Articles, Blog
Tennis Instruction: Watch the Ball Like a Pro and Turbo charge your Game
December 12, 2019
One of the most common instructions in
tennis is watch the ball. We hear it over and over and over but we still have
a hard time really hitting that ball at the right spot at the right time. So why
is watch the ball so complicated. Well I think a lot of times people don’t really
understand what watching the ball really means. Everybody looks at the ball that’s
obvious. The problem is that you’re sometimes not
looking at the ball at the right time. Let me try to clarify that. If I am
playing tennis in the ball is on the other side of the court, I have a wide
focus. I’m looking at the ball, I’m looking at the opponent, I looking at the
court, I’m looking at the situation. As the ball nears to me, my focus needs to
narrow. So as the ball gets closer, I’m focusing more and more on the ball. Once the ball bounces the ball is my whole focus and usually that’s where the
mistake lies. The ball bounces and we still have a little bit of a wider focus.
We’re hitting the ball and we’re trying to watch where we’re hitting instead of
just focusing on the ball totally. So from the bounce to the hit that’s where
the problem lies. What we’re going to try to do is we’re going to try to pay more
attention to the ball as it gets closer. So I’m going to show you a few exercises
that are going to force you to really concentrate on the ball as it’s close to
you. The last foot, that is the key, that’s what makes the difference.
So on the first exercise I am going to track the ball the whole time and I’m
going to say “bounce”, “hit” every time the ball bounces or somebody hits the ball.
When the ball is on the other side and my partner hits the ball I’m going to
say “hit” when ITcomes here and bounces I am gonnas say “bounce” and whenI’m hitting it I’m gonna say “hit”. The key to this exercises is to do it exactly at
the right time. So I’m going to have to say” bounce” exactly as it bounces and “hit” exactly as it hits. Let’s take a look. Bounce, hit, bounce hit, bounce hit, bounce hit, bounce hit, bounce hit, bounce hit bounce hit, bounce hit, bounce hit bounce hit, bounce hit. By really concentrating every time exactly when the ball is
going to bounce and when your going to hit you’re getting your mind away
from any other thoughts. The ball is the focus and that is the key in tennis. For
the next couple of exercises the focus is also going to be the ball especially
as it comes closer. So what I’m gonna try to do is I’m gonna try to rally with my
partner and stop the ball with the grip and then rally it back. If I can move
my body and stop the ball with the grip, I should have no problems hitting it in
the middle. Let’s take a look. So trying to stop the ball with the grip
really forces me to watch the ball especially well after it bounces. The
same thing, I am going to try to do exactly the same thing with the return
of serve. The return of serve is one of those shots where it’s very easy to look
up especially if the serve is coming fast. So let’s take a look at that. So I’m ready here to
return, I watch the ball and I try to stop it. Do it again. If I really concentrate on looking at
the ball hitting my grip, I understand the feel of really looking at the ball
and then watching my racket swing by and hitting it. That is a key. One of the… as I
mentioned earlier one of the main problems is this last foot before the
ball reaches the racket. That’s when we have a tendency to look up and see where
the ball is going to go. So one exercise to prevent us from doing that is going
to have our heads freeze at contact without our eyes following the ball.
Let’s take a look at that. the serve is the same thing. A lot of
times we think about watching the ball on everything, every other shot, but we
forget about the serve. We want to do the exactly same thing on the serve. We want
to make sure that your eyes are up and we’re watching contact. So let’s take a
look at that. We’re going to do exactly the same
exercise but with the serve. at the beginning you might feel a little
bit strange keeping that head up, and it might be very difficult for some of you
to do it because it’s…you’re so used to moving your head with the ball,
but after a while you will really understand what it means to stay focused at contact on the serve, and that is really going to help your game.
