Who has the best tennis return of serve of all time?

Agassi, Connors, Borg, Andy Murray?

Well it’s simply one of the most important shots in the game and you need to get it right.

Why is it important?

Simple, if you can’t return well then you can’t break serve.

If you can’t return serve, you can’t break serve and therefore you can’t win.

And don’t forget you don’t need to hit screaming winners to have a great return you often just need to get the ball back in play – give your opponent a chance to miss/make a mistake.

Remember to win a point in tennis you just have to be the last person to have hit the ball in the tennis court!!

If you want to learn how to hit an attacking return of serve though, just check out the video below.

With the revelations about Andre Agassi’s drug taking and wig wearing past coming through thick & fast and the universal condemnation from other high profile players following close behind, there is only one question to ask.

Do you care?

Are you backing Federer, Nadal, Boris Becker and others who are shocked by the news and that the ATP may have covered up his positive drug test.

OR

Is this just an honest admission by a man who has clearly come a long way since then and is just mentioning these  things (1 of which cost him the French Open) to highlight exactly what went on in his eventful career.

After all, is this no different to reality tv??

What do you think and which side of the fence do you sit on (if any)?

Leave a comment below!

So, we had our plan in place (details HERE) and Carol was ready for action.

This is how we put it together.

In terms of fitness, I asked & got Carol to agree to 3 tennis fitness sessions per week which were not all in the gym (more about that later).

I only attended the sessions at the beginning of each phase to make sure things were on track and make any necessary adjustments by the way!!

We did 1 tennis coaching session per week which I decided to make very drill based with lots of tennis balls, feeding & hitting and not too much tennis technique work.

This is very much “The Spanish Way” of coaching which has proved very successful for them but also the fact that Carol was a seasoned player meant that whatever technique she had was pretty “grooved” and it would have been difficult to make any “positive” changes in the time we had.

This method of coaching is also great for fitness (a big weakness) and is one of the main reasons I went for it (despite the fact that I knew she would have to take many regular breaks in the early sessions.

By week 3, the combination of drills and fitness work meant that Carol was working hard right through these sessions with greater levels of concentration and that meant better play.

In terms of her coaching we looked at hitting deeper with more topsin (to keep her opponent driven back), along with drop shots, angled slices, approaches and chip & charges.

This was on the assumption that she may have to negotiate 1 or 2 of the young aggressive baseliners who would present a real problem if allowed to step in and “crunch” the ball but didn’t like coming forwards never mind going to the tennis net.

The Results

So far so good, she has had one bye and two straight set victories.

She is moving and hitting really well.

The final (if she get’s there) is next Sunday and now the players get tougher!!

I will let you know how she gets on as well as giving you more info about the tennis training program I put together for her.

Again, let me know below if you have ever tried to do something like this with a plan – and how you got on (even if it was a complete disaster)!!

It’s been a busy few weeks, with many of my full time players coming to the end of their season and The Club Tournament in full flow for many of club players.

It’s for that reason that I haven’t sent something out this week, but let me explain more.

I was approached by a Woman a few months ago for some instruction.

We spoke for a while, did an initial assessment lesson and decided to go full steam ahead on what we ended up calling “The Project”.

“The Project” as I will call it from now on was this – to see if she could get herself ready for the Club Tournament which was (at that time) a couple of months away.

Carol, was in fact a pretty good player who throughout the years (she was in her early forties now) had in fact won several Club Championships at several clubs but had also lost many more finals & semi-finals normally against players that she told me she “should have beaten”.

The main causes she told me were usually, lack of practise, fitness & match nerves.

We worked out that over the years she had had 6 wins and lost 6 finals in her “glittering” career and she really wanted to get ahead in the win column.

It would be difficult, because even though she had lost in the final two years ago (when she last played) there were many more juniors coming through the ranks who would surely pose a big threat.

They ran all day and hit the ball……………..HARD!!

So, first things first we needed a plan.

Ideally, I like to go for a 12 week plan but we that wasn’t an option so here was the deal.

Because of age and lifestyle (work etc), Carol didn’t have all day long to play & practise.

Add to that the fact that since the final two years ago she had only played a couple of singles matches and was (with respect!!) a little bit overweight – we had some work to do.

So this was the overall plan – it’s something we call Periodization.

This is exactly what the “Big boys & girls” like Federer, Nadal, Del Potro, Murray, Sharapova and Williams do when they are planning their tournament year out for things like Wimbledon, US Open, French Open etc.

I divided the alloted time into 3 “Phases”.

The first Phase is the Preparation Phase

This was a 4 week phase.

In terms of her tennis I told her to stick to lots of general (but high intensity) hitting to find timing with some first to 11 points at the end of those sessions.

In terms of tennis fitness, this phase is all about building what we call a good cardio vascular (CV) base especially as she hadn’t really exercised properly for years.

Any (inevitable) weight loss would have to be slow to maintain strength (about a pound a week).

The second Phase is the Pre-Competition Phase

This was a two week phase, where drills and points would become more competitive along with some practise matches and fitness, work switched gears to include more interval work

The third & final Phase is the Competitive Phase

This final Phase of 2 weeks was all about shifting the effort on to the court and just looking at maintenance in terms of her fitness work.

