Ramp Up Your Tennis Game In Just 10 Minutes – Part 2

Improve your tennis footwork

Now most people see this as being contrary to the previous tip – but it isn’t!

Just watch the ATP Tour and the WTA Tour and you will see that most players especially in the men’s game use their forehands as a weapon.  And you can do just the same!

The only thing is that you need to work on your footwork to enable you to hit the ball more effectively on that side more often and make the most of it.

Also don’t forget that poor footwork will only cause you to hit a poor shot, if not an error so you need to get this part of your game “DOWN!”  And don’t just think about hitting forehands, because if the strong part of your game is the volley or say the backhand, then the same thing applies.

Remember the ATP stat of 70% of unforced errors on the tour are down to footwork!!

Again, you only need 10 mins of dedicated practise time to notice massive differences pretty quickly!

If you want to improve your footwork, then you probably want to check out my Special Tennis Footwork Report -

HERE

Ramp Up Your Tennis Game In Just 10 Minutes

Over the next few days we are going to look at 3 things that everybody can do to increase the effectiveness of their game.

1. Improve your weak side

For most people the forehand tends to be their stronger shot.

That doesn’t mean however that you should ignore the backhand – in fact the opposite is true.

It really is just a case of hitting more balls on that side.

I was once told (by a wise old tennis wizard) to just spend 10-15 minutes (no more than that) at the start of every session hitting as many backhands as I could.

It mad a massive difference!

It’s surprising how quickly you begin to “see” the shot a whole lot better and as a result your fear of playing it subsides.

Your confidence improves and you begin to do more than just hope the ball goes over & back into court.

In no time at all you will find yourself trying to avoid playing it at all costs.

I’m sure you can all find 10 minutes to do that!!

Six Unforced “Mental Game” Errors Tennis Players Make Between Points

What you do between points can make a massive difference to your game.

My collegue Patrick Cohn has got some great info on the subject and here it is!

Note: This article is the introduction to Dr. Patrick Cohn’s free report.

Tennis is a huge mental game. You must possess mental toughness to handle match adversity and play consistent high-level tennis.

The top players in the game – Federer, Roddick, Sharapova, and Safina – win matches with mental fortitude. When they struggle with their physical game, they are able to raise the level of their performance and win matches with a strong mental game.

Physical talent and hard work go a long way towards success in tennis. However, you must have a powerful tennis mental game to match the power of your ground strokes.

Roger Federer discusses three important keys to his success in tennis. Federer’s three keys to success include: conditioning, mental toughness or mental strength, and tennis skill. He says you need an abundance of these three components to be successful at the highest level in tennis. All three components can be improved with practice and training. But your physical skills are limited by your god-given or inborn talent.

Improving your mental game of tennis can be the fastest way to improve performance and consistency in matches for many junior, collegiate, professional, and club players.

What are the top advantages of improving your tennis mind game? Most players with a strong mental game can perform as well in matches as they do in practice sets. Inability to play up to your potential in matches is the number one reason players contact me to improve their mental game and tennis performance.

Do you perform well against players who are at your level or below, but struggle to bring your best game against players who you think are better than you or who are ranker higher? Improving your consistency in your match performance – no matter who you play against – is another advantage of an improved mental game.

Read the rest of Dr. Cohn’s free report…

More Tennis Fitness Needed At The Australian Open

Well, it’s strange isn’t it that the moment I mention the challenges of the heat at the Australian Open we are seeing record temperatures over there and many players withdrawing from the event because of it or at the very least showing signs of reduced performance levels.

If you didn’t see that post then go HERE.

Also, find out how to combat the heat HERE.

It’s strange how people are divided about what to do when it happens.

Some are all for the extended breaks and the closing of the roof on the courts that have them, while others are against that and take the view that if you can’t stand it then that is just too bad!!

Me?

I go with the second view!

Tennis (and sport) has NEVER been all about good technique.  It is about your technique,  tennis fitness, tennis mental strength and application, tennis nutrition, movement, strategy, ability to read situations etc etc…..

So, if you have superior technique, but inferior fitness and that is the reason you are losing then again that is too bad!!

You need to work on all aspects of your game and in fact that is the best way to progress.

