Like we said in Part I, The ball machine is an awesome tool if you use it correctly. You can even use it with more than one person and even make things competitive if you like. It does not have to be a stand there and hit sort of experience.

The Above Ball Machine PDF Includes:

1. 14 ball machine tips
2. 14 actual drills (7 one and 7 two player drills)
3. How to set the machine up for each drill
4. An explanation of what each drill will help you improve upon in your game
5. An illustration of each drill
6. A video of each drill with myself and the head pro at out club
7. Links to sites that sell ball machines from top of the line to entry level machines

If you missed Part 1, click the link and learn why the ball machine is such a great tool, but it does have it’s advantages and disadvantages.  We do go over both.

What is FBT60?

FBT60 (Fit By Tennis In 60 Days) is a Revolutionary 60 Day Tennis/Fitness Program combining a NUTRITIONAL PROGRAM with a series of Ball Machine Drills. This program is designed for the individual looking to get fit while performing tennis specific drills either by themselves with a ball machine, or in a group situation with a tennis instructor and a ball machine. “

Stan went to his doctor and found out his glucose and cholesterol were way off and his health was going downhill UNLESS he did something about it. FBT60 was developed!

In the podcast, Stan discusses his story, the development of the program, how you can get involved in FBT60 and what he does personally with the ball machine to burn up to 900 calories and get better at tennis in the process.

Stan travels the country promoting FBT60 to players of all levels.  If you are a member at a club or you are part of an organization in the summer, contact Stan if you re interested in having Stan visit your area.

What issues do you want answered about your game? Send me an email (Contact Me) or go ahead and push that BIG RED BUTTON so I can get your question audibly emailed to me and, who knows, I may even answer it on the air. 

Links related to this episode

Part 1 with Stan Oley – www.realtennisnetwork.com/013

Stand Site: www.stanoleytennis.com

FBT60: www.fbt60.com

Stan’s Email: stan_oley@msn.com

The post Fit By Tennis In 60 With Stan Oley USPTA – Part 2 – Staying Fit (014) appeared first on Realtennis Network.

 In Today’s episode, I talk with Ball Machine Expert, and Tennis Professional, Stan Oley, on the advantages, disadvantages, drills and why you should be using a ball machine. I follow up with questions regarding serving, putting the priorities of your game, in the right order and how to anticipate better. I also have a well put together 14 drill ball machine guide with detailed descriptions and video for one and two players  that is your for FREE

Today, I talk with Ball Machine Expert, and Tennis Professional, Stan Oley, the Product Marketing Specialist for Playmate Ball Machines on the advantages, disadvantages, Drills and why you should be using a ball machine. I will go over his resume as we start the interview.

The ball machine is an awesome tool if you use it correctly. You can even use it with more than one person and even make things competitive if you like. It does not have to be a stand there and hit sort of experience. I have something that will show you what I mean that I have been working on and

Now for me personally, I trained on the ball machine quite a bit and it helped me out a lot. I was not a tennis player initially as a youngster. I was a baseball, basketball and football player with not a lot of interest in playing tennis until I started hanging out with a buddy of mine who, at the time, was ranked #2 in the country as a junior player. He hurt his wrist one summer, and said that he would teach me tennis if I taught him basketball. Needless to say, we shots baskets for about 20 minutes and then hit tennis balls for a couple hours. I loved it!

So now the next step was, how do I catch up to all of the players that have been playing for the past 6 years? My answer was to take lessons and then practice what I learned, on the ball machine. I knew that hitting with someone was good, but I could get a lot more balls in and catch up to the other players by hitting on the machine.

Let’s say that the average point is 3 shots ( this is pretty accurate), the average game is 6 points, the average set is 9 games and the average match is 2.5 sets, all in the average match time, 1.5 hours. If you do the math ( 6 points per game = 3 forehands (remember 50/50) per game x 9 games per set = 27 forehends per set x 2.5 sets in a match = 27 x 2.5 = 67.5 forehands this means that in an hour and 38 minutes ( average match time), you will hit 67.5 forehands (Volleys and serves are even lower)!  Guess what……..You will hit this many forehands in 6 minutes on the ball machine ( if a ball came out every 5.3 seconds), which is actually slow for the feed rate on the machine

So is this a good thing? Definitely, if you know what you are doing. This is why the lesson before is so important, or at least some sort of instruction from someone knowledgeable.  So BEFORE you get on the machine, it would be in your best interest to know what you are supposed to be doing and even more importantly, know the FEEL of what you are doing, so you know if it is right or not.

This way, you can “Get it right” more times when you are practicing on the machine and if it is all about muscle memory, I would think that you would want to be doing it the correct way MORE times to program your stroke patterns in a positive way.  One way I say it to my students is that if you practice something wrong lot of times in a row…….guess what……you will be really good at doing it wrong!  This is one disadvantage, but the advantages definitely outweigh the disadvantages, like they did for me and I know that hey can for you too.

Key points that I got from my Interview with Stan that will help the next time you use the machine

LISTNER QUESTIONS  (More detail in podcast) – Time mark next to question

From: Rob – Gold River California
Question: Can you describe the timing of the weight transfer on the serve?
Go to – 55:54

To get a very detailed answer, go to www.realtennisnetwork.com/freeserveguide and check out the details on ALL 10 stages of the serve. This guide includes details and videos of the pros in all 10 stages including the weight transfer. But to answer your question, the weight will start to transfer to the back foot at the very beginning of the serve and then it will transfer FOWARD/DOWN AND UP in that order.

To keep it simple if you are starting out, when the arms go up, the knees go down ( Don’t get in the “Backscratch” here) and when the knees start to drive up and out, the arm drops (into the cocking stage with the elbow up) and then shoots up and out into the ball. You will see exactly what I am talking about in the guide. It is not one and then the next, in terms of weight transfer, but a smooth transition in both the one and two point stances after stage 1 which is the Preparation Stage. The weight transfer back is really he start of the motion after the Preparation Stage

From: Bogdan – Stuttgart, Germany
Question: Which of the following is no 1 priority for a junior player to master: technique, footwork, mental game?
Go to – 1:00:37

What a great question. This has a lot to do with development and the level of the junior. If you were starting from the ground up and I could only pick these three areas, I would put them in this order:

1. Footwork
2. Technique
3. Mental game

The reason is that I have worked on this in our programs at our club specifically, based on the research that is out there and those I have studied who have done research on this very subject, there are two very important windows that we have to be aware of. The first window comes about around the ages of 10-12. This window is that of agility, balance and coordination or the ABC’s of athleticism. This window starts to shut around age 10 ( so basically, it gets harder to master after this), so footwork skills should be addresses first. I have a summer camp for young players where they play tennis first and then a second sport ( a different one each day for 8 days) in order to help them learn the skills needed for any sport (hopefully tennis). Harder today because of the tablet generation.

The second window is at the age of puberty where bodies start going through some major changes. Having skill-sets in place before this stage is essential as well. For example I know runners, especially females, that ran the mile faster BEFORE puberty, because of the changes their body went through after puberty.

I would put technique as second. This goes along with coordination, but what about strategy? Strategy and technique go hand in hand, especially in junior players.

If you use the game based approach (get them playing first ), this will lead to questions about technique and kids will be more willing to listen if they know they are having trouble in a certain area strategically and a specific technique will help them improve in this situation. The game based approach will also give players every ball possible as compared to a lesson where coaches tens to feed the same ball or a limited number of balls to the player and leave a bunch out.

Kids would rather play anyway and a junior who keeps getting beat and wants to get better is usually more willing to listen and learn.

I introduce tennis to kids in the schools and it amazes me to watch them pick up a racquet (never played before) and say “Who wants to play” This is what kids want to do. Not once has a kid said, “Who wants to learn proper stroke mechanics” Of course they are not serious yet, but kids are kids, so keep this in mind as you teach the kids who want to be great players.

As for the mental game, this is what turned my game around. If a junior has a major problem in this area, you may want to jump on it early so they can learn more effectively, but the key to being mentally though is being realistic and going from there

Like I said in the podcast, I started late and hung around some really good players.

As a kid, that made me think that I was really good and got caught up in the talk, just by hanging out with nationally ranked players. I was in the best drill group at our club, because I was an athlete and did develop my skills by playing ALL of the sports before the age of 10, but then when I played my first tournament after drilling and practicing for a year and a half, I got beat by a kid who was two classes below me.

I was in the best class, hung out with all the great players, but after this happened couple more times, I remember writing down in my little notebook that I kept in my racquet bag for after my lessons, “Mick,….you stink.” You think you are better than you really are. Once I was realistic with myself, I knew exactly what I had to do to get better……..Play a lot of practice matches. So for me, my daily schedule was to hit and drill with a partner for an hour ( lets say. Work on my volleys and do some good volley drills with them), and then the second hour, play out points against someone else (or them) and come to the net at every opportunity I could.

Then I went home, ate, did my homework and went back to the club and worked on my volley on the ball machine. Guess what….I started winning a lot more.

Typically though with players who are starting out , technique is more important initially and as they get better, it becomes less of a focus……. while the mental game and strategy start off a bit less important and become much more of a focus as one improves.

For example, a beginner might focus 80% of their effort on technique and footwork initially with 10% focused on the mental game and 10% focused on strategy while the pros focus a lot less on technique and more on strategy and their mental games. This model has changed a bit due to the game based approach where technique and strategy work hand in hand.

As for technique, remember that tactics win matches, technique enhances your tactics. For example, Ask a dinker about their technique (not much) and then look at the tactics (never miss and chase everything down). This is why they have a room full of trophies at home. Tactics win!

