How To Attack The Second Serve In Tennis!!

This is something I often see when I watch club players playing tennis.

They all know they should and want to attack a short ball in the middle of a tennis rally but when a short second serve comes over they are content to push it back into play.

Question – What is the difference between these two short balls (a forehand or backhand and a tennis serve)?

Answer – Nothing!

So why don’t they attack the short second serve?

You would not see Federer, Nadal, Djokovic or Sharapova allowing their opponents to put short second serves into play without trying to dominate the points by attacking them!

Here is one of my junior players showing everybody exactly what you should do with a short second serve.

This was taken during an actual practise match and was not “set up”!!

Can A 9-Year Old Hit Like Nadal, Federer, Djokovic & Sharapova?

With the US Open about to kick off, I thought I would highlight some of the games biggest stars and players likely to feature in the next couple of weeks in the last Grand Slam of the year.

The way I am going to do this is by showing you a clip of a boy playing and winning a point in a practise match today (he is in a big tournament tomorrow!!) and just asking you to note the modern stroke production which has all the hallmarks of the top players of the moment, Nadal, Federer, Djokovic, Sharapova, Venus Williams, Serena Williams etc.

Just want you to note a couple of things!!

1. How the shots are formed even at this early age (prompted by lots of watching of the top players).

2. A few years ago some of this stroke production was frowned upon as being not feasible and “correct” but is now commonplace and “the norm”.

Don’t worry about what others do – worry about what works!!

Leg Power Training Programme For Tennis

Training in the gym last week it struck me that everybody was involved in upper body training.

This is purely about looks and as tennis players and sportspeople, this just does not make sense.

How often are you using your feet and legs when you play?

ALL THE TIME!!

I have an 8 week Easy Leg Power Training Programme for you to do HERE

Worst Defeat Ever For Federer

Federer losing to James Blake in the Olympic semi has to go down as the worst defeat ever as Blake has been a man he has no trouble and I mean no trouble beating previously.

What’s worse is that Blake has been guilty of some pretty poor play in recent times so it’s no wonder he looked pleased at the end of the match.

This loss is much worse than the thrashing at the French where Nadal did look unbeatable and must place real doubts as to how far he can go at the US Open next week where he is the champ.

Approach Tennis Mental Training Just Like Tennis Fitness

Why tennis mental training?

You hit the ball great!

You never get tired!

You are winning lots of tennis matches right?

Wrong!

You just can’t concentrate.

You always play better in practice.

Your opponents always control matches.

Getting angry NEVER helps.

It’s a mental thing but……..

You don’t know where to start with your tennis mental training without complicating it.

Well, tennis mental training is the same as tennis fitness training and has four stand out components.

Let’s look at them!

Tennis Mental Training vs Tennis Fitness Training

Strength:

Just as physical fitness is about strong resistance to outside forces (i.e. the weight you are trying to lift), tennis mental strength is about you being able to provide strong resistance under sometimes high levels of emotional pressure.

Flexibility:

Good physical flexibility allows you to get into many different positions (quickly).

Mentally flexiblity allows you to do the same in a mental sense.

Physical flexibility is all about increasing your range of motion around a joint and mental flexibility is all about increasing your control over a range of emotions around your game.

Speed:

Speed on the court is essential if you want to a) get to lots of balls and b) recover in order to get to the following balls.

If you are mentally slow then you can never react to what is needed on the court at any given time, never mind react and respond to a whole sequence of events.

Agility:

Physical agility is the ability to move, stop & change direction at speed without losing control.

The same can be said of your mental agility.

The game of tennis requires you to negotiate a wide range of emotional barriers not all of which are easy. In fact it is often the ability to stay “mentally balanced” in times of relative disappointment that separates the champions from the “others” and is therefore a vital part of the “Champions mentality” I often speak about.

There was no greater example of mental skills in action than this years’ Wimbledon Men’s final where both Federer and Nadal showed their ability to bounce back from a number of disappointments whilst still keeping themselves focused and highly competitive.

The greatest match ever showed the greatest array of mental skills ever – a coincidence??

No Way!!