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

• Racquet Mail: How to Change Grips Quickly at the Net [/caption] Racquet Mail: 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......
• 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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• 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......

• More Tennis Tips pt 2 ... Continued from More Tennis Tips pt 1. This is part two in our weekly tennis tips series. Here are some more invaluable tips that will help you improve all aspects of your tennis game. Now you should draw your racquet back and away from the net and make......
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• 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......

78 feet long – 36 feet wide for doubles and 78 by 27 for singles

Love- Score when a player has no score

15- Score when you win the 1st point
30- Score when you win the second point

40 - Score when you win the third point

Duece- Score when both players have won 3 point

Add– Score when a player has one the next point after duece, Add-In if the server won it –Add-Out if the receiver won the point

Game- When a player wins 4 points and is ahead by 2-points. Or when two players have reached a score of DUECE, one player wins the next point for an ADD-IN then wins the next point for GAME

Serve – Stroke used to put the ball into play. You get 2 chances to put a serve into the service court to start a point

Return of Serve - Stroke used to return the servers serve to play out the point

Ground Stroke - Stoke (forehand or backhand) used to return the ball after it hits the ground

Volley - A shot used near the net (similar to catching the ball) before it touches the court

Overhead - Stroke used near the net (similar to a serve) to smash the ball out of the air and above your head

Rally – Term used when players hit the ball back and forth in practice or a match

Have Fun!

• SJSRC Annual Wooden Racquet Tennis Social /caption]Each year, around the 4th of July and Wimbledon, SJSRC Director of Tennis Ken DeHart goes into his storage and pulls out a selection of wooden tennis racquets from his collection of over 2,000 old tennis racquets, gathers up some interesting books on the history of tennis, orders some white......
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• 5 Winning Keys to Lobbing, pt 2 Welcome to part two of 5 Winning Keys to Lobbing. Below are tips three and four. 3. 5 Tips on where to Lob 1. Always aim lobs  over the opponents backhand side (notice if they are left handed) 2. Few players have the strength or timing to power a backhand......
• 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......

• 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......
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• 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 - Vary your procedure when you are serving. You are going to want to vary your procedure as well......

“Get the water off the playing part of the tennis court as fast as possible.”

In teaching tennis, we instruct our students to know the outcome goal you would like to achieve but to focus on the performance goals which you can control.

Outcome goal, as stated above, is to get the water off the playing surface as quickly as possible so it can begin to dry.  Once that is accomplished, next, begin to remove the water from the area around the court while the main part of the court is drying.

We can control how we remove the water but not how fast the court will dry.  That can be left up to the temperature, wind or sun.  However, we can control the performance goal of how we remove the water initially.

Performance goals, are how we go about removing the water.

1. One of the most effective methods is to begin with your squeegee or roll dri on the junction of the service line and the center service line.
2. Applying gentle pressure to the handle of the roll dri, begin to walk in a small circle to your right or left.
3. As you complete the first circle and start your second circle your circle will get larger and larger and the water will be pushed quickly away from the center of the court
4. Within a matter of minutes the playing surface will be free of standing water and nature can begin to start her part in helping to dry the court surface.
5. You can continue to make the circle larger and larger well outside the court lines.  Finally, there are only small triangle corners left to push the water off the back and side court areas

This method is much more efficient than pushing water back and forth across the court and allows the playing surface to begin drying much quicker.  This process is extremely quick when another person is following behind the lead person making the circle. As a team they can double the speed of getting the water off the playing surface.

Once one half of the court playing surface has been squeegeed, move to the other half and remove standing water from the playing surface.  Now that both playing surfaces are clear of standing water, both people begin to squeegee off the back and side court areas.

When you finish getting as much surface water off the court as possible, do not set your roll dri down on the roller.  Doing so will create a flat part the will permanently create a flat spot on the roller.  This flat spot will jump over standing water as it approaches it.