From: Mark- Arizona
Question: What will help me improve my anticipation of the opponents next shot?
Go to – 1:13:49

Click Images below to get a better view

I love this question, because one part if the stroke that we do not think a lot about is what do we do AFTER we hit the ball, or RECOVERY.

So you need to recover to the proper place after you hit your shot.

Example: in singles, when you hit crosscourt, you DO NOT recover back to the center mark, but as a general rule, you should recover crosscourt from where you hit the ball ( so not to the center in this situation, but just short of the center so you are equal in distance from both possible shots that your opponent can possibly hit back to you.  If you recovered to the center mark here, you would be a lot closer to the down-the-line return and much farther away from the crosscourt return.

If you hit down the line, You would recover to the other side of the center mark to pout yourself in the exact same position, but ion the other side of the center mark.  This is why if you are planning on going down the line you need to make sure:

1. That you can wound your opponent
2. You are hitting a shot (usually a higher arc ball) that will give you time to recover

Otherwise the angle will hurt you if your opponent decides to hit it

Another example I see all the time is when players hit an awesome LOW ball to a volleyer and wait to see (REACTIVE) what the volleyer is going to do. 90% of the time they either POP it up or DROP it just over the net.  They will have to hit up (because it is a low ball) so it will be difficult to hit a firm volley without sending it long.

By moving in BEFORE your opponent t hits the ball (PROACTIVE) you will be able to cover BOTH shots and give your opponent LESS time to recover.  This will make you seem extremely fast to your opponent, but you just knew where to move to!

These are just a few examples of moving to the proper position BEFORE you opponent hits the ball.  There are many situations that could be covered here.  The key to anticipating is to know where to move AFTER YOU hit the ball.

Links related to this episode

Info on Long Term Athletic Development:  http://www.oxfordshiresport.org/uploads/long-term-athlete-development-article.pdf

Playmate Ball Machine Drills: https://www.playmatetennis.com/drillzone/index.asp

The post How To Use The Ball Machine With Expert Stan Oley, USPTA (013) appeared first on Realtennis Network.

Tennis Elbow does not have to keep you from doing what you love.  You do not need to take months off , but trying using these
simple techniques to relieve it.

 In Today’s episode, I talk with expert exercise physiologist Dan Zemper of Zemper Restorative therapy on the causes, his unique treatment and prevention of tennis elbow and I finish up with questions some of my listeners have on Serving, Doubles Communication,  anticipation and the mental game

Dan does incredible work when it comes to tennis elbow and on today’s show you will experience a different way and method of getting rid of it very quickly. He worked wonders on me and I know that he, or someone like him, can do the same for you with these techniques.

Susan, from Michigan asked in the questionnaire she filled out after subscribing, what can she do at home regarding her tennis elbow.

Well today, I talk tennis elbow with the Founder of Zemper Restorative Therapy, Dan Zemper, an exercise physiologist, out of Traverse City, Michigan who will give you some great tips on tennis elbow that you can do right at home,

I will also share with you what I do when I feel it coming on and I learned this straight from Dan and it works great

Have you ever had tennis elbow? I sure have, I got it from building my house. That is what swinging a 22 ounce hammer will do for you and it made playing tennis for me almost near impossible.  I could not even lift a glass of water without major pain, not to mention, holding on to my racquet was extremely difficult

I just tried to ice it, rest it as much as I could, but it was not getting any better. A friend of mine suggested that I see Dan because he was one that specializes in a technique known as “Active Release Technique” or A.R.T.

ART is similar to a deep tissue massage that breaks up the scar tissue and releases it naturally, eliminating the pain.

Well it took me 3 months to finally see Dan, being that I was never really sold on any type of alternative therapy and within 3 visits, I was FREE of elbow pain.

Since then, I have sent many players, some who have had tennis elbow for 10 years and ART has proven itself over and over. There will always be a few that say they had no improvement, but the percentage is very little.

Tennis Elbow is inflammation and chronic tension of the extensor muscles of the forearm

It originates at the elbow so that is where you feel the pain but the actual problem is down at the forearm.

We get tennis elbow many different ways.  Splitting wood, grooming your dog….etc, but overuse is the real problem.

It isn’t something that just happens because of a grip change, but the grip change can bring it out
of harboring itself.  Any additional workload can bring it “over the edge” and start to produce pain in your elbow.

Treatment is all based on miofascial release or breaking up the scar tissue that surrounds the muscle in the forearm.  You traction the muscle tissue, break it up and flush it out.

The body recognizes this broken up scar tissue as a waste product and flushes it out of the tissues.

The key is to keep the muscle moving freely after this and stretch the forearm properly so that the muscles can stay relaxed and express itself fully.

A tight muscle is a weak muscle and cannot express itself freely

He also goes over some detailed stretches so that you can keep the muscle from tightening up, so please click the link in the post on the podcast page under episode #12 or go to realtennisnetwork.com/012 to get you straight there.

Now I am not a therapist or a doctor, but when my elbow starts to have a slight twinge to it, I just use these same techniques on myself. I relax my hand by letting my fingers point down toward the floor and with my opposite thumb, I can get in there and loosen up the tight muscles in my forearm. It really helps. I just make sure that I am moving my thumb in the direction of the muscle strands ( up and down the arm) and not across them in order to get them to relax. Once I feel the tight muscle, I just dig right in and try to get it to relax.

I also have produced a tennis elbow relief video of our interview and it also includes Dan working on one of his clients and explaining what is going on in much more detail. I will make sure to include the link to the video in the post and show notes in case you would like to see him in action using the techniques that he is describing in our interview.

CLICK HERE for Video of Dan Zemper Working on client 

Much better to go and see someone like Dan for tennis elbow relief, but definitely worth a try. To find a certified ART person in your area, you can go to: www.activerelease.com and click on the “Find a Provider” tab at the top of the page.

Dan can be reached at 231-941-7085 in traverse city, Michigan or you can go to www.zempertherapy.com and contact him via his website 

Questions from Subscribers

In this episode I also answer questions from my subscribers.  They include:

1. From Dale in Michigan – Go to 27:17 in podcast for FULL detailed answer
What is the best way to let your partner know what kind of serve you will be using so they can set up correctly?

Short answer – Communicate before the point starts with your partner

2. From Ken- Go to 29:29 in podcast for FULL detailed answer
What is the best grip for first and second serves.

Short answer – Continental, but you can also vary this grip to have the serve do more what you want it to do

3. From Nancy in Michigan- Go to 31:50 in podcast for FULL detailed answer
What can I do on the court to maintain focus and block out distractions?

Short answer – Eye control between points either on racquet or court

Links related to this episode

CLICK HERE for Video of Dan Zemper Working on client ( much more detail here)

www.activerelease.com

www.zempertherapy.com

The post Tennis Elbow Relief With Dan Zemper (012) appeared first on Realtennis Network.

In my interview with Tennis Great Emilio Sanchez, former #1 ATP doubles player in the world and former #7 singles player in the world, I hope to do just that. Emilio was the Davis cup coach for Spain as well in 2008 When they won Davis Cup that year.

He is the founder and directs the Sanchez-Casal academy which he and Two-Time grand Slam partner Sergio Casal founded in 1998.

The academy is one, if not the largest in Europe, with 130 Full time students from all over the world.

Some who have trained there include:

and many others., very impressive……

He then followed up his Academy in Barcelona by opening the Academia Sanchez‐Casal in Naples Florida in 2012 in hopes of continuing the momentum and the success he has already established overseas.

Well Recently, I had the opportunity to teach with Emilio here at my club the Grand Traverse Resort and Spa in Traverse City Michigan

Fernando Belmar, one of the resorts pros actually worked at the Sanchez-Casal academy in Barcelona and really was the reason that Emilio came to visit our club in the first place, but I am sure glad he did.

We taught for two days on court to adult and junior players from the area and let me tell you…….this guy is legit. What I mean by this is that he, apart from being a super nice guy, it is very obvious how passionate he is regarding the game of tennis. He just doesn’t slap his name on an academy and sit back while others run it for him, he actually is on court the whole time, feeding balls non-stop.

I felt like an intern at my first summer gig, trying to learn as much as I could and stay on task with his philosophies and teaching techniques. I will say that I slept very well when the weekend was over.

When we finished on Sunday, Emilio was gracious enough to sit down for an interview with me and give me some of his best doubles tips that have worked for him in the past.

In todays interview, Emilio and I talk about

To get more information on what he has available at the Sanchez-Casal academy, you can go to: www.sanchez-casal.com to learn all about the programs their philosophy and training methods. You can also go to: www.asc-florida.com for is Florida academy

Key points from today’s interview

1. Developing as an all-court player is very important
2. Playing back will give you higher balls to hit more offensively
3. Competing is KEY to playing well in matches. You have to learn to compete.
4. Tennis is repetition in practice and in matches
5. Big servers have the best opportunities
6. The best players are the ones who can break serve
7. Being able to repeat patterns is important in matches
8. Physical and mental are important factors in winning matches
9. Having the correct tools and using them in matches will create success in matches.

I remember after he left, I came home to see who was ranked in the top 100 at he time when he was #7.

Other Notables

15. Michael Chang
20. Aaron Krickstein
25. Jim Courier
41. Matts Wilander
81. Pat Cash
120 Patrick McEnroe

One other interest that I had was to find out how many Americans were in the top 100 back then. That is definitely a focus of the USTA currently, being that we have dropped considerably on the men’s side,

Here are some stats that are interesting and maybe even why Emilio decided to come over to the states in the first place.

 2014 Currently

Lets look back at 1990 when Emilio was playing from the USA perspective.

