Shorter Players Can Have Great Serves

If you are a shorter player, chances are you have been told over the course of your lifetime that you need to give up the idea of having a big serve and settle for getting a high first serve percentage. There is nothing wrong with this line of thinking if you have maxed out all your options (practiced for hours and hours) coupled with intense hunger (relentless energy and willingness to learn), which means you have given it your best effort and your best option is to just start the point with a safe slice serve.

However, if you are hungry enough, young enough (adults, it's never too late!), and lucky enough to have a equally motivated coach who knows what they are talking about (proof is in the pudding, they have a great serve themselves) - shorter players can have great serves. To be honest, the serve is not as complicated as people (usually teaching professionals) make it out to be. Here are some simple tips:

1) Continental grip
2) From beginning to end of stroke, your grip on the handle should be a 1 or 2 out of 5, 5 being tight (Kind of like holding a bird in your hand, don't want to kill it nor do you want it to fly away)
3) Swing as fast as you can (a loose arm and wrist will creat a wrist-snap) 
4) Do not move your feet (simpler-the-better to start, less moving parts that could breakdown)

Without fast racquet headspeed, your serve will never be great. It's as simple as that. The serve is a trust shot, full commitment. Once you get the racquet headspeed, then developing a legit serve can happen. With the racquets of today, shorter players can have monster serves, monster kicks, and monster sliding serves.

Here are some creative ways to improving your pop on the serve: 

1. In the first drill, try to stay close the back fence on one side of the court ("S" for "server" get it?) and aim at first directly into the opposite back fence. Try to hit 10 in a row without any arc whatsoever...that is, straight as a bullet; fence to fence. After you hit ten, aim the next set inside of the opposite baseline (#2). Thereafter, 10 inside of the service line. Again, try to focus on power, not on hitting (reaching your target) with arc. The purpose of this drill is to isloate the fast-twitch muscles in your shoulder and core. 

2. In the second drill, start out at the fence again and hit ten serves inside the service box. After your first set, move in 2 feet and hit another ten. Then move in 2 feet again. Work on hitting "up and through" the ball. As you get closer, that power that you're developing will be channeled into a proper technique.

3. The "machine gun" drill is also a good way to loosen up and isolate the shoulders, arm and core. Grab 4 or 5 balls in your left hand and serve those balls (from service line) in rapid succession: toss and hit; toss and hit. Hence, the name of the drill. Feet should remain firmly planted on the ground. 

4. Reader "tweener" has suggested that to work on pronation, the server should practice serving from the knees. This is also a good way to isolate the shoulders and work on developing the forearm strength. Thank you, tweener, for your advice. This is the type of input that we're looking for on this site. 

5. Lastly, it's important to recall our previous tip regarding power. If you want to improve your serve speed, you must practice hitting fast serves. If you want to run a fast sprint, don't train for a marathon. Speed of the arm and power generated by the body need to be integrated into the motion. Assuming that your serve components are there, start cranking the serve. Since serving "hard" is draining, appropriate rest should be taken until your body builds a tolerance to this type of workout. Bear in mind that a lot of players' career have been stunted by the mentality that "I'm short and therefore I'll never be a good server". This is like saying "I'm tall and therefore I don't need to practice my serve". What's one thing have to do with another?! Sure, certain players might not hit 150mph. But it may be possible for them to hit 120s or 130s. However, they're never going to get there if they settle for 90s in practice. Boundaries of your physical abilities must be continually pushed - little by little.  

If you have the tennis bug and you are willing to put in the work, don't settle for a serve that is slower than falling snow. The time will be well spent and I've never heard of anyone who doesn't like to win.

Tennis Mummies

Does this look familiar (<-)? It's the sight of a run-of-the-mill junior tennis player immediately before the match. If you've been around junior events long enough you will learn to spot the mummies - they are usually wearing track suits, hands straight by the sides, walking aimlessly with stiff legs from bag to tournament desk to bathroom and back. Sometimes they are chatting with their friends although it;s usually in monosylabic grunts. I've always wondered why it is that some kids get so...cold immediately before the match. Why are they shivering so much?! Did the temperature suddenly drop after exiting the car? Weird...

