Tennis Footwork Quiz – See How You Do & leave your answers in the comment section below.

Click HERE to see the 7 Golden Keys to effective Tennis Footwork & Movement video  

Q1. During the course of your matches do you….

1. hope the ball comes to you?

2. react on instinct….sometimes it works out but other times you find yourself out of position?

3. have some movement strategies, but you don’t really know how to fit them in or progress them?

4. have specific movement strategies based on each situation I find myself in but they are not “grooved in” yet?

5. have specific movement strategies based on each situation I find myself in & they run on auto pilot?

The vast majority of players respond with 1, 2 or 3, a few with response 4 & almost nobody with 5.  

Q2.Given that you probably answered 1 to 3 (maybe 4) when did you realize this fact?

Q3. What specific match/incident brought this fact to your attention?  

Q4. If I was to tell you that research suggests that up to 80% of errors are linked to being off balance during the shot (Lawn Tennis Association) & that many technical issues arise from poor foundational footwork skills, would you be surprised?  

Q5. Now you realize that it’s a problem and how important footwork is, how important do you feel that you prioritize footwork training into your plan/schedule?

Q6. How do you think even partial implementation & improvement of the 7 Golden keys would impact your game?

Leave your answers in the comment section below

Click HERE to see the 7 Golden Keys video if you haven’t seen it or you need a reminder

Good or bad, we are not all created equal with similar amounts of tennis skills and even if we are someone else is physically more gifted.  Even if you can overcome that, you find someone else has better tennis mental strength………….and so the list goes on!

But, wait a minute.

Even before you start worrying about how you measure up against others, there are plenty of other things to worry about….for example, do you make the most of your own game?

Do you know your strengths and weaknesses?

Do you understand them well enough so that you are able to make your strengths as strong as they could be?

Can you see that maximizing your tennis strength or tennis strengths (if you are lucky enough!!) could actually rank pretty high, if not at the top when it comes to things that you might need to do to move your tennis game on?

If not, then think about it for a minute, if you do then carry on.

I was working with a player recently. I watched her play some singles and asked her about the tennis match I just watched.

She then proceeded to explain the match in terms of what her opponent did and didn’t do.  When I asked her about what she was able to do during the game I came up against a baffled silence.

I then asked her about what she thought her strengths were and whether she was able to implement them in the game and again I got some puzzled looks.  ”I don’t really know” she said, “I never really think about things that way!!”

 Bang!

Out goes the No1 Principle from my “Beat All The Tennis Players You Want” Matchplay System, which talks about trying to impose your tennis strength onto your opponent.

If you don’t know what it is, how can you impose it?

Anyway, I thought she played the volley and played around the net prety well and wondered why she didn’t do it more.

She said, she thought she had a good volley but felt a bit strange because all the other ladies tend to play from the back of the tennis court.  She also felt like she was put off when she was passed or missed a volley.

I agreed with her but told her she didn’t set the points up well enough and that was the real reason why her net play was a bit “sketchy”.

This is what we did (and you can do the same if your net play could/should be your A game).

You serve and play out the point – BUT……you have to get to the net by your 3rd shot or you lose the point.

This will force you to serve well enough to get to the net straight away or get your opponent out of court to allow you to hit a telling approach to get “in” on one the following balls.

Of course she messed up early on, but pretty soon she began to think about what it took to get to the net on “her terms” from the beginning of the point and sure enough things were soon falling into place.

Pick something in your game that you know is a strength and think about how you can work things so that you can get yourself in “that” situation more often in matches.

Remember that Beat All The Tennis Players You Want 1st Principle of Tennis Warfare – Deploy your weapons & work out how to diffuse your opponents weapons!!

It Works!!

I have a tennis elbow question here….which for simplification is often confused with golfers elbow (similar pain but slightly different location and sometimes cause).

Q. Paul, friend of mine just started playing again.

Playing a lot now, USTA league and stuff, and is starting to complain about tennis elbow. I asked about the racket and found out it is an old one that they just picked up from one of their kids when they were playing in high school.

What advice would you have.

Thanks, Tom

A. Tom, thanks for the email and the question.

It’s took me longer than I wanted to get back to you so a quick sorry to start off with.

Anyway, tennis elbow (lateral epicondylitis) is something that is not that simple to pinpoint and can be caused by several factors or indeed several of them combined.

The main ones that could be in play here are the racket (could be too heavy, too light, wrong grip size, poor vibration damping because it’s a bit old….even poor construction if it was cheap).

Other factors could be that your friend just hasn’t played for a long time and hasn’t got the built in resistance that playing consistently provides.

Age is another factor that is linked to the fact that they may not have played for a while because we see many players over the age of 40 suffering more from tennis elbow.

They really need to try and eliminate all of these asap to isolate the culprit and try and get on top of the injury so it doesn’t get too bad, so icing and anti-inflammatories are the normal treatment first steps along with some basic strengthening and flexibility exercises. These are important to avoid the last resort of having to have surgery.

They could obviously look at using a good tennis elbow support or strap

A good physio should be able to point them in the right direction here.

