Tennis Strategy 102 – The Continuum

There is so much emphasis placed (by the tennis playing and coaching community) on technique that I almost feel players have lost sight of the one thing that I believe makes this such a great sport.

The tactical and strategic battle on (and sometimes off) the court. That is what makes this the great sport it is!! The pitting of one player’s game against another. The pitting of one player’s will against another.

It’s what makes some tennis matches go beyond tennis and is what touches even non-tennis people in a way that they can hardly explain (think about the effect the Federer vs Nadal Wimbledon final had on people who don’t even like tennis).

But even if you agree with me, how does that help you….because that’s what I am here to do right??

Well, I propose to you that in order to fulfill your tennis playing potential you need to move away from the importance of technique and over towards the emphasis on the outcome of the technique you are trying to implement.

It’s just as I have been saying for a long time now…..it’s not so much about the HOW that counts, it’s more about the WHAT you choose to do, WHY you choose to do it & WHEN you do things that ultimately dictate your success.

In fact would it be fair to say that “good” technique isn’t achieved unless it allows you to execute your desired strategy?

This is the area where technique fades out and skill takes over……..so where does your game sit on this continuum?

There may well be different positions for different parts of your game but it’s worth taking 20 minutes to think about it.

When you have done that, I have some tactics and strategies that have been noted by many to reap the biggest rewards.

I will do those in a video for you tomorrow.

Before you get the video, please comment below to let me know what you think about this argument and where your game sits.

Interview With Former World No 1 Tennis Player

It’s great when you know a few people “in the know” because you get access to players you would not normally get access to

And what’s even better is when they turn out to be really cool!!

That was the case with Paul Haarhuis who was one half of my favorite tennis doubles team (along with Jacco Eltingh)….sorry Woodies!!!

Anyway, the reason I chose him is because he made it to the top of the game (World No 1 doubles No 18 in singles and won Grand Slams (Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon, Us Open) with more than 1 partner) yet didn’t turn Pro until he finished college.

To me he had the kind of attitude and approach to the game that had the most “transfer” to the club/rec player!!

Watch it, pick out the tennis advice & get inspired!!

He has some interesting things to say about your tennis footwork & tennis technique.

Here is a quick edited version but if you like it and want to see more just Facebook like the video and leave me a comment below telling me what you liked about it!!

Also, don’t forget…….if you are interested in improving your doubles we are nearly ready to release some KILLER Doubles content, so make sure you sign up HERE to keep up to date with everything as well as the FREE stuff available.

Don’t waste your time protecting your tennis weakness

Everyone has one (or 2 or 3) of them. Federer, Nadal, Djokovic, Andy Murray, Del Potro, Sharapova, Wozniacki, Venus & Serena have them, so surely you will have them.

The area of your game where you feel and indeed know you can be hurt. For some people, it’s a particular shot, for others it’s maybe something like poor tennis fitness or a weakness at the net.

So, it’s natural that you want to defend it and surely that’s the best way isn’t it??

Keep opponents away from it or them so that you won’t get hurt too much. I call this “damage limitation”, but is this the way for you to play your best tennis?

For too many players this is the way they approach the matchplay situation but it’s WRONG! Instead of asking the question, how much will my playing of a “protecting” game actually make it more likely for me to be hurt? You should be asking yourself the following 3 (progressive) questions…..

1. What can I do to create situations for me to use my strengths?

2. What can I do to create situations that expose my opponents weaknesses

3. What can I do to create situations that don’t play into my opponents strengths and/or expose my weaknesses.

Because the fact is that the more you try to protect your weak spots, the more likely it is that you will expose them and get hurt. All the time and effort (energy) you will put into hiding and protection will not only send dangerous (for you) signals but could be better used to make sure you use the shots and situations that will cause your opponents the biggest headaches and problems.

The sooner you understand that this effort is probably making the problem worse, not better, the more success you will have on the match court.

