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

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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.

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Are you adjusting your strategy?

1. What patterns do they use with their ground strokes to set up points?
2. How do they handle pace and off-pace balls?
3. Are they predictable with where they hit under pressure?
4. Based on their grips, where are their power zones?
5. How many balls are they willing to hit before going for a winner?
6. To which side – forehand or backhand, do they move weakest?
7. Are they winning because they are better than you or are you giving away points too early in the point with unforced errors?
8. Are you using the 5 tactical priorities of match play: in play, direction, depth, spin and speed to effectively play your points or are you just hitting balls?
9. Is your opponent beginning to tire, are they injured or are they rushing to play the points?
10. Are you sticking to your game plan or have you adjusted to the flow of the match?

A good game plan will often have to be adjusted as the match is in progress.  The opponent may well change their tactics and force you to adjust yours as well. Pay attention and know why you are winning and why you are losing during the match to choose the correct strategy and tactics.

Ken DeHart

www.kendeharttennis.com
kendehart@aol.com

Photo Credits: nsaplayer

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5 things NOT to do when using a ball machine:

1. Do not place the ball machine only on the baseline in the center of the court
2. Do not have the ball machine oscillate only from deuce court to ad court
3. Do not use the ball machine to practice only your ground strokes
4. Do not stand still after each of your shots
5. Do not return random shots of the in-coming ball

5 things TO consider doing when using a ball machine:

1. Place the ball machine off center where the opponent might be when making a shot
2. Have the ball machine direct the shots where the opponent might hit based upon their position on the court or particular tendencies of a know opponent
3. If you wish to have the ball machine oscillate, have it direct he ball within the options available if it were playing from that position in a rally.
4. After each shot recover to a new position on the court based upon where you place your return of the ball then recover quickly based upon where the next ball is coming from the ball machine.
5. Direct each ball you receive back toward an intended target. Aim for a direction and depth using the appropriate spin as you send the ball back over the net.

There are many options to consider in planning your practice to improve the quality and effectiveness of you practice time with the ball machine.

5 things to consider when PLANNING your practice:

1. Getting advice from someone on how to adjust the ball machine and how to vary deliveries of the ball
2. The length of time you want to practice – half an hour or an hour based upon your goals, shots you wish to work on and conditioning level
3. Having a friend join in with you to practice volleys off your ground strokes, lobbing off your volleys when at the net or alternating hitting after a certain number of shots or pattern has been completed.
4. It also helps when it comes time to pick up the balls when the machine is empty so you can spend more time hitting.  That may include taking turns putting balls in the machine while either of you are hitting then rotating turns. Consider serving all the balls that did not make it over the net when you do have to pause to pick up the balls to work on your serve as part of your practice.
5. Write down drills you create or ask your tennis professional to suggest some drills that would be good for your singles game.

10 options to make your PRACTICE PRACTICAL:

1. Select real singles targets using the 4 squares on the opposite side of the net.  Square 1 is the deuce service court, square 2 is the space behind the deuce service court, square 3 is the space behind the ad service court and square 4 is the ad service court. This will help you with the direction and depth of your intended target and make your practice more practical.
2. Even though the ball machine is set to send the ball to you as a ground stroke, practice moving forward after your initial shot to play a half-volley and then moving in further to play a volley or two.
3. As you play shots moving in toward the net, select targets for direction and depth that you would actually use if your opponent were on the baseline where the ball machine is located and your were attempting to capture the net.
4. When you get to the net, recover back quickly and retreat back toward the baseline as though you were put on total defense by your opponent.  Pause to make a shot from your position and then retreat further back until you choose to advance forward again.
5. Vary the speed of your shots.  Use the 3 speeds mentioned in other articles: level 1 is slower and has lots of spin, level 2 is a rally speed and level 3 is as hard as you can hit – without missing.
6. Vary the spin of your shots.  Use varying degrees of topspin and underspin to improve your weapons in match play.
7. Vary the frequency of the shots delivered by the ball machine.  Allow little time between shots or too much time like an opponent who plays softly and slowly with their returns.
8. Vary the spin of the shots delivered by the ball machine to help you learn how to receive different shots that may be difficult for you in your matches.
9. Limit the number of shots you make without pausing.  Hitting 3oo balls in a row just because that is how many the ball machine holds is not effective not efficient practice.  After about 40 or 50 balls, use the remote and turn off the machine and reset some feature of the ball you are receiving – change the direction of the in-coming ball, speed, spin or depth of the ball.
10. Change your targets often.  Practice enough returns to specific targets until you feel comfortable with that target then move on to a new target that demonstrates your ability to control the direction, depth, spin and speed of your returning shot.