Hope that helps….sorry I couldn’t be more specific but please let me know how they get on and whether this answer was ok for you.

Easy Tennis Fitness

Tennis matches are the ultimate test of your skills as a tennis player.

Not only do you have to pull out all of the shots (serves, forehands, backhands, volleys)  you have been honing over the last few weeks, months, years………decades, but you also have to deal with what your opponent brings to the table…..the tennis court.

This is exactly the same connundrum that plays out on every tennis court (Wimbledon, Roland Garros, US Open, Melbourne Park, local club, park court) and between all players (Federer, Nadal, Djokovic, Murray, you & me).

Almost all tennis matches are won and lost as a direct result of other factors other than your shots……sorry you lot who think technique is everything

Yes shots are in the mix but all the other factors surrounding your game determine whether or not you get to play your shots well enough or not and this is where In Game Flexibility comes into play.

Your ability to move with the flow of the game, to get ahead of the wave, to roll with the punches determines how successful you are in the match.

Think about a skateboarder, they have to move with the flow of the terrain otherwise they are off the board.

If you surf you had better be ahead of the wave if you want the longest ride all the way to the beach and the boxer can’t stand still while their opponent throws punches especially when the opponent has the upper hand…….rolling in & out of the punches helps you to ride out the storm until you can get on top.

This leads me onto a really popular question that gets sent in (don’t forget you can send questions in whenever you want to info@planettennis.net).

Q. What do I do when my opponent tries to disrupt the game by throwing tantrums, taking too long etc?

I have a couple of people in particular who seem to do this whenever I get ahead in the match.  I can’t prove it but it does seem that whenever I am doing well in the game they react in a negative way which I feel is as much about putting me off as it is about being angry with themselves.

What can I do to stop myself being affected?

A. Great question.

This is all about In Game Flexibility!!

Your ability to ride the wave when playing well, yet not get derailed when all this other stuff is happening is key.

I can give you my take on it…….I used to play a guy regularly in tournaments…..we almost always got drawn to play each other or we’d be in the same side of the draw and would meet after a round or two.

He was a terrible loser (I hate losing but he took it to another level) and would always make bad calls, take ages between points or scream at himself about how he couldn’t believe he was losing to me etc.  It was a nightmare & it took me a while to get my head around everything so that it didn’t affect me too much.

My main adaptations were the following

1. I reframed the situation so that I could channel the frustration that used to make me lose control & the match.

I worked on focusing on the upcoming point and what I wanted to do rather than dealing with what was not under my control (him & his behaviour).

2. I told myself that his behaviour was only as a direct result of my good play and because I had the control in the match.

It was his negativity at play here and he should be left to deal with it.

I kind of played it out in my head that if I got involved then the negativity could flow from him to me, whereas if I stayed away the negative emotions would have nowhere to escape to so it would be left to burn & destroy him (sounds a bit like a superhero movie but it worked for me).

I also think he hated seeing me not react….it kind of made him even more angry.

Hopefully you can use my experiences to help you in similar situations or to think about your own individual coping strategies when similar situations occur.

This is exactly why the Black Book strategy I use as part of Beat All The Tennis Players You Want works so well….it helps you track and build up your experiences as you go so you grow as a player and hence your In Game Flexibility improves.

Let me know below in the comments about your similar experiences & how you coped with it (or didn’t)…also let me know if this (mental matchplay strategies etc)  is an area you would like me to go into more regularly.

I got an email the other day asking a question that every single tennis player asks…….all the time!!

In some ways it’s the holy grail for all of us from Fred to Federer.

Instead of answering the question personally I really felt that I needed to answer it so that everyone could have a look….so here it is.

How do I play better in matches?

One of the biggest disappointments as a tennis player is when you don’t play as well in matches as you think you should or even like you can do from time to time in practice.

Why does this happen and how can you overcome it?

Well, many people will give you complex mental preparation & relaxation techniques but I think there is something you could be doing that is so basic that you don’t have to think about learning a bunch of new mental skills.

This will make a big difference because what I’m about to suggest will be easier to stick to and therefore will yield greater results in the short & long term because you won’t quit and be stuck exactly where you were.

To play better in matches there is one thing you have to start doing from TODAY!!

Start to take your practice more seriously and don’t just use it as “just another session”.

Set yourself measurable technical, tactical, physical and mental goals to make sure you are focused on what it is that is going to make you a better player.  You need to see every session as another great opportunity to perfect the match playing potential you know you have and that doesn’t mean that you can’t have fun when you are playing in a doubles with some mates, just set the agenda for what you are working beforehand.

I distinctly remember forcing myself to take on more backhands when I was transitioning from a 2-hander to a one hander.  That was my goal and I went into sessions with that goal in mind.

Another time it was to run around my backhand to hit an attacking forehand on second serves.

Those two shots have since become two pillars of my game….but what are they going to be for you?

All the best players & athletes “put it in” during practice because they know that by doing this more regularly is the way to to it on the match court.  You play the way you practice or put another way – practice sloppy play sloppy!!!

