Make Constant Small Adjustments Throughout the Point

Too many times, players wait until they miss the ball (in the net or out of bounds) before they decide to make an adjustment to their stroke. Not only has the player lost the point but she may have, in fact, practiced doing something wrong 4, 6 or 6 shots in a row. This makes the road to adjustment a lot more difficult because first you have to unlearn the bad shot before you master the good shot. Instead of waiting for the actual miss to happen, try to make small adjustments throughout the point. Set up imaginary "targets" on top of the net and figure out how your shot measures up with the intended target. This is similar to artillery warfare where the first blast is used to determine the coordinates of the impact and adjustments are made to subsequent artillery fire to take into account wind, elevation, etc. In war, you don't wait until you run out of cannonballs and then say "oops, I guess I should've been aiming more to the right and higher". No, you make small adjustments along the way. Same with tennis; aim for particular spots on top of the net and know - from practice - that if you hit "X" the ball will end up going to "Y" (i.e. the on-court, ultimate target). If you see that your shots are starting to slip from Green to Yellow and from Yellow to Red (picture on the left), stop the bleeding immediately. Make the adjustment while the ball is in play. Same concept applies when your shots are starting to land closer the the line than intended (second image). If you see that the shots are flirting with the lines, throttle it back a little bit (more spin; maybe less power) and bring them back to at least yellow or, preferably, to the blue zone. Force your opponent to hit one more shot. Never give him the satisfaction of putting yourself in the position where you're beating yourself. Make him beat you; make him hit 48 winners. Good things will happen for you if you force your opponent to concentrate an extra shot. Just imagine all the easy sitters that you have missed in your career. Unless the other kid is a "world beater" - ehhem...he's not - you will many extra points when you force another shot back in play. And points add up.

It's Not About Forehands and Backhands, Stupid!

"If I am the better player, why can't I win?" -Allen Fox

The great player and coach Allen Fox coined this phrase and it sums up tennis in a nutshell. Most players are conditioned to believe that through hard work and perfect technique, the incremental improvements will keep coming. This is true to a point, until you reach the Great Wall of China and your game is stuck in the mud. Changing coaches, fiddling with your grip, analyzing your footwork, tinkering with your serving stance- all logical ideas to improve your game, but it's chasing fools gold. It's not about the forehands and backhands, stupid!

When you reach this point in your tennis career, this is the time to face the music and use what you got. There are no easy answers to solving this never-ending riddle on the otherside of the net. Simply telling your coach that your forehand broke down and having balls fed to you will not solve the issue long-term. Considering you have fairly competent strokes, technical changes will not get you to the next level. It's a great mistake if a coach and/or player is preaching this message. Taking the focus off the bigger picture of the game will only set you up for dissapointment. Sure, you always want to fine tune your technique and practice these fine motor skills. However, at some point in your develop it's simply not about the forehands and backhands, stupid!

A smarter way to approach the issue of bumping your head against the Great Wall of China is to embrace who you are. If you know your backhand has limitations, do your best to not ask so much of it. Why would you hit a backhand down-the-line off of receiving a high ball when you know you can't make 9/10 out of a basket? That is like taking a gun and shooting yourself in the foot. Yet, good players do this match after match, year after year, continuing to think this is a technical defiency in their stroke. Again, this has nothing to do with forehands and backhands, but everything to do with your clouded judgement.

The players who maximize their potential (that's all you can ask for because you can't control the winning and losing) are always the ones who have accepted who they are and played within themselves. They don't waste their time getting depressed and frustrated about their weaknesses. They don't beat themselves up about lacking picture perfect technique. They aren't embarrassed about their inability to hit over 50 mph groundstrokes. They play with what they got and embrace who they are. They don't cringe when they hit a shortball to their opponent thinking, "Jeez! Why can't you hit it deeper!?!" They are okay with their opponent hitting winners and controlling points. It's not a character flaw to be on defense once in awhile. Practicing crosscourts or out of a basket, its all theory. Hitting the ideal forehand or backhand at the "optimum" contact point (for those scheisters who use sillly terms) is all useless theory. It's absolutely mindless, time wasting, and pointless. The ONLY thing that matters is does it go in and is it repeatable. Against great players, one needs to be able to do this OVER and OVER and OVER again. Nothing sexy. That's it and work within those boundaries. No need to reinvent the wheel.

Remember, TENNIS COACHES NEED TO MAKE A LIVING and SOME FEEL IT NECESSARY TO MANUFACTURE SOME BALONEY to justify getting paid. Overcoaching can lead to some dangerous avenues with the boogey man at the end of the street. It's not about the forehands and backhands, stupid!

Practicing Against Adults To Understand a Different Dimension

Depending on the area in which you live in, playing against adults may or may not be an acceptable method of training. If you're fortunate enough to live in SoCal or Florida - and assuming that you're somewhat dedicated to the sport - you will most likely play against kids your age rather than adults. These player would benefit a lot, in my opinion, from being exposed to different age groups, levels of play and styles. Some older players may have been good in their day but they may have lost a step or two. Play against them and see how they construct a point. Other players may be dinkers, pushers, serve and volleyers (not something that is seen too much on the junior circuit), drop-shot artists and straight-up hacks. Be it in local leagues, shootouts, men's/women's nights, normal matches or adult tournaments, seek to play against them and see how you measure up. You will often be surprised to see that some of these guys "can really play". Some may be difficult to beat particularly if they play without pace (and rely more on placement) or you play them in the wind or on slow clay courts or fast grass courts. Also, they have a completely different outlook on how to play the game and how to dissect the opponent. Their games are, often, more about breaking down the opponent's weakness(es) rather than hitting pure winners so picking apart their opponents' likes/dislikes is a huge factor. 

