Tennis Tip #21

The inside-outs, and inside-ins all stem to one important thing, positioning. When you hit these shots, you will hit the ball as a forehand because of the power that you can get from this shot. So, lets discuss positioning, just like a drop shot, one important piece stressed was disguise. When you hit these shots, you don't want to make it obvious where you will hit these shots. Looking at the woman to the left, you see her preparing for a forehand, but you have no idea where she will be hitting the ball. This is how you can tell if your preparation is at a high level. You will either hit cross court (inside out), down the middle, or down the line (inside in). When you are about to make contact with the ball, you will make your decision where the ball will go. This will provide less time for your opponent, and more time for you to prepare for your next shot. When you hit this shot, you will be in a closed position; this is when you are perpendicular to the net. If you are open, or parallel to the net, you will have a tough time hitting down the line. So now that you have an understanding of this, tomorrow we will discuss good ways to work with your inside-out / inside-in shots, and to perfect like a pro.

Tennis Tip #20

Now lets talk about the backhand slice, which is used at all times of play. High shots, low shots, approach shots, you name it. So lets get going. Your opposite foot should have all its weight on it, and you will continue to do the "bowl" motion mentioned yesterday. If you see that your shot is beginning to sit up, then it is because you are doing too much of a bowl, and need to straighten out your stroke. As a junior, you will find that it will be a lot easier to hit a slice that is high. However, there is nothing wrong with this, all you need to remember is to keep the ball deep, especially for these shots. Staying balanced is key as you hit this shot and you want to be balanced, and flexible. Being stiff just doesn't work. While this shot is definitely not easy, when you master it, it will be one of your favorites. This is especially so when you keep it really low for those tall, hard hitting tennis players. Just remember to stay down and keep your weight going forward. As long as you make sure to use the backhand volley motion, you will be in good shape.

Tennis Tip #19

As mentioned earlier, drop shots are not the easiest shots to hit. So lets learn how to successfully hit them! First, the forehand slice is just like a forehand volley, you prepare just like a volley. You can see how Donald Young is hitting his forehand slice here. Forehand volleys as a whole you won't hit as much as a backhand volley, because your forehand can provide a lot more wrist snap and power in comparison to a backhand. However, you will mostly hit this shot as an approach shot, a chip-and-charge, or on the run. If you were to hit a normal baseline slice, you would make sure that all of your weight is on your opposite foot (righty: left foot, lefty: right foot) as you step in. You would also have this leg bent as well. In addition, you want to keep this stroke as simple as possible. Ideally you should be making the movement of a dinner bowl, not too curvy, but not straight. You also want to keep your racquet on the same side of your body. Lastly, you don't want to return the racquet across your body, this is so you will hit the ball straight, and not just down the line. If you find things starting to get long, or a little "loopy", start from the beginning, and you'll get it right. We promise.

Tennis Tip #18

The drop shot is used throughout the game of tennis. You can hit drop shot volleys, or drop shots from ground strokes. There are many different rules when you hit the drop shot. First, you don't want the ball to sit up. Why? Well if it sits up, it will allow more time for your opponent to get to the ball. Next, there is the two bounce rule. What I mean by this, is that the ball must bounce two times inside the service line before going past the baseline. You would want for this to happen because if it only bounces one time in the service line, then it will give your opponent more time to get to the ball. Many players though elect to hit this shot when they get tired, or are tired throughout the match. This is not when you would want to hit the drop shot. You should be inside of the baseline as you are hitting this shot, the farther you are, the farther the ball must travel, and the more time it will give your opponent. Lastly, is the art of disguise. The difference of your stroke from a drop shot to a top spin or flat ball is extremely different. When someone prepares for a drop shot, it looks like they are hitting a slice, which means there is no power coming from this shot. If you hide your intent of the drop shot until the very end, it will make you a very successful drop shotter. Now that you have received an overview of these shots, its time to discuss how to hit them!

Tennis Tip #17

As of now we have completed our discussion on groundstrokes, so lets go over the slice. The slice is one of the most interesting shots in tennis, because you can hit it in many situations. For example, when you are trying to neutralize, attack, or defend. More or less, you hit the ball the same way, however, you will hit it a little differently depending on the type of slice that you hit. The key to the slice that is attacking or neutralizing is to keep the ball as low as possible. The slice is completely opposite from a topspin shot, in other words, the ball rises in a slice, and dips for topspin. So, when you are attacking, you will be stepping into the ball and aiming at the white part of the net. The ball will rise steadily after being hit, so aiming at this point is safe. You want to keep it low, because this means that your opponent will have to "hit up" when they hit their shot. Usually when it is attacking, you will be come up to the net, so this will put even more pressure on your opponent. The next type is neutralizing. This is when you are in a rally position with your opponent. You will not want to have the ball too high, because you will then be defensive. This shot is used to change up the pattern of the point to hopefully ruin your opponent’s rhythm. The next type is defensive; this is when you hit the ball high in the air, and slowly. You use it when you are out of position and need to change the speed of the ball to get yourself back into the court, and into position. Many tennis players feel forced to hit it hard, but that gives you less time to get back into position, and more court for your opponent to hit a winner. Tomorrow we will discuss the drop shot, and after, we will discuss how to hit these important shots!

