As you warm up for the match, notice if you are able to see the spin on the ball before you meet the ball or if you can see a “yellow streak” into and out of your racquet.  If you can see either of these consistently in the warm up – you are probably focused enough to start the match with good results.

2.) Move like the pros… 

The pros average 10-12 steps between each ball they contact.  How about you? Want to be a better player?  Add 2 more steps to your footwork between each ball you hit.  Strokes will improve, speed to the ball will be faster and your intensity will stay high.

3.) Get a grip on your game. 

Practice your ground strokes or volleys with the tightest grip you have (call it level 5) now go to level 4, then 3 then 2 then just barely holding the racquet in your hand level 1.  The pros use mostly level 2 and 3 on their grip tension.  You will not be able to follow through with a grip tension of 5 or 4 on your ground strokes and your volleys with vary between going long and dying on the strings with a 5 or 4 grip tension.  The next time your player misses a shot or has an unusual finish to their shot, ask them to identify their grip tension.  Keep it light for success.

4.) Breathe for success… 

Most errors come from not breathing as you contact the ball which can cause a whole host of errors from no finish to a stroke to feeling fatigue even when you are in good condition.  Do it like you would if you were lifting weights, breathe as you exert your effort – blow the ball off your racquet.  It helps to breathe as your opponent contacts the ball as well so you breathe twice during a point.  You will feel relaxed, have a sense of timing and seldom tire in a match.

5.) Out of sync? 

Try counting as you meet the ball and when your opponent contacts their shot.  Counting at the exact moment of contact with improve your focus, sense of timing, breathing and keep your mind focused in the moment.  Hear the rhythm, as you count you begin to recognize the rhythm of a rally, relax at contact and stay focused on the task at hand.

Photo Credits: heraldpost

• Do you know your Job Description for Doubles Positions as a Doubles Team? [/caption]It is difficult to perform well at work, home or play, when you are not knowledgeable or confident in your job description. Too often players and partners on a doubles team are not aware or confident in their job description. Great teams like the Bryan brothers talk between points, keep......
• "Underspin" the "Otherspin" Develop a Competitive Game with more Weapons In today's game "topspin" gets all the press.  Everyone focuses how big the shots are, how much the pros use it and so most all the juniors and club players want to be like the pros. When you listen to the talk about......
• 10 Tips to Winning the Middle of the Match [/caption]As the match goes on analyze what has happened.  Ask these questions: What patterns do they use with their ground strokes to set up points? How do they handle pace and off-pace balls? Are they predictable with where they hit under pressure? Based on their grips, where are their power......
• “I” Receiving Formation – Both Back [/caption]**This UDF works well at club level play, USTA league play, junior and high school matches as well as college matches. This (UDF) Unusual Doubles Receiving Formation puts the receiver and partner on the same side of the court.  The receiver (let’s say – deuce court) is in regular receiving......
• Racquet Mail: Trusting Your Strokes This is the first of hopefully many Racquet Mail posts. I received an email with a question about trusting your strokes, and wrote this article in response. Trusting your strokes is a skill that is obviously quite mental in nature. In my program, called Defeating the Monsters in your Mind,......

• Just How Tough is Tennis? [/caption] Following the epic match between John Isner and Nicolas Mahut at the beginning of Wimbledon 2010, Andy Murray tweeted ‘This is why tennis is one of the toughest sports in the world, this will never ever be matched again’. After watching some of the world’s elite footballers play so......
• Tennis Grips 101 The type of grips that you use in the game of tennis are going to have a really huge bearing on what types of strokes you are going to develop as well as a huge impact on your game overall. For example, if you want to develop an aggressive game,......
• A Little Bit of Tennis 101 pt 3 Gripping for the Forehand Shot - The most common way to grip the tennis racquet for the forehand is known as the eastern forehand, and this is likely going to be the one that you utilize for forehand drives and for the majority of your shots as well. This is......
• The Correlation Between Debt and Credit I was on CreditKarma this weekend and was looking at my credit score. One of my favorite features of CreditKarma is that it shows how your credit situation compares to others. The "report card" feature shows the important factors in a credit score, tells you how important each is for......
• Buying Tennis Apparel The amount of attention that you allow yourself to pay to the apparel for tennis is really going to depend on whether you are a female or a male. For most men, for example, tennis apparel is the last thing that they are thinking about. For women on the other......

What is a drop shot?

• The drop shot is a ball struck with underspin and a soft touch that takes all the speed off an incoming shot and delivers is over the net so short that the opponent has difficulty sprinting from the baseline to retrieve it.
• It is designed to make the ball land short in the deuce or ad court of an opponent so it will bounce 2 to 3 times inside the service court.
• This shot forces the opponent to sprint forward to the net in an attempt to retrieve this no-pace ball – on the dead run.
• The sender of the shot moves forward into the court as well to cut off any attempted drop shot back while reducing the angles available by the person running the shot down.

What is the best surface to use a drop shot on?

Clay courts and grass courts are the best surface to use a drop shot on but it is being used more on the hard court as well by all level players.

4 Times to use the drop shot:

1. Against opponents that stand deep behind the baseline.
2. If the opponent is pulled wide off the court and out of balance.
3. To change the rhythm in a point.
4. Great shot to use to fatigue and opponent by bringing them to the net then lobbing over their head, forcing a lot of vertical court coverage.

It is not a good idea to drop shot when:

• The ball is deep in your court.
• The ball is struck particularly hard at you.
• The opponent is near of inside their baseline and in a balanced position.

Who on the pro tour best utilizes the drop shot?

• Fabrice Santoro
• Andy Murray
• Roger Federer

How to best defend against the drop shot?

1. Keep your opponent deep in their backcourt.
2. Keep the ball high as well as deep.
3. Play closer to the baseline to reduce the space you have to protect against the drop shot.

Best Drills to work on the drop shot?