In addition, if you're struggling to find a hitting partner your own age, maybe someone who's older may be more inclined to take up the challenge. Older players are, generally, more passionate about the game - they're not playing because the parents make them - so they will have a more positive outlook on the whole thing and may also give you with some good advice about tennis, school and life. If the only player that you can play against is older and not very good - this happens a lot in cases where juniors live in areas that are not tennis centers (e.g., remote areas of mid-West or PNW) - use this player as a backboard. Hit everything to him no matter what he throws at you and run every ball down. Also, play games where he covers the half-court and you have to cover the whole court or even singles PLUS doubles alleys. Your primary goal here is to develop your "rolodex" of plays and players and use it for future reference later on; knowledge and experience breeds confidence.

Two Scales to Measure Yourself Against

A) How tough are you to beat? On a scale from 1-10, honestly answer where you stack up. Players who are tough to beat are no fun to compete against. These players never give up, make life miserable, rarely miss, are mentally tough, don't take unnecessary risks, do not beat themselves, are lovers of the game, and more often then not, they are in excellent physical condition.

Now lets flip the scale around...

B) What is your Upset Quotient? On a scale from 1-10, honestly answer your ability to upset players better than you. These types of players come in all shapes and sizes, they don't fit one particular gamestyle. Immediately what comes to mind are big hitters of the ball who are loose mental canons. This fits the stereotype of someone who would be able to upset a highly ranked player, but some of the best players in the world are counterpunchers ala Murray, Nadal, Jankovic, Simon, Chang, Hewitt, the list goes on and on.

At the end of the day, you only have control over one scale and that is HOW TOUGH ARE YOU TO BEAT? If you improve this scale, you have greatly increased your chances of becoming a better tennis player.

Defeating the Big Bombers

When you're young, big servers can be very intimidating to play. The size difference seems downright unfair. A lot of players "bag it" early thinking that there's no chance to ever break such beasts. Nevertheless, as players get older and wiser, they are often able to come away with a win despite their opponent's height and power. So, when facing Goliath, what is the best way to neutralize his/her power?

Here are some tips that you might find helpful:

1. Try not to back up when hitting returns. Backing up only increases the distance that you have to cover in order to return. Although the server's angle can be the same, the further back you go, the greater the side of the triangle that you have to cover. If anything, try to move in so that you can be closer to both sides of the triangle that make up the potential trajectories of his serves. 

2. Being closer to the court = quicker reaction time. This is really not the time to be a hero when it comes to hitting returns. Cut back on your backs-swing and try to "smother" the serves like soccer goalie on a PK. The object is to get as many returns in play as possible. You may prefer to keep a relatively tight neutral grip and block the return off both sides. If you're strong enough, you should be able to redirect the return deep without much swing and position yourself in middle of the court right away. 

3. Keep mental tabs on the big server's peculiarities. It is often easier to "read" a taller person than a short person. A taller person tends to telegraph his movements a lot sooner so once you notice something out of the ordinary (be it toss, shoulder movement, hip turning, etc. ) make a mental note of it and see if it pops up again next time he aims for the same target. Then, the third time, you can start anticipating. 

4. For the most part, big-serving juniors have not mastered the slice serve (out wide on the deuce or down the T on the ad-side). So it may be worthwile to squeeze the backhand side and bait him to go to your forehand. Maybe you can move towards the backhand a couple of inches but maintain (or change to) a forehand grip just in case he choose to go to the forehand. He will then be forced to go for a riskier serve towards your backhand or an un-tested serve towards the backhand. 

5. Spend a great deal of energy focusing on winning the first two points of your service game. You do not want to go down 0-30 against someone who's "nothing but a serve". If they go up, they will start taking chances on your returns knowing that the chance of being broken themselves is quite small. Often times, they will be relaxed and get lucky with some low-percentage slaps. Don't give them this opportunity. 

6. Seek to wrong-foot them in rallies. Once you get the point started, big/tall players have an easier time running for a ball that's in front of them than changing directions (which, depending on size, is like asking the USS Nimitz to do a quick turnaround in port - ain't happening). But also be aware of taller players who are lazy and prefer not to run at all. Make THOSE guys run. 

7. Keep the ball low. There's no shame in slicing the ball low or hitting flatter (but not completely flat) shots than usual. Make the tall player get down for every ball and then move. Get down; move; get down; move. Not everyone's built the same way so certain plays may be more taxing on some players than others. 

8. Take the net away from them. Again, given that taller players don't always move as well side-to-side and prefer to be the aggressors, it may be worthwhile to "take the net away" from them. Chip-and-charge or rush in on some plays and force them to move quickly and change direction for the passing shots; in other words, force THEM to be the rabbits. 

9. No silly mistakes. Keep these players in the point. Yank 'em side to side and push them back and diagonally forward. Try to wear them down with long points and capitalize on the drop in serving speed and loss of focus. Remember, they expect to win quickly and on short points; so the longer they're out there, the greater the chance that they'll be rattled and start making unforced errors themselves. 

10. DO NOT GET INTIMIDATED. Show them that you are up for the challenge and you will not be a walk-over. The reality is that, for the most part, big-bombers/tall players are somewhat one-dimensional (things change, of course, on the Pro tour). At first blush, taking them down may seem like a daunting task, but if you're willing to rock the stone column long enough, eventually it will come down on its own.