USA Men in 1990

USA Women in 2014

Women in 1990

What happened? Well Emilio, any help you can provide is appreciated. I know the USTA with 10 and under tennis and other avenues is hoping to change these numbers

Well, As a side note, he will be returning this summer to visit and I am excited about that. Not sure if we will be doing another clinic together, but we are working on it.

If you have a question for him, just let me know and I will ask for you while he is here.  Just make sure you put QUESTION FOR EMILIO in the Subject

Remember, To get a one-page template of today’s show, scroll to the bottom of the show notes and download it for your files or notebook

If you would like to comment on today’s episode, you can do so at the bottom of the post. I would love to hear from you and thank you in advance if you decide to do so.

Links related to Today’s Episode

 Video of Serving Progression Guide (go to 4:51 in video): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v_uww55GviY

Barcelona –  http://www.sanchez-casal.com

Florida –  http://www.asc-florida.com

Template of Today’s Episode – CLICK HERE

The post 011 Emilio Sanchez – Key Factors In Today’s Game appeared first on Realtennis Network.

You can go to Part 1 by CLICKING HERE

Below, you will find the questions that have been asked and the marked time that the question occurs.  This way you can go straight  to the questions that you would like to hear and skip the ones you prefer not to listen to.

For each question I added a one or two word answer, but give much more detail in the podcast.

For some of the questions I have added links to videos and even made some video of my own to go along with the questions.  I have also emailed a few of you with more detailed answers and accompanying video or other resources to try to make thing s clearer for you so that you can give some of these a try.

So let’s get the questions going on Part 2 and please let me know how things work out for you by commenting at the bottom of the post!

Question 13 – 
Alex From Milford New Hampshire
I think tracking the ball and leverage points on all the shots
Tracking the ball is extremely important if you want to have close to the same swing patters on different shots.
It allows you to “Receive” the ball properly
Go to: 4:23

Question 14- Stu-Man From Fairfax, Virginia
What is your most embarrassing moment on court?
You will have to listen to this one………
Go to: 23:01
Question 15- 
Phil From St. Petersburg, Florida
Just improve my forehand and doubles strategy
Balance, Balance, Balance, shorter but more acceleration, Bigger Hitting Zones

These are the same videos that were inPart 1

Hitting Zones: CLICK HERE

Andy Fitzell Interview: CLICK HERE

Please don’t judge me by this videos   Old and done a long time ago, but should get the point across

Definition of balance using Analogies: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H5ZncmTS0kI

Pros: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A5wCSda5O_E

The Strategy Book – http://www.strategybooklet.com

 Go to: 25:14

Question 16- 
Steve From Hillsborough
Is it okay to teach my son to take the racket back low on the backhand instead of looping the backhand? I like the old school way because it helps my son get into the “slot” better?
It  depends on his age, he will lose some racquet head speed, but there are definitely ways that he can make that up by catching the ball on the rise or sooner ( the ball hasn’t lost much pace yet), by using the ground more or taking his racquet back with an abbreviated motion.  I like the Nike “swoosh” example because you can still take it “Up” and drop it into the slot with a short swing and good acceleration.

Here is venus with a short backswing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w4csCHhuZ-8

Go to: 33:40

Question 17- 
Garry From Minneapolis, MN
Do you have any tips are helpful drills that myself and my partner can do together to work on getting him/her to move forward
Usually players do not like to come to the net because of transition shots.  They are unpredictable and can be high, low, left right, loop you, you name it. I have made a video for you of 4 drills that I like to use and encourage players to move in.

I have also put in some chapters so you can skip to the next drill quickly.

Click Here to see the drills –  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3J2GSHTk_ts

Go to: 38:58

Question 18- 
Bill From Dayton, Ohio
What is the best way to teach young players or beginners about the correct serve motion?
Progress from stage to stage, like a conductor, keeping the motion abbreviated.  Check out the links below

My 6-year old here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=adpmFGvJvks&feature=player_embedded#at=60

More drills here: http://www.grandtraversetennis.com/pages/index.cfm?siteid=13451

Video I made to go through the progressions here –   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y8tNxH3aiDY

Go to: 49:50

What questions do you have?  You can Opt-In and take the quick survey by CLICKING HERE.

I hope to hear from you!

Coach Mick, USPTA

To get the FREE 10-Step Serving Progression Guide CLICK HERE. The Guide includes:

• Simple details for beginners
• Advanced details for high level players
• Side-By-Side Pro Illustrations
• Accompanying Video of Pros using the same progressions

The post 010 – Your Questions Answered Part 2 By Chris Michalowski, USPTA Elite Tennis Professional appeared first on Realtennis Network.

As a subscriber, you become sort of an advisor to the type of content that you would like me to produce.  Subscribing is FREE and by subscribing you will receive my FREE Doubles Game Changers (6 of them) and six tennis mindsets. If you have not subscribed, you can do so by CLICKING HERE.

First of all, I am very excited by the number of you who initially submitted a question and I thought that I would get this all accomplished in one episode (which usually last about an hour), but after getting though about 60%, I was already at the 1:45 mark. So the rest will be in Part 2 next week.

Below, you will find the questions that have been asked and the marked time that the question occurs.  This way you can go straight  to the questions that you would like to hear and skip the ones you prefer not to listen to.

For each question I added a one or two word answer, but give much more detail in the podcast.

For some of the questions I have added links to videos and even made some video of my own to go along with the questions.  I have also emailed a few of you with more detailed answers and accompanying video or other resources to try to make thing s clearer for you so that you can give some of these a try.

So let’s get the questions going and please let me know how things work out for you by commenting at the bottom of the post.

Question 1 – 
David from Douglasville
How short can you make a back swing on a one handed backhand?
As short as you want, but will need to recover lost advantages in doing so
Go to: 10:40

Question 2- 
Laura From Glen Arbor, Michigan
How important is speed for first serves in doubles?
Important if it works, but if not, try some of the suggestions I give you.
Go to: 15:44

Question 3- 
Andrew From Petoskey, Michigan
1 – I’ve started hitting a modern forehand, with a partially open stance. This works pretty well, and its coming along. However, my 2 handed backhand is still “closed” stance… are there similar fundamentals for the backhand?
Yes, but you need to learn three basic stances
Go to: 18:14

Serena (both): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UMcx_2aqbWM

Venus Semi: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w4csCHhuZ-8

Ivanovich: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rJkPsNxTd6k

Nadal: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KkxWY2-xW6I

2 – Whats the best way to make my ground strokes and baseline rally more consistent?
Balance, Footwork and Hitting Zones
Go to : 23:10

Hitting Zones: CLICK HERE

Andy Fitzell Interview: CLICK HERE

Please don’t judge me by this videos   Old and done a long time ago, but should get the point across

Definition of balance using Analogies: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H5ZncmTS0kI

Pros: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A5wCSda5O_E

Question 4- 
Paul From Traverse City, Michigan
Coaching players in high school on their serve
First serve in, slow down if necessary (mental advantages) and in practice, work on placement and pressure
Go to: 32:05
Video of Drill: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zHyEjkDHnaA&feature=youtu.be

Question 5- 
Terri From Kalamazoo, Michigan
How do I start to incorporate drop shots during match play if I am not used to doing so? I don’t recognize the right situation to try this shot.
Start by just bringing them in.  All depends on where you are hitting from.  Good for low volleys and wrong-footing opponent
Go to: 43:18

Question 6- 
Cheryl From Traverse City, Michigan
How can you better anticipate where the ball will come?
How can I set up a point so the ball will be returned where I would like it to go?
Know where to move based on the shot you hit them.  Hitting to the correct spot will get more balls hit back to you (examples )
Go to: 52:18

Question 7- 
Gary From Vancouver
Do I need to have a hatred for my opponent to beat him?
No, plus this will hurt you more harboring these emotions during a match
Go to: 1:07:02

Question 8- Kristen From Traverse City, Michigan
How can I make my toss more consistent?
Lower it and I also give you some analogies to help your toss
Go to: 1:08:50

Question 9- 
Meg From Lake Oswego, Oregon
How to address mental breakdowns on the court.
Control pace of match, use rituals, focus on the positive
Go to: 1:16:25

Question 10- 
Terry From Bear Lake, Michigan
when I come to the net, the opponent seems to lob over me. I want to be aggressive but am not that mobile when it comes to backing up. Should I just stay back?
Not at all. be more picky, don’t close in too tight and focus on your approach
Go to: 1:21:47

Question 12- 
Betsy From Traverse City, Michigan
How can I move in the right position for an effective overhead.
Footwork (split step), drop step, catch the ball in left hand and the scissor kick
Go to: 1:27:11

Question 13- 
Renee From Traverse City, Michigan
What drills can you recommend for beginning singles players?
C.A.M.P., Cross court, midcourt.  Repeating Simple patterns (examples given) Counting drills are great for pressure.
Go to: 1:30:45

In Part 2 Next Week:

I think tracking the ball and leverage points on all the shots.

Hey Coach Mick, what is your most embarrassing moment on court?

Just improve forehand and doubles strategy. Thanks

Is it okay to teach my son to take the racket back low on the backhand instead of looping the backhand?  I like the old school way because it helps my son get into the “slot” better?

Do you have any tips are helpful drills that myself and my partner can do together to work on getting him/her to move forward

What is the best way to teach young players or beginners about the correct serve motion?

The post 009 – Your Questions Answered By Chris Michalowski, USPTA Elite Tennis Professional Part 1 appeared first on Realtennis Network.

S0………What are the best tennis strategies to beat the different styles of players that are out there? Well today’s guest, Jorge Capestany wrote the book on how to do exactly this and shares tactics on how to beat two of the most common styles of play, The steady baseliner and teams that play one up and one back.