1. Stand near the service line  and have someone feed you a soft short ball and you try to drop it over the net with enough underspin to make it bounce 2-3 times inside the feeders service court.
2. Put a basket or target half way between the service line and net.  When you partner feeds you the ball you try to drop in into the basket with backspin of either your forehand or backhand side.
3. When warming up with short court tennis, use the drop shot to keep the ball in play and slow down the rally so you can “feel” the ball and get a lot of shots in play so you can warm up.
4. The drop shot also will help you develop a chip shot, slice shot, spin volley, return of serve and a defensive shot to keep you in points when out of position.

Conclusion:

The drop shot is a “must have” shot for beginner and intermediate level players who wish to defeat players with “pretty” strokes and more experience.

It is the perfect shot for high school players who are playing on a team for the first time and do not have consistent deep strokes.

It is also a keeper for club players who want to keep their opponents off balance.  It is an important shot to grow your tennis game and add new “weapons of mass confusion” for your opponent.

It is used more and more by the professionals and advanced players as an option to just keeping the ball deep and allowing the opponent to run side to side for shots.

It is considered one of the “ugly” shots in tennis – mostly by the opponent who has to try and continually run it down in their matches.  Add the drop shot to your game to become a winner at your level of play.

Personal Note:

As an all-court player, I use the drop shot to keep my opponent off guard and destroy any rhythm they might be trying to establish.  I use it often as an approach shot against strong baseliners.  It works great against players who are slow afoot or ones I am trying to fatigue. I also use it to bring baseliners to the net where they feel uncomfortable and then lob over the head.

Like most shots it will take practice and time – but it can become one of your weapons of choice in situations.

Ken DeHart
PTR & USPTA Master Professional
USA High Performance Coach
Wilson Premier Advisory Staff

Photo Credits: JCtennis.com

• "Underspin" the "Otherspin" Develop a Competitive Game with more Weapons In today's game "topspin" gets all the press.  Everyone focuses how big the shots are, how much the pros use it and so most all the juniors and club players want to be like the pros. When you listen to the talk about......
• Racquet Mail: How to Create a Better Forehand Question: I am finding that my swing and my backhand grip are much better than my forehand. When I go for a forehand shot, it usually ends up with a tremendous amount of topspin making it difficult to hit. Still, my opponent on the other side of the net seems......
• Winning in Practice, pt 2 This is part two in a two part set. Doubles Situations The receiving team must lob the return of serve and try to take the net at least twice in each game. This is especially effective when the serving team is serving into the sun. The serving team must play......
• Present Yourself for the Win - Posture and Attitude Whenever we enter into a competition, our greatest opponent can be ourselves. We will misguide ourselves into thinking we are doing something we aren't. For many, when faced with the realization that this is happening, will bridge the gap and improve greatly as an athlete and player. The one thing......
• Grips for Volleys Choose the Correct Grip for Your Volley [/caption] Here are 7 questions you might consider before you start: Is there 1 best grip? What is the experience status of the player – beginner, intermediate or advanced? What is the age of the player? What is the physical strength of the......

• Tennis Glossary pt2 Net Cord - This is the cable that is responsible for supporting the net. Net Cord Judge - This is an official that is responsible for calling a let on service. This judge will sit up in front of the chair of the umpire on one end of the net,......
• 100 Quick Tennis Tips pt 2 Here are 100 quick and easy tennis tips to get your game going. We're going to spread this list out over a couple of posts to keep it interesting. Tip #12 - When the ball is coming so fast that you are not going to get to it in time......
• Tennis Ball Machine Advantages If you are looking for ways for you to significantly improve your techniques in tennis, then one of the best things that you can possibly to do is to invest in a tennis machine or tennis ball machine. This is a truly ideal device for anyone that is interested in......
• 100 Quick Tennis Tips pt 1 Here are 100 quick and easy tennis tips to get your game going. We're going to spread this list out over a couple of posts to keep it interesting. Tip #1 - Before you pick up the game of tennis, you should absolutely make sure to consult a physician to......
• 6 Tennis Tips and Tricks Tennis tips and tricks are like small tweaks that you can make to your game in order to improve your play. If you are looking for a way to improve your capabilities as a tennis player, consider these tennis tips and tricks and then move on to look at other......

Lessons and Clinics as a Boomer Tennis Player

1. Find a certified tennis professional – Trust your investment and game improvement to a tennis professional who has been tested and demonstrated the basics of quality tennis instruction. Try a lesson or clinic to see if you connect with the pro’s teaching style.
2. Take instruction with a friend – That way you have two people remembering what the pro suggested to improve your game. You also have a built-in practice partner with whom you can share experiences, learn drills and practice techniques that can work specifically on your game.
3. Begin your “success journal” – Take notes about what you learned in your lessons or clinics. Write ideas down in your own words reviewing the key ideas to help retain what you learned. When you go to practice, look at your notes so you can approach practice with a game plan. Write what you learned from your practice in your success journal so you are constantly building upon your base of tennis knowledge.
4. Build a 3 tiered approach to practice – Develop a base of tennis friends that allows you to practice and play against players who are weaker than you (to try out your new skills), the same level as you (to measure your improvement), and players of higher skills (to see what you need to add to your game). It is important to play against all 3 tiers if you are to become a complete player.
5. Join a league or team – Doing so will give you a wider base of practice partners and competitive opponents. A league will give you weekly matches against players you do not know. A team provides a base of players with a variety of skills to practice against as well a support system for your ups and downs of your tennis game-improvement.
6. Make a commitment – You did not get successful in your pre-boomer years without continuing education and a commitment to excellence in your career. Take weekly lessons or clinics and practice. Invest time and money in learning TENNIS – a game for a lifetime.