Do you think top WTA player Sam Stosur wastes too much time trying to cover her weak spots or is she better served (no pun intended) using this time to further improve her big weapons of her serve and follow up game??

Always try to play the game on “your” terms by moving towards “your” objectives rather than trying to avoid and move away from stuff you may think will cause you problems and watch how your results change along with your enjoyment of the game.

Tennis Video – Turnaround Toolkit Overview

Check out this video that outlines the 24 day Tennis Turnaround Toolkit.

Hope that helps.

Tennis Strategy – Play Better Tiebreaks

I had the chance to sit in with one of my players this week during a tie-break tournament (this tournament allowed coaching as it was primarily a training exercise).

The format of the tournament was that players played the best of 3 tie-breaks in a round robin format (everybody played everybody in their group and top 2 from each group advanced to semi-finals).

Anyway, what was interesting was the way the players approached and reacted to the tie-break situation.

Now, let’s not forget that tie-breaks are very much a part of tennis these days and even at the top level make all the difference to winning & losing matches.

If you can play them better you win more sets and matches and if you play them poorly you lose sets and matches.

Simple as that!!

Let’s get things straight….learning to play tie-breakers is a skill that can turn your win/loss ratio around for you in a big way.

So, back to the tournament.

One of the common problems the players were having was that they reacted to the score in the tie-break just as they would do in a game.

For example, a common reaction to going 3-1 down is to react negatively as on the verge of a loss.

One girl virtually gave up after she lost a service point to go 3-1 down.

She lost that tie-break 7-2 and came to sit down.

When I asked her what happened she said “I just didn’t feel I could come back from that far behind”.

I was shocked!!

When I pointed out that 2 points behind in a tie-break is not the same as 2 points behind in a game, she looked puzzled.

“If you are 3-1 down in a game you are 40-15 and game point down, but 3-1 in a breaker is 3-1 and at least 4 points to play before you get to the winning post”.

Suddenly, she began to see what I was talking about.

“You got to 6 games all so you can’t be doing that much wrong, just carry on doing it”, I told her.

She bounced out of her seat ready for the next tie-break.

Off they went and would you believe it, she went 3-1 down again but this time kept playing steady and got the break back and played great eventually losing 10-8.

No problem with that at all, she did as I told her and kept her flow going.

So, next time you are involved in a tie-break remember this is not the same as a regular game and believe in the game that got you there to take you over the line.

If you want to ramp things up a bit, only do so when you have clear distance between you and your opponent (say 5-2 or 6-2) but keep the control and concentration factors intact!!

Learn the point dynamics involved in a tiebreak and see how it helps you over the line in so many more matches.

P.S. I had several people asking for more info regarding help in playing better matches and as always I point them towards my Beat All The Tennis Players You Want Special Report.

This is ideal for most players who never even consider how to prepare for and what to do during a match when it comes to adjusting to match dynamics.

I am getting ready for a more advanced version for more “experienced” players and just wondered what you want to see in there.

I’m pretty much done but don’t want to miss anything out so put anything you want included in the comments box below!!

P.S.2. All this kind if stuff will be in my Unstoppable Tennis Program which is coming soon….details to follow.

Tennis Skills – How Understanding How We Learn Can Help You Get Better Quicker

Tennis Skills – We all want to better them don’t we?

Yes, even if your name is Roger Federer, Maria Sharapova, Serena Williams or Rafa Nadal and you are used to playing at Wimbledon or the US Open, getting more tennis skills under your belt or just improving what you already have is high on every tennis players agenda.

But, how do you go about it?

Well sometimes it’s not about your forehand or backhand and what practise methods you choose that counts.

Sometimes it’s just about understanding the process of learning and improving that will prove most successful.

Not sure what I mean?

Well here is a story that should I am sure will help you.

I was talking to a group of tennis players a couple of weeks ago when I mentioned something I thought would help them through the individual troughs they were experiencing.