Tennis Tip #16

The follow through is something that will help you hit the ball in to the court. Without this, you will lose a lot of control. But what is a follow through? This is what you do after you make contact with the ball. When you follow through, you want to continue your motion up; this will also help add topspin. Many tennis players have their follow through "forced" but is the last thing that you should do. After you make contact with the ball, your arm should be loose, and your racquet's momentum should carry your arm. Moreover, your follow through should go across your body, and go upward. Some tennis players, notably Rafael Nadal, follow through without going across their bodies. He is able to do this with the racquet speed that he generates, and the spin he adds with his wrist snap. Following through can also make sure that you are hitting up, because without a correct follow through, you may be hitting down, or hitting with less spin. Lastly, you cannot forget to continue moving after your follow through. Just because your racquet stops, doesn't mean that your body should stop moving! In addition, for slices, it is a completely different motion, which we will discuss at a different time. However, when you hit these shots, you will go up, but not follow through across your body. But stay tune because in the next tip we will discuss slices.

Tennis Tip #15

Let's continue where we left off with our previous post. As you are swinging to hit the ball from your "C", there are a couple of things that could happen: you could slowdown, you could fall backwards, or you could jump in the air. All of these mentioned are not things that you should be doing. When you hit the ball, you will always try to go "full speed on contact". Now, when you are learning something new, I would recommend that you hit the ball at about 50% power, and as you get more confident, to start swinging harder. However, keep in mind that full speed on contact doesn't just mean to hit it as fast as you can. You don't want to slow down as you are hitting the ball because you want to maintain your momentum. If you slow down as you make contact, you will lose your power and control on the ball. Other mistakes include players jumping up or falling backwards. This would happen if you are a little nervous and are playing "tight". Whenever this happens you are most likely going to miss, and continue to get frustrated with yourself on the court. You should try to bring your body weight forward, and go into the ball. This will also help to give you power as you hit. The last thing that you will need to do after you bend your knees, is to launch up as you are making contact with the ball. To avoid any, and all injuries, you want to delegate the stress throughout your body. Too many tennis players use too much arm, and that is what causes a lot of injuries. We would like to prevent that, so you can where our clothes every day. Come out tomorrow and learn about follow throughs.

Tennis Tip #14

Now lets talk about the two different ways you can bring your racquet back. The first is a "C” and the second is bringing the racquet straight back. A "C" is when you bring your racquet back in a "C" motion. This is recommended for a lot of junior players to make sure they get their racquet below the ball allowing them to hit with top spin. Your other option is bringing it straight back, however this is not recommended for novice players because they may bring the racquet back too high. While there is no exact position of your "C", you want to refrain from using a big "C" because it needs to be controlled and as small as possible. Your "C" depends on the height of the ball that you are going to hit and the higher the ball, the higher the "C" that you will have to start with. In addition, you want to make sure that you have a short back swing. If you have a long back swing, your strokes will suffer when you are playing with players that hit a fast ball (and we would not want that!). Now that the racquet is back, you will also have to use your wrist. Your wrist will twist, and you will have the butt of the racquet facing the other side of the court. By doing this, you will also roll your wrist to give you the top spin that keeps the ball in the court. Your wrist is extremely important, if you don't do this, you will have a lot of trouble hitting a topsin shot. All of the pointers can also be applied to the backhand shot. But next we will talk about making contact with the ball!

Tennis Tip #13

I am going to jump in with the forehand, and how you should hit this ball. When you get ready to hit this ball, you will be coming out of the ready position, and split step, both which were talked about in our previous posts. From this position, you will begin the forehand. Ground strokes can be extremely detailed, so I will be breaking this stroke up through a couple of tips. I will discuss the beginning of this stroke. You will begin with having your non-racquet-hand infront of you, and your racquet hand will be behind you. You can hit a ball like this, and it is recommended for beginners, but at NU Formal Tennis we have all types of tennis players, and want to help all of you out. If you want to be a little bit more advanced, and to add more power (who doesn't want more power?) You will have to change how you will be bringing your racquet back. You will first garner your core by turning your hips, as you are turning your hips, you will also bend your knees slightly. Adding your core and legs to your forehand will provide you with a lot more power. If you have ever been told that you are using too much arm, then you should try this, and you will see a difference quickly. We know that this is a lot of information all in right now, so we'll give you a day to think about everything before we move on. See you tomorrow!

Tennis Tip #12

After a brief hiatus we are back. We are going to begin discussing ground strokes, but before we get there, we would like to talk about the type of spins that are involved in a ground stroke. The first is a slice. This is when you would "chop" the ball, and the ball produces an underspin. On this shot, your racquet will be open. The ball rises as it leaves your racquet so you must make sure to keep the racquet low as you hit the ball. The next shot is top spin. When you hit the ball on this shot, you will be hitting low to high. Your racquet will be closed for this stroke, unlike the slice, and you will be hitting the bottom of the ball. This is the most common shot in tennis for tournaments and on the tour. The top spin gives the security for the ball to land in the court. When hitting a top spin shot, you can expect your ball to drop faster then other shots. The last shot is flat, this is when you hit the ball "square". On this shot you will hit the ball straight through as opposed to up or down. You can hit this ball as long as the ball is above the net. However, you cannot hit this ball when it is below the net because there is no security for the ball to stay in the court. Look out for our next post where we will discuss the best times to hit each shot.