I will let you know a bit more detail about stuff in the coming days, but I hope you’ve got the picture and can add some mental encouragement to our cause from wherever you are

P.S. Also let me know if you have ever approached a big competition in this way i.e. put a plan (of any sorts) together & if so how did it go??

Tennis training can mean many different things.

For some it is playing/training to improve your shots, strategy etc and therefore your game.

For others, it is the off court training that is needed to improve (strength, speed, footwork etc).

Whichever it is (and you need to be doing both), there are 2 questions you NEED to be asking yourself that will ensure you get the best out of either situation.

1. What am I looking to get out of today’s training?

2. What am I specifically going to do to make sure that happens?

If you answer these questions and even better write the answers down, you will go a long way to being more successful as you will have a purpose to what you are about to do.

Don’t just turn up and do whatever comes in to your mind.

Arrive at the courts/gym and know exactly what you are going to do & get on with it.

Remember this – You are more likely to hit your target if you know what & where it is!!

Do you really think Federer, Nadal, Del Potro, Sharapova, Serena Williams etc just turn up and play and never think about what they need to do to win at Wimbledon, The French Open – Roland Garros, US Open?

Hint – The answer is 1 word that begins with N

I have said it before but I will state it again.

You make up to 70% of your unforced errors on the court due to poor footwork (ATP stat).

That’s 7 out of every 10 shots, not shot related that could be avoided.

Imagine, turning that round and converting 3 or 4 of those into winners.

What difference would that make to your game?

I have put together a Footspeed Course which is designed to help you develop GREAT tennis specific footwork and KILLER speed around the tennis court.

Pop along HERE to get some FREE videos etc – It may just be the missing link in your game.

P.S.1 Federer has the Best Footwork in the men’s game and Rafa has Great Speed.  At their best is anyone better – need I say more?

P.S.2  Let’s reduce that 7 out of 10 – NOW!

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.

Tennis tips, who needs them?

Well, we all do actually.

But here is the deal.

You need to drill down and identify the areas you need the most help in – so here is your chance.

I want you to look at the list below and pick out the area you feel you need/want the most help in.

And that’s what you will get.

So……………

If it’s technical…… HERE

If it’s tactical…….. HERE

If it’s Physical……… HERE

If it’s mental……… HERE

After you have done that, please watch this video and leave a comment below as it will really help things for both you & me.

Why nutrition for tennis?

Well, your game isn’t as good as you know it can be but like most of us, there just isn’t enough time to do everything you need to do to get your game to where you want it to be.

I hear you and know exactly where you are coming from.

But you CAN change things around?

You CAN flip the tables and get things moving forward!

And it’s possible without spending extra time on the court (if only you could eh!!).

But before you start thinking – “hype”………………. just hold on for a second while I ask you this.

Q. Is improvement in tennis all down to improvement of strokes?

If you answered yes – then I can’t help you, in fact no one can (please leave this page).

If you answered no then we can carry on.

To improve your tennis you not only need to improve your shots but you also need to improve your fitness and your mental game amongst other things and that can be done.

BUT……..

There is one thing that underpins all of the above factors and that is your NUTRITION.

We all watch the Grand Slams, Wimbledon, US Open, French Open & Australian Open, don’t we??

You see all the top players – Federer, Sharapova, Roddick, Nadal, Venus & Williams (to name but a few), drinking funny colored liquids and eating bananas and odd looking bars during matches – so you know it’s important.

Go & get your FREE Nutrition For Tennis Secrets Report right away & find out 3 Big reasons why this element of your game is so important!!

You can get it………………………..HERE

American Melanie Oudin had a great run at the US Open this year.

Just to prove that the tournament is not all about Federer, Nadal & Del Potro the US sweetheart creates many of the headlines.

Oudin, is a pretty good baseliner as we saw  in the tournament, but came up against someone who is just a bit better than she is at the same game.

She didn’t have a Sharapova to make the errors she needed to win and so she needed to find something “else”.

That is exactly why I say tennis is not all about shots BUT shot selection.

Many picked out the drop shot and getting to the net which are great “change-ups” but obviously she didn’t have the courage or the belief to make the switch when she realised she couldn’t win playing as she was.

And that is exactly the point!

We ALL need to look at our games & think about what we need to do when things are not going our way so at least we have options “ready to go”.

Obviously you need to practise the alternative options as well but first realizing that things don’t always pan out as you want is key.

It’s something I like to call “concussion planning” (thanks Andy!!) and is something I even used when I was doing some psychology work with boxers – what to do when you are unable to impose yourself on your opponent or worse still what to do when you get hit/hurt (concussion).

Oudin needs to work on what she is going to do when that happens again (as it surely will do if she wants to get up the rankings).

She needs to work on this stuff because of her size as she has a physical limitation to the power she can generate and will need other things in her game (remember Henin????)

The bigger key for Oudin is that she needs to take the great results she has had to move on to the next few tournaments, not “worry” about the loss in a match a week ago no one thought she would win anyway!!

What YOU need to do TODAY! is to give some thought to what you will do to turn matches around when things are not going your way.

Let me know what 1 thing you are going to start with by leaving a comment below.

Yes, really!  Leave a comment – it is that important.

Planning for stuff like this is just one section in my Matchplay Special Report that goes into more depth about all this stuff.

You can check it out at http://www.beatallthetennisplayersyouwant.com