I decided to start with the two most common and we will definitely cover them all. What I like most about this cool little book, that is packed with great content, is that:

1. He defines each style of player ( so you can say to yourself, yeah, I get so frustrated with that kind of player)
2. He tells you 6-7 things to try to do against this style of player
3. And then he tells you 3 things to AVOID

How to Beat A Steady baseliner
Seven Tactics To Try
1. Be Patient
2. Look for chances too come into the net
3. Use drop shots to get them off the baseline
4. Attack second serves
5. Serve and volley more than usual
6. Mix up the pace
7. Work this player up and back

Three Things To Avoid
1. Don’t become impatient and overhit
2. Don’t get lured into a baseline battle
3. Don’t get lured into using a game plan that you don’t own

How To Beat Teams That Play One-Up and One-Back
Six Tactics To try
1. Get to the net at all costs
2. Hit volleys and overheads between them
3. Use the Back to Back Mindset
4. Be a “Ball Hog” at the net if your partner stays back
5. Try lobbing the return more often
6. Return crosscourt more than normal

Three Things To Avoid
1. Don’t get lured into playing one-up and one-back with them
2. Don’t overhit the return
3. Don’t overhit your volleys

If you are interested in getting you hands on his book, you can go to the bottom of the post on the podcast page and I will have a link right there for you. .

What issues do you want answered about your game? Send me an email at mick@realtennisnetwork.com or go ahead and click that BIG RED TAB on the side of any page so I can get your question audibly emailed to me and, who knows, I may even answer it on the air.

Links

The On Court Guide To tennis Strategy

Get Two Weeks of FREE tennis drills.tv (Extended to June 6, 2014)

One Page Template of Todays Episode

The post 008 – Tennis Strategy With Jorge Capestany USPTA and PTR Master Professional appeared first on Realtennis Network.

Over the past several years, Andy, alongside tennis legend, Vic Braden, has analyzed the worlds top players using the sophisticated APAS software (Ariel Performance Analysis System ) that quatifies movement.  Andy is considered an EXPERT when it comes to using this software.

Some information about Andy that may be of interest to you might be:

• Certified Dartfish Technologist (Dartfish is considered one of the leaders in tennis analysis)
• Director of the Vic Braden tennis College
• Speaker at many USPTA and USTA National Conventions including the US Open
• USPTA P-1 Tennis Professional
• USTA High Performance Coach.
• Vice president of Junior tennis ambassadors, a program  that teaches young students to coach their peers.

And for those of you who do not know who Vic Braden is one of the pioneers in tennis research and was awarded as contributing the most to tennis in America by the USTA.  Vic is a longtime sports science researcher, licensed psychologist and the founder of Vic Braden Sports Instruction and the Vic Braden Tennis College, which are held nationwide at premier resorts.

In my interview with Andy, we will discuss some key tennis fundamentals that every player must have no matter their style or swing pattern.  It was very interesting to me how all of the top players have the same fundamentals within their own swing patterns.

You will definitely want to listen to this episode if you are interested in:

He comes to these conclusions using the APAS system.   APAS captures actual match play by stationing three cameras on the court. In the lab, Andy digitizes each body joint, on each frame, which results in a skeletal figure.  Any body segment, and the racquet, can then be calculated for speed, acceleration, degrees of movement, r

acquet head placement at ball impact and many more kinematics.

The digitized joint centers are: feet, ankles, knees, hips, shoulders, elbows, wrists, hands, head, six points on the racquet, and the ball.

One very cool story I got out of Andy, and you can witness this during the US Open this year, is how he hit with Roger Federer while at the Indian Wells tournament this past spring, discussed his game and even starred in a commercial with him, which will air during the US Open.

Andy has also digitized Roger’s strokes using the APAS System and has some great points regarding Roger’s game.

What I learned from today’s interview with Andy

Like Andy said, you hear words like “The modern forehand” but underneath it all, the same rings true today as it did 20-30 years ago, which goes to show why the equipment changes have been  key in how the game has changed more than we might think.

Sure, there are different stances, grips, stroke patterns, but it all boils down to racquet face at contact and how it moves prior, at and even after contact. These principles tend to be consistent over time.

So what I am saying is that there is no “RIGHT WAY” to hit a ball necessarily, but there are common denominators that all of the great strokes have in common.

As coaches, it is up to us to take your “STYLE” and try to incorporate these common denominators into your style BEFORE we make any major changes in you swing. This way, you can do what you do naturally and work to infiltrate the key common denominators into YOUR stroke.

Remember, coaches that teach only one way to hit the ball, usually (definitely not all of the time) do this because that is the way they were taught or that way worked for one particular player and they are trying to ride it out as long as they can.  Sure, I will start with a particular grip and/or swing pattern with a beginner, but am reluctant to change anything that has been engrained into a player, other than these common denominators, unless it is absolutely necessary.

An example might be the backswing. Sure there are a variety of different methods, but the racquet tends to stay on the 180 degree position of the body in all of the backswings no matter how they take it back. In other words, it tends to not go past the 6:00 position at any time during the swing pattern.  Straight back, small “C” or “BIG LOOP” it stays in the same area to produce a linear motion.

If you take a look at the image on the left ( I took this while at the US Open last year on a practice court), del Potro has quite a big loop on his forehand, but it stays to the right of the green line that I have drawn vertically. The blue line suggests that if he took his racquet past the green vertical line during his backswing, how his racquet would have to travel in a circular motion, prior to contact, giving him a small “hitting zone”.

Andy mentions that the pros hitting zones are up to 5″ long and more which the human eye really can’t see in full speed, thus giving us a “warped” view of how to hit the tennis ball.

My Father-In laws way of thinking (the non-tennis player with an extremely rational mind)

For example, if the racquet kept traveling along the blue line in a circle, and he wanted to hit the ball down the exact center of the court, he would have little chance of hitting the ball down the center of the court.

By keeping the racquet to the right of the green vertical line, his forward swing will be much more LINEAR, thus giving him a much larger hitting zone (a common denominator that every great forehand, in this case,  has.  Like Andy said, that straight line through the hitting zone is crucial to give players a lot of room for error on their strokes in regard to timing and direction.

Just go to any site online and look at a photo of a player making contact ( a good player) and you will see this vertical racquet face.

OK, now back to some points about the interview:

Look at Federer, Nadal, Djokovic, Williams, Sharapova……. Completely different ways of hitting the ball, but they have the same major components within their styles of hitting.

This is what Andy is getting at……..

The common denominators.

I hope you enjoyed my interview with Andy Fitzell for discussing what is really happening out there on the tennis court and trying to put it all into simple terms for all of us listening.  I am sure looking forward to his commercial with Roger during this years US Open

Remember, To get a one-page template of today’s show, scroll to the bottom of the show notes and download it for your files or notebook

And it would really mean a lot to me if you could take the time to review this podcast in iTunes. And “Thank You“ in advance if you decide to do so

I have included some links that may interest you near the bottom of the show notes at realtennisnetwork.com and one link will direct you to the APAS system in action.  I have also included Andy’s contact info if you would like to get a hold of him directly.

If you would like to comment on today’s episode, you can do so at the bottom of this post

What issues do you want answered about your game?  Send me an email at mick@realtennisnetwork.com or go ahead and push that BIG RED BUTTON  so I can get your question audibly emailed to me and, who knows, I may even answer it on the air.

A big Thanks to you our listener. I really appreciate you taking the time to listen to this podcast.  It means a lot to me that you took time out of your day to listen and I hope that I can continue to keep you listening by giving you exciting content.

I hope to spend more time with you next week on the Realtennis Network.

Episode 007 Template – CLICK HERE

Links related to this episode

Fitzelltennis.com

Vicbraden.com

APAS in Action

The post 007 – Key Tennis Fundamentals With Expert Researcher Andy Fitzell appeared first on Realtennis Network.

I hope you enjoyed episode 005 with David Brouwer.  I know I sure did and have put some of his wisdom to work in my own program. I have always been into not sweating the small stuff, but I like how he empowers and ignites his students, getting them to say, “That’s the type of player I am!”  Great stuff.

I just finished interviewing Jorge Capestany and hope to get him on soon. He wrote the book The On-court Guide to “Tennis Strategy – How to Beat Every Style of Player” and we went over some singles and doubles styles that I know that drive me crazy, but his tips are great and I hope to get him on in the next couple of episodes. You will really like to hear what he has to say

Before we get into today’s topic, on how to win every match, I would like you to  check out the quick tip page sometime at www.realtennisnetwork.com/quicktips.

I am hoping to get these out on a regular basis and would like to hear your input on what has worked for you, or what you would like me to discuss more when it comes to these quick tips.  What I like to do is give you analogies on how you can perform certain tasks easier, because you can relate them to something that makes sense to YOU and not just a tennis teaching professional.  This is partially how I came up with the name “Realtennis”

You will see what I mean when you go to this weeks quick tip.  You can access it right here: www,.realtennisnetwork.com/qt001.  My next quick-tip (qt002), will show you how you can hit 1000 more balls with your partner in one hour of practice and hit properly with good balance. Please let me know what works for you by commenting at the bottom of the posts.  I would love to hear from you.

In this episode we are going to talk about performance and outcome and when is the right time to think about each or both.

As players, it is MUCH MORE IMPORTANT to think about your performance and not the outcome.