Ask your tennis professional to use a ball machine in your next lesson to see how it can be used effectively in your practice session.  Ball machines are great ways to permit repetition in receiving particular balls and learning a response to that ball.  Ball machines also assist in developing confidence in your strokes so you can use them in match play without having to think about “how” to hit.  This will allow you to focus more on the strategy of “where” to direct your shots and enjoy playing the game – TENNIS.

by Ken DeHart
USA High Performance Coach
PTR & USPTA Master Professional

Photo Credits: shortCHINESEguy

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Tennis Ball Machine

Ball machines are great for practicing your doubles shots – if positioned correctly.

5 things NOT to do when using a ball machine:

1. Do not place the ball machine on the baseline in the center of the court
2. Do not have the ball machine oscillate from deuce court to ad court
3. Do not use the ball machine to practice only your ground strokes
4. Do not stand still after each of your shots
5. Do not return random shots of the in-coming ball

5 things TO consider doing when using a ball machine:

1. Place the ball machine in the deuce court near the singles side line
2. Have the ball machine direct the shots to your deuce court alley
3. If you wish to have the ball machine oscillate, have it direct the ball to your deuce court alley and then toward the center service mark in the deuce court as though you were pulled wide to return a shot and the next ball was directed up the middle to your center of the court.
4. After each shot recover to a new position on the court to keep your feet in motion simulating real match play
5. Direct each ball you receive back toward an intended target. Aim for a direction and depth as you send the ball back over the net.

There are many options to consider in planning your practice to improve the quality and effectiveness of you practice time with the ball machine.

5 things to consider when PLANNING your practice:

1. Getting advice from someone on how to adjust the ball machine and how to vary deliveries of the ball
2. The length of time you want to practice – half an hour or an hour based upon your goals, shots you wish to work on and conditioning level
3. Having a friend join in with you to practice volleys off your ground strokes or lobbing off your volleys when at the net.  They can even practice poaching on every other shot that comes out of the ball machine and you can practice switching after the poach.
4. It also helps when it comes time to pick up the balls when the machine is empty so you can spend more time hitting.  That may include taking turns putting balls in the machine while either of you are hitting then rotating turns. Consider serving all the balls that did not make it over the net when you do have to pause to pick up the balls to work on your serve as part of your practice.
5. Write down drills you create or ask your tennis professional to suggest some drills that would be good for your doubles game.

10 options to make your PRACTICE PRACTICAL:

1. Select real doubles targets:  deep cross court to square #2, short underspin or heavy short angle shots to square #1, down the line toward the net players alley or lobbing high and deep to square #3 over the opposing net players head.
2. Even though the ball machine is set to send the ball to you as a ground stroke, practice moving forward after your initial shot to play a half-volley and then moving in further to play a volley or two.
3. As you play shots moving in toward the net, select targets for direction and depth that you would actually use if your opponent were on the baseline where the ball machine is located and your were attempting to capture the net.
4. When you get to the net, recover back quickly and retreat back toward the baseline as though you were put on total defense by your opponent.  Pause to make a shot from your position and then retreat further back until you choose to advance forward again.
5. Vary the speed of your shots.  Use the 3 speeds mentioned in other articles: level 1 is slower and has lots of spin, level 2 is a rally speed and level 3 is as hard as you can hit – without missing.
6. Vary the spin of your shots.  Use varying degrees of topspin and underspin to improve your weapons in match play.
7. Vary the frequency of the shots delivered by the ball machine.  Allow little time between shots or too much time like an opponent who plays softly and slowly with their returns.
8. Vary the spin of the shots delivered by the ball machine to help you learn how to receive different shots that may be difficult for you in your matches.
9. Limit the number of shots you make without pausing.  Hitting 3oo balls in a row just because that is how many the ball machine holds is not effective not efficient practice.  After about 40 or 50 balls, use the remote and turn off the machine and reset some feature of the ball you are receiving – change the direction of the in-coming ball, speed, spin or depth of the ball.
10. Change your targets often.  Practice enough returns to specific targets until you are confident with that target then move on to a new target that demonstrates your ability to control the direction, depth, spin and speed of your returning shot.