Looking forward to playing today there will be a lot of people coming to watch. Well we always get loads of support but we got on court two today because of the rain yesterday it was a complete washout we
were going to play on court one, a much bigger court – but we’ve got court two, not much we can do get out and do her do her stuff – the business. We’ve got a tough match against two French guys who have had a lot of success together and individually actually over the last few years so the be a battle
for us but a good test to see where we’re at. We managed to practice, stay dry for the moment. Going to go in and shower and get some food, have a chat before the match and get ready. Bigger deal, totally different feel to last week in Holland last weekend, obviously different vibe, different deal. It’s at home as well so a lot of people here this week to watch you play, a lot support, it’s more fun . Basically yesterday was a washout so they didn’t hit one ball the whole day so that’s obviously incredibly
disappointing for the tournament, for the fans but for the players it’s frustrating. The more days that they lose to rain entirely the worse for the tournament Push the start time back again, it’s
raining still, I guess it looks like there’s a decent chance that they might still play
today but there’s really nothing else we can. Well the way there’s been crap
for about two weeks really, it’s kind of disappointing from that point of view and the thing is the season is so short and the
surface is so different to whatever else we play on during the year so everyone
wants to get as much time on the grass courts as possible but it’s just not been possible. I was literally just getting the gym to
start warming up when it when it started raining kind of new from the radars
looking at that it was going to rain and then it was going to be done for for a
good few hours but it doesn’t happen often but on on grass that’s the problem
you can’t play in the rain because any sort of moisture and stuff the court just
gets too slippery and it becomes dangerous. Like I say we just have to do what we did today but just do it tomorrow and yeah go for the same process. But keep doing pressure because at one point a guy may volley a bit safer and follow your intuition if you feel like if you have that feeling let’s
say the guy reach a bit too much in front it’s too late just cross and he’ll tell you like well done. Put pressure. So
sometimes tactics is the key thing to win a match, it’s mostly when you’re
underdog, at your level you know you know what to do tactically, it comes down to execution. Peak performance state high positive energy, so be enthusiastic on the court really like after energy and it’s to
play not to win the point not to lose the point to put pressure and that team
to put the most pressure all the time by mixing it up, variation, poach most of the time ends up winning 52 percent of the points so be committed to your return. nothing guarantee you to win the point but there’s a mindset that if
you keep on doing and digging and digging and digging finally it works you
know and if you have to make it to tiebreaker and a
super tie break because for some reason everybody’s on their serve then so be it,
but that mindset will be also making you win the tiebreak 10-8 or 10-7. Relentlessly play point by point I don’t care if it’s cliche, that’s the mindset you need to. Support each other, have a lot of fun, fun doesn’t mean laughing means enjoying what you’re doing,
enjoying competing and that’s it. He has a great, great potential it was a
bit nervous beginning but he looks more at ease though. That’s the great advice for him and you’re the right person to tell them that – even better than a coach. There is time where a player to a player is better than a
coach to a player and that’s one of them. Essential to feel each other out, how they
play, to tweak a little bit few things that they were not comfortable or as
much at ease together so we fix that and I think you’re ready to go. So hopefully they can be going into first match at Wimbledon really confident in what’s going to happen you’re really confident and in each other and how to interact with each other. Looking forward to getting out and compete in and see what we
level will bring to the table this week. Finished the match, obviously happy to
win and get through, felt a lot better on the court with Neal this week, just in
that match than we did last week just because we had a bit more time together, time
on court, time to work on a few things just also just being around each other and now I’m
going to see Thomas to help with the with recovery for tomorrow’s match
because quite a quick turnaround and it’s about 7.30pm now. I would probably say we’d play tomorrow maybe around 12noon or 1pm. I mean he’s a chiropractor
by trade, he’s going to sort of check for all my alignment, my pelvis, my neck, my
back and kind of get me back in ideal alignment for for what the
human body should be at. It’ll help my body kind of calm down and my muscles recover for tomorrow. When Thomas first arrived I was so stiff from practicing on grass and like when I’m at home I don’t take as good care of my recovery, which I’m sure a lot players are the same because they don’t have like their
team around them it’s more for when you’re on the road, so I kind of neglect
it a bit and paying the price of it. I feel a lot better now, the body is a lot more supple. Yes a good day for the team, got
the win, got through the tiebreak, really close match, a good level, felt a
lot better on the court with Neal this week, go home, go get food, get a good night’s sleep and ready to go again tomorrow.
Articles
Tennis Instruction: How to Take the Racquet to Contact at Exactly the Right Time
December 5, 2019
Let’s talk about timing. What is timing? Timing in tennis is striking the ball, bringing the racquet to the contact point exactly at the ideal time. It doesn’t really matter how beautiful your swing is, if the ball is not in position when you swing. That is, if the ball is here and I just hit my beautiful swing I am not even gonna hit the ball. So, if my timing is not right, if I am not swinging at the right time even if my swing is perfect, I am going to make mistake. So, let’s practice swinging at the right time, bringing the racquet head to the contact point exactly when we need it. Let me show you 3 exercises to practice this. On the first one what I’m going to do is hit a high lob to my partner, and my partner is going to try to adjust and catch the ball right off the bounce every time. For this, they are going to have to see the ball and kind of…. think about where it’s gonna bounce and move to that position to be ready to hit it off the bounce Once they get used to that I am going to ask them to hit sometimes off the bounce sometimes off the hip and sometimes off the shoulder. so that they are really forces to swing that racquet at exactly the right time to be able to make contact in the different places. Let’s take a look at this a little bit higher, hip level… good…good…shoulder level off the bounce This exercise is very challenging, so be patient. It may take you a while to get the feel for it Another good exercise to improve your timing is adjusting to the incoming ball and working on sinking as the ball sinks, so as the ball comes as it bounces I want my body down. So I watch the ball as it is coming, I sink…I hit. As the ball bounces, I sink and I swing. So I am synchronizing my whole motion to the ball coming down and touching the ground Let’s take a look at this: Finally, a very challenging exercise to work on your timing is one where you use a metronome…and a metronome keeps track of time and gives you a beep at a specific time frame So what you are going to try to do is rally with a partner and you’re going to try to make contact with the ball exactly at the beat Let’s take a look at this: The key, is trying to work on making contact exactly as it beeps. So that means maybe you are going to have to let the ball bounce twice, or you might really have to reach forward and catch it early So really focus on the beat. The goal is my racquet contacts the ball is it beeps. Also, very challenging – with a little bit of practice you will get better at really getting ready and putting the racquet in place at the right time.
