Q&A: Stroking Felt With Robert Steckley

At CAtennis.com, our primary goal is to provide juniors with practical tips and suggestions to develop their tennis game. One such avenue will be to obtain advice and insight from current and former players who have managed to achieve great success in our sport. Our first Q&A is with Robert Steckley of Toronto, Canada. I first met Robert when he was a 16 year old hot shot who was starting to make his way up the ATP ranks. Rob breathed confidence in everything involving tennis. He was fast, hit the ball clean, hard and steady (and listened to music that was way too loud).

Quick Bio: Canadian Davis Cup member; Main Draw Rogers Cup competitor; Top 260 ATP; Buffalo Future Tour Winner; Australia Future 15k Tour Winner; Thailand Future Tour Winner; Texas Future 15k Tour Winner; Ecuador Satellite Tour Winner; NCAA National Champion Division II; Canadian Men’s Open National Champion; 3 Time Junior Canadian National Champion; Junior US Open and Australian Open Quarter Finalist. Coached: Frank Dancevic; Aleksandria Wozniak; Sania Mirza (through 2011); Lucie Safarova and Edina Gallovits (in 2012). Website: www.robsteckley.com

1. At what age did you start playing tennis?

I started late, picked up a raquet at 12 and literally started playing tourneys a half year into it.

2. When did you start taking tennis seriously?

I never truly enjoyed, until I realized that because I was so called "talented" it gave me extra attention from people thus giving me motivation to work a bit and within a year I made my first semi's and from that point on, that's when it sparked my interest. I gave all other sports up at 14 and committed myself to tennis solely.

3. How did your workouts change once you decided that you wanted to be a tennis player?

After I made the transition from an "all sport athlete" to strictly tennis, my coaches started to design tennis specific training regimens. Agility, lower body strength, core, and HUGE emphasis on court speed work and hand eye drills. I think the earlier you put the focus on those last two, the better the player will be able to adapt to explosive drills and tennis game later.

4. If you've had to guess, how many hours on the court do you think you've spent between picking up the racket and turning pro?

I'd have to say I've logged close to 20,000 hrs on court up to date. Let's multiply that by 500 balls min per hour. {Editor's note: that's at least 10,000 hours between time when he picked up racket and turned pro}

5. Who influenced you most as an athlete?

The biggest influence I had as an athlete would have to have been, Andre Agassi while growing up. He played a huge role in the player I became. I modeled my game brick for brick after him. My mother was the driving force behind me starting and really continuing, She had an obsession for me achieving goals and really burned that into me from a young age.

6. If you had the chance to go back in time and talk to yourself as a 15year old, what tennis-advice would you give yourself?

If I had a chance to go back in time, I'd definitely tell myself to believe more and just keep focused at the distractions that lie ahead.

7. What is your favorite drill/thing to practice?

My favourite drill as of right now would have to be side to side, to help burn off those d&^*ed extra calories from a lazy sun, but when I was playing, I LOVED down the line stuff, which helped me open up the court right away. That's something I stand by in my coaching now, that has helped all of my players on tour make huge leaps, fast. Not only to be able to hit it, but understanding when and why, and believing in it even when you miss a few.

8. What is the major difference between top college players (D-1) and the guys on the pro tour?

I'd say the top college players are very close in level to any of the top 50-100 player on tour. The major difference I find from seeing fresh college players coming onto tour, is the lack of experience in understanding how important it is to just KEEP THE BALL IN! When to go for certain shots, and being able to capitalize on those tiny opportunities they have created.

9. What made you choose Univerity of South Carolina as a school?

I chose USC because an ex coach of mine had played there. They had a top 5 team at the time, and the schooling was a bit more forgiving, rather when I came to visit with you in Cali. I would much rather go back in time and have chosen Pep[perdine]! {Editor's note: somehow I think that Rob may have been a tad bit too wild for Pepperdine}

10. Your highest singles ranking was 410 and you played Davis Cup for Canada. What were your top wins and what lessons would you take away from those matches?