Let’s first define some Performance Goals:

• • Hitting with more topspin
  • Keeping the ball deeper
  • Getting my first two shots in when I serve and volley
  • Trying to hit three balls in play before I even think about going for it

 In a match, performance goals, based on who you are playing, may get more specific (more tactical, like):

• • Hit high to the backhand
  • Bring my opponent to the net
  • Attack the second serve

OK, now let’s define some outcome goals

• •  I want to be ranked top 50 sectionally by the end of the year
  • I want to be a 4.0 player within 2 years
  • I want to win the State Championship
  • I want my time in the spider drill to be 13.5 seconds within 6 months
  • I want to be able to beat John Smith

In a match, outcome goals my sound like this:

• • I need to win this point
  • I need to win this game
  • I need to win this set
  • I have to beat this player
  • All I have to do is win this last game and…….

OK, now you tell me what would make more sense in terms of how to think during a match.  Focusing on performance will ultimately allow you to have better outcomes.

When you focus on the outcome, you tighten up, your stroke patterns change, you put much more pressure on yourself, You are trying to make adjustments for something you really can’t control anyway for the most part.  And you go back to what is comfortable, which is usually what you have been training to get away from in the first place

One of the great examples, and I just witnessed this last week at a tournament, was one of my players was in the third set against another one of my players and was up 5-0 .  She then went on to lose that set by the score of 7-5.

I asked her what she was thinking about before 5-0 and she told me that she was focusing on getting to every ball and hitting the ball crosscourt.  This sounds like great focus to me.

I then asked her what she started thinking when she got up  5-0 in the set and her response was, “Just win one more game and I win.” “Just don’t miss and I can win this match”

Do you see the mistake here?  At the most important time of the set, she changed a game-plan that was working flawlessly and completely started to think about the outcome, which made her change the way she was performing.  She took a game-plan that was working and decided to stop doing what got her to 5 games in the first place and then went downhill from there. So remember: Keep doing what got you to 5 in the first place and forget about the score (easier said than done)

It is much wiser to concentrate on your performance rather than the outcome. In practice, and in matches.

In practice, focusing on outcome is just as detrimental if we are working on stroke production for example.  In practice, performance is different than hitting with topspin……this is now an outcome of a desired stroke.  The swing pattern, footwork pattern, position of the racquet face is the performance

How many times have you taken a lesson and the pro has asked you to try to do something, and being the student of the year, you listened, but to your amazement your shot was nothing close to what you expected and decided against making the change because of the OUTCOME?

I was working with a student once and had her switch to continental grip and I knew that she could handle it.  She hit one serve and watched it almost take the clock off the wall, with great spin by the way and said “Nope, I wont ever do that again”  my reaction was, what? It was a great serve, you just have to change the way you aim to compensate for the great spin that you just applied to the ball.

My own personal coach would make a change in my game and would say “Mick, how does that feel?”  I would say , “I hate it” and he would say GREAT!  “If it feels good, you are doing it wrong!”  That made a TON of sense to me.  If I said awesome, he would usually joke about how disappointed he was.  I got the point

Here is another way to look at it for all you math geeks.

3×2 = 6. The 3 and the 2 are the ………..FACTORS by the way, for all you math wizards. And the six is the product or the ….OUTCOME.  There’s a lot of different ways to get to six. But in this equation we want a three and we want a two.  If we always have a three and a two, the six will take care of itself. 

For example, in a volley racquet above the wrist is a 3 and your wrist back is a 2.  If you always have a 3 and a 2, the volley will take care of itself

Another example I use a lot is when you’re 16 and backing the car out of the garage and you run over your brothers or sisters bike.

What do your parents do?  They will first of all call you all sorts of names that will affect you for the rest of your life, and then their Instructions will be performance oriented.

“Will you look behind the car before you back out of the garage from now on! ” 

In practice, performance is different than hitting with topspin……this is now an outcome of a desired stroke.  The swing pattern, footwork pattern, position of the racquet face are the performance factors.

Lets skim over some key common denominators (performance factors in practice)

• • Balance
  • Hitting zones
  • Footwork (split steps and recovery)
  • Racquet face at contact
  • Stroke patterns

When we drill, focusing on stroke patterns is performance, not where the ball is going. If we are concerned with where it is going, we will resort back to our old ways.  This is not good practice. We may have a goal of where we want to hit it, but remember focus on the factors and not the product

When we are playing a match, some key performance factors might include:

 Singles

• • Keeping the Ball In play
  • Hitting to a particular area (weakness, crosscourt….etc)
  • Hitting the ball with topspin
  • Hitting the ball 5 feet over the net
  • Recovery after my shots
  • First Serve percentage
  • Mental Rituals

 Doubles

• • First Serve %
  • Serving to proper area of box
  • Getting my first two shots in
  • Getting to the net first (serve and volley)
  • Back to Back/Front to Front
  • Hitting I the direction I am moving

For example, in doubles,  if you think about serving and volleying for the whole set, Even if you lose the first set, if you’re concentrating on it deliberately all the time, you will improve during matchplay and improving during match play may be the only way you can improve if you are like 80% of most adults who go out and play their 2-3 days a week of doubles in a league or permanent court time.

How can you improve if this is all you do?

Well maybe one of the days you should be focusing on performance oriented goals, even though it is very difficult when you want to beat that person across the net from you really bad.

Examples of this might include

• • If you want to work on getting better at hitting a slice serve, do it on your FIRST SERVE, so if are not successful, you will have another serve coming to hit any way that you like

  • If you want to work on serve and volley, make it a rule that you will do it once or twice per service game

  • If you want to work on poaching, make it a rule to do it once per game ( and a little secret, do it on the very first point of the match).  Works like a charm. They are not expecting it and now their eyes are on you and not the serve.

In the short term, you might lose the match, BUT…..Focusing on performance goals will make it a lot easier to beat them in the long run. And make you a much better player. And move out of their league and into the next. Leaving them in the dust.

So how does this help you win EVERY match?

Well, like we said earlier, if you are deliberately focused on a performance goal, then you will win when it comes to improvement.  You are in control of this and it takes practice to STAY focused.  AND……in the long run, this will help you accomplish your OUTCOME goal of beating a certain player or raising your player rating or ranking.  You are not in total control of the OUTCOME and like we said earlier and if you focus on this, you will play a different game than what you tend to play in practice, because you have put pressure on yourself to win.

I hope this starts to sink in, because when it does, you will start to improve a lot faster because you are not focused on the short term, but the long term.

Listener Questions

Our first question comes from Patrick and he has a strategy question.  he asks, “Can you give me some tips on how to play against a pusher?”

Thank You Patrick, Great question.  So let’s first define a pusher

A pusher is

• • A player that is patient and will wait forever for you to miss
  • They wait for us to get frustrated and make us try to go for shots that we do not own (usually ending in over-hitting out of ANGER and dislike of the player across the net from us)
  • They run every ball down that we can throw at them
  • Basically, they drive us crazy……..
• The key here is to stay patient against this player and wait for the shot you know that you can hurt them with. Don’t go for winners.  This is what they want you to try to do.
• Most pushers like to push from the baseline, not the net, so try to get them into the net by dropping a short ball to them, but be prepared to move in after you hit it. (Jorge Capestany in his book says that if this player likes to retreat back to the baseline after getting your short ball, close in so you can catch him as he is retreating back) A lot of pushers will do this because they hate the net, so surprise them as they are running backwards.
•  Since most of these players are usually fast, making them run won’t be an advantage for you.  Hit the angles when you know that you can put them in a defensive position either when you get a short ball (Stinger shot), or when you are at the net and get a volley.
• Remember too, that you want to hit BEHIND fast players more often because they are already on their way to cover the “OPEN COURT” before you have even struck the ball.
•  Plan on your points being LONG………… This will help you stay focused and not get discouraged too quickly

Our next question comes from Erin and she seems to have a bit of a problem with fluidness while hitting the ball. She asks, ” Can you help me smooth out my groundstrokes?  They never feel fluid and I always feel like I have to muscle them over the net?”

Thank You Erin…..This will be my best guess without seeing you hit, but I am sure it’s pretty accurate. Remember too, I am assuming that you have good swing patterns, otherwise it could be a few other things that I will discuss at the end.

Ultimately this usually comes from poor dynamic balance (when you are moving) and even static balance when you are not.

Basically, You are lunging somehow and your center of gravity is not underneath you and this affects how you swing at the ball.  Even more basically said, the more body parts you get involved properly in the stroke, the smoother or more fluid it will feel and when we use the body to hit the ball from the ground on up, it is a great feeling of smoothness or fluidity.

I did some archaic videos a few years back, when I was experimenting with video, on balance right below.  They are a bit embarrassing, but this will definitely define what it means to stay in balance.

Balance defined: CLICK HERE FOR ARCHAIC VIDEO

Pro Bonus Video: CLICK HERE

Basically, when you are out of balance, you are not able to rotate properly and so you have to use your arms for two things:

• Bring the racquet through (or produce the power, since you broke the link in the kinetic chain)
• Control the racquet face

It is hard to do both and do it smoothly.

My coach when I was a junior would say, “It’s hard to hit easy, but easy to hit hard.”  What he meant by this was that if you can’t hit slowly with control, then something is wrong.  When I first started teaching beginning adults when I was 16, I had such a hard time rallying with them slowly from the backhand side, because my backhand was all arm. I dumped them all into the net.  If I swung through really fast and hard, with spin, I could get it in, but my student hated this scenario. And in a match, when I was on the run, I was in major trouble of hitting balls short.

Once I understood to “twist first” and then let my arms “go along for the ride” it was much easier to hit slowly and in control.

Your arms should go last, after your shoulders. For example, think of yourself doing the helicopter stretch where you stand still and twist from the waist with your arms extended out to the side.  Do you rotate from the waist first or do your arms go first and then your waist?

Now try lunging over and doing it, but focus on your arms staying level all the way through…………

Not smooth at all either.

Do you notice that you are also rotating on an AXIS when you do this properly?  Like an axis on a globe.