We’re going to talk about one of the
most important concepts in tennis which is balance. Balance means that you’re
swinging stable that your body is in control. A lot of the mistakes in tennis
come because your body is out of control. You’re losing control of the
body because you’re not lining up the ball or because you’re moving in the
wrong direction when you’re swinging. So you want to make sure that when you’re
hitting the ball you are stable. Balance starts with the head. If I want to move
in any direction my head needs to move first then my body follows. So if we’re
able to control the head then we’re gonna play in much better balance. One of the simples exercises to work on keeping the head still is by using a cap. So
instead of using your cap like you normal I do,
what you’re gonna do is you’re gonna turn it around and barely put it on your
head, very lightly and then you’re gonna try to move and hit the ball without
losing the cap. That means totally controlling your head. Let’s take a look
at this: Working on keeping your head still every
time that you’re playing will definitely help you play a lot more balanced. The
other drill that will help you stay balanced, is one that forces you to widen
your stance a little bit. To lose balance what’s going to happen is that my head
is gonna pull my body out of my base of support. My base of support is basically
the space between my feet. So if the space between my feet is very small any
little movement, any little lean is gonna get me out of balance but if I’m able to
get my space between my feet wider and I blend a little bit, get a little bit
lower that’s gonna be a lot tougher to get out of balance. So I’m going to give
you an exercise that’s going to help you get the feel of taking a bigger step at
the end before you swing. I’m going to ask my partner to step over a ball that
I’m gonna roll and then take a shadow swing. This will force her to think about
taking a bigger step before swinging. So there you have it head still and a
bigger base of support. In order to test for balance when you’re hitting these
next two drills will help you. What I want my partner to do is I want her to
swing and then freeze the finish. If you’re able to swing and freeze and not
move at all, you are swinging with good balance. If you feel that you’re having a
hard time remaining still that means somewhere you’re losing the balance. So
let’s take a look at these exercises: On the first one I’m gonna just ask her to
freeze and the second one I’m gonna have her do it a little bit more complicated.
That means lifting one of the legs so forcing her to maintain the balance but
on one leg. One Leg Balance also applies to the serve. It is
very important that when you’re serving your perfectly balanced as you hit the
ball and as you land. So let’s take a look at two exercises to work on balance on
the serve. On the first one the player is going to try to play and serve with the
feet together without moving at all. On the second exercise the player is going
to serve and hold the landing at the end making sure that she lands and stay stable. Let’s
take a look at that. Stick the landing. Okay! Working on being balanced on the
serve and keeping your body quiet is going to give you a lot more consistency
try it work on staying still and you will see a very big difference.
Everybody wants to hit the ball harder. I
get asked many many questions about how can I hit the ball harder? What do I need
to do? Let me give you a couple of ideas. In order to hit the ball harder the only
way that you can achieve that is if you’re able to swing the racket head
faster. The faster your racket head, the faster the ball. If my racket is not
going fast it doesn’t matter how much effort I put into the shot. The ball is
not gonna go fast. The racket head has to go very fast. So one easy way to check
your racket head speed is simply swinging without the ball and trying to make the
racket swish. You want to make sure that you’re holding the the racket loosely. If
you’re pressing on the racket you’re not gonna be able to swing efficiently, so
stay loose and try to use your whole body to let the racket swing and listen
to the racket swish through the air. If you cannot hear
the racket making any noise that means you’re really not swing in the right way. Make sure that you’re able to swing and hear the racket swishing through the air. So practice
going as fast as you can moving the racket, making as much noise as possible. Once you do a few repetitions of that, then you want to try to just bounce the
ball and try to swing it with the same speed. One of the key aspects of
accelerating the racket is when do you accelerate the racket. A lot of players
make the mistake to try to accelerate the racket way too early so it’s almost
like those cartoons where the pitcher is propelling their arm to to pitch. If I am
accelerating my racket going backwards it’s going to be very difficult to
accelerate going forwards. The timing of the acceleration is key, so you want to
go slow and then once you get close to the ball you want to go really fast, So
it’s got to be slow, to fast .So when you’re practicing your shadow swing
make sure that you are going slow back and then once the racket drops and you’re
getting close to the contact point that’s where you’re gonna go 100%. So you go slow to maximum, slow to maximum. A good exercise is trying to catch a ball
with maximum acceleration of your arm. So the idea is I’m going to move my arm as
fast as possible but I still want to make sure that I can catch that ball.