6 Performance Goals to remember:

1. Do not apply extreme pressure to the handle of the roll dri – just like you do not grip your racquet to tightly
2. Do not bend forward too drastically as you push the roll dri – just like your posture is of extreme importance as you play
3. Stay focused so your roll dri does not allow water to run back onto the area you have just dried from your last circle – just like paying attention as you play your points, games and sets in your match
4. Work as a team, compliment what a great job your partner is doing and make suggestions by saying, “I like what you are doing, how about if we try this?” – just like in your matches with your partner in doubles
5. Once the water is off the main playing surface, focus on removing the water from the area outside the lines while the playing surface is drying.
6. Hang up your squeegee of roll dri to protect the blade or roller

Outcome Goal to experience – Play tennis as soon after a rain as possible.

• A Moment of Hope – A Moment in Time /caption]With the difficult economic times and stress in the United States at this time, Americans, ever the hopeful, were ready for good news. They were eager to be a part of a celebration that times were changing. America had elected a new president – an African-American president and a new......
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• 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......
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Ken presented a 4 hour continuing education course on Strategy and Tactics to more than 80 tennis teaching professionals and high school coaches attending the course designed to assist pros and coaches in teaching strategy and tactic to all levels of players.

The course addressed the importance of balance and footwork in allowing a player to be able to produce efficient and effective  strokes. World class players average about 10-12 steps between each ball they contact during a point.  That number of steps typically decreases in groups of 2 steps with lesser players.   The progression continues downward to a beginner player who averages about 2-4 steps between shots.

Once a player understands how to produce their particular strokes, the player needs to recognize the available targets on the court they can aim for during a point.  The player must also determine the correct speed and spin to use in producing the shot based upon their position and the position of their opponent.

Using the concept of 4 target areas on the tennis court, the 4 squares on the tennis court (square 1 being the deuce service court, square 2 the back court area behind the deuce service court, square 3 being the back court area behind the the ad service court and square 4 is the ad service court).

These target areas combined with using 3 speeds with which to send the ball to the target, (level 1 being the slowest and spiniest of the shots, level 2 being the rally ball speed and level 3 being the hardest they can hit the ball with out missing) players select the target and speed or spin that is the correct tactic for the position they are in and the position their opponent has taken.

Ken presented drills the coaches could use to allow a player to practice these tactical skills where the coach calls out the correct choice for the player initially.  As the player becomes more familiar with the concepts, the player will make those judgements and call out the appropriate target and speed before the ball contacts the court on their side of the court.

A call made by a player after an opponents ball contacts the players side of the court will put the receiver of the ball in a difficult position.  In this position, the ball often eliminates several options of the receiver and the player will appear to have to rush to produce the shot.  This typically causes the player to over-hit the ball based upon their position in the point and experience “unforced” errors.

Ken also addressed how to play the 4 doubles positions on the tennis court and what would be a typical job description for each of the 4 positions, before as well as during a point.  The more difficult positions being how to move when your partner is moving to the ball or learning to move when you are not the hitter.

Several “unusual” doubles formations were presented to demonstrate how doubles teams could compete against a stronger team or to change the momentum during a match.

Examples included:

1. Starting both players on the deuce court side of the baseline to begin a match.  When the server serves the ball into the deuce court to start the first point of a game, whomever returns the ball will then become the deuce court player for the rest of that set.
2. Playing an “I” formation where the server’s partner straddled the center service line in near the  service line in a crouched position.  When the server directed the ball to the opponents service court, his partner would stand up and move left or right in a pre-determined direction to distract or intercept the return of the receiver.  The server would move in the opposite direction to cover the open court created by his partners forward movement.
3. A similar position would be with the server’s partner kneeling in front of the baseline and directly in front of the server.  When the server served to the opponents court, his partner would stand up and have at least one chance to control the point for his team.  The server would move to cover the open court left by his partner.  This is best used when the receiving team is able to keep the return away from the stronger net player due to a weaker serve.  This position gets the stronger or more aggressive player into the point for a least one shot.
4. The Australian position puts the server and server’s partner on the same side of the court.  The server on the baseline near the center service “hash” mark and his partner halfway between the service line and the net on the same side of the court, i.e. Both on the deuce court side or the ad court side.  The purpose being to redirect an opponents strong shot to a different area of the court on the return of serve or to set up an alignment that favors the serving teams forehand or backhand.  This can also a done with both players on the same side of the court but both on the baseline, i.e.: both on the deuce court, the server serves from the deuce court then moves over to the ad court to play their stronger backhand strokes or forehand if the server is a lefty.
5. Both players back when serving or receiving allows a timid net player or weaker server or returner not to get their partner killed at the net.  It also takes away the net player as a target by the poacher at the net and permits the both back team to move toward the net together on a short ball.
6. The conventional  one up-one back position is the most vulnerable of the positions and least likely to benefit a weaker team.  Try unusual formations to take away an opponents strengths and to create some confusion to allow your weaker team to get a chance at the match.