I'd have to say my first Canadian national title U16 gave me the confidence to be undefeated for the rest of my canadian career nationally, which ultimately led to me to believing I was good enough to compete on tour. I think i might have beaten you in a game up to five once?! Highlight of my career for sure! {Editor's note: I think that it was more than one game and I recall sleeping on the floor for a few nights because of that}

Rob, we thank you for your time and insight and wish you best of luck in the upcoming season.

Backboard Training for Volleys Redux

16 Years Old:

Professional: 

STOP DREAMING; START DOING.

Thanks, Lisa. 

Why Are You Not Doing This?

The hand to eye coordination needed to play baseball is one of the most demanding in any sport. Players, whether juniors, college or MLB pros, spend hundreds of hours per year in the batting cages to groove their swing and improve their hand to eye coordination in order to find the sweet spot when it matters. Working on the fundamentals - even for players who have mastered the game - is a continuing process. Hitches and kinks in the stroke appear all the time so it's important for the players to go back to the basics in order to correct the motion. 

For some reason, however, American juniors have an aversion to a similar training tool that is available to tennis players: the ball machine. Why is that?! Do you think that because you have a bigger racket head that somehow the ball is easier to hit?! Let's put it this way, the average strike zone for baseball is a mere 500 square inches (basically, that's the width of the home-plate x distance between chest and knees) [yeah, yeah, some baseball players will probably want to debate this...not interested]. In addition, the baseball bat sweet spot is not bigger or smaller than the sweet spot of the tennis racket. In tennis, however, the opponent does not have to hit the ball TO you. The tennis "strike zone" is a whole lot greater: width of tennis court (27 FEET) x length (39 FEET) x height at which contact can be made (e.g., high backhands/forehands, overheads, low slices and drop shots, etc.) (let's say 7 FEET). That's an area of SEVEN THOUSAND THREE HUNDRED AND SEVENTY-ONE CUBIC FEET (7,371ft3). As tennis player, you have to become proficient at hitting the ball FROM anywhere (in your court) TO anywhere (in the opponent's court). Furthermore, the skill necessary to accomplish this task resembles hunting with a spear (or bow and arrow): you have to hit a moving target (prey) with a moving object (weapon) while you yourself are on the run. Same concept applies to tennis: you have to hit a moving object (the ball) with a moving object (racket) while you yourself are in motion (sometimes more, sometimes less)....and you have to hit the court... and maybe keep it away from the opponent. This is not just hand-to-eye coordination - it's hand-to-eye-feet corrdination (and you have to do it over and over again throughout the match). And yet, not many players deem it worthwhile to groove their strokes on the ball machine. Then, they wonder why the shots aren't going in during a match. There's simply no better way hit 2-3000 balls per day than on the ball machine. Done right, this  becomes purposeful practice. So try this:

 

In the diagrams above, the white "X" represents the placement of the ball machine and the yellow circle represents the contact point (more or less). The blue line is the path of the ball FROM the ball machine; the red lines are the paths of the ball FROM you. Instead of setting up the ball machine in the MIDDLE of the court, place it off-center (WAY off-center) and practice changing the direction of the ball. Rather than doing side-to-sides for 7 minutes and then quitting (because you're not used to hitting 300 balls in a row), practice hitting from a set location while keeping "light" feet...learn the "dance" steps immediately preceding the contact; hit and recover (or, like boxing, "stick and move"). Changing the direction of the ball is usually where all the unforced errors in tennis take place. So reduce the likelihood of mistakes by learning how to adjust for every angle. That is, how to hit a cross-court from a down-the-line; down- the-line from a cross-court; or a sharper cross-court from a cross-court. Again, keep your feet moving and groove your strokes (to the point where they're "in your blood"; AUTOMATIC) so that they don't break down under pressure. Supplement your lessons with ball machine training since, it's not only important to learn a good shot (something that lessons are intended to accomplish) but also to FORGET the bad strokes. To use an analogy, tennis is a lot like sculpting a statue: you have to do the hard chiseling and hammering work; the master (tennis pro) is the one who helps you bring out the details with the fine sandpaper...but then it's back to the chiseling and hammering work. This is YOUR project, not your coach's, so make sure that you take ownership of it. 