Imagine a pole going through your head and out your bottom and you need to be able to rotate on this axis (while balancing a stack of books on your head).  This is balance. This is why there are different footwork patters that pros teach, to be able to achieve this movement, especially from the waist on up, so every ball can be hit close to the same way every time.

For example, I have seen some pros insist on one stance or the other when it comes to teaching let’s say a forehand, but in Realtennis, this is not the case.

Try hitting a closed stance forehand when you are on the run.  If you stop to hit it, you will be thrown way off balance and hit short because this will not allow you to use any LINEAR or ANGULAR MOMENTUM, so you just have to “ARM” it through.

Hitting with an open stance on this shot will allow you to rotate fully, thus smoothing things out.

 Now, there are some Band-Aid reasons why you may be feeling this way also which might include:

• • Hitting the ball late (lots of reasons for this)
  • Hitting the ball too EARLY (yes you can do this and I have a quick tip on it coming up in our quick tip page soon)
  • Hitting balls out of your strike zone
  • Hitting balls back a different way that they came to you

  (an example might be when someone gives you an arc ball and you try to drive it while making contact above your head).  You should hit it back high

  • Using the wrong footwork patterns
  • Using the wrong grip
  • Using improper wrist too much
  • Small hitting zones

But my guess is the balance factor and I am very confident on that.  The question is, what is causing it.

You can always send me a quick 15 second MP4 clip from a phone and email it to me at mick@realtennisnetwork.com and I will give you an exact answer.  This goes for you our listener too. And if you do this, record either from behind the hitter or at a 45 degree angle facing the hitter.  Behind is a bit tougher to see contact points, but easier for other things.

So I hope that this helps you out Erin and let me know either way how you are doing.

What issues do you want answered about your game?  Send me an email at mick@realtennisnetwork.com, call me at 231-735-8518 or go ahead and push that BIG RED BUTTON  so I can get your question audibly emailed to me and, who knows, I may even answer it on the air.  Also, By doing this, others may have some answers for you too by  commenting at the bottom of the post

I hope to spend more time with you next week on the Real tennis Network.

Chris Michalowski, USPTA/USTA HP
Coach Mick

Episode 006 Template – CLICK HERE

The post 006 – The Secret of How to Win the Match Every Time appeared first on Realtennis Network.

I am personally interested in our conversation with David, because applying mental toughness strategies to my own game is what really turned me around as a player.

If you are not familiar with the term “The Zone,” it is the mental state that you are in when you are playing some of your best tennis otherwise known as “Treeing” in tennis slang terms.

While in the zone, we tend to stay relaxed, confident and are aware of the things that are going on around us with little effort, so it seems. Things seem to be happening in slow motion

So what can we learn from our conversation on the podcast? 

Think about the pros. How does Federer look when he is down set point or even match point?  He goes through the same rituals, and the look he has on his face is the same as it was at the start of the match. He doesn’t hold back, he plays the game he knows that he owns and that has done so well with over the last 10 years.  Sure he is going to miss, but he does not let that stop him.

You can do this with you game as well.  No matter your level.  Do what you know you can do and throw everything else away and you will be fine.

Listener Questions

The first question comes from Luke who sounds like he does not like it when players come to the net.

 Luke asks what drills can I do that will help me against those aggressive net players

Now remember, when we play tennis we want to think about setting ourselves up for the next shot and not trying to “WIN THE POINT” with each and every shot like we discussed in episode 002 of the podcast.

Well, the first thing, with my father in-laws rational thinking cap on is to………. Keep them away from the net ( what they like) as much as you can for starters so you don’t have to worry about them being there in the first place. This means:

1. HIT BALLS DEEPER and there are two main ways to keep the ball deeper

1. Hit the harder (not a good idea)
2. Hit them higher (a great idea)

Not only will a high ball land deeper, but it will bounce up more.  A harder ball will stay in your opponents strike zone.

Now I want to throw this in, just because I get this answer a lot from players when I ask them “How do we keep the ball deeper” and I get “Hit with topspin” quite often.

Remember that topspin makes the ball dive down quicker, this makes it land shorter, but by hitting your topspin higher, that will make it land deeper and get out of there faster with “KICK” and that is a great thing.

2.   Hit to their weak side more often

1. 1. Players tend to be less aggressive when you hit to their weaker side and will most likely retreat and not attack AS MUCH ANYWAY, and if they do, you   should have an easier time with your next move, THE PASSING SHOT. This means hitting to the weak side on your second serve as well.

3.   Get to the net first

1. 1. By getting to the net first, not only will you keep them where they may be a bit more uncomfortable, you will force them to have to step up to the plate and hit an accurate passing shot.

1. Lob them. Try not to hit a winning lob either, just get them behind the service line and you should be OK (most of the time)

1. Might want to lob over their backhand side
2. Topspin on your lobs makes it more difficult for them to hit an overhead because the ball is dipping a lot quicker
3. And remember WE ARE NOT TRYING TO HIT A LOB WINNER, we just want to set ourselves up for a better “NEXT SHOT”

1. Hit your first passing shot crosscourt, and preferably low, but either way, this will:
2. Force them to hit “down the line” to the open court which will be easier for you to chase down
3. Force them, if going down the line, to hit over a higher part of the net, which will make them have to “hit up” on the ball and give you more time
4. Pull them away from the direction of the net and hopefully force them to hit a weaker volley

If practicing with a partner, just go FH to FH only or BH to BH only with them standing at the service line and you at the baseline and try to rally, but keeping all of your shots to him/her below the level of the net

3.   Keep your passing shots low.

1. 1. This will force them to have to hit up
   2. This forces them to hit more of a neutral or even a defensive volley

And remember, you can keep the ball low by:

1. Hitting with topspin (underspin tends to float more, but may work if you have a lot of touch)
2. Hitting it slower.  This makes the ball drop quicker too, but be careful of the net, you will usually have to hit the ball a bit lower so they don’t “tee off” on your passing shot

Here is something to go try.  Stand just in front of the service line and have someone “Blast” a couple of balls at your feet.  You may find out that it isn’t really a tough ball to volley, because they are supplying you with PACE which makes it easier for you to get it back

Now try having them hit a LOW, SLOW ball to your feet and see what happens…………

A lot tougher isn’t it?  Yes, because YOU have to supply power to the ball and that takes away from touch and control.

“ LOW and SLOW” is the key phrase here and remember that SPIN takes pace OFF the ball, so now you really have a great chance to get to the next shot.

AND REMEMBER, if your goal is to set yourself up for your next shot and you successfully hit it low at their feet when they are at the net, what should your next move be “BEFORE THEY EVEN HIT THE BALL?” 

Move in! – Correct!

 Why – They will tend to hit short or pop it up and this will make you look like the fastest gun in the west! And set your self up for an offensive shot, or at least not be struggling to reach their shot.

Well Luke, I hope that gives you some things to things about the next time you face somebody who like to volley.

Our next question comes from Kristy and she asks how she can gain control of a ball toss that seems to be out of control?

Ball tosses can be tough, but there are a few analogies that you can think about and this even inspired me to do two videos on this topic. these tips in the video really seem to help out a lot of students, but I will give you more than two. I will attach them to the show notes this week.

First of all, a friend of mine said that he liked to use the word “Place” instead of toss.  Works for him and it mentally may work for you.

1. Start with how you hold the ball, with a soft grip for sure and in your fingertips, but you can either hold it with palms up or hold it like an ice cream cone with your palm facing toward the right (for a person tossing with their left hand).  This does not allow your wrist to flick back so much.2.Practice tossing up a wall (with you standing sideways to the wall about 6” away with your tossing arm) and draw or find a  vertical line on the wall  when you do this, try to keep the toss the same distance from the wall. This will represent the toss not moving too far in front or behind you. You should also keep it on the vertical line. This will represent left to right.  If you can keep the ball in the same plane, this should help

3. Imagine you are a waiter lifting a tray of drinks (story in podcast)

4. Toss the ball lower, but still hitting it at the peak of your reach.  By doing this, it will not be able to get away on you as much because the distance is less.  There are some other big advantages of doing this as you will see in the video.

5. Get an aerobics step (or any step) out and stand on it as you serve.  Sounds silly, but I learned this in a video featuring Roger Federer and this seems to do wonders with anyone’s toss (also in the video).  By standing on the step, it will force you to keep the toss in the general area of where you are, otherwise you will have to step, OR FALL off the step.

6. Abbreviate your tossing motion (almost like a music conductor moves his arms) to keep it much simpler and more efficient

Well Kristy, I hope one of those tips can reel that toss in for you. And remember, if you, have a question that you would like answered, go to that BIG RED BUTTON on our website and send one my way and I will be happy to answer it for you personally either by email or we can highlight it on one of our podcast episodes.

I would love to hear from you, our listener, and get your input and feedback.  You can do so by emailing me at mick@realtennisnetwork.com, or call or hotline at 231-735-8518 or YES, click the red button

To get a one-page template of today’s show, scroll to the bottom of the show notes and download it for your convenience

Special thanks to Thanks to David Brouwer and his thought on “STAYING IN THE ZONE” I hope we get another chance to talk with him in hope of taking our games to the next level.  Also to Luke and Kristy for their great questions.  Good luck with with those net players and your toss

And to you our listener. I really appreciate you taking the time to listen to this podcast and I look forward to the next episode of the real tennis network where I hope we can help take you tennis…….to the next level

Chris Michalowski, USPTA/USTA HP
Coach Mick

Episode 005 Template – CLICK HERE

The post 005 – Staying in “The Zone” With Five-Time Tennis Professional of the Year David Brouwer appeared first on Realtennis Network.

