Fun Backboard Training: Overhead Smashes

Becoming a great tennis player can be a lonely endeavour, often times with nobody to practice with. One way to spice up your serving/overhead practice is to utilize the wall (check out the diagram above). Start with gently tapping your smashes against the wall, then graduate to further distances away from the wall.

One tip to keep in mind is to hold the racquet extremely loose. Hit the ball gently, with feel. See if you can hit smash after smash without having to move too much from your original position. Can you control the ball. Rookie players will grip the racquet too tight and just "gun" the overhead with no sense of feel or direction. The best players do not take full cuts at the overheads (sure they can if they want to), but they understand the aspect of placement. This type of hitting against the wall simulates your warmup or match overheads, trying to hit it down into the court (as if you were aiming for inside the service line).

Late For Match? Quick Way To Warm Up

We live in a highly industrialized world and it's foreseeable that at least a handful of times in your life you will show up just in time for your match or a little bit late (perhaps due to traffic or misdirection by your navigation system). Assuming that you didn't get defaulted, how ensure that you obtain the best possible warm-up under the circumstances? That is, the same, old routine might not do the trick particularly if you're playing against a tough opponent.

I have found that the best routine is one that gets the blood flowing the fastest and also "warms-up" (i.e., focuses) the eyes. First, chase down EVERY ball. If your opponent hits an errant shot, give chase even if the ball is way wide or deep. This is the time to bring out your inner tiger and the ball has blood on it. Don't let a single ball get by you. Second, when the opponent is at the net, warm up from INSIDE the baseline. This will force you to take FAST, SHORT steps and will also serve to trigger your eyes and how they see the ball. Again, NO BALL GETS BY YOU! Get in position and work the warm-up point like a boxer with high intensity. Third, take extra overheads to get some blood flowing to your back and shoulder muscles. This will help with your serves, particularly in the first couple of games. After finishing your net routine, PLAY ONE MORE warm-up rally from the baseline. In this rally, try to hit a lot of "inside-outs". That is, rather than being flat-footed in just hitting the ball back-and-forth to your opponent without rhyme or reason, focus on moving your feet, getting in positing and staying loose. Fourth, as you're warming up your serve, again, chase down every serve from your opponent and see if you can catch it on your racket. If the serve gets by you, don't walk to get the ball - RUN. INTENSITY is the key concept here. You have 5-6 minutes to get a decent warm-up so use every SECOND to getting your body to optimal competitive levels in every aspect. As you're starting to play the match, it's important to keep the intensity flowing for a few games before ratcheting back to more manageable levels. During these 2-3 games, (1) MAKE EVERY FIRST SERVE, (2) MAKE NO UNFORCED ERRORS, and (3) IF POSSIBLE, HIT NO WINNERS. Work hard for every point and establish a pattern for doing battle the rest of the match.

Unfortunately, a lot of players show up late for the match and do the same thing as they have done for previous matches - where they may have had the opportunity to warm up. Unless you're special, this is a misguided approach to big matches. The warm-up is not just for the strokes but, as the name entails, it serves the body as well. If you're starting the match cold (which is something that happens to unexperienced juniors all too often), chances are that you will lose the first few games. In big matches, this may be sufficient to lose the set. Lose the set, and now you have an uphill battles both score-wise and confidence-wise.

Thus, if you CARE about the outcome of the match, enter the arena with the attitude of a warrior - for those first 5-6 minutes, it's not a tennis match, it's a gladiatorial contest. 

Note, however, that this should not be used as an alternative to proper warm-up. This is an emergency routine for those handful of times when you're unable to follow your prescribed regimen. 

Steal This Drill: Aggressive Groundstrokes

Are you the type of player who's been told that you play too far behind the baseline? If so, this one of the drills that you may want to incorporate into your tennis routine. As the first diagram on the left shows, the further back you play, the less court that you have to "work with". You simply cannot generate sharp angles that are designed to make your opponent run. Furthermore, regardless of how hard you hit the ball, the ball takes an extra half-second ( = to distance between your position (red "X") and your baseline) to cross the net - thereby providing the opponent with ample opportunity to recover. Thus you are relegated to being a grinder - welcome to my world. Conversely, the closer to the net you are (blue "X") the more angles you can generate and, consequently, the more court your opponent has to cover (in a shorter time period). The more miles he puts on his odometer, the greater the likelihood the he will run out of gas and bag it. 

Now, you have probably heard this advice before: "you know what?! You play from way too far behind the baseline. You should play closer in." Brilliant, right?! I've heard the same thing many times before. Although the advice is sound, things are not, however, all that simple. First, if you make your home "in the vineyard" (i.e. 10ft+ behind the baseline) your footwork is tailored to long distance running - that is, relatively slow but can go on all day. In addition, your strokes are suited for generating your own pace since, by the time the ball gets to you (or you get to it), the opponent's shot has lost some steam. Lastly, since you don't deal with a lot of low balls, your balance is also a bit out of tune. 

To fix this from a practical point of view (this is what CAtennis is all about), try performing the drill in the second diagram above. Basically, the players stay inside the baseline and, at first, rally to get a feel for the new court positioning; thereafter, they play practice points (either baseline games or figure-8s). The rule, for points, is that you cannot step behind the baseline or you "fall off the cliff" and lose the point (stepping outside the service line is OK). Players should look for rallies and not charging the net off the feed. The beauty of this game is that sometimes you have to "short hop" the groundstrokes and, other times, you must step in aggressively and take the ball out of the air (swinging volley or regular volley). For the most part, however, you can practice hitting aggressive volleys. 