Photo Credits: Pat Groves

• USPTA World Conference Update I flew into Ontario - CAL not Canada from San Jose, Ca. to attend the 2010 USPTA Nationals.  Drove to La Quinta and the temperature was about 115 across the desert.  Got to the  La Quinta Resort about 2pm and checked in.  This is a beautiful resort nestled against a......
• Winning in Practice, pt 1 "Practicing to win requires rehearsing the tactical situations you will encounter and selecting the correct appropriate response for that situation until you can execute these responses in the heat of match play" ...Ken DeHart Playing the Score Practice your singles and doubles match with altered scoring situations: Start all games......
• Drop Shot – The Weapon of Choice With the game going to power, bigger and stronger players, the drop shot appeared to be the forgotten shot in tennis.  At one point in his early career, even Roger Federer chose not to use this questionable tactic in his match play.  Now, it is a signature shot for players......
• The Psychology of a Winner: Improving Your Practice They say practice makes perfect. I say "perfect practice makes perfect.” Practice is just the first thing you have to keep in mind when you're aiming for that win on the court. This begs the question then on how do you improve your practice? Look to the four tips below......
• Grips for Volleys Choose the Correct Grip for Your Volley [/caption] Here are 7 questions you might consider before you start: Is there 1 best grip? What is the experience status of the player – beginner, intermediate or advanced? What is the age of the player? What is the physical strength of the......

• Top Tennis Tips from the Pros in Tennis The first thing that you are going to want to understand is that pro players are on a completely different level of playing in comparison to amateur players. Still, this is absolutely no reason for you not to look at pro players and take advice from them on how they......
• 6 Tennis Tips and Tricks Tennis tips and tricks are like small tweaks that you can make to your game in order to improve your play. If you are looking for a way to improve your capabilities as a tennis player, consider these tennis tips and tricks and then move on to look at other......
• Epic Soccer Training - Improve Soccer Skills 2018 World Cup 2022 World Cup avoiding soccer injuries cristiano ronaldo edgar davids embarrassing soccer goalie play fifa referee suspended Fifa refs explaining decisions holland How to treat soccer injuries Jabulani Soccer Ball keeper knuckle manchester united most embarrassing penalty kick most embarrassing PK nigerians placed shot playing down a......
• Building Your Golf Game From the Ground Up So many golfers make the mistake of jumping ahead when it comes to handling their game. They get wrapped up in the latest swing techniques or spend their lives in the search of the perfect club. Unfortunately, these players are missing what could be wrong with their game. Sometimes, you......
• Article Marketing Tips That Give Results The online audience is not the same as the offline audience, and that makes article writing for the web totally different. You need to know and understand what you want to accomplish with your articles. No matter what your market is, or what the topic is, you can drill down......

Improve your tennis game.

1. A 5 minute warm up is a must.

• 20 jumping jacks – Puts you on the balls of your feet and stretches out the body.
• 20 alley shuffles – Start in the alley and side-shuffle across the doubles, then singles side lines, until you have crossed a line 20 times.
• 20 quick feet – Step over a line with your right foot then the left rapidly. Each time the right foot crosses the line counts as 1, repeat until you reach 20 quick feet steps.
• 20 helicopters – Extend your arms out shoulder high. Pivot off your right then left foot as your arms swing side to side like helicopter blades.
• 20 practice swings – Go through all your ground strokes, volleys, overheads and serves 20 times to get your body ready to play.

2. Serve into the fence or wall.

Practice serving against a practice wall or even better, into the fence on the court.

• Focus on your technique as you go through your service motion. By serving into the fence while standing on the singles side line, the ball will most of the time come back to you. Therefore you will need only a few balls to practice your serves.
• Next stand on the baseline and face the back fence. Now practice serving into the back fence having created a little more space between you and your target.
• Next stand on the deuce court service line and serve cross court into the opposite deuce service court (you can add a challenge by putting 3-4 balls in the opposite service court to divide it in half – therefore creating a left and right target).
• Now serve halfway between the service line and the baseline with the same challenges.
• Finally, go to the baseline and serve into the opposite service court with the focus still more on the technique than power.

3. Practice with a ball machine – with a purpose.

• Have a remote control or limit the number of balls in the machine to about 50 or 75 balls (most ball machines hold about 2-300 balls – way to many to hit at one time effectively).
• Have a target (one of the 4 squares on the court on the opposite side of the net).
• Focus on control of the depth and spin on the ball rather than power. Your game will improve when you learn not to lose before your opponent does.
• Any balls that do not make it over the net becomes balls that you serve over the net so you practice ground strokes or volleys and serves.
• When you pick up the balls – do wide based squats for each ball you pick up. Personal trainers will have you do squats and lunges to improve your strength and flexibility, so get your work out in while picking up the balls.

4. Use the time between points to your advantage.

• Following a point, you need to return the balls on your side of the court to your opponent so they can serve to start the next point. Use that time when you return the ball to the opponent to practice your forehand or backhand.
• Do a “drop & hit” with correct technique to give the ball to your opponent.
• This can be an “eraser” shot – to erase the feeling of the shot you just missed or a “builder” shot – to add to your successful feeling of hitting the perfect shot.
• You will typically return 80 or more balls in a match to your opponent so they can serve to you. That is 80 chances to erase or build your own strokes.

5. Beat the wall.

A practice wall is the perfect partner. It never gets tired, never talks back and gives you what you give it.

• Use a low compression ball or punch a hole in a regular ball so the rebound off the wall is not so fast as to destroy your technique.
• Set a number of balls you intend to rally off your forehand, backhand or volley’s.
• You can also serve against the wall then rally or move in closer to volley.
• Attempt to use complete swing paths and avoid punching or shortening follow throughs on your strokes.

Photo Credits: Pauline K.

