Steal This Drill: Watch The Ball!!!

Are you the type of player who has trouble with focusing on the ball? Do you own a couple of tennis balls? Maybe a felt marker? Next time, draw a couple of markings on the ball (e.g., letters, numbers or symbols) about 1/2 an inch in size and rally until you can pick up the marking (coach or practice partner feeds so that you don't know which ball is being used). Guess wrong run a sprint!

With a fast moving object, the sense of sight is the most important. Train your tennis hand to eye coordination by focusing on the ball until you can spot the marking right off the opponent's string bed. The sooner you see the ball, the earlier you are able to anticipate the trajectory if the ball and prepare for it; the earlier you can prepare, the better your chance of getting in position and doing something effective and proactive with the ball. This is a great way to practice ball control. Remember, that tennis requires the striking of a moving object, with a moving object while you yourself are in motion (anticipating your opponent's future positioning is another component of motion). Or, in medi-geek: "[t]he human visual system must perform complex visuospatial extrapolations (VSE) across space and time in order to extract shape and form from the retinal projection of a cluttered visual environment characterized by occluded surfaces and moving objects", The neural correlates of visuospatial perceptual and oculomotor extrapolation (Tibber M, Saygin AP, Grant S, Melmoth D, Rees G, Morgan M.). Therefore, given the pace of the modern game, you simply cannot afford to have "lazy", untrained eyes.

Video: Return Middle and Pounce

At the highest levels, returning a first serve is not an easy task.  The smart returners (the ones who tend to win) try their best to get the ball into play, style points aside.  One of the best ways to do that is to aim for the center of the court.  

A) This gives you (the returner) a lot of room for error.  Even if you miss your target, you are in great shape.

B) The server will struggle to get out of their own way if the return is struck with enough depth and/or force.  Not an easy thing to deal with, possibly giving you a weak reply.

C) Lastly, the server has no angle off your return to run you off the court.  

This is incredibly simple stuff, but knowledge is only a fraction of the puzzle.  Returners need to have the motivation to be disciplined and not be tempted to go for the "hero" shot.  Attempting to slap a winner off someone's first serve or missing a 2nd serve return by 10 feet clearly shows a rookie player (or one who has checked out mentally because they are frustrated).  Keep pecking away and the percentages will slowly turn into your favor, giving yourself the best odds for winning.  Nothing is a guarantee, but smart decisions time and time again can increase your odds- that's all you can hope for.  

Here are two examples:

Steal This Drill: Chessboxingtennis

I confess that when I first heard about chessboxing on Penn and Teller's Showtime series, I was a bit perplexed; I didn't entirely understand the benefit of combining the two activities. But then I thought: could this, rather than being an entirely new "sport", be utilized as a new training concept for tennis players? With this in mind, I looked around to the limited resources regarding the benefits of combining a physical activity with an entirely mental one.

In various studies, chess-players (when compared to control groups) have been shown to (a) possess significant advancement in spatial, numerical and administrative-directional abilities, along with verbal aptitudes; (b) experience a statistically significant gain in cognitive development; (c) have a 15% improvement in math and science test scores; (d) accelerate the increase of IQ in elementary age children of both sexes at all socio-economic levels; etc. Furthermore, an Osaka University study found heightened testosterone and cortisol (stress biomarkers) level in players who completed competitive games of shogi - Japanese chess. In addition, sports - including boxing - release (or secrete) endorphins (help combat stress and pain) and adrenaline (which stimulates heart-rate, dilate air passages, increase muscle strength for short bursts, etc.). Although no studies have been performed with respect to a combination of a cerebral activity such as chess coupled with a physical activity such as boxing, it is not hard to see how jumping from activity to activity forces the brain to adjust from focusing on controlling emotions and making calculated decisions under stress to tapping into the fight-or-flight instinct. In many ways, this is similar to tennis where, on the one hand, you need to be a zen master; on the other, a caged wild animal.

So train your mind my combining hard tennis drills (including sprints) with playing quick rounds of chess (2-minute option on your iPhone), Sudoku or Backgammon during the breaks while the coach is picking up the balls {NOTE: forget about the boxing aspect}. You don't need to do this every day, but once in a while to change things up. See how your mind adjust from performing the physical exercise to mental exercises and how clear-headed you can be while your heart is racing and your body is more focused on catching your breath. Again, the point of these drills is to "shock your system"... to get you out of your comfort zone so that you are better prepared to deal with anything that your opponent throws your way (pre-event counseling). If you think that this is crazy, see the training regimen of elite military forces; they are often subjected to basic interrogation consisting of math or geography questions during high-intensity training. The trainers want to ensure that the soldiers are keeping their wits (and heads) while everyone around them are losing theirs.

Steal This Drill: Peel the Orange for a Nasty Slice Serve

The slice serve is an often underutilized serve but one of the most effective. When juniors (and other developing players) see Isner, Roddick and Karlovic bombing aces at 145mph+ down the middle, it is easy to become mesmerized and forget about all the other serving possibilities. If, however, we put testosterone aside and analyze Roger Federer's serving pattern, we see that he is one of the best at exploting the slice serve.

As a matter of fact, Federer routinely starts his service games with the out-wide serve and uses it up to 2/3 of the time (on first serves) thoroughout the match (more on a faster surface than on a slower surface). The slice serve is effective because (a) it gets the opponent's momentum moving to the right (red arrow) and (b) even a well struck return doesn't compensate for an open court (sharp cross-court backhand or down the line forehand - both difficult to track down). On the ad-side of the court, the slice serve is a great way to start a wrong-foot play (i.e., hit behind the returner) as well as to "keep an opponent" honest (especially when she runs around your normal serves and pounds winners).

