent. Do they have any “obvious weaknesses” — not just the weaker backhand side but where do they consistently return the ball? Any physical limitations in running down lobs? Are they comfortable hitting volleys or overheads? Are they comfortable moving forward, backwards, sideways? What did you learn from the warm-up? [You didn’t try to win the warm-up, right??]
Even further up the Pyramid, and still at your opponent’s end of the court, your focus is on the opponent’s Software. How can you identify and find a way to exploit their limitations? Where do they stand in the court, to return serve, at the net etc? Do they stand too close to the net and therefore are suckers to a simple lob return? What’s their state of mind at different times of the match? Do they rush under pressure? Consistently miss first serves on game and tie breaker points?? How can you adjust your Software and Hardware to take full advantage of your observations during play??
And lastly, at the very Pyramid Top, and now we are back to your end of the court, what’s your decision-making style to analyze opponents during match play. It’s the rare player who can change their Hardware midpoint to hit a different shot under pressure. Even rarer, the player who can consistently play more than one type of game — to unsettle an opponent and match the conditions. For most of us, suffice to say, it’s better to rely on a simple ritual to prepare to play each point — at least to start out each point standing in the right position and with a calm mind.
Tennis is a great game. And you’ll get so much more enjoyment by NOT leaving your Software on the sidelines. And who knows, perhaps a few more wins.
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Have you ever experienced hitting an amazing shot when you know it “doesn’t count”?
For me it usually happens on a casual swing at a serve that landed a foot out – so I call it out and just let’r rip.
No pressure. No expectations.
Amazing how those swings feel so smooth, and yet the result is a booming shot that paints a corner.
Just like hitting in practice, right?
In practice you aren’t concerned with winning or losing so everything is smooth and relaxed.
Effortless.
So why the 180 degree turn around in match play?
It comes down to one ugly word.
Fear.
Now that the shots you’re hitting really “matter” your mind is racing and the feeling of fear takes over:
Fear of embarrassment
Fear of letting down your doubles partner
Fear of disappointing your teammates or coach
Fear of losing to a weaker opponent
Fear of losing your reputation as a player
Unfortunately, most tennis players treat fear as the problem when it’s actually just a symptom.
Once you understand what the root cause of your fear (and how to best manage your particular issue –emphasis added by Tennis Whisperer) is it melts away leaving you free to play your best tennis.
Source: Jorge Capestany, USPTA
https://www.manlylawn.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/POST-askthepro-e1555388900760.png152200Robhttps://www.manlylawn.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/manly-lawn-tennis-club-logo.pngRob2022-12-16 07:16:102022-12-05 06:38:35Here's Why You Play WORSE In Matches | ATP
Technique improvements are great, but if you’re in a pattern of losing to lower level players it’s NOT the answer.
A quick story from Olivier in France illustrates that perfectly.
He was able to play at a “9 out of 10” during practice but only a “2 out of 10” during matches, especially against players who were weaker than him.
During one particular match he actually completely lost confidence and feel for his backhand while his opponent floated him weak shot after weak shot.
Here’s how he tried to solve the problem at first:
“I had mostly looked at the technical aspects. I had looked at the internet already because I remember doing some drills and stuff like that because I was really thinking that I needed to find the technical stuff that makes me be more consistent in my tennis. But then I realized, no, what is happening that I lose all this confidence in just a moment, in just a second? So either I fix that and I progress so that I can see that it’s no longer a disaster or I quit and do something else.”
Olivier eventually came to understand a vital truth: if technique execution is good during practice but significantly worse during matches you do NOT have a technique problem.
You have a mental demon problem.
Mental demons cause a wide range of problems for players. Low performance during matches is just one of them but it’s definitely one of the most common.
Here’s how another one of our students describes it:
“I have a regular weekly match with someone I have been playing for many years. Our matches were always competitive but then I started overthinking my shots and forcing changes and he started beating me (badly).
Technique is a fundamental element to tennis success, but becoming fixated on it can cause big drops in match performance!
Source: Jorge Capestany, USPTA
https://www.manlylawn.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/POST-askthepro-e1555388900760.png152200Robhttps://www.manlylawn.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/manly-lawn-tennis-club-logo.pngRob2022-11-21 07:19:032022-11-28 16:05:35Technique Is NOT The Answer | AskThePro
It’s been a difficult year for most of us and so our Tennis Whisperer decided to hold a free clinic as a way of saying thank you to all those ladies who played with us during the year. Alas under club rules, you must be double vaxxed.
For most, it will be a refesher clinic, for ‘newbies’ probably an eye opener as to the simple things that you can do to improve your game, and hence your enjoyment, without changing strokes etc.