• Winning the Warming Up – in The Warm Up [/caption]When you go to the court to play your next doubles match, take control of the match from the beginning. Introduce yourselves to your opponents. Spin the racquet before beginning the warm up so you will be on the correct side when warming up and know the serving order as......
• Ken DeHart Presents “Strategy and Tactics of Tennis” at Missouri Valley USPTA USPTA Master Professional, Ken DeHart was the kick-off speaker at the 2009 Missouri Valley USPTA Conference at the Homestead Country Club in Kansas City, Missouri. Ken presented a 4 hour continuing education course on Strategy and Tactics to more than 80 tennis teaching professionals and high school coaches attending......
• 5 Winning Keys to Lobbing, pt 3 Welcome to our third and final part of Keys to Lobbing. Number five, the last tip in this set is below. 5. 7 Tips to practicing the lob 1. Practice tossing the ball up, letting it bounce then directing the lob to a 9 foot by 9 foot area in......
• The Psychology of a Winner: Improving Your Practice They say practice makes perfect. I say "perfect practice makes perfect.” Practice is just the first thing you have to keep in mind when you're aiming for that win on the court. This begs the question then on how do you improve your practice? Look to the four tips below......
• Winning in Practice, pt 1 "Practicing to win requires rehearsing the tactical situations you will encounter and selecting the correct appropriate response for that situation until you can execute these responses in the heat of match play" ...Ken DeHart Playing the Score Practice your singles and doubles match with altered scoring situations: Start all games......

• Affiliate Advice There are many thousands of sites on the internet that can give you helpful information about affiliate marketing. Obviously, the more genuine the sources are you make use of to turn into a professional online marketer, the more likely it is too occur. To save your time and resources it's......
• Even More Tips for Serving Here are some more useful tennis tips for improving your serving game. If you want to make improvements in your ability to serve, these tips will prove useful. Tip #1: Serve well enough that you can control the rally. One of the more popular axioms that has to do......
• Tennis Glossary Continued Here is a continuation of the tennis glossary of terms that we have been working on for some time now. Serve- The initial shot of each point in a game is called the serve. While behind the base line of the court the player is required to first toss the......
• Tennis Glossary pt2 Net Cord - This is the cable that is responsible for supporting the net. Net Cord Judge - This is an official that is responsible for calling a let on service. This judge will sit up in front of the chair of the umpire on one end of the net,......
• Belichick was Right (and Personal Finance Links) Do we have any football fans in the house? If you aren't a fan, just skip down to the links. If you are a fan, hopefully you caught the Patriots-Colts' "Rivalry of the Decade" game. Whenever these teams get together it's always comes down to the wire. As a Patriots......

At the Net

Thanks again for the great tips in this video together with Jorge Capestany.

Now on the 2 tip you mentioned to change to bh grip with the hand holding the frame of the racket and that it is a mistake to change grip with the hand holding the grip.

Why is that? I saw you pulling your shoulders upwards in the video.

In other resources I read that you can do what you suggested or change grip with your dominant hand and just holding the frame with your support hand.

Many thanks for your comments on this.

How to Change Grips Quickly at the Net

The non-dominate hand is the key to a grip change. When moving to the the left, the left foot moves first toward the ball on balls that are close to the player. As that happens, the left hand places the racquet behind or above the in-coming ball. That allows the dominate hand to move to a new grip position based upon the height of the in-coming ball and your intention for the shot.

My racquet should rise above the incoming ball to create a downward and forward movement into the ball for more spin and speed (action) on the ball I am volleying.

Ken DeHart
SJSRC Director of Tennis
PTR & USPTA Master Professional

Photo Credits: ataelw

• The Psychology of a Winner: Improving Your Practice They say practice makes perfect. I say "perfect practice makes perfect.” Practice is just the first thing you have to keep in mind when you're aiming for that win on the court. This begs the question then on how do you improve your practice? Look to the four tips below......
• Racquet Mail: Defeating the Inside out Forehand Racquet Mail: I have a question regarding how to counter the inside out forehand. I'm a 4.5-5.0 player with an all court game, with a two handed backhand. Lately, I have been having trouble with one high level opponent who grew up on clay courts. Typically, we rally a few......
• Little Known Facts That Influence Your Tennis Game [/caption] The average length of a point in a match is about 4-7 seconds. The tennis court is 3.5 feet longer cross court than it is down the line – safer shot with more court space and less movement to recover-to the middle of “possible returns”. The tennis ball travels......
• Racquet Mail: How to Create a Better Forehand Question: I am finding that my swing and my backhand grip are much better than my forehand. When I go for a forehand shot, it usually ends up with a tremendous amount of topspin making it difficult to hit. Still, my opponent on the other side of the net seems......
• Ball Machines – Using them for Singles Practice Ball machines are great for practicing your singles shots – if positioned correctly. 5 things NOT to do when using a ball machine: Do not place the ball machine only on the baseline in the center of the court Do not have the ball machine oscillate only from deuce court......

• 100 Quick Tennis Tips pt 3 Here are 100 quick and easy tennis tips to get your game going. We're going to spread this list out over a couple of posts to keep it interesting. Tip #25 - You are going to want to imitate the incoming ball's trajectory using your backswing. For example, if the......
• Tennis Ball Machine Advantages If you are looking for ways for you to significantly improve your techniques in tennis, then one of the best things that you can possibly to do is to invest in a tennis machine or tennis ball machine. This is a truly ideal device for anyone that is interested in......
• Even More Tips to Improve your Serve There are a great number of different tips that you can employ for improving your tennis game, especially when it comes to serving. Right now, let us talk about the steps that can be taken to increase your serving capabilities. When you increase your ability to serve, you can......
• Tennis Grips 101 The type of grips that you use in the game of tennis are going to have a really huge bearing on what types of strokes you are going to develop as well as a huge impact on your game overall. For example, if you want to develop an aggressive game,......
• Get a Grip – How to Fix Your Swing By Fixing Your Grip Few players realize just how important their grip is when it comes to their swing. If you are not gripping your club correctly, you will not be able to effectively harness the power of your swing. You may slice, you may hook, but you will most likely get frustrated. Your......

