Win Wimbledon Tennis Championships? – Let Me Ask You A question

How’s your tennis going?

Are you nearer to that Wimbledon Tennis Championships?

Is it going as well as you thought it would?

Do you think you could improve it right now?

If you were forced to, what could you do/want to do RIGHT NOW that would move your tennis in the right direction?

Would you write it down?

Are you willing to commit to doing it today?

If not, then why not?

Is it a fear of failure, or a fear of success?

Could it just be a bad habit?

If putting things off was just a bad habit, would you want to create a new habit of being an action taker instead?

If so, can you commit to doing that one thing that will improve your tennis (the one I asked you to write down) as soon as you finished commenting on this blog post?

Also…………

Have you ever stopped and thought about how much you already know and have read about tennis?

Can you imagine how different your game would be if you could apply ALL you already know and read?

Could blog posts like these that just ask questions (instead of telling you more to know) help you use more of what you already know?

If so, do you think you would like to see more tennis blog posts like this one?

Would you read them?

If you had to guess, do you think more people will like this or hate this?

Before you go, can you do 3 quick things for me?

1. Tell me what you think – do you like this style of post (comment below)?

2. What was the one thing you wanted to do/know more about that you thought would move your game forwards? (comment below)

3. Can you tweet this, tell others, and ask them what they think too?  (Use facebook etc if you don’t tweet)

Should I thank you now?

How To Get A Tennis Serve Like Roger Federer

When it comes to the tennis serve, you can’t get any better than Roger Federer.

It’s not the quickest serve (Andy Roddick), but it is the best serve (maybe the best of all time).

If you can make this shot “work its stuff” for you then things become so much easier.

Want to get that smooth, fluid, relaxed style of Federer?

One of the best tennis serve tips I’ve seen to help you get that smooth Federer type motion is to swing a towel.

Federer makes the serve look so easy, almost effortless and yet so effective and has been one of the major factors behind his success at the Grand Slams Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon & US Open.

One of the big problems however for the club player who wants to get a quicker serve is that they end up with a jerky action that is too mechanical and therefore less efficient.

The parts of the body don’t work together and the end result is breaks and stops in the action that kils the power.

So, back to the towel.

Tie a knot in one end of a beach towel (to be the racket head) and you can now perform your service action by grabbing the other end.

The knot will cause the towel to drop down when you reach the top of your action (the contact point) which allows you to carry on forwards.

The trick here is not to stop when you finish a service motion but to carry on straight into the next serve without a break.

If you are on the right lines the towel should not touch any part of your body and you should begin to feel the effortless motion that all great servers like Pete Sampras, Roger Federer and Boris Becker etc had.

So go and grab those beach towels (not for a vacation) but for your soon to be “killer” serve!!

P.S. if you haven’t done so yet, let me know what areas of the game you want help with/want to know more about…….

Technical – CLICK HERE

Tactical – CLICK HERE

Physical – CLICK HERE

Mental – CLICK HERE

Tennis Tips For Beginners – Depth Is King

Keeping the ball at the back of the court is really your no 1 weapon at this stage of your tennis career.

As the former French Open Champ & World No 2 tennis player Michael Chang once said “depth is King”.

And he should know, as he was only kept of the top of the rankings and winning at Wimbledon and at the US Open by tennis immortals Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi.

He was also really the forerunner for some of the great players of today players like Rafa Nadal.

Anyway, this is what this tennis tip will do for you in the real world of tennis (and that’s where it really counts) -

It will keep you in the point for more shots and as we all know at this stage, keeping lots of shots in court isn’t always easy.

You will be asking your opponent to hit an extra 1 or 2 shots every point than they may feel uncomfortable with and that will often lead them to make errors.

Remember what it says in the rules of tennis – “the winner of the point is the last person to hit the ball in court” – consistent depth will help you to be that person.

To help you achieve this, use the large rectangle formed by the service line, baseline and singles sidelines as your target.

Spend 5 minutes before your next practise or tennis lesson etc and look at it from over the net and keep looking at it as you walk back to he baseline.

Then, drop some balls for yourself and hit shots over the net trying to get the ball in this “back box”.

You can even try adding in this simple scoring sytem to help add a bit of fun and pressure.

You award yourself 5 points if your shot goes over and lands in either of the service boxes.

You award yourself 10 points if your shot goes over and lands in the back box (the rectangle we spoke about earlier).

You score zero if the ball fails to go over the net.

You also score zero if the ball goes too deep and drops beyond the baseline as well as if it is too wide and drops in the tramlines or completely out of court.

Keep a note of your scores for say 10 shots and see how long it takes you to regularly hit 100!!

As your scores go up, so will your game.

Tennis Tip

The biggest mistake most players at this level make is that they hit the ball too low and therfore possibly into the net or too short if they do get it over.

Your ball when hit from the baseline should be roughly twice the height of the net as it goes over.

Provided you hit the shot with some topspin, the ball should fall comfortably into the court on the other side of the net.