If you would like to play in next Wednesday’s FREE Ladies Clinic, Dec 15, please complete and submit the form below.
Entries are limited with preference given to ladies who have played in the Monday or Wednesday clinics previously.
With several regulars are away, there’s room for some other players if you’re keen. You can bring a partner even if they haven’t been in a clinic previously.
We just to know how many many want to come to organise the clinic. Thank you.
Most parents spend the majority of their time, money and energy in developing their children’s fundamental strokes — focussing on ‘how to hit the ball’.
However, in today’s competitive game, a lack of success is most often the result of a lack of understanding on ‘how to play’ — to build a game based on each child’s unique set of skills: size, strength, speed. To complete the picture, most kids come with under developed mental and emotional components — to deal with adversity, disappointments, injuries and losing. Championship tennis is very much a microcosm of life writ large.
The Tennis Parent’s Bible (Frank Giampaolo) is designed to assist parents (and coaches) better understand the mental and emotional complexities of raising a tennis athlete. While it was published a little while ago, even so, its advice to parents remains evergreen.
It is a comprehensive guide to becoming a world class tennis parent! Yep, parents have to learn as well!!
Yes, I definitely had to as well. One of my sons was a top ranked junior player in Australia (#1 NSW) before we moved to the US. Competitive tennis can be tough for kids!
Click on the link below and enjoy the read!
Tennis Whisperer
We’re going to look at some of Roger Federer’s favorite exercises that have helped him retain elite levels of fitness in a professional career spanning over 23 years, covering warm-ups, exercises for mobility, agility, and strength training.
How Roger Federer Warms Up
Whether you’re a professional athlete or weekend warrior, warming up before undertaking intense exercise is essential in helping to improve your performance and avoiding injuries.
Though Roger Federer has an army of nutritionists, personal trainers, and coaches, his warm-up exercises are basic moves that are easy to do but have multiple benefits.
Jump Rope: Jump rope is an excellent exercise for your cardiovascular system and agility. Federer likes to start off slowly and work his way up to ‘double-unders’.
Butt Kicks: A simple yet effective warm-up exercise perfect for elevating your heart rate and getting some heat into your quads.
Stretches: Dynamic stretching is best performed once your muscles are warmed up a little. Avoid static stretching as it can negatively impact your workout and fatigue your muscles.
Side-Line Sprints: This exercise not only builds a bulletproof cardiovascular system, but it’s also known to pack on muscle and get the body used to sudden changes of direction, which is essential on the tennis court. This intense exercise is best done as the last part of your warm-up.
Roger Federer’s Favorite Exercises
Medicine ball Shuffle: Roger Federer uses the medicine ball shuffle (passing a medicine back and forth while shuffling sideways) with his coach as a way to build core stability, arm strength, and coordination.
Lateral Band Walks: With resistance bands, like the Victorembands, wrapped around his legs and feet set at shoulder-width apart, Roger Federer performs lateral band walks to increase his hip stability and knee-joint strength.
Cone Drills: Federer’s workout routine includes cone drills to sharpen his agility by using cones as markers for fast-paced direction changing, while simultaneously practicing his forehand and backhand.
Side lunges & Twists: Using a medicine ball to tax his muscles further, Roger performs side lunges with a twist for balance, coordination, and isolating his hamstrings, glutes, and quads.
Trampoline Volleys: Standing on one leg on a trampoline, Federer practices volleying the tennis ball to a partner. He believes it helps his balance and hand-eye coordination.
Racket Drills: Practice makes perfect, and Roger Federer’s fitness coach, Pierre Paganini, runs racket drills with the 20 grand slam winner to make sure his forehand, backhand, groundstroke, and volleys are as sharp as possible.
HIIT: Or ‘High-Intensity Interval Training is a series of cardiovascular exercises performed at maximum intensity for periods of 10-to-15 seconds followed by a rest period of around 45 seconds. Federer does HIIT to build explosive power for short but taxing points within a tennis match.
Jogging: While jogging is not high on Roger’s list of popular exercises, building cardiovascular endurance is essential for top tennis players. Though much of the game is played over short, intense time periods, tennis matches can last for hours.
Rest & Recovery
Roger Federer didn’t become a top athlete by exercising alone; he achieved elite status by recovering properly from consistently intense workouts and letting his body adapt to the stimulation.
If you want to recover sufficiently, you need a balanced and nutritious diet and proper sleep. Federer eats whole foods healthily, lean protein for muscle growth, and complex carbs for energy and endurance while getting a minimum of ten hours of sleep per night.
Following Roger Federer’s training routine might not lead you to win Wimbledon, but it will help improve your overall health and fitness, which will lead to gains on the tennis court.