It turns out that shivers are actually reflexes - controlled by the nervous system - produced automatically by the body to keep us safe. When your body temperature drops below a certain level - say 98° - your nerves send a signals saying "I'm cold". What happens next is that your muscles contract and loosen really fast (causing friction which increases body heat slightly) causing you to shiver. What does this have to do with tennis? Researchers have conducted many tests on lab animals to see how their body temperature changes with fear. In these lab experiments, scientists use infra-red thermography to get images in skin temperatures to see the animals' response to a fear agent. What they have generally found is that the animals usually froze into immobility with a significant drop in skin temperature. It's the same with people faced with fear, anxiety and nerves - although some may experience a rise in body temperature a lot of players will experience a drop in body temperature; their feet and hands become cold; body trembles. For some players, muscle tension will increase and breathing will become shallow (i.e., less oxygen entering the system) and labored.

In a match, this usually translates into 3-4 poor first games. But here's the kicker: rather than doing something productive to keep warm and "stay loose", some of these player will continue to walk around stiffly all bundled up in their track suits. I never understood why these players - if they care about the outcome in the first place - don't engage in some productive exercises to warm-up and "shake off" the anxiety. Jog in place, jump rope, run some sprints, play some practice points...anything to keep the blood flowing to the limbs and oxygen entering the system. Perhaps nobody told them regarding the physiological importance of "being limber". Warming up is not just important for the strokes but also for the body...the heart, the lungs, the muscles, the eyes, etc. As a player, it's important to enter the tennis court "firing on all pistons". If you wait 3-4 games to find a way to settle down, it may already be too late. As you get older, "comebacks" from 3-4 games down will be much more rare. Therefore, if you're the type who freezes under pressure, find a way to stay loose and limber. Start setting warm-up rituals early. All the "great players" hame them (I bet that even Nadal's pre-match sprint is a last second way to burn off some extra nervousness. And his jumping and running in the locker-room before the match is legendary).

Initially, it's better if you (junior player) get on the court sweaty (and perhaps a little tired) than "not warmed up at all". At  least you're ready to pounce on the ball from the word "GO!" As you get older and more experienced, you will be able to fine-tune your warm-up rituals to suit your needs and energy levels. But don't wait until the start of the match to do something that could have been addressed without a racket. 

Practice Makes...Imperfect?

Let's study these two pictures of the GOAT in action. Besides his impeccable preparation and picture perfect timing can someone tell me if they notice something that stands out?! I'll give you a hint...the head. Still not enough? OK, how about this - the eyes. Specifically, which eye is in front on the backhand and which eye is in front on the forehand?

After studying the picture for a few seconds, you will notice that the right eye is in front on the backhand while the left eye is in front on the forehand. Immediately before the contact point, let's try to guess which eye "sees" the ball first? I think that we can all agree that, under most circumstances, the eye that's in front (linearly speaking) of the other picks up the moving object first. Ocular dominance, sometimes called eye dominance, is the tendency to prefer visual input from one eye to the other. According to the article from Science Daily, "[i]n normal binocular vision there is an effect of parallax, and therefore the dominant eye is the one that is primarily relied on for precise positional information. This may be especially important in sports which require aim, such as archery, darts or shooting sports."

Why is this important for tennis players? Well, for one thing, much like baseball players, tennis players are engaged in a hitting activity. As suggested in the psyched.com article, a study of several University of Florida baseball players suggested that the best players were cross-eye dominant (i.e., batted right; but had a dominant left eye - the eye that saw the ball first): "College varsity level baseball players are twice as likely as the general population to have crossed dominance. The incidence of central eye dominance is considerably higher than the general population. The best hitters were centrally eye dominant or crossed eye-hand dominant." See also this abstract.

Much like hand-dominance, eye dominance is both innate but can also be trained. For example, Nadal is a natural righty but he has learned to play tennis left-handed. With respect to eyes, a player may very well be naturally right-eye dominant but by practicing a certain way - for example, hitting thousands of forehands (on one side of the body) and only a couple of hundred backhands (on the other side of the body) - it is possible that the player will train the left eye to take over. This could be detrimental to the backhand since, on the other side of the body, the left eye may be "further back".