Build a Foundation - Practice Consistency

Andy Scorteanu is the Director of Tennis and Fitness at Monterey Country Club in Palm Desert, CA. He is also the head of ASTA - the Andy Scorteanu Tennis Academy ( www.astennisacademy.com ). As a player, Andy finished his junior career as #1 player in Southern California and attained a top-30 NCAA Division 1 ranking at Fresno State University. He has competed on the professional circuit and served as hitting partner for Pete Samras, Martina Hingis, Jelena Jankovic, Ana Ivanovic, Dmitri Tursunov and Jim Courier.

Do you find that you're practicing like a champ and playing matches like a chump? Is your coach constantly feeding you balls? Well maybe that's the problem. Leave the basket a home and grab a can (3 balls max). Perfect practice makes perfect, so hold yourself accountable and learn how to keep the ball in play. Many times, coaches feed balls to the players in order to work on very specific shots. These drills are tailored to elicit focused footwork, preparation and ball-strikes under narrow circumstances. However, in live-ball scenarios, the players find that their balls are going everywhere but in the court. What does this teach? No magic will bring the ball in the court. Often times, the mistake happens because the player was unable to adjust to a specific speed, spin or trajectory of a "live" ball. As a result, players, specifically juniors, need to learn how to hit against the "unclean" shots from their peers (the same ones they will face in a match condition). Doing so will not only make them better players but also better practice partners which in turn will make them a sought-after commodity for other players looking to improve (and more playing = better resutls). In addition, in today’s game, the ball is struck harder partly because of technology (racket/string) and more physical strength. At the end of the day Federer, Nadal, Murray & Djokovic have 20 ball rallies (repeatedly). Work on precision and consistency first; pace comes later in your tennis career. STOP trying to hit like the professionals when you're just starting out; control your impulses. When you get older, power is easier to come by than control. Remember that you are not a professional until you, in fact, are one. Pros have hit millions of focused shots and can control the ball at a high pace (or any pace, for that matter) and spin. By rallying against players your own age, you will learn to play within yourself and will manage to hit the ball at a pace that you can control CONSISTANTLY within a designated area (precisely, Watson).

ASTA Love it. Live it. Breathe it.

Steal This Drill: Slice Backhands and Volleys

Here is another great drill for you to practice with your friends or coach (preferably the former). This drill involves volleys and slices - two strokes that are not often mastered by today's youth. If you want to become a great player, it is important to practice being multi-dimensional. Once you relegate yourself to a certain game style, a good opponent will be able to take you out of your comfort zone. However, if you have additional tricks in the bag to fall back upon, the opponent will have a more difficult time getting to you.

With the foregoing in mind, the drill is as follows: 1 player at the net; 1 player at the baseline. The baseline player gets to cover one half (his backhand half) only. The player at the net must cover his whole singles court. The baseline player can only hit slice backhands (including chip-lobs) but the volley player cannot hit any winners (i.e. she must move the baseline player around in the half-court with deep or angle volleys). At first blush, it seems like it would be a simple game, however, as the baseline player's slice develops, his shots will be more difficult to handle for the volleyer. The perfect slices will skim the net and go fairly close to the sidelines (without missing) (image #2). The baseline player should seek to move his opponent around with these knifing backhands and break down the volleyers legs. The players can play baseline games up to 11, 15 or 21 and then switch roles. This is a great drill to incorporate in your 1-on-1 practices outside of lessons (Note: drill can also be done 2-on-1 with two players at the net). Remember, don't wait for a coach to force-feed you information. Take accountability for your own development.