I hope you had a chance to check out the Connie She’s interview on our video page and hopefully I will be getting in touch with her this week and catch up on what she has been doing these last couple of months.  I know she had a great tournament in El Paso and I’m excited to she where she is off to next.

Well now that I am starting to get into a groove, I am going to start working on a lot more video tips and instructional material, which I consider one of my favorite things to do.

And please remember this is where I want to help take your tennis to the next level, not mine, so please go to our site and push that big red button and ask me a question, leave a comment of give me your feedback.  It is much appreciated and helpful in deciding what my next episode should cover

Don’t forget to print out the one-page template to today’s show that I have created for your convenience at the bottom of the SN

Well today, I have another treat for you.  Can you say LEGEND, or how about BEST OF ALL TIME?

I first met this gentleman when I was in High school at a tournament called “The Grand Masters.”  In my home town. It was traveling tour, much like the Champions Tour is now, that provided great tennis and entertainment all across the continent.  My job title was “Executive Director of Traffic Control” or in simple terms,  “Parking Lot Guy” and I had a chance to pick up a few players at the airport and even had the chance to hit with some of them one-on one. (check out the picture in the show notes)

Some of the others in the event included Rod Laver, , Mal Anderson, Torbin Ulrich (Lars Ulirch’s dad, Lars is the drummer for Metallica and a very good player from what I understand), Ramanathan Krishnan…just to name a few

Recently, I had the chance to sit down with the Australian tennis legend, Roy Emerson while at Ferris State University’s PTM Alumni Banquet for a few minutes and talked with him about his views on today’s game and what it takes to take your game to the next level.

Many of you younger players may not know who he is, especially in this day and age of “On from one thing to the next,” and super short attention spans, but you can put him in the mix as one of the best players of all time.

Roy has 28 major titles to his name……  When Pete Sampras broke the record for most major wins in singles with 13, guess whose record he broke?……….. Yes Roy Emerson’s.

His 12 Major singles titles broken down are, 6 Australian, 2 French,2 Wimbledon and 2 US Open titles. And he held this for 33 years.

And if you do the math, that means that he has 16 major doubles titles to his name which include: 6 French, 4 US Open, 3 Wimbledon and 3 Australian Opens.

Let’s get one thing clear, because this is confusing to people.  We may call the  US Open a “Grand Slam, but according to Hall of Fame Tennis Journalist, Bud Collins, and I have the link attached, the Australian, French, Wimbledon and US Open are considered “MAJORS” and if you win all 4 in the same year, you have won a GRAND SLAM.  Somewhere along the line, each tournament began being called a Grand Slam.

Even the tennis channels slogan was “Home of the Slams” until they just recently changed it to “Where Champions Live.”  I wonder if Bud gave them a call…………………

So let’s add even more fuel to the fire, Roy Emerson is the only player in tennis HISTORY to win singles and doubles titles in all four of the majors. Nobody in tennis history has ever done that, ever….

 What can we learn today from Roy?

1. Well it sounds like as players we have to do the same things now as they did back then.  Practice

2. He mentions that the game has changed a lot when it comes to serving and volleying, because the pace, but that should not stop you.  If you are up against a 100 mph FH like the big boys have, then yes, it might be tough to get up there, but there is no reason why you do not belong up there if need be.

3. Another thing he reiterates that Connie talked about was getting in shape.  Any pro that you talk to will tell you how important this is if you want to play your best tennis, but for all of you teaching pros out there, how does it go when you ask a 3.5 team to do a dynamic warm-up and then a few sprints up and back to the net and then finish the lesson off with some static stretching……………

It does not go well for me.  But in my logical mind it seems like we all like to work out and get in shape, but not on the tennis court, unless our opponent is making us run (because now I have to).  For me, I would much rather do a couple laps in a tennis lesson than run on a treadmill watching the Beverly Hillbillies on a television.

And then came Cardio Tennis!  I think this is where we meet in the middle and everybody wins and if you have not tried it, call the nearest club near you and give it a try. A great workout, lots of balls and a lot of fun.

4. Another thing he said was Quality tennis over Quantity.  He said that practice makes perfect, but I’ll take it one step further and say that PERFECT PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT (which is what he is saying).  2 hours is about all one could last having to focus this much, but if you switch up hitting and points, you might be able to extend this a bit further.  You will need to in a match someday anyway

5. Learn an all court game.  This puts more tools in the toolbox and will allow you to change things up if you need to.  A one-dimensional player will have a difficult time with different styles of play

6. Play a lot of sets!  If you want to be great at hitting forehands, hit a lot of forehands and if you want great at playing matches, play a lot of points.  The ball machine will not make you a great mentally tough player in a match.

That was some great information in a short time.  I want to say thank you to Roy and I wish him luck on his next big adventure.

QUESTION OF THE WEEK

Well now it is time to answer a couple of questions from our listeners.  The first comes from Rebecca and she is asking about her serves in matches vs. practice.  She tends to serve better in practice.  What can she do to translate this to a match?

1. Play more practice matches. Not only this, but put stipulations on your serve that will force you to focus harder and put pressure on you.  Some ideas might include:
   1. One serve only
   2. Have to slice all serves
   3. Have to hit all wide serves or up the “T”
   4. If you double fault you lose the game
   5. Explain the “V” (or divide into three) serve game

All of these will be difficult at first, but get easier as you start to adjust and then pick it up again.  It is all part of the process

2. Just as important, put more pressure on your serve when you practice. Now let’s face it. Serving practice can be boring unless you can add some pizzazz to it and make it worth your while.  It is the most important shot and the only “freebie” in this game if you get pretty good at it

We talked about specific ways to do this in one of our first episodes, but some ways to do this include:

• Don’t make the same mistake twice and if so, run to the net and back (this will help you learn to adjust pretty quick)
• Go for 7 out of 10 to each box with a flat serve and then with slice serves.  Divide the service boxed in two and then do it again and then divide it into thirds and do it again (maybe go for 3 out of 5)
• Play a set against a ghost player but with stipulations (this goes fast too and it is fun). Some variations include:1. One serve up the “T” on each side.  If you make it you win the point, if you miss, the ghost player gets the poin
  • All slice serves – same thing with    Flat serves (give yourself 2 serves and the same thing

Anything that will put a bit more pressure on your serve in practice will help bridge that gap into match play

The next comes from Mark.  

How can I get more consistent with my groundstrokes?

1. Well, the first thing, especially when you are playing in a match is to concentrate on your “hitting zone”. This allows you to not have to change your current stroke or swing pattern, but just lengthen it.

The “hitting zone” can be defined as the area where your racquet face is square to the intended target during you four forward swing.

Think about it, the ball is going to go in the direction that the racquet face is facing AT CONTACT.  So if I want to hit the ball down the line, for example my racquet face should be facing down the line for as long as possible, through the forward swing, to give myself as much “ROOM FOR ERROR”

“But the pros whip around the ball so quickly, they don’t do this.”  YES THEY DO.  Their hitting zones are very long.  Longer than the average player.  Look at the countless pictures of Federer extending with almost a locked loom on his arm.

In a nutshell, this might be stated as “HIT THROUGH THE BALL MORE” so you have more room to be off in your timing.

Visual examples might include:

1. hitting not only one, but three balls
2. Hitting down an imaginary line or runway
3. Hit down a coffee table
4. Have someone toss a ball forward through the hitting zone from behind you, forcing you to stretch trough contact after the ball

1. Some suggestions to help in a match might include:
   1. Slowing things down a bit
   2. Less backswing, but same finish
   3. Hit with more spin (if you are able to do this)
   4. Aim 5 feet from the lines (Tell Bud Collins/Borg Interview)
   5. Hit crosscourt – You are hitting over the lowest part of the net, have more court to work with (most of you know this),

BUT, when you hit crosscourt, you make your opponent run more and you will run less.   This makes it easier for you because you are more set up because the open court on your side is down-the-line which is easier to cut off, and this should hopefully set you up more and make you more successful

Developmentally you can:

1. Develop topspin, which allows you to work with more of the court  and keeps you away from the only obstacle…..THE NET
2. Develop Underspin.  This is more natural and we tend to be more accurate this way

ANY spin you put on the ball will slow it down which usually leads to more consistency

1. Put pressure on yourself in practice (COUNT DOWN FROM 20), not up, but down.  Nobody wants to miss around 5 and you can use this to bridge the gap in a match.  Counting up puts less pressure on you because it is infinite.

I hope that answered your question Mark and remember, if you, have a question that you would like answered, go to that BIG RED BUTTON on our website and send one my way and I will be happy to answer it for you.

I look forward to the episode where it is ALL questions and answers, plus this will give me a lot of great content ideas to throw your way in future episodes and video

Well that is going to wrap it up for today.  I would love to hear from you, our listener, and get your input and feedback.  You can do so by emailing me at mick@realtennisnetwork.com, or call or hotline at 231-735-8518.

To get a one-page template of today’s show, scroll to the bottom of the show notes and download it for a rainy day or even a sunny day, so you can go out and apply what may have struck you in todays episode.

Special thanks to Thanks to Tennis legend Roy Emerson taking the time to talk to us and we wish him luck at his tennis academy this coming summer I switzerland

Also to Ferris State University and the Professional Tennis Management Program for bringing Roy to the annual Alumni banquet.  If you are interested in a career in tennis, then check them out at ferris.edu/business/programs/tennis-management (how about if I just attach a link)

And to you our listener. I really appreciate you taking the time to listen to this podcast and hope that we can spend more time on the next episode of the real tennis network where I hope we can help take you tennis…….to the next level

 One Page Template  – 004  

LINKS

Roy Bio: http://www.atpworldtour.com/Tennis/Players/Em/R/Roy-Emerson.aspx

Bud Collins http://www.tennisgrandstand.com/2008/08/25/majors-not-grand-slams-says-bud-collins/

Ferris State PTM http://www.ferris.edu/business/programs/tennis-management

The post 004 – Interview With Tennis Legend Roy Emerson appeared first on Realtennis Network.