You are much better off if you can improve all facets of your game by small increments than say slaving over tweaking one shot………..I know that for sure because I have done it both ways and seen players at all levels inc tour players.

You can have a great forehand but if you move like a snail you are “toast”.

You can be quick but if you can’t keep the ball in the court, it’s the same result – “get the butter/spread ready”.

It’s definitely the case of the “whole (effect) is bigger than the sum of the parts”.

It’s a bit like team sports where teams of “lesser” individual ability but superior teamwork & ethics beat teams of “superior” individual ability time & time again.  We see it in doubles where the “worse” players who play better doubles beat the “better” players who play as single players.

It’s just like I have been pointing out to you for the past few months, don’t just turn up to your matches and hit the ball!  You NEED to engage all aspects of your game if you want to win because different opponents will present different challenges and you need the “tools” in your bag to deal and overcome as many diferent opponents as you can.

I set out my esay to use but effective Tennis Matchplay system for everybody HERE

And my Tennis Fitness Planner HERE

If you haven’t done so yet check them out!

Australian Open – How The Heat Beat Me

With the Australian Open underway, I always go back to when I fell foul of the very conditions that the players will have to go through if they want to win this first Grand Slam tennis event of the year.

We all know that one of the hardest things to overcome when playing tennis in Australia at this time of year is the intense heat. So much so that they have provisions to stop the tournament if the temperature rises too high or at the very least stop the tournament so that they can shut the roof on the show court.

Well, I may not have played at the Australian Open but I have vivid memories of not dealing with the heat when playing a very important tennis match.

A few years ago I was playing the best tennis I had ever played (armed with the new found weapon that was the Prince racket I was using) and had stormed into the semi final of a pretty big tournament.

I was playing the number 3 seed who I had never played before but had watched do well in this tournament for a couple of years.

The weather was and had been fantastic – very hot, which was just the way I liked it as it probably meant that tennis fitness would become a factor and I was ready for the challenge.

The match was set for around 5pm, so I mapped out my day!

My friend and doubles partner wanted to play and I was in such hot form that I was eager to play as well, to almost show off my tennis to everyone that wanted to watch.  It was also to make sure that the “magic” was still there and hadn’t disappeared in my sleep overnight.

Anyway, I played and beat him in the morning still timing the tennis ball very well and came back home to have some lunch and relax before the match.

I can still remember going into the garden to relax and do some sunbathing before the match and to top up my sun tan – yes it was hot!!

As the match time drew closer, I went inside and got my kit together.  It was the same “lucky kit” I had been wearing for all of my recent matches, after all why change things when they are going well?

So, I took my kit and arrived at the club early and looked around for someone to hit with just to “get my eye in”.  I found someone who wanted to play and we played for about 30 minutes before it was nearly 5pm and I decided to stop, find my opponent and make my last few preparations before the match took place.

Match time arrived and we started on the main hard court right in front of the clubhouse/bar.

Things went well.  I was serving and  holding serve ok and returning well also but wasn’t able to break.

But at 5-all in the first set, I had and took my chance.  I broke him to go 6-5 up in the first set and leave myself to serve for the set.

I came out after the break and remember making several great low volleys in the game but held serve to win the first set 7-5, one more set and I was in the final.

And that is where the match pretty much ended.

I won one more game at the beginning of the second set before I felt as though someone had literally “turned the power off”!

I began to wonder what had happened to me as I as unable to watch the ball effectively nevermind hit it with any purpose.

I couldn’t move and I also began to feel cold which was strange because it was so warm.

I lost the next two sets in double quick time 6-1, 6-0 and went home not feeling well at all!

And then it hit me.  I had spent too much time in the sun.  Instead of playing in the morning I should have rested.  But I am convinced that the “killer” was the sunbathing in the middle of the day when the sun was beating down.

It’s stupid I know but I had been cut down by being in the sun too much and had suffered mild heat stroke which I can tell you I do not recommend.

You can find out why the hot weather is so difficult to play in and what you can do to prepare if you have to play in the heat HERE

Ivanovic Listens To Beyonce What Do You Listen To?

The best news I heard this week coming out of the Australian Open run in was that Ana Ivanovic listens to Beyonce when she does her tennis training.