Normally if I try to do it, if I try to accelerate too early my arm is going to
be very, very fast at the time of I make contact, and it’s very likely that I will
not be able to catch. But if I go slow and wait till I’m closer to the ball and
then go maximum speed, I should be able to do it. So try this just drop the ball
go slow and maximum. Drop the ball, slow maximum. if you find that you’re hitting
the ball, that means you’re accelerating too early. Be relaxed anytime that you
want to accelerate. You want to make sure that you relaxed, so shadowing, swishing the ball as fast as possible and making sure that you
start accelerating at the last moment is. going to help you not only swing
faster but also with more control. you
Articles, Blog
Tennis Lesson – The Key Technical Element of the Modern Topspin Forehand
November 28, 2019
Let’s review all the key elements of a topspin forehand. Let’s start with the
grip. You can hold the racket like shaking
hands with an Eastern Forehand grip or you can hold the racket
like picking it up with a Semi Western grip. Either one of those grips will work fine
for you. Your feet – you are either gonna hit open stance facing the net or you are going to try to step into the
shot. Anything in between will also work. What you want to avoid s stepping across
the body. When you’re taking your racquet back you want to turn your shoulders and use
your shoulders to take the racket back. Your non-dominant
hand is going to go with the shot. The racket head is going to be above
your hand. So you turn, your left hand (non-dominant
hand) is going to be pointing to the side your racket is up. Then at is swing you’re
gonna bring your racket down to point it to the ground. Your forearm is
going to rotate a little bit. Then you going to rotate into the shot.
The racket is gonna come from inside out towards your contact point. Your body is rotating, and at contact you’re basically facing
the net. Whether you go with an open stance or with a closed stance. You want to make
sure your hips are turning into the shot making contact in front of the body – body
facing the net. After contact your racket is
gonna go through and over and come around. So the whole swing is going to
look like this: Setup, racket down, rotate, contact point, bring the racket
around.
dah-dah-dah Dah dah dah dah dah dah dah dah dah daaaaaa dah dah… is that the
Wimbledon um is that… is that the song? hello Youtubers and welcome to…. and this week we’re doing tennis I’m a pro owwww okay look oh, they’ve gone everywhere everywhere hold on… I’m going to show you…how to play
tennis that one and this one McEnroe “my God… i don’t believe it!” you know i don’t fucking believe it checking he wasn’t behind me he’s dead
is he dead? is he… is he alive? McEnroe I’ll show you my trick okay go to teach you a serve …you know Sarah serv…serving okay yep well try that again…
that was just to show you… the action nope okay I think there’s actually something wrong with the ball so thats a serve…um without
hitting it …just to show you the action okay great moving on nope didn’t go over the net net! if you go to play tennis, er,
Toby play it properly trying to teach people how to play oh no that’s … couldn’t get my arms that way no, that was out! and by out I mean it’s
out of range… of erm my racket Toby you’re not very good at this game are you? and it’s making me look bad oh yep! nope! NET! fuck…fucking…fucking well, you know how am I supposed to get those?They weren’t anywhere near me bloody idiot fuck shit balls net! so that’s tennis really Thank you so much for joining me, oh I’ve had such a good game of tennis just going to … have some, um, uh water should I do it now? didn’t work good keep keep hydrated it’s important
Track in and adapting from the book “Developing High-Performance Tennis
Players by Edgar Giffenig The items on the court force the players to pay special attention to the ball all the way to the bounce and up, improving focus and concentration In addition, if the ball hits one of the
targets the players have to adjust. Therefore, learning how to improvise when they are playing
The goal of this game is to have fun with large groups. It is ideal for camps – maybe as a warm up, maybe after a hard day on the courts, just to relax, have fun, work with a team. The challenge of the game is to have each one
of the teammates touch the ball before hitting it over the net. Ideally, the players should
hit the ball up and let the team mates run and hit it up again. The problem usually occurs when players try to hit the ball towards their teammates. Players are not allowed to hit
it hard. A good strategy is to hit the ball and sit down so that everybody in your team
knows that you have already hit the ball. Off course, like in any other game you can
adjust the rules depending on the strength of your players. For weaker players you may
allow the ball to bounce once or for one player to hit the ball twice. Have fun!