I have a question regarding how to counter the inside out forehand. I’m a 4.5-5.0 player with an all court game, with a two handed backhand. Lately, I have been having trouble with one high level opponent who grew up on clay courts. Typically, we rally a few strokes and then my opponent starts hitting inside out shots to my backhand from his backhand corner. I typically return the balls cross court trying hit shots to his backhand, but given his position and the fact that I’m hitting while on the move this becomes increasingly difficult and I find myself moving further and further out to my backhand side as he cranks heavier and ever more angled shots. The point usually ends by my hitting a short ball and my opponent hits a winner to the (now) open court.

I have 2 specific questions:

1) If I want to control of the point by hitting a backhand down the line, what key reference points do you suggest for hitting a ball with heavy topspin on the rise with a two-hander?

2) I can change the rhythm of the point and get some more time by hitting a slice. What’s the best way to hit a slice on a ball with heavy topspin?

If you’ve got any other expert tips I’m all ears!

Handing the Inside-Outer

Options:

1. When you get into a situation where your opponent starts going to your backhand and you are still running around to hit your inside out backhand, play the ball “inside in” or down the line to force him to move back to the deuce court so you can get your next shot back into his backhand.

When we work with players and tell them to play an opponent’s backhand, it only means for a few shots.  If they start running around their backhand too far, go to their forehand to open up the backhand again.  They now have to hit their backhand on the run which often produces a weak return that lets you begin to control the point.

When your opponent starts to pull you outside your comfort zone on the backhand side, add height and spin to your recovery shot to buy time and re-establish your position – renegotiate, as he is dictating the deal.

2. If you choose to play a backhand down the line, remember you are changing the direction of the shot (COD – change of direction) and that is best done on a shorter ball not a deeper ball. You need to plan on contacting the back of the ball with lots of upper motion and racquet acceleration to avoid the ball reflecting out into the alley.  A slow or tentative swing will cause the ball to reflect wider off your strings.

It is best to be moving forward into the shot as your hit it on the rise.

3. Slice is king to neutralize the ball and buy time. Just got back from the US Open and watched how often the pros slice on heavy deep balls (Nadal, Federer and Roddick etc).  They force the opponent to wait on the ball to arrive and the underspin makes them really have to pay attention to be able to execute another aggressive topspin (most end up hitting it in the net).

You will make a few errors as you add new shots to your game but remember the idea is to have “Weapons of Mass Confusion” for your opponent.

Ken DeHart
SJSRC Director of Tennis
PTR & USPTA Master Professional

Photo Credits: CORE-Materials

• What to do when things go bad? My forehand/backhand keeps missing wide? Select a target rather than just cross court. Select a safer target 2-3 feet inside the lines. Keep you eyes still until you see the blur of your racquet go past your eyes - looking up re-directs your shot. Align your feet to get......
• Where does Power come from? What are the secrets of power? - Not trying but let it flow.... 1. Just the thought of hitting "hard" will make you tense up and grip the racquet tightly. This does the exact opposite or what you are trying to achieve - it takes away your power. 2. Tension......
• The 3 Parts of a Ground Stroke - "TTF" What are the basic parts of a forehand or a backhand ground stroke?  Many factors may go into the essentials of successfully beginning and completing either ground stroke. Footwork & positioning of the feet and the body for the stroke Grip tension Tracking of the ball Intended target and direction......
• A Handful of Strategy… [/caption] When you are involved in a match and need help deciding what to do, look to your hand for the answer.  Make a fist and then follow these simple directions: P = In Play Stick up the thumb - the most important part of the hand which stands for......
• Ball Machines – Using them for Singles Practice Ball machines are great for practicing your singles shots – if positioned correctly. 5 things NOT to do when using a ball machine: Do not place the ball machine only on the baseline in the center of the court Do not have the ball machine oscillate only from deuce court......

• Tennis Glossary pt6 Error - This is a shot that did not manage to make it across the net, or that landed out of the court, and this will result in a loss of the point. Face - This is the racquet's flat area, one that is formed by way of the strings......
• Tips for Fat and Thin Shots What's the Problem? Are you hitting behind the golf ball, or are you hitting to high up on the golf ball? Here are some tips: This is most commonly caused by some swaying in the process of the swing. Any up and down or side to side head movement has......
• Tennis Glossary Continued Tennis Elbow - Tennis elbow is a name that is intended to describe a condition that can be caused by the strains which are frequently put on that joint in the course of playing the game of tennis, although that is not the only way to cause it. Tennis elbow......
• Classic Album Review-Charlie Rich "Take Me" By 1977, Charlie Rich was beginning to hit the downside of his career. After a decade of struggles, with only two minor hits to his credit (“Lonely Weekends” and “Mohair Sam”), Charlie Rich suddenly had found himself as one of the hottest performers of the 1970's, thanks to big hits......
• 100 Quick Tennis Tips pt 1 Here are 100 quick and easy tennis tips to get your game going. We're going to spread this list out over a couple of posts to keep it interesting. Tip #1 - Before you pick up the game of tennis, you should absolutely make sure to consult a physician to......

Your first opponent is the net.

Opponent #1 – The Net

The first opponent is the net. Unless you clear the net with your shots, you cannot begin to compete against your opponent on the other side of the net.  The game you will be playing will resemble golf – you hit the ball into the net then go pick it up and repeat the process.  Doesn’t sound like much fun to me.

Opponent’s Description:

1. The net is a deceptive opponent; it is almost transparent, it has holes and you can see through it.
2. The net is only 3 feet high at the center and grows to 3 feet 6 inches at the net posts – about the height of the character “ET” in the movie with the same name.
3. It is distracting when you are playing. Your eyes seem to be attracted to the white band at the top of the net.  This amazingly seems to direct all your shots to this 3 inch target – which means you seldom get a chance to play the person on the other side of the net – Advantage Net.

Problem:

1. Because 60% of your points lost never clear the net, you end up losing to an opponent that doesn’t even move.
2. 60% of the time you have to go pick up our own mistake.
3. You have a hard time defeating the player on the other side when we give them 60% of their points with no effort on their part.