Practising this drill (on both forehand and backhand), either on your own or with a partner will pay great dividends for you in the future as it will teach you about how to hit the ball as well as where to hit it.

Try it today.

tennisinfoproducts.com for more tips and info to move your game up through the gears!!

Australian Open – How To Beat The Heat

Everybody knows that the Australian Open throws up several different challenges to the tennis player that don’t really exist at the other 3 Grand Slam tournaments, some of which actually have nothing directly to do with the forehand, backhand or tennis really.

The mental and physical challenges of playing tennis at the highest level are always present but the Australian Open throws in one further challenge that every tennis player must deal with or have NO CHANCE of lifting the trophy – playing in the heat.

Every year temperatures soar towards the 40 degree mark and leave the organisers with the problem of maybe suspending the tournament or at least closing the roof on the main court.

So, why do such high temperatures cause a problem to what are some very fit tennis players never mind the average club player and more importantly what can be done to overcome them?

How can you Beat The Heat?

Regulation of your body temperature has a dramatic affect on tennis performance.  If it is not properly addressed it can in fact cause death.

Here is the problem.

You use energy to play tennis and three-quarters of that energy is converted to heat.  The harder you play, the more energy you use and you produce more heat.

You now have to get rid of the heat and the body does so by moving blood to the skin so that the heat can be lost to the air.

The big problem is that long or hard matches place increased demands on your body because it also has to transport oxygen and fuel to the muscles to keep up energy production AND blood flow to the skin must be increased to remove heat.

Your body therefore has 3 choices.

1. Prioritize Oxygen and fuel to the muscles (and overheat – VERY dangerous).

2. Prioritize blood to the skin to aid cooling (and cut blood to the muscles and internal organs – potentially dangerous and can cause muscles to cramp etc).

3. Do a bit of both but neither very well.

The other big problem is that if the air (weather) is too hot then the normal passage of heat from the skin to the outside world is reduced if not stopped.

You should now see how critical this all is.

How To Beat The Heat!

1. If you know you are going to be playing in a hot atmosphere you need to acclimatize to the conditions. That means playing in it for short periods of time and gradually building up so that your body gets a chance to get used to the conditions. This is especially critical for those or you who do not play in the heat for long periods of the year.

2. You will also need to watch your fluids.  Players can lose more than 5 litres of sweat during matches and obviously more during longer matches. They must be replaced otherwise drops in physical (and mental) performance occur. In fact you are in trouble with a fluid loss of only 2% of your bodyweight .

3. Fully hydrate before you play, which means drinking lots (water is the best fluid replacement for pure hydration) the night before you play.

4. Also drink regularly throughout the match (and afterwards), NOT just when you are thirsty (In fact if you are thirsty – you are already de-hydrated!!)

Note -

Drinking reduces your level of dehydration and therefore overheating – cold (NOT freezing) drinks empty from the stomach faster than warm drinks and helps you to re-fuel (if you add in some low concentrated carbohydrate).

Water can also help your body turn fat into energy which apart from being a rich energy source will spare the carbohydrate you will need for intense bursts of energy.

5. Stay out of the sun when possible i.e. at changeovers. Try and sit in the shade when you can and even in between points if there are shaded areas on the court.

Hope this helps – use it!!

Tennis News – Get It All Here

A quick heads up for everybody!!

I have come across a great tennis resource site that you should definitely bookmark.

Check out http://tennisfor.com

It stands for tennis for everybody (I think) and has all the news from around the world and is updated pretty much everyday as far as I can see.

Tennis players, tennis tournament (e.g. the up & coming Australian Open), tennis scores, tennis results.

It even has tennis equipment sections, so if you are looking for a new tennis racket, or a new pair of tennis shoes, then you can find them there as well.

All the major brands are there as far as I can see.

It really looks a lot like the one site you need to visit to keep up with everything tennis.

I have bookmarked it and it will save me time in terms of browsing around lots of different sites looking for stuff.

I suggest you do the same or at least look it over.

Tell me what you think below!!

Here it is once again

http://tennisfor.com

Tennis Strength Training 2010 Style

The recent cold weather & snow that we have been experiencing recently reminded of a tennis trip I was on with some aspiring junior players a few years ago.

It had been snowing and We were due to go to the local gym/health club but the weather was so bad we were stuck in the hotel unable to drive anywhere.

We were stuck in the hotel for 3 days which played havoc with our tennis training schedule.

No on court time!!

No tennis drills!!

No Matchplay!!

No Tennis Training!!

The tennis players didn’t have a clue what to do!!

Not a good situation and I vowed that that would never happen again.

I would never have any player I work with be at the mercy of having to get to a gym etc in order to do their training.

To keep a long story short, I devised a quick training schedule for the players that we did in the hotel bedrooms.

That was the beginning of what became…….

The Bodyweight Training Program For Tennis Players

Even if you are unlikely to ever get caught in a snowstorm, using your own bodyweight as the basis of your training has many benefits, including saving you bags of time and money!!

You can check them all out and why you need to become self sufficient…….