This got me thinking a couple of things.

1. Listening to music is a great (& underused) way to do your training.

2. What would YOU choose to listen to either to train to or even play to (this may be in your head)?

Music can really affect your mood so can be perfect preparation for matches etc if you choose wisely.

So what do you (or would you) listen to.

Let me know with a comment and maybe we could compile the ULTIMATE tennis players cd!!

Tennis Players Act As My Live Lab Test Subjects!!

Hey, I have got to let you know what happened just the other day.

If you have read my last few posts regarding the best tennis playing and  tennis training habits to get into your game you will be upto speed with what I am talking about.

I must confess I saw being used in the training of some elite players and what got me was the simplicity of the instruction for what was a group of very good players.

Anyway, I took that away with me and decided to implement it into a session I run with a group of club players on a Saturday and here is how I did it and here is how you can follow the same formula for yourself.

We started of with everybody rallying with the intention of not letting the tennis ball bounce twice as this was a “sin”.  Seems easy doesn’t it?

Well as i said in my post, sometimes people are just too lazy to get to the ball and in fact we stopped and changed partners several times because the ball had bounced twice.

After 5-10 minutes I got them to add on the “avoid” the tennis net component.

So they now had to avoid the net AND not let the ball bounce twice.

We did this for 10 minutes changing partners everytime a “sin” was commited.

I then got them to play points to get their serve into the warmup with the scoring system being changed so that a ball bouncing twice or being hit into the net was worth 2 points (single point scoring, the first to 7 being the winner, alternate serving).

They did this for several matches against different people before we stopped and I divided them up to play some “normal” doubles.

Well!!!

I have to say I was shocked to see the standard of play so high!

Everybody played so well and there really was a noticible increase in standard.

When they finished, everybody commented on how much they had enjoyed the session and how they had made a mental note to take on board the early practices.

They said it seemed silly, but by just concentrating a bit more on 2 simple things that you normally NEVER think about they were able to raise the level of their games.

So there you have it – 2 simple “lab tested” things that you can use TODAY from the warmup to up the level of your play.

3 Step Plan/Routine

1. rally without letting the ball bounce twice

2. rally without letting the ball bounce twice OR going into the net

3. Serve in and play/rally without letting the ball bounce twice or go into the net

You could/should even (now I think of it) do this as part of your matchplay warmup/knockup – it’s so simple yet effective!

I may well add it to my already potent matchplay winning Special Report – Beat All The Tennis Players You Want

Good Tennis Training Habits Part 3

Keep The Ball Out Of The Net

This again is not rocket science but no one ever thinks about it as far as I can see.

You really need as part of your tennis training to try to hit long (past the baseline) rather than in the net when you are playing.

If you can switch onto the fact that hitting the tennis ball long is a “better error” than ino the net, the better you will play and the more tennis matches you will win.

Start by trying to go a tennis game or tennis match without hitting (especially unforced) into the net, then two and so on!!

This -
. Improves your perception of depth
. Helps you in matches as natural inhibition kicks in.  Long balls in practise will drop shorter and therefore “in” during matches.

Good Tennis Training Habits Part 2

Most tennis players never think about where they are standing as being that important in their tennis match or tennis practise.

But another good tennis training habit to try and get into is to try and stand no further back than 1 metre behind the baseline.

This will improve 3 things!

1. It will improve your reactions.
2. It will help you get to any angled balls from your opponent
3. It will hurry your opponent, as your shot will get back sooner.

When you add this tennis habit onto the previous post you begin to become a “scary” player!

Good Tennis Player Habits

Hey, there are several tennis habits that I feel are essential for any tennis player to develop into their tennis game as soon as they can.

These are as much a tennis mental skill as a physical one and is a habit that you need to develop asap

One Bounce

You should always attempt to play the tennis ball after the first bounce in practise (obviously not when volleying).

I see so many people letting the ball bounce twice if it’s a bit short because they basically can’t be bothered to move!

Only alowing yourself one bounce -

. Improves your reactions
. Stimulates quicker reactions
. Replicates matchplay conditions

Get your head around it, start TODAY and you will really notice the difference in your game, which is where it counts!