When practicing the slice serve, it is often tempting to just put a target out-wide in the service box (deuce side) and aim for it. A better way may, in fact, be to insert a broomstick or PVC pipe right through the center strap (red line) and aim for serves down-the-center. Try to get your slice serves to curve outwards (orange line) around the right side of the pipe. This may be a better way to practice than aiming straight for the wide serve because you will work on actually seeing the ball breaking around the pipe as opposed to merely hitting flat serves out-wide (i.e., "side-winder's" v. "throwing darts"). That is, you're working on the slide; the skid; the curve. As you get better, move the pipe 1 inch to your right (i.e., the opponent's ad-side - purple line above) and continue curving your serves around it down-the-T. Keep moving it inch-by-inch until the pipe is about 10 inches or a foot off-center (your right side). When you master 10 sliders around the pipe in this position, start shifting the pipe more and more to your left (i.e., towards the opponent's deuce side) until it reaches about half-way into the service box (opponent's deuce side). This is the point where the ball should to "break" left and slide out-wide.

One of the concepts to keep in mind when practicing the slice serve is to vizualize "peeling the orange". I first learned this from Guy Fritz when I was practicing at his and Kathy May's home in Rancho Santa Fe which was surrounded by orange groves. At first, I thought that he actually wanted me to quit my day job and start peeling oranges for a living but what he meant was that the string bed simulate an orange peel moving up and around the ball. Here's the interesting part: the red part of the arrow outlines the path of the string-bed BEFORE it makes contact with the ball. The blue part of the arrow outlines the general contact point. The RED zone is, however, the contact zone for a good kick or top-spin serve. This means that, from the opponent's point of view, it looks as if you're "kicking him" out wide.

Do this correctly, and you will bamboozle him into switching his grip to backhand and shifting his weight onto his left foot thereby making it more difficult to cover the slider. At the last second, you actually make contact with the ball ("up and around") curving the ball towards your left (his right). Sometimes, this may require two grip changes from the opponent (from forehand to backhand and back to forehand again). If this happens, your opponent - even one with a monster forehand - may be tripped up by a serve that looks as if it's going to the backhand and then breaks to his forehand. This may just enough of an edge to create a huge opening in you opponent's side of the court which you can exploit with your groundstrokes. So peel the orange for juicier points.

Insights: Nitty Gritty With Matt Holt

Matt Holt was kind enough to share his nitty gritty insights on the Da Vinci Code of American Tennis.  Matt Holt was formerly a top US junior, earned a scholarship to Pepperdine and Arizona, and currently shares his teachings with his students in the San Francisco area.  Very thought provoking and entertaining at the very least.  

I believe today's coaches as a general rule are extremely skilled in developing players and are very passionate. Having grown up in the 70's and 80's playing, practice sessions were amazing but coaching was relatively mediocre. I had some really wonderful coaching, but I think technology and information sharing has lead to many instructors and coaches having access to effective and accurate info. 

That being said, practices today are mediocre at best. I feel coaches are incredibly limited due to parents that can micro-manage, children that are totally overscheduled, and practice regimens that in no way represent tournament scenarios. I have parents ask me all the time what path I recommend for their child's development based on their skill level, desire, and academic/life goals. I always evaluate and give them my opinion, but in my mind I am in a state of shock. 

Growing up in the 70's/80's when tennis was at a peak (like it is hopefully growing at the moment), the path to success hit you smack in the face. There were no clinics and large group lessons. If you were lucky, you had a private lesson each week, and then you got out on the courts and played your ass off against the best players you could every week! You played kids and adults alike, and you had exposure to every style of play. The pecking order was across all players... men, women, boys, girls. You had to beat player x before player y would play you. It was incredibly competitive, but at the same time there was a ton of comraderie. We always cheered for all of the players from our club, kind of like an unofficial team. The competition built respect for one another. It was never hard to prepare for a tournament because you were playing several matches per week. Mental toughness was far more developed than is seen currently among American players. 

As a coach who obviously relies on some degree of group lessons in order to drive profitability for a department, I have always advocated for juniors to go out and play as much as possible and not attend all clinics. Save a buck and call your friends to set up matches. It is incredible to see how many of these players go take a lesson from another coach or come back to a clinic rather than going out to practice and compete against anyone. The culture is really lacking when it comes to that. I wish I could identify the root cause for this, but I know it's not the players' fault. Maybe it's that there is so much overall focus with school and sports that the clinics provide a much needed social forum. I think this is partially true, but there has to be some grit out there that can only be attained through rigorous competition. 

Sitting on boards and committees, I have heard all of the arguments for lack of American champions in recent years. While I can't deny that, I can say that almost all of the traditional countries who have dominated the sport face the same fate. It is too much hard work relative to other things to excel at the sport. In countries where standards of living are slightly lower to definitely lower, the work to aspire in any profession is significant. Hence, the drive to succeed is on par with that of many career choices. 

It will take some unique individuals to put American tennis back in the limelight. There is some really nice talent out there at the moment, and I think there will be a much deeper pool over the next 6-8 years. In any case, we are a global society and there is some awesome tennis being played out there at the moment! I haven't seen a 4-pack of men hanging in the top since Borg, Mac, Connors, Vilas. I hope we get another 2 years out of this foursome. On the ladies' side, I have been excited at all of the new faces and I feel the level of play has improved drastically over the past 18 months. WTA needs a more targeted marketing campaign. They need a top rivalry, but the product is much better than they are getting credit for.