The player will notice that a change in positioning will require adjustments in the strokes as well as an attitudinal shift. To master playing from this zone, your footwork must become faster, your center of gravity must become lower (oh baby, do those lunges come in handy now...) and your preparation more efficient. You will learn to use your opponent's pace and redirect without having to generate much of your own. Does this mean that you MUST play from closer in on all points? No, you can do whatever the heck you want. But if you want to be a good player you need to become comfortable playing from everywhere around the court - 10 ft back and 10ft in. Otherwise you are relegated to playing the part of a retriever for the rest of your career. A good tennis player, however, is comfortable under all situations and capable of doing what's necessary to overcome the obstacles that the opponent is throwing her way. 

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Steal This Drill: Low Volleys

The general consensus among most coaches (and players - current and former) who know a thing or two about the game of tennis is that up-and-coming juniors do not spend enough time honing their volley game. They learn to bash and belt from the baseline but anything inside of the service line is a foreign language to them.

What complicates the situation further is that the "modern" game (seriously, folks, Western grips and open stances have been around since tennis was played on wooden courts) seems to emphasize certain characteristics that do not translate to the volley game. For example, big backswings and open stances don't fit very well when playing at the net. Furthermore, too many players emphasize their forehand - thereby having a predetermined set-up - whereas the net requires a degree of neutrality in order to properly react to both sides relatively quickly.

Lastly, modern technology "evens out" the advantage between the baseline player and the net rusher. That's not to say that the attacking player receives no advantage but, as anyone who has grown up with a wooden racket in their hand would tell you, it was way more difficult to pass with a heavy, wooden racket - particularly when the defender was on the run. 

Therefore, having a good technical foundation at the net is even more important nowadays than "back in the day." So here's a drill to teach you how to properly move, get low and "punch" the ball. Set up a cone around 8-9 feet from the net (orange circle). The feeder (red square) feeds soft, dipping balls side to side right when the player is ready to "round the cone" (blue line). In this drill, the player does not have a racket in hand. Instead s/he lunges forward and across (left foot on the forehand; right foot on the backhand) and catches the ball with BOTH hands (THIS IS IMPORTANT) out in front (the ball is discarded to the side).

This drill teaches the net player to: (1) ATTACK the volley with his legs; (2) make contact with the ball IN FRONT; (3) by using both hands to catch the ball, SQUARING the correct shoulder in front; (4) NOT OVERRUN the volley (lunge slows the forward momentum); and (5) focus on CORRECT recovery. As the player gets better, the cone can be pushed further back in order to simulate a different angle of attack. The racket can be introduced after the player masters the proper movement and upper body positioning (preventing the player from stabbing or flailing at the ball). Remember: Volleys = LEGS! 

Here's the Beast from the East in action demonstrating proper execution of this drill: 

ABOVE: knees bent (back knee is well below the front knee); arms in front; left shoulder in front. 

ABOVE: power lunge forward with left foot; attacking the ball with both hands; back straight; head still. And notice the hind foot acting as an anchor (slowing down the forward momentum). 

ABOVE: attacking the ball with right foot; both hands in front; right shoulder forward; ball is at eye level. 

ABOVE: left knee WAY below the right knee (PERFECT positioning); attacking the ball with both arms in front of the body; ball is eye-level; perfect balance. 

It's A Question of Motivation

Are you tired of seeing the same movie again?  You prepare for weeks, honing your forehands, backhands, and serves for the big tourney, getting up early in the morning for treadmill and bicycle workouts, monitoring what you are eating (by the way, the training is the easy part of tennis, anyone can do it), and at 3-4 down a break in your first match (against an equally skilled player), it all comes tumbling down.  You start to think, "Uh oh, here we go again..."

How many times have you seen this movie?  And the movie ends with the same ending everytime- mean spirited temper at yourself, at your opponent, at the entire world, ending in a quick 6-4, 6-2 loss.  You get off the court and you and your coach both agree you need to hit a lot more forehands because that's what broke down at the 3-3 game, thus deciding the first set.  

I assure you, THAT AIN'T IT.  

What's killing you is the poor thinking.  Everyone is liable to get tight, make a few errors at inopportune times, but what's inexcusable is allowing the same mistakes to continue.  A smart player will remember from practice or previous matches his forehand is susceptible to breaking down in these crucial situations, so intuitively, he will not ask so much of this shot.  And if he does miss his share of forehands, he certainly won't let his terrible forehand affect his emotions to the point where a break of serve turns into 4 more breaks of serve.  

Now, juniors, college players, and professionals are all guilty of thinking the worst and allowing a cloud of negativity to take over.  Players start making eye contact with the coach/parent/boyfriend/girlfriend after each lost point (never the winning points) to say as if, "I don't know what to do!  Can't you see how bad I'm playing."  (If you are the victim of the DIRTY EYE, leave the court or pull them off the court, its childish).  All these shenanigans get old after a few episodes...nobody likes to watch Star Wars Trilogy or Back to the Future 30x in a row!  It gets old seeing the same silly movie over and over again. 

Most players are unaware of how poorly they are acting and if they are aware, most will say they can't control it.  I disagree and here is why.  It is all a matter of motivation.  They have a choice in this and here's how I know.  The next time a player pulls the "poor me" or "f*%# m*" cards- tell them you will end their life with a bullet.  

Of course, this is all theory, but if you really think about it -if someone had a gun on the sidelines, ready to shoot you in the leg everytime you said or did something stupid emotionally, I promise you would stop. Controlling your emotions will not guarantee a win, but it greatly increases your odds of winning.  That's all you can ask for.