Roger Federer

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 faster and bounces higher when the temperature is hotter and the air is dryer – like in Phoenix, Arizona.

Tennis balls become heavier when there is more humidity in the air, there is more drag on the ball and it travels slower through the air.

The term “heavy ball” refers to the amount of pace on a ball. It is the kind of ball the pros hit when they play.

“Pace” is the combination of spin and speed – like the pros hit.

“Racquet Back” does not refer to taking the racquet back but moving the outside foot near the ball toward the sideline.  This move opens the hip and the shoulder – which gives the appearance of “taking the racquet back”. It is not an isolated move with the shoulder.

“Ready Position” in tennis is similar to the position of a praying mantis as he prepares to attack his prey.

“The net” wins more points than your opponent.  Most errors in tennis are made into the net.

“Return of serve” should resemble an approach shot more than a ground stroke – especially for club players.  That is achieved by starting back so you can move through the return of serve.

“Footwork” – the pros average 10-12 steps between each shot they hit.

“Grip Tension” – the pros use a very light grip tension when they hold the racquet.  On a scale of 1 to 5 with 5 being the tightest, they typically use about a 2 to 3 grip tension level.

You only play 10-12 minutes in an hour and half tennis match – tired yet???

“Attention Deficit”- most error are a result of lack of attention rather than technical weakness. On a scale of 1-10 your “attention” level should be at 8-9 or 10. Attention levels of 7-6 or 5 will result in “unforced” errors. Attention levels of 4-3-2 or 1 means you will probably hurt yourself or someone else.

Photo Credits: Squeaky Knees

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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 corner of the court near the baseline and sideline.

2. Practice tossing the ball up and away from you so you have to run wide or back up to lob to a 9’x9’ target near either alley and the baseline.

3. Have a friend feed you a deep slow high ball and you attempt to lob to your deep targets.

4. Have a friend feed you a wide or deep challenging ball that you must run down and place into your deep targets.

5. Have a friend serve to you from both the deuce court and ad court while you practice lobbing the return into the deep targets near the baseline

6. Have two friends play against you. One serves form the deuce court baseline while the other one is at the net. You practice returning serves deep over the net players head to the targets. This forces the server to retreat to track the lob down and play the ball to your half of the doubles court. Repeat form the ad court as well.

7. Remember – when you can’t see the sun – they can – lob into the sun! You will see the difference – they will see the sun.

Photo Credits: 1

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