Solution – create consequences in practice.  The next time you go out to practice, select from the following options:

1. Any ball hit in the net equals 5 push ups for the striker.
2. Any ball hit into the net gives your opponent 2 points.
3. Any ball hit into the net on your service game (your serve) allows your opponent to become the server and visa versa.
4. Any ball hit into the net within the first 4 balls of a rally (including the serve and return) equals a game for the opponent.

Opponent #2 – The Lines

Once you have defeated your first opponent, you will now face your next opponent – the lines. Unless you are able to place your shots on or inside the lines designated for serving, receiving and rallying (depending upon whether you are playing singles or doubles) you will never be able to score a point against that “person on the other side of the net.”

The lines on the opponent’s court create a network of options for us when we play.

1. First there are 4 giant squares or actually rectangles in which to hit our shots.  The two rectangles near the net are 13 ½ feet. wide and 21 feet long. The two in the back are 13 ½ feet wide and 19 feet long in which to direct our shots.
2. If we are playing doubles there are two alleys that are 4 ½ feet wide and 39 feet long to add to our shots.
3. There are singles sidelines, doubles sidelines, center service lines, baselines, service lines and even a center service hash mark that divides the baseline into a deuce and ad court half to distract us.

Opponent’s Description:

The lines are 2 inches in width and white in color.  They mark the boundaries of the court which may be a variety of colors; green, blue, tan, etc.

Problem:

Because the lines are the only targets you usually see when we are selecting our options for our shots, we will have a tendency to aim for them.  They are awfully small targets from so far away, while hitting a ball hard with a small racquet.

Solution – create consequences:

1. Keep score, minus 1 point for every ball hit into the net and minus 2 points for a shot hit wide of the correct side lines and minus 3 points for a shot hit beyond the baseline.
2. Any 1^st or 2^nd serve hit wide of the service box sidelines allows your opponent to become the server.
3. Any ground stroke or volley hit wide of the singles or doubles sidelines allows your opponent to become the server.
4. Any shot hit wide or long, equals 5 push ups (not as punishment but to create fatigue in the arms for subsequent shots.)
5. Any shot hit wide or long before completing a 4 ball rally will equal a game for the opponent (the average length of a point for most players is 4 shots at most every level of play.)

Once you have defeated the Net and the Lines you now have a chance of defeating your Opponent on the other side of the net – using your shot selection, speed, cunning and guile.

Check out my next article on “Defeating the Player on the Other Side of the Net” and visit my website at www.kendeharttennis.com.

Good Luck to you and may you never lose to the net or the lines – only to a better opponent.

Ken DeHart
USPTA Master Professional
USA High Performance Coach

Photo Credits: DaveMontPhotography

• Racquet Mail: Trusting Your Strokes This is the first of hopefully many Racquet Mail posts. I received an email with a question about trusting your strokes, and wrote this article in response. Trusting your strokes is a skill that is obviously quite mental in nature. In my program, called Defeating the Monsters in your Mind,......
• The Psychology of a Winner: Improving Your Practice They say practice makes perfect. I say "perfect practice makes perfect.” Practice is just the first thing you have to keep in mind when you're aiming for that win on the court. This begs the question then on how do you improve your practice? Look to the four tips below......
• Grips for Volleys Choose the Correct Grip for Your Volley [/caption] Here are 7 questions you might consider before you start: Is there 1 best grip? What is the experience status of the player – beginner, intermediate or advanced? What is the age of the player? What is the physical strength of the......
• Need to Check Out the Court Conditions at SJSRC? For easy access, go to www.kendeharttennis.com - click on web cam. User name and password is tennis. A service called Trendnet will come up. Click on live view and it will show you the court conditions on courts 1 - 2 - 3 at the club. You can even......
• 5 Winning Keys to Lobbing, pt 1 1.  Lob with a Purpose – there are two main reasons to lob: 1. To win the point 2. To get out of trouble The Offensive Lob Offensive Lob is designed to win the point. 1. Aim point - about 10 feet over the opponents head - hit quickly......

• Riverbend Golf Club, Madera, CA Riverbend Golf Club is located in Madera, CA Phone: 559-432-3020 Website: http://www.riverbendgolf.com Course History: This is a private course that offers daily fee play and is a favorite among locals and travelers alike. Each year, the following events are hosted here: NCGA California State Amateur Qualifying Events, California Players Tour,......
• The Pre Shot Routine Every good golfer is going to have a consistent pre shot routine, which is defined as being a series of moves that is capable of helping them to assume the proper address position and the right posture every single time they stand up to the ball. If you need any......
• Tennis Glossary Continued Here is a continuation of the tennis glossary of terms that we have been working on for some time now. Serve- The initial shot of each point in a game is called the serve. While behind the base line of the court the player is required to first toss the......
• Ground Strokes Guide pt 1 Unless you are playing well beyond the intermediate level, then more than 75 % of your shots made during play are going to be forehand ground strokes or backhand ground strokes. For this very reason, your ground strokes absolutely need to be your basic weapons and tools for winning on......
• Tennis Glossary Continued Here is a continuation of the tennis glossary of terms that we have been working on for some time now. Sidespin - Sidespin is imparted to a ball by drawing the strings of the racket along the ball horizontally as the ball makes contact, this creates a spin around the......