As a result, it's possible that the player may be seeing the ball - and striking it - early on the forehand but late on the backhand (i.e.,  hitting it only when the ball has entered the field of vision for the left eye). If you suspect that this may be the case - for example, if you find yourself striking certain shots "off the front foot" and others "off the backfoot" - then, perhaps, your stroke is not to blame... maybe you've practiced a certain shot so much that it has had an effect on the eyes which, in turn, have affected when and how you hit another shot. I mention this because, often times, I see juniors hitting forehands in a 4:1 ratio to backhands (backhands are, sometimes, a mere "afterthought" if the forehand doesn't work out). There is at least some risk that disproportionate training - intentionally or inadvertently - on one side of the body may lead to an imbalance in perception which can have a detrimental effect on your strokes (and what you can do with the ball - i.e., someone who sees the ball late and hits it late might be unable to go down the line very well). The good news is that it seems that occular dominance (or balance) can be restored. Some baseball players use eye patches when doing their batting-cage practice (see The Baseball Coaching Bible by Jerry Kindall and John Winkin, p. 138) so there's no reason why a tennis player with a similar issue can't do the same (i.e. put an eye patch over one eye in order to train the non-dominant eye to see the ball sooner) on the ball machine or backboard. 

Steal This Drill: Overhead Game

Here's a fun way to work on your volleys and overheads - two shots that are not practiced nearly enough by today's juniors. To recap prior articles, if you don't work on your net- or mid-court game you will forever be relegated to the baseline. As a baseliner you better be fit, fast and consistent. Otherwise, someone with a more aggressive gamestyle will chop you up. Develop this dimension of your game and you might just be able to take your opponent by surprise. We're going for the Navy Seals mentality - you gotta have the right tool, the right training and the right tactics for the job. Even if you are a "pure" baseliner, it's always best to have some additional arrows in your quiver. 

So, next time, instead of your basic overhead and volley practice try this game: Player "A" is at the net (red X); player "B" is at the baseline in the deuce side of the court. Although player "B" can hit winners (whole court); player "A" cannot hit volley winners (i.e., it must hit volleys back to player "B" - red line). However, when player "B" lobs (purple line), player "A" can smash an overhead winner (i.e., yellow line) into the open court (i.e., player "A" MUST change direction with the overhead and hit to the ad side of the court) - unless player "B" gets there and the play continues on that half of the court. The baseline player is encouraged to hit 2-3 groundstrokes for the net player to volley before throwing up a lob (or make it a rule that the 3rd or 4th shot must be a lob). Then, s/he has to rush and cover the open court. For player "A", this is great practice because he has to stay steady with the volleys and hit them shots in such a way that the baseline player cannot beat him. Furthermore, the net player only has one chance - the overhead - to put the ball away. As the players get better and better, they become more adept at both lobbing as well as hammering home the the tough overheads. Furthermore, the net player becomes good at reading body language - making him a better player from the net as well as the baseline.  

Please let us know if you have any questions about this drill or if you have any suggestions for practicing specific tactics. 

Choosing the "RIGHT" College for Tennis

At some point in a player's life a decision will have to be made as to whether the player will either (a) quit tennis and focus on more "serious" endeavors; (b) progress to the Pro tour; (c) seek to play tennis in college; or (d) enroll in college but play tennis on the side (e.g. as an intramural activity, for fun or in open/NTRP events). Assuming that the player (and his/her parents) has decided to play tennis in college, a number of factors have to be juggled and coordinated in order to come to a decision that is the most suitable for the particular individual. Under some conditions, some of these factors may be "weighted" differently for one player as opposed to another player. Some players are all about tennis; others are all about academics; for most, however, it's a mix. It all depends on family circumstances, the player's level, long-term goals, financial condition and personality. 

If facing the decision for evaluating the "best" school for you, here are some questions that you may want to consider:

1. Does the player REQUIRE a full/partial scholarship? For a lot of players, this is a "biggie." As previously mentioned, the number of scholarships - particularly for men - are limited. Therefore, if a player requires the financial assistance provided by a scholarship his/her choices will be limited by the institutions that have available funds for the particular graduating class. 

2. Does the player desire to pursue a professional tennis career after college? The fact is that athletics are given more emphasis at some universities as opposed to others. These schools may have the best facilities, the most knowledgeable coaches and athletic staff, the toughest schedules (ensuring high-level competition) and the greatest budget (ensuring that the players have the best equipment and travel experiences). This is NOT to say that the school programs are tailored to producing professional players. But, with better players on one's team, with superior coaching and schedules it's foreseeable that these players will be in a better position to progress onto the "tour" after playing at one of these "top" schools. 