Ask your tennis professional to use a ball machine in your next lesson to see how it can be used effectively in your practice session.  Ball machines are great ways to allow you repetition in learning how to hit a shot.  They also assist in developing confidence in your strokes so you can play them in match play without having to think about “how” to hit.  This will allow you to focus more on the strategy of “where” to direct your shots and enjoy playing the game – TENNIS.

by Ken DeHart
USA High Performance Coach
PTR & USPTA Master Professional

Photo Credits: arsandy.wordpress.com

• 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......
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• 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......
• 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......

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• 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......
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• 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: Be a little off center after your serve. When you are serving wide to your opponent in order to......

Reasons for the serving team to use this formation:

1. The serving team is both good volleyers.
2. The serving team has good overheads and likes to intimidate the other team.
3. The serving team likes pace or speed and wants the games to be fast with lots of quick action.
4. The serving team has poor ground strokes and does not want to get into long baseline exchanges.

Reasons for the receiving team to use this formation:

1. The receiving team has good chip returns and wants to get into the net before the other team.
2. The receiving team’s returns very strong and puts the serving team on defense – this neutralized the serving team’s advantage.
3. The receiving team does not have consistent ground strokes and has a low level of tolerance for long rallies.
4. The receiving team thinks that is how all good teams play.

How to play teams that play one up one back:

1. Get to your first serve in, it is more difficult to approach off of.
2. Direct your shots between them. Make them decide who will play the ball down the middle. Trying to hit angles is difficult because they close in and leave you little room to angle your shots.
3. If you get pinned back in a one up one back position – Lob the player closest to the net. If the lob is deep and bounces, come in and control the net against them.
4. Take the pace off your shots when they capture the net. Use softer shots with more spins so they cannot use your pace to kill your partner or hit aggressive shots between you.
5. Lob the serving team right away and force them to switch and run down the lob. You move in and now control the net.

What not to do:

1. Avoid getting sucked into their style of play if is not your style.
2. Take the pace off the ball to slow it down and give you more time to spin the next ball or lob them.
3. Never play one up one back formation against this team – they will pick off your partner in most cases.
4. Don’t try to hit hard passing shots, the balls will stay too high and give them speed to volley against.
5. Don’t miss first serves – you can’t get to the net on weak second serves and they love to attack weak 2nd serves.

Photo Credits: 1

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Don’t be afraid – pick a target and go for it.

Reasons for the serving team to use this formation:

1. The serving team can limit the receiving teams cross court return options.
2. The serving team has a good volleyer and wants to give them more opportunities to be able to volley on every serving point.
3. The serving team to compensate for a weak server by making the receiving team focus more on the server’s partner and not allow them to “T” off on the return so easily or dink the return back to the server’s side of the court.
4. The serving team has poor ground strokes and does not want to get into long baseline exchanges.
5. The serving team wants to intimidate the receiving team and get inside their head to make decisions instead of focusing on the ball.

Reasons for the receiving team to use this formation:

1. The receiving team has enough confidence in the receivers return that they chose not to guard the center of the court against poaches by the server’s partner.
2. The receiving team has good chip returns and wants to get into the net before the other team and put pressure on the server.
3. The receiving team’s returns very strong and puts the serving team on defense – this neutralized the serving team’s advantage.

How to play teams that play “I” or Modified “I” on serves:

1. Make a decision as to where you want to return and don’t change your mind.
2. Lob the returns a lot if you have a good lob and on second serves.
3. Move both players back to take the pressure off the return of server and take away the net player target.

How to play teams that play “I” or Modified “I” on returns:

1. Get to your first serve in up the middle to “C’ or at the “B” as it creates less angles on the return.
2. Serves up the middle forces the receiver’s partner to over to allow the returner room to make a cross court return.
3. If the return comes back high to the server, volley down the line.
4. Have your team play a Modified “I” or Australian against their formation.
5. Take the pace off your shots when they capture the net. Use softer shots with more spins so they cannot use your pace to kill your partner or hit aggressive shots between you.
6. Lob the serving team right away and force them to switch and run down the lob. You move in and now control the net.

What not to do:

1. Avoid getting sucked into their style of play if is not your style.
2. Avoid trying to hit too hard at the net player – it will only give them pace with which to pass your partner.
3. Avoid consistently serving wide serves as it allows more angles for the returner.
4. Do not look at the “modified” player.

Photo Credit: 1

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