There is nothing better than getting to the match court knowing you have put in some good solid work in the lead up.  It eliminates doubt & breeds self confidence like almost nothing else and is the reason why so many players with “lesser talent” do better than their “more talented” counterparts……they do the work!!

How would you rate your chances of scoring an A in the exam if you messed about in lesson time and didn’t revise?

I though so!!

Let me know what you think below.

Strategy 101 – Beat All The Tennis Players You Want

If you would prefer it on Kindle…….click HERE

I want you to consider for a minute two laws of playing winning tennis – get the ball in play and always be prepared for the ball to come back.

I’m going to rephrase those laws like this – far too many players tend to lose from errors or from failing to prepare for the next shot.

So, let’s assume then that you are able to reduce the errors you make and you prepare better for any balls coming back and you are playing players who have also done this. Winning, then becomes a matter of strategy and successfully employing tactics. It becomes all about creating space to hit into, using angles & changing the dynamics of depth, speed, spin & height.

With that being said, here are two factors you may not have considered that may prompt you to work on adding the drop shot to your tennis toolkit (have you noticed how Djokovic, Murray, Federer & Nadal all play the drop shot on a much more regular basis than they used to)???

Factor 1. Tennis Court Dimensions – singles court 27 feet wide, 78 feet deep. Run the opponent from the center to the sideline – 13.5 feet……Run the opponent from corner to corner, the most common tactic – 27 feet (more or less)…….Run the opponent from the baseline to the net (with an average drop shot – 30 plus feet…..Run the opponent from behind the baseline to the net with a good drop shot – 35 feet plus.

Factor 2. Normal Player Practice Patterns – Most players practice their ground strokes and overlook approach shots, volleys and overheads (even if they work on their net game it’s normally in isolation…..they stand at the net).

So if your tactics are to move your opponent side to side isn’t this something they probably do a lot anyway? What if you changed your tactics to include going from deep to short? Wouldn’t you be getting your opponent into somewhat uncharted areas of the court? If your opponent prefers or is used to operating at the baseline, doesn’t it make sense to make them move forward?

I witnessed Andy Murray first hand win countless junior matches using this tactic as a kid but more importantly this can work wonders for you if you are like me and in the age category of veterans/seniors.

I’ve used it and seen it cause mayhem in matches in these age categories, so use it to win more of your share.

What if the opponent covers your drop? Simple………throw up a lob and let them chase that down.

Think about the physical impact this will have. This can work wonders for your win/loss ratio so think about integrating it into your game today.

I’ll cover execution in another video so look out for it.

Tennis Doubles – Free Videos

I get asked a lot about how to volley better in doubles….should I only use one hand or is 2 hands on the racket ok? Well, bottom line is this……there are No Rules! As long as what you are doing has all the correct FUNDAMENTALS like racket path & racket angle etc in your technique, the STYLE of what you do is somewhat secondary.

Think more about what you are doing with the shot, as a nice looking shot with poor execution is surely not as good as a well executed shot regardless of how you play it.

The Bryan Brothers are a great doubles team because of what they do with the ball on court not because of how they play their shots.

No two tennis players play exactly the same way & your job is to find what works for you. As long as you are not doing anything that is making the shot more difficult to execute well, get out there and work on making the shot as effective as you can in real life doubles situations.

Understand what YOU need to be doing and be brave enough to resist the urge to try and do a lot of other things just because you’ve seen someone else do it or someone has told you that you should be doing it……….understand the difference between Principles & Style and it will save you heaps of time and unwanted stress.

That is the best way to playing your best doubles & you sure will enjoy it more!

Some of you may know that we started publishing a digital magazine for iPads – Tennis Tribe Magazine.

The magazine is full of coaching tips (some in video format) on technical, strategic and the mental game of tennis as well as nutrition tips, fitness programs and lots more.

To see more go to: http://tennistribe.planettennis.net/ttmag/

However, in September we had the amazing opportunity of interviewing some of the paralympian tennis players at the London Games. This issue is FREE so for those with iPads simply download the free App and then the free Special Issue on Wheelchair Tennis. No need to subscribe or provide any details.

For those without iPads, we have posted the magazine on our site as a pdf. As the videos are not live on the pdf, we have added those to our site.

Please check it out. You will not be asked to sign up to anything, it’s all free.

http://planettennis.net/special-issue-wheelchair-tennis-freeview/

We are hoping to publish another issue in the summer of 2013 with a focus on wheelchair tennis around the world; any level and any age groups. If you’re a player, a parent of a player, part of the support team, a fan…send us your stories!! We accept text, video and all photos!

This video taken from the WTA tour finals 2012 held in Istanbul shows how Petra Kvitova uses opposing forces in her footwork to help her return serve and then recover back towards the middle of the court for the next ball.

Understanding opposing forces is crucial if you want to maximize your footwork and therefore your tennis…….so pay close attention!

I have just shot over 30 video clips of some crucial & transformational footwork drills & patterns to go inside the members area of The Tennis Footwork Formula course…………Check the course out by Clicking HERE

If you want to watch the video on my YouTube channel click here – Tennis Footwork