All I did was to explain the 4 stages of learning a tennis skill – so here they are.

The four stages of motor skill acquisition are as follows:

Stage 1. Unskilled, Unconscious

Stage 2. Unskilled, Conscious

Stage 3. Skilled, Conscious

Stage 4. Skilled, Unconscious

How does this work?

Well, as a beginner you find you struggle with skill execution as well as with understanding why your mistakes exist – Stage 1.

After a while, you understand/learn the proper execution, but cannot consistently repeat it – Stage 2.

Eventually, you can execute the skill with correct technique and with reasonable consistency, however it is consciously controlled which means a sacrifice in flow & fluidity – Stage 3.

Stage 4 is when you forget & don’t think i.e. you master the skill and forget/don’t use any technical instructions – you Just Do It (thanks to NIKE!)

I think it’s really important to identify just where you are in the scheme of things, so you will have real expectations about how you should be expecting to play on a day by day basis.

The problem I find is that generally most players don’t understand the 4 stage progression and therefore have unrealistic expectations about their level of play and that only leads to FRUSTRATION & in many cases…..ANGER!

The reason I was quick to talk to the group about it was purely down to the fact that someone sat me down to tell me about it many years ago.

The story is a very interesting and somewhat strange one, so I think I will save it for another day.

But for now, sit down and try to work out where your tennis skills level is and see if your newly found understanding helps you in the way you approach your tennis game.

P.S. One last thing, don’t forget, you will have different parts of your game at different stages so you will need to adjust each of them accordingly.

P.S.2 by the way there is a really good limited time deal going on for my super popular Beat All The Tennis Players You Want that includes extra bonuses and material…..you should probably check it out to see if it can help you!!

Tennis Doubles – You Don’t Need Topspin To Attack The Return Of Serve

I was playing in a doubles match the other day against a couple of good players.

They both hit very big shots and one of them in particular had a very big serve.

20 minutes into the match and we had won the first set 6-1.

It’s a shame you weren’t there but things were working like a dream.

But there was one thing in particular that I look back as being the key!!

As I said earlier our opponents had very big shots with big serves – BUT they played from the baseline.

Because they didn’t follow their serves into the net, I was able to (and I got my partner to follow suit) chip balls back (using a continental grip)  cross court and angled over towards the service line/singles tramline junction.

This didn’t result in many outright winners but it did result in them scrambling to get to balls time and time again.

The fact that they got to the ball late meant that they got to the ball when it was pretty low and that meant that either me or my partner had a succession of easy volley put-aways at the net as they tried to get the ball over the net.

So, another example of using the right shot in the right situation!!

Please Note – I am putting together a Play Killer Doubles Report and really want to make sure I get everything in.

If there is something you want to know about playing better doubles or are not sure about, just leave a comment below and I will make sure I cram everything in.

The Top 3 Ways For Federer To Beat Nadal & How You Can Beat A Lefty – pt 2

In our previous post , we looked at adjusting our service return position to help combat the left handed player.

If you didn’t see that then go HERE

This time you need to consider this!!

Work On Your Backhand Up The Line

Because Federer and us rightys tend to want to play our backhands cross-court, this can cause a problem when we play leftys as we tend to hit into their strength – the forehand.

Also, leftys are happy to get the ball on the forehand and hit it crosscourt into our backhands.

By working on the backhand up the line you can switch play so that they hit their backhand cross court into your strength (your forehand).

You may even get the chance if they try to go back up the line on your backhand to run around the tennis ball and hit an inside out forehand.

One word of caution here, you will find many left handers (esp. Rafa) are quite good at creating wide angles from their forehands to your backhand.

If that happens, don’t try and go down the line as you will be way out of position for the next ball – you must try to go deep and cross court!!

This is why thinking about what is going on in a match is vital if you want to be successful.

To get started with this whole “thinking” and “tennis strategy” stuff….check out my Beat All The Tennis Players You Want Special Report.