I hope you had a chance to check out the Charting sheets from episode 002 and I hope that you were successful in picking who won the matches.  If not, you can go to realtennisnetwork.com/002 and at the bottom of the show notes you can download the actual match sheet.

I also will have a one-page template of each episode for you to file away if you like in a binder, if you are into that sort of thing.  I always find myself listening to podcasts and taking notes through Siri on my notepad or writing them down, so if you are like I am, Im trying to make it easy for you to have it on paper. And in one place

Today, we are going to talk to a WTA tour player Connie Hsu.  I met up with her at the Dow Corning Tennis Classic, actually a few months ago in Midland Michigan, and since I was trying to be Mr. Perfect Podcaster, I didn’t get it in until now and as you see from this interview, it was one of my first ever.

You can also go to the video portion of the website and see Connie’s interview and I threw in some video of her hitting as well during the our talk so you would stop staring at my awesome tan last winter

Info about Connie:

• From Taiwan
• Started playing at age 5
• Ranked 260 in the world
• Played college tennis for one year at the University of Pennsylvania

Some Questions for Connie

1. What does it take to become pro

• Work 100% every day
• Stay positive, even though you start out losing all of the time
• You will have to make sacrifices

2. What goes through your mind prior to a match

• Stay Positive
• Stay Focused 

3. What do you focus on the most?

• Right now it is simple technique (did I hear SIMPLE……?)

4. In doubles, why do you see the pros playing one up and one back so much?

• Ball is moving so fast now, it is tough to get up there
• You have to rely on your partner to pick off balls at the net

 5. What do you play formation-wise

• One up and one back unless I have to switch to the “I” formation or Australian formation

6. What do you stay focused on during the match

• Keep it simple
• Pick a couple of things that you want to do properly
• Know your opponents weakness

What three things can you offer our listeners to take their tennis to the next level?

1. Practice serves a lot (the most important shot)

2. You have to move well the WHOLE TIME

3. Stay positive and don’t give up

We plan on getting in touch with Connie throughout the year wherever she is around the world and see how she is doing. And hopefully we can all be considered her online personal fans after a few visits

Let’s talk about some other ways to think that will help out our games during the match

After the interview, I started to think about what other thoughts go through the minds of some of the great players and thought I would share just a few.

* Nick Bollettieri quoted Bjorn Borg in an article about concentration.  And Borg said,

I was talking to Pete Sampras at an event I was part of a few years back and I asked him what one of the first things to go was and he said “Focus” It is hard to have that extreme focus for a whole match that is needed to compete successfully and stay at #1 or #10 or #50 for that matter

* Jimmy Connors said once “I like to think about one thing technically

Some things I remember Roger Federer saying were………..

1. Before the match – Have a game plan and a backup plan. You don’t always win with your “A-Game” or your best game. You need other tools in case YOUR game is feeding right into your opponent.
2. Visualize yourself playing this person (Mentally helps, similar to watching a match. )

Your body reacts to things as if it were really happening, even if they are not (this is because of your subconscious mind).  Visualization is EXTREMELY POWERFUL (I could do a whole episode on that too, maybe I will)

Think about biting into a lemon the size of a grapefruit (my mouth waters every time). Your body reacts to it as if it were really happening. Its like watching a great match on TV and then going out and playing great.  You were visualizing!

This next one I heard from Nadal

1.   Never give up

One point can change the whole momentum of the match

1. REMEMBER: Tennis is a game where both players are making a lot of errors like we discussed in Episode 002.
2. The player who plays better while the two (or 4) of you are making errors will most likely win the match
3. The only way you are going to have the best chance to win the match is to stay focused and try as hard as you can to accomplish whatever the task at hand is POINY-BY-POINT

2.  Portray confidence whether you are winning or losing (this obviously comes from him too)  Nadal looks like he wants to chew you up and spit you out the whole match, but after it is all said and done, he is a very classy gentleman.

3.   This next one comes from my father-in-law who I think has only thought about playing tennis a couple of times, but he is a very rational, logical and full of wisdom.  So he comes to me and he says, “ Well if I played tennis, and I don’t, I would try to do the things I do well and make my opponent do the things he doesn’t do well.” And I was like “Thank You Captain Obvious”, but then I though more about it and he did hit the nail on the head.

This takes some pre-match scouting and prep work on your part.

4.   Most Importantly (A key in the pros)…….Focus on Performance and not Outcome!!(May be one of the next episode

Examples Of performance might include

1. 1. First serve %
   2. First two shots in doubles
   3. Hitting the ball deep
   4. Hitting to a weakness
   5. Countless others 

 Examples of Outcome might include:

1. I have to win this match
2. I have to win this point
3. I want to get to the semis in this event

There is a time and place for Outcome goals, but usually not in the middle of a match

So, what do you concentrate on during a match? I would love to hear from you.

Please let me know by calling our hotline  at 231-735-8518 or make it easy by pushing that big red button on our website or the Speakpipe app at the top of our Facebook page

A big THANK YOU TO CONNIE for taking the time to help us understand what goes on in the mind of the big players. We hope your year continues to be successful

And also a big thanks to you our listening audience.  Your comments and feedback are always welcome and I do hope to get to know each and every one of you a little bit better

And finally, I am already working on episode 004 and hope to get you involved in the conversation with the community of players and pros and hope we can help you take your tennis game……….To the next level

Chris Michalowski, USPTA
Coach Mick

Template – Episode 003

The post 003 – Interview With WTA Tour Player Chieh-Yu Hsu appeared first on Realtennis Network.

What is important when it comes to winning the match

Answers I get most of the time include:

1. Unforced errors – who has less
2. 1^st serve percentage
3. The player with more winners
4. Total points won
5. Who wins the big points

Let’s go over some basic ideas on why the winner wins the match

In the March/April 2013 Issue of tennis magazine it has a great article on the error ball.They recorded data from the three most recent grand slams, both men and women, totaling 87,000 points for the men and 53,000 points for the women.The consensus, even in the pros, 71% of the points ended in errors in the mens game and 77% of the points in the women’s game ended in errors.This is a combination of forced and unforced errors.

 Let’s define these

In tennis, we keep track of these statistics and many others by charting.

What I did:

1. Started to study the match statistics and found out what was really important when it came to “Why” the winner won the match

2. This allowed me to make a much simpler charting sheet and have it make sense to my students right when they walked off the court (attached at bottom)

Well if you look at the match statistics, and the PDF I made for you, you will see:

For example the player that has 10 winners in 20 unforced errors is not going to be to be as well off as a player that has 5 winners but only 7 unforced errors most of the time

When we coach our students, we try to stress that yes, trying to keep the unforced errors down is important, but we expect you to go for it when you have your favorite shot as well, because it is the ratio of winners to unforced errors that is important.A forced error is the same as a winner when it all come down to winning the point and if you only concentrate on “NOT MISSING” then you are taking a huge piece of the pie out of the equation.

Just think about what your favorite shot is (federer – FH, serena – Serve….etc) I bet your favorite shot is not your favorite, because you miss it a lot.

Have you ever heard anyone ever say, “ I missed my backhand all the time, It is my favorite shot?”…..Of course not, it is probably your favorite shot because you make it all the time (Well then get real and do something with it…….. Help out your percentages)!

 Here is another way to look at it:

If Our objective of each shot we hit is to try to set us up for our next shot. What should happen?

• Make less errors
• more forced errors
• More winners – You might ask Why? You are not going for it as much.  

Here are some examples of how we can set ourselves up for the next shot 

Serves –
1. Hitting it to a weakness (can you do this on a second serve)

2. Wide to open up court (are you brave enough to do this on a second serve)

3. Into the body

4. High kicker ( do you own this effective serve?  Do you even rent it from time to time?)

 Groundstrokes –

1. Hit them deep, forces opponent to hit short more often to set us up

2. Varying Spin.  High balls that kick and low balls that slide are high percentage shots that can set us up for opportunities

3. High balls to backhand side (usually) are high percentage shots that set us up

4. Hitting to a weaker side.  Hit to their strength when you have a forcing shot

Approach Shots – 

1. Keep them deep

2. Slice them low

3. Hit to a weakness

4. Hit to the open court (I SEE SO MANY PLAYERS JUST GET IT IN AND TO THEIR OPP.)

Volleys – 

1. Keep first  one deeper if behind service line

2. Low and angled if close)

3. Doubles – Hit in the direction you are moving

4. Doubles – Hit down the middle

All of these are ways that you can set yourself up for the next shot and don’t necessarily force you to aim for “the line “or a low percentage shot.Don’t fall for the strategy of hitting the ball back and hoping things work out.

 ONE KEY: ALWAYS PREPARE FOR THE BALL TO COME BACK!!

This forces you to recover and not celebrate after you hit the right ball which makes the next shot even easier. An example might be a lob that you think is a winner you start walking away from the court and get caught with your pants down while they hustle on back there and go get it and you look silly. Sounds far-fetched, but I’ve seen this time and time again at every level

I was hitting with a student named Bailey yesterday and asked her what the objective of every shot should be. Knowing that I would be talking about this today.

She said, “To win the point.” (THINKING ABOUT OUTCOME) 

 What will thinking like this cause us to do?

• will cause us to hit  more unforced errors
• OK, Definitely more 1 shot winners
• A lot less forced errors (remember these