San Jose Swim & Racquet Club

The following are 11 ways to improve your tennis game at the San Jose Swim & Racquet Club:

1. Private hour and half hour lessons. These lessons can include technical work and hitting with the pro during that time to see if the technical and strategy changes work.
2. Semi private lessons. Get together and start working with a team mate or best friends.
3. Team Practices. At practice learn how to use new strategies, unusual doubles formations and new shots to win.  Can be all strategy and match play.
4. Clinics for 3-4-5-6 players. Work on game play situations and strokes (only if needed to execute the strategy).
5. Drop-In Clinics. These clinics are available most every day of the week for all skill levels.  Just show up and get a practice – no game arranging necessary.
6. Free ball machine use. We have Playmate and Little Tennis Twist machines.
7. Tennis Socials against a variety of players. We host a lot of tennis socials throughout the year such as multiple fund raisers, the Wooden Racquet tournament, and for themes like Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day, etc.
8. Practice balls. Baskets of balls are available for members to practice serves, drill or train with another member.
9. Practice wall. It’s been undefeated since 1956.  Everyone grew up on the wall – great for conditioning and repetition of strokes.
10. USTA match play. We have singles, doubles and mixed on a year round basis.
11. Daily and weekly member. We have court reservations for walk-on and reserved courts on which to play and train.

Drop-In Clinics – The drop-in clinics present lots of opportunities to experience live ball situations in both repetitive and competitive match play within the clinics. The variety of players in the clinics also provide lots of live ball experiences with a variety of players. (Players hit close to 800-1,000 balls in the 1 ½ hour clinic.)

Meet New Players - Players meet new players in the drop-in clinics and often schedule hitting times with each other using the drills they used in the clinics to improve their skills.

+Only the Saturday 10-11:30  Drop-In (everyone’s favorite) ever has more than 4-6 players in a clinic and on 2 courts. In fact that there is usually 2-3 staff professionals in the clinics provide lots of individual help and hitting partners in the clinic.

Private Lessons - Any private lesson may involve adjustments in technique or strategy and then live ball hitting with the pro to determine immediately the students ability to execute the adjustments suggested by the professional.

**The amount of the hitting or instruction is determined by the wants or needs of the student. The private lesson may be a total time of live ball play with the pro. The pro may offer suggestions to improve the students technical or strategical skills.

Juniors Activities this summer:

In addition we have a Summer Sports Camp from 9 AM – 4 PM on Monday – Thursday for kids. Ages 5-16.

We offer summer tennis clinics and Junior Team Tennis vs other area clubs for all levels.

Quick Start is the way to introduce the young ones to tennis for a lifetime. Ages 4-8.

See our 2010 Summer Tennis Brochure for details or contact me directly. My number is 408-892-3806.

Visit http://www.sjswimandracquetclub.com/

• Present Yourself for the Win - Posture and Attitude Whenever we enter into a competition, our greatest opponent can be ourselves. We will misguide ourselves into thinking we are doing something we aren't. For many, when faced with the realization that this is happening, will bridge the gap and improve greatly as an athlete and player. The one thing......
• Aussie Land and Tennis Update #4 It is wet here and I have not had a chance to use my sunscreen in 7 days..... Cool, windy and wet - am I in San Jose??? Dan Santorum and I walked in the mist, wind and chill down Russell Street to Findley St and off to Rod......
• 7 Habits of Highly Successful Tennis Professionals 1. Be "Pro" Active Sure you have been teaching for years and may not need a lesson plan. But just as you would prepare to play a match, you still would need to review.  So, have a game plan for your student or opponent and think about your last......
• Getting the Most Game Improvement for Your Dollar [/caption] Lessons and Clinics as a Boomer Tennis Player Find a certified tennis professional – Trust your investment and game improvement to a tennis professional who has been tested and demonstrated the basics of quality tennis instruction. Try a lesson or clinic to see if you connect with the pro's......
• Drop Shot – The Weapon of Choice With the game going to power, bigger and stronger players, the drop shot appeared to be the forgotten shot in tennis.  At one point in his early career, even Roger Federer chose not to use this questionable tactic in his match play.  Now, it is a signature shot for players......

• Tennis Betting and Odds Tennis Betting and Odds is a type of handicapping exclusively for tennis betting.  Tennis betting is different from other types of sports betting because you have to become knowledgeable about each player.  How players perform from week to week affects their rankings and their tennis odds.  Knowing this information and......
• 5 Tips to Prevent Tennis Elbow Although tennis may not be a full contact sport, it is still possible to get injured. One of the most common injuries that tennis players face is called tennis elbow. This is a repetitive strain injury that can be incredibly painful. The good news is that you can prevent it,......
• Italian Open Closes with Djokovic and Maria Shrapova on Top Everyone watched with anticipation this weekend as the meteoric rise of Djokovic has allowed him to claim yet another title. The young tennis player has now been able to set amazing records with his ability to follow John McEnroe’s 42-0 start in 1984. No other tennis player has been able......
• Venus Williams Changes Focus The Wimbledon championship's top female champion Venus Williams has withdrawn from the upcoming Wimbledon open in order to prepare for the another match that is coming up. The match in question is the $ 4.5 millions Sony Ericsson Championships, and this is the season ender for the WTA Tour that......
• Stringing Tension for Tennis Racquets One of the most commonly misunderstood issues when it comes to playing the game of tennis is tennis racquet stringing tension. Despite being commonly misunderstood, this is a very important consideration that you need to put attention into, especially when you are just getting started in the game of tennis.......

T is for Tennis

Think back to the great coaches and teachers in school or life who motivated or inspired you.  What were some of their characteristics that made them special in your eyes and made you want to be like them?

By no way is this complete, but here is a list of traits they often possessed, that you may recall from A to Z:

1. Always available.
2. Believes in others.
3. Compassionate.
4. Dependable.
5. Energetic.
6. Fun loving.
7. Gracious & a good listener.
8. Humble.
9. Inspiring.
10. Juggles many tasks at one time.
11. Kind.
12. Listener & learner.
13. Motivator.
14. Nonjudgmental.
15. Optimistic.
16. Problem solver.
17. Quality person.
18. Respectful of others.
19. Satisfying just to be around.
20. Trustworthy.
21. Understanding.
22. Volunteer.
23. Witty with a laugh & words.
24. X-cited about life in unique ways.
25. Yes man – it can be done.
26. Zealous about life and others.

We owe it to those who inspired us to pass along inspiration to others.  We should work to be an inspiration to others by how we live each day.