Ultimately, Ken encouraged the pros and coaches to develop a system of communication with their players that was both truly meaningful and measurable.  A system that when a command or suggestion was given to a student it would allow both players to truly understand what was expected and how it was to be measured by both parties.

Telling a student to move their feet does not tell them how much to move or in what direction or for what intent.  Asking a player not to hit the ball so hard is confusing – so hard as what? Using the 3 levels of speed allows the player and instructor to determine more precisely what is expected.  Don’t grip the racquet so tight has no meaning unless you have a system that explains that there are different levels of tension to use, like on a scale of 1-5, use level 2 tension.  This is more meaningful and measurable by both the player and coach.

Stopping to ask the audience what they liked best or thought was their favorite tip of the day is key to getting your students to identify what they relate to best from your information.  This technique is key to  keeping the audience involved so you are not just “telling”, they are responding with what they are learning  and a reminder of key information that happened earlier so it does not get buried by the most recent information.  This method is also vital in determining how students learn; auditorily, visually or kinesthetic when teaching.

The USPTA Conference also included exhibits of major tennis industry manufacturers like Wilson, Head, Prince and several other industry information providers that could assist pros and coaches with their business.  Meals were provided by the conference committee at the Homestead Country Club and an Awards Dinner was held that honored the most outstanding performances by Missouri Valley tennis professionals this past year.  These included pro of the year, player of the year, coach of the year and several others.

The well attended conference was also treated to presentations by world renown Jack Gropple and several knowledgeable area tennis professionals.  In the evenings there were drills for the attendees to participate in including a Cardio Tennis Shootout. The shootout allowed the pros to showcase their ball feeding skills to targets both on the court and above the net in 60 seconds.

The winners of 1^st, 2^nd and 3^rd place were recognized with the winner received an opportunity to represent their division in the finals at the September USPTA National Conference at Marco Island, Florida.

Congratulations were in order for Gary Trost, Bunny Brunning, Kendall Hale Kevin and Laura and all the Missouri Valley USPTA pros for such a great conference as well as all the pros and coaches who attended this years conference for 2009.

• 5 Winning Keys to Lobbing, pt 2 Welcome to part two of 5 Winning Keys to Lobbing. Below are tips three and four. 3. 5 Tips on where to Lob 1. Always aim lobs  over the opponents backhand side (notice if they are left handed) 2. Few players have the strength or timing to power a backhand......
• One Up and One Back Formations When teams play this formation, they can be the easiest to beat – if you play smart. This formation leaves lots of holes in their defense and can make their net player a target for the other team. Don’t be afraid of the net. Reasons for the serving team to......
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• 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 Glossary pt5 Court - The length of the tennis court is 78 feet and the width of the tennis court is 27 feet when dealing with singles matches. For doubles matches, the length remains the same but the court is 36 feet in width. The court is divided along its middle with......
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• 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......
• 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......
• Tennis Glossary Finale Umpire - The umpire is the top official of a tennis match. Seated in an elevated position on the side of the court next to the net, the umpire is tasked with announcing the score whenever a point is made, and holds the final say over any and all questions......