A. If playing pro is a long-term objective, it is, perhaps, important to evaluate the college coach(es). In other words, will you obtain the necessary support to get you on your way? Coaches come in various shapes and sizes and, like other instructors in your life, they may have certain skillsets or understanding of the game. For example, determine whether the coach is into: technique; tactics; training; mental; physical; match-play; doubles; motivation; mix; etc.  Invariably, some coaches will be better at some things than others. Some will be fresh and energetic; others may be looking for retirement. Just like there are specialists in non-tennis professions (law, medicine, accounting), the fact is that some coaches are better at certain components of the game than others. The key is to find the right tool for the job.

Thus, if you have decent technical foundation and are interested in some help with tactics, someone who might be deficient in this area might not be the person for you. Similarly, if you're pretty good at stroke-production and are also good at devising plays, perhaps someone who is a "drill sargeant" and good motivator may be a better fit. Again, it's a fact of life that for every player there's a coach who can be of greatest assistance. For some players, having a friendly relationship with the coach is enough. For others, it's about learning, improving and taking their game to the next level. Accordingly, as a first step, it's important to figure out your wants and needs first. As a second, step determine whether the person who will be overseeing your game for the next 4 years is the right person for the job. Ask for advice from former or current players. Although a lot of coaches believe that they are good at everything, that's not always the case. Figure out from third parties the coaches' strengths and weaknesses. In addition to a personality match, the coach's skills should also match up with the player's needs. 

In addition, try to determine whether the coach's goals are limited to "team" goals (e.g. winning the conference; qualifying for final 16; winning "the big dance") or whether the coach is also interested in improving you as a player (i.e., assisting you with reaching individual objectives). Again, in addition to a hierarchy of skills each person has a hierarchy of interests so it's important to find a mentor who is the best fit for you. 

B. As mentioned above, the school's schedule also plays a huge role. A competitive schedule will most certainly expose you to tough competition, a variety of game styles as well as a variety of environments. If you make a jump to the tour, you may in fact end up competing against some of your college peers. So it's good to become accustomed to their games early since you never know when you will run into them in a Futures or Challenger tournament. Look to the school's schedule over the past 2-3 years and maybe the following year's schedule to see against whom they're going to play - when and where. If you can, try to determine the other schools' teams and the chance that you might play against certain players.

In addition, determine if the school has a budget to send all or only part of the team to pre-season tournaments (Indoor events, All-American tournament, clay court tournaments, etc.). Some schools may only send their top-2 players; others may send the whole team. Obviously, if you want to take your tennis to the next level you want to have the option of getting as varied match experience as possible so it's important to have the opportunity to be placed in these draws. When looking at schedules, it's also good to consider some schools that might not be as highly-ranked but which have a good schedule and where you may play high on the ladder (ensuring that you'll be competing against the best players on the other teams and opening the door to getting ITA ranking points). 

C. Does the school have the best training facilities? A constant point of our discussion here at CAtennis.com is that simply playing more tennis is NOT enough to take you to the next level. You must also be fit and healthy. Certain athletically-inclined schools offer better training areas (gyms, tracks, training rooms) than others. These schools may have the best trainers to help you achieve peak performance and mental experts to assist you with the pressures of competing at the highest level while you're also focusing on academics. You might have access to ball machines, video recording devices, match analysis software, etc. Some programs may be more...Rocky IV; more basic. Some schools may be located in areas where you can do runs on the beach or cross-training by running or biking through the hills. 

D. Try to figure out the size of the team. A larger team may provide you with more opportunity to play against many players whereas on a smaller team the coach's attention may be more focused to a handful of players. Also, larger teams have more administrative burdens to deal with (so the coaches have to manage a limited reource and divide it among numerous tasks). If you're the type of player who takes charge of your own destiny, then a bigger team may be a better fit - since you can set up your own workouts and always have someone to practice against. If you like more individualized attention, a school that carries less players on the team may be more suitable. Similarly, a large team that trains a lot indooers may have more doubles practices (more players per court) than a small team practicing outdoors. Also, additional indoor court-time may be more limited unless the college team has its own indoor facility (some may; others, may be training at private clubs). 