You never know who you might be coaching.

Ken DeHart

Photo Credits: nsaplayer

• A Handful of Strategy… [/caption] When you are involved in a match and need help deciding what to do, look to your hand for the answer.  Make a fist and then follow these simple directions: P = In Play Stick up the thumb - the most important part of the hand which stands for......
• Ken DeHart Presents “Strategy and Tactics of Tennis” at Missouri Valley USPTA USPTA Master Professional, Ken DeHart was the kick-off speaker at the 2009 Missouri Valley USPTA Conference at the Homestead Country Club in Kansas City, Missouri. Ken presented a 4 hour continuing education course on Strategy and Tactics to more than 80 tennis teaching professionals and high school coaches attending......
• Do you know your Job Description for Doubles Positions as a Doubles Team? [/caption]It is difficult to perform well at work, home or play, when you are not knowledgeable or confident in your job description. Too often players and partners on a doubles team are not aware or confident in their job description. Great teams like the Bryan brothers talk between points, keep......
• Begin with the End in Mind /caption]When you begin a point, you need to start with the end in mind.... where do you want the ball to go? You have to select a target. Once you have selected a target...down the line, down the center, cross court or an angle, you can begin to choose the......
• 5 Winning Keys to Lobbing, pt 3 Welcome to our third and final part of Keys to Lobbing. Number five, the last tip in this set is below. 5. 7 Tips to practicing the lob 1. Practice tossing the ball up, letting it bounce then directing the lob to a 9 foot by 9 foot area in......

• (Almost) Weekend Reading! Here's my first Yakezie roundup for this week! Not following any theme, just posts I enjoyed reading! :) The internet makes it easy to work from home, but it is equally easy to fall a victim to scams. Jessica over at MomVesting has some good, common sense tips on avoiding......
• Dads and sons -- Patrick Henry Hughes I know our son would tell you that his dad was the best. He gave his all and learned how to work the system to our son's best advantage. He spent hours with him perfecting his basketball skills and worked with him to get him into the best college for......
• Tips For Improving your Tennis Game Serve - This is the first in a series on improving your serve through different tennis playing tips. Top ranking players tend to exhibit far fewer variations in terms of their style and their form in their serves than any other type of stroke in the game of tennis.......
• Review: Unstuff Your Life!: Kick the Clutter Habit and Completely Organize Your Life for Good There are few books which come along in life which will combine the ability to work on your psychological needs as well as your annoying habits at the same time. There are other books out there which claim that they will help to get you more organized, but they all......
• Green Panda; What is Cool Around the Web This Week Every Friday, I’ll pull out the 15 coolest personal finance article I found on the blogs I read weekly: #1 The perfect time to leverage @ The Financial Blogger #2 Easy credit card management tips @ The Digerati Life #3 4 ways duct tape can fix your personal finance @......

How are they on short balls?

1. What type of grips do they use?
2. What type of shots do they prefer?
3. Is their forehand or backhand stronger?
4. What types of spin did they use?
5. How effective is their footwork?
6. What height do they prefer on the forehand & backhand?
7. How well do they volley and recover?
8. Do they look comfortable on short balls?
9. Are they comfortable with their overheads?
10. How did they serve? How much spin or speed?

While knowing your own game is important when you enter a match, learning all you can about your opponent can give you confidence and help you know how to use your game to defeat them.

Ken DeHart

www.kendeharttennis.com
kendehart@aol.com

Photo Credits: nsaplayer

• Ken at International Hall of Fame No I did not get inducted.  I am here to speak at the New England USPTA Conference on the "50 Best Tips for Players, Coaches and Pros" which is my newest DVD for anyone who wants to improve their game. Got into Providence, RI at midnight and drove thru fog......
• Need to Check Out the Court Conditions at SJSRC? For easy access, go to www.kendeharttennis.com - click on web cam. User name and password is tennis. A service called Trendnet will come up. Click on live view and it will show you the court conditions on courts 1 - 2 - 3 at the club. You can even......
• Ball Machines – Using them for Doubles Practice [/caption] Ball machines are great for practicing your doubles shots – if positioned correctly. 5 things NOT to do when using a ball machine: Do not place the ball machine on the baseline in the center of the court Do not have the ball machine oscillate from deuce court to......
• USPTA World Conference Update I flew into Ontario - CAL not Canada from San Jose, Ca. to attend the 2010 USPTA Nationals.  Drove to La Quinta and the temperature was about 115 across the desert.  Got to the  La Quinta Resort about 2pm and checked in.  This is a beautiful resort nestled against a......
• 12 Tennis Tips to Improve Your Game 1.) How to know if you are ready to start a tennis match?  As you warm up for the match, notice if you are able to see the spin on the ball before you meet the ball or if you can see a "yellow streak" into and out of your......

• Tips On Creating A Successful Membership Site. For your site to increase its presence in the niche you have chosen takes careful attention to all the variables that have to be dealt with in running a successful membership site. Here are a few important points to consider to make your job easier ...These tips will help you......
• Should We Tip in Cash or Credit? On the surface, this sounds like a small decision. Either way, the waiter gets a tip, right? In practice, there's much more to it. Tipping in cash can have positive effects for the waiters, but it can also have tax consequences that you may not want to take part in.......
• Black Friday Shopping Image by Robert Dumas via Flickr Do you shop Black Friday like so many of our population does? I do not. I am not good with crowds. Also, I do a lot of our shopping online. Here at home in Upstate New York this time of year the weather is......
• Cycling Tips For Seniors Cycling is great exercise for seniors, just as it is for any other age group. It is an aerobic form of exercise, which means a form of fitness which uses oxygen and the lungs. This type of exercise is generally very good for the heart and circulation, and is believed......
• Tennis Grips 101 The type of grips that you use in the game of tennis are going to have a really huge bearing on what types of strokes you are going to develop as well as a huge impact on your game overall. For example, if you want to develop an aggressive game,......