HERE

To Your Tennis Success

Paul Gold

P.S. The biggest surprise of all is probably a the bottom of the page when you get there.

Tennis Serve Del Potro vs Soderling

The tennis serve is a must have shot.

A couple of weeks ago, I posted a picture of Roger Federer where I highlighted his ball toss.

That went down well.

Now check out another picture I promised – taken from the Tennis Masters Cup 2009 Event in London here are 2 action shots taken from a seated position in the crowd of Del Potro and Soderling during their service actions.

Spot The Difference!

This picture just goes to show that however different some of the service actions are in terms of style, all of the players will tend to look similar when it comes to the principles.

I didn’t mean to put these 2 together but when I saw the pictures, it was obvious that they should be.

Comment below with your thoughts!!

The 12 Days Of Tennis Xmas

“On the first day of Christmas my true love sent to me –

A Partridge in a pear tree

On the second day of Christmas my true love sent to me –

2 Turtle Doves and a Partridge in pear tree.”

To find out how this can help your game, grab your FREE pdf HERE and come back and leave a comment.

Also, don’t forget to check back for the rest of the 12 days of your tennis xmas.

Ho Ho Ho!!

Tennis Serve – Federer Ball Toss

Tennis Serve?

They are all the same aren’t they?

Well no actually, if you watch all the best players serving and you know what you are looking for you will see that there are many differences between them in terms of “style”.

BUT!!

What they all have in common are 3 or 4 things that go under the category of “principles” i.e. things that must happen.

One of those is the ball toss.

Most players I come across don’t appreciate how high they need to toss the ball.

You need a ball toss of a “certain” height to allow you to reach up and explode into the ball (that is if you want a powerful serve).

I could go on to describe it in more detail but let me just show you a picture that was taken courtside (at The Tennis Masters 2009 event at the O2) of one of the best servers of all time Roger Federer.

Note how high the ball toss goes!

By tossing the ball that high (and forwards into the court), he is able to use all the forces generated to his benefit with the end result of a powerful serve.

I have some more photos of the players (Del Potro, Soderling) at the event that show some interesting serve stuff.

Just comment below if you think you would find it useful and would like me to show them!

Tennis Training Programme – Your Questions Answered.

I got a great question after the mail I sent yesterday regarding the Bodyweight Tennis Training Program I have just released.

Here it is………

“Paul,

What about a program for the 3-day / week, open level, mature player?  Could your weekend warrior program be altered to this level?

I have worked with trainers for periods of 6-months on and then 6-months off and I can’t stand going to the gym.  The results were good, however toward the end of the 6-months, I began losing flexibility and became “tight”; even with stretching.

Then after laying off of the weights for 6-to-8-weeks, the hips lock up and the gluts start to get tight.

Is there some middle ground or would adding weight to your regimen be a good solution?

Thanks for responding.”

Here is my reply….

Hi Jeff, thanks for the reply.

Yes the bodyweight program is perfect for the “3 day/week guy/girl”.

The weekend warrior is just a term for the recreational tennis player and doesn’t mean you only play on the weekend

Anyway, there are several great things about bodyweight training (some of which i mentioned in my last mail).

I will do another mailout with those so look out for it.

In terms of you, I have found that one great thing about using your body as resistance is that you tend to use more muscles, more core and more flexibility than when you use “external” resistance (especially machines……NEVER BOTHER WITH MACHINES!!).

My inspiration for all of this were a couple of guys I met on holiday who organized the activities during the day.

One night, they told me they were going to do a show and to my amazement put on the most astonishing acrobatic/gymnastic display I have ever seen.

When I spoke to them later and talked about how long they train in the week to do this, they said they never go to the gym and only use their body’s for resistance.

And then it hit me……….OF COURSE!!

The strongest, most agile and flexible athletes on the planet are probably the gymnasts.

So, Bodyweight Training For Tennis Players was born.

With a little bit of thought you can make any exercise easier or harder depending on your level so it’s adaptable, progressive & portable.

In the program, I tell you never to skip flexibility and demand that you always do a hip flexor (psoas) strech as this is often a problem area especially as we get older (believe me I know!!).

You should have some resitance training in your tennis fitness regime and you just need to tailor the program to your own lifestyle.

It’s a 8 week program (up to 6 days per week) that you can just repeat after a break at the end.

Don’t worry 6 sounds a lot but I have just put tennis strength on 1 day and tennis conditioning (run/bike etc) on another.

If you can’t do 6 days per week then you have 2 choices that work equally as well.

1. Do the conditioning on the same days as strength..drops you to 3 days straight away

or

2. Go through the program but instead of everyday, do something every 2/3 days (whatever fits).  All that happens is that the program becomes an 11 week program for example.

Like I said.it’s adaptable

You can add weights along the line if you need to but in my experience unless there is a specific weakness that needs attention to that one part, most people do.t heed to.

I hope this answers your question.

Don’t hesitate to get back to me with anything else.

Paul

The Bodyweight Program can be checked out………HERE