Imaging playing great to get to the finals of the biggest stage in tennis. Here is your chance for immortality, your shot at striking out Babe Ruth or slamming on Michael Jordan and you get flattened over by a runaway freight train. You might just cry. Marin Cilic did and who can blame him? The…
Keep a mental note of the point you would like to play in your head. Picture what that point is like-good serve, good crosscourt first shot and a ball hit early from inside the baseline to get the opponent in trouble or win the point. Remind yourself before the point starts what you want the…
The more advanced the player, the more complicated our strategy seems to get. Sometimes you have to go backward to go forward. Return to the basic ideas that allowed you to improve to your current level-watch the ball, move your feet, follow through consistently, use crosscourts to set up down the line, lots of first…
How would the best male tennis player do against the best female tennis player? The man would win. What if the man were pregnant and the woman had the superpowers of Jessica Jones? The woman would win. What if the man were ranked better than 700th in the world and he played Serena Williams? The man would…
Many errors occur in tennis because the player makes contact with the ball late. Try hitting all balls in the early direction. When playing doubles, if you are hitting to the inside out direction (deuce side backhand for a right hander, ad side forehand for a right hander), hit the ball towards the middle since…
The goal of your footwork should be to get yourself in a position to take a normal swing at the ball as often as possible. This means getting to the ball early enough so that you are making contact at the peak of the bounce and/or in between waist height and shoulder height whenever you…
The two big stories at this year's French Open are the coming out party of Jelena Ostapenko and the total domination of the men's field by Rafa Nadal. The 20-year-old Jelena Ostapenko did more than just fill a void at the top level of women's tennis. She played with the heart of a champion and…
Start the point towards the middle of the court in both doubles and singles. The net is the lowest at this point and your shot will still be in if you hit it a little early or late. Also, if you keep it deep, the shot down the middle takes away the angles for your…
With the new technology in the modern game, many players tend to use speed and hitting it through the player to win the point. A better idea is to keep the ball deep and push the player back, setting up a big opening in front of your opponent. Players have a difficult time moving forward…
Groundstrokes should be hit crosscourt, especially at the beginning of the point. In doubles, use the crosscourt (or diagonal) idea until you have your opponents in trouble and then change the direction or move forward. In singles, use the crosscourt to get the opponent moving and then use down the line groundstrokes when your opponent is…