E. Try to figure out if the coach's philosophy is to have individual practices (or "open" practices - i.e. where the player is encouraged to find outside practice) or to only rely on team hits. Try to also figure out what your teammates ultimate objectives may be. If you want to play pro but the other 7-10 players do not, the environment might not be as charged as you'd like. Conversely, if the other players (or most of them) have pro goals, the practices are going to be extremely focused, competitive and high-quality. In addition, the other players will also be looking for extra hits outside of team workouts. 

3. Where does the player see him/herself as living for 4 years? Does the player wish to be close to home/parents/current, private coach? I guess that the best way to go about it would be to go by the sectional map and figure out the best fit for the student-athlete. Although exceptions exist, the schools in certain parts of the country (i.e., the East Coast) are generally more prestigious than others. Some have been around for longer and may have more international recognition. Conversely, these schools might not have the best athletic programs at all times (depending on the particular recruiting class). On the other hand, for someone who is interested in playing a great deal of tennis, other "sections" may be more productive. Overall, sections such as Southern California and Florida (but also Texas - although distances may vary - and Georgia) offer a wide range of non-college tournaments (Opens or Futures) in which the player could participate  on the weekends or when the player is not in college competition. Similarly, if you live in Los Angeles or Miami, you may have more outside practice partners to choose from as opposed to the Midwest or Intermountain. This is not to disparage those areas of the country but it's simply a reality of life that more tennis players choose to settle in certain areas. 

Lastly, one has to consider the likelihood that the player may meet a significant other while in school. With this, there's a chance that the player may relocate permanently to that area of the country as opposed to coming "back home". This is something that may have to be explored with school's counselors - i.e., what % of students end up living within 100 miles of the school following graduation? 

4. Is the player interested in a particular climate? For example, Midwest winters might not be ideal for someone who's lived all his life in Southern California or Florida. Similarly, Pacific Northwest (with a lot of precipitation and, as a result, indoor tennis) might be a tough adjustment for someone who is used to constant sunshine (and outdoor tennis). On the other hand, if the player is interest in winter activities (e.g., skiing, snowboarding), a different climate may be exactly what the student needs. Accordingly, the player should seek the advice of current or former players from similar areas as himself or herself in order to obtain some insight as to the adjustments that have to be made. Nevertheless, since some players are more adaptable than others, the player must also understand himself or herself and his/her ability to cope with these changes. 

5. Is the player interested in a particular extracurricular environment? For example, is the player interested in a "college" atmosphere (e.g., pep rallies, Greek life, college sports, etc.), culture (e.g. museums, concerts, adult scene, etc.)? As a general rule, a lot of smaller towns are more "into" their colleges and athletics than a lot of bigger cities. For example, if you visit schools in the SEC, you may find that those schools may be the center of attention for their relevant community whereas schools that are located in larger urban centers may comprise only a small percentage of the city's center of gravity. This is not to say that the SEC schools are the only ones that offer this type of environment. One can easily find this type of environment all over the place (be it the West Coast, Midwest or places on the East Coast). For some players, these factors may not make a difference - they just want to go somewhere (big, medium or small), play some tennis and get a degree. For others, getting the "college experience" is of utmost importance. Again, when talking to a current or former player, it's important to understand whether s/he is sharing the same interest in some of these characteristics. 

6. Last but certainly not least, ACADEMICS also play an important role. It is also a reality that certain programs have a more prestigious academic curriculum than others. On the other hand, some schools may be outstanding at limited subjects (e.g. A&M programs). It really depends on what the students intends to study and whether s/he sees him/herself as continuing the pursuit of degrees after college. Degrees from certain institutions may open more post-graduate doors than degrees from other schools. This is not, however, to say that a player getting a degree from one of the latter schools is forever foreclosed from going to some Ivy League law school or medical school. But it's another factor to keep in the back of your mind that life doesn't beging or end with college - it's simply a step along the way. Furthermore, certain schools have a different approach when it comes to student athletes. At some programs, student athletes MUST take exams early (in the event the exam date falls on the day of competition); at others, the student-athletes are allowed to make up the test on a later date (or the coach is allowed to proctor the exam in the hotel room). Similarly, some programs offer more extensive tutoring services for student athletes. 

These are, certainly, not ALL the factors that a player should consider. As mentioned before, everyone is different and everyone has a different personality and peculiarities that should be taken into account. For example, some people care about the make-up of the student body, others care about the set up of the campus, the architecture of the building, the quality of the dorms, etc. If you have additional factors that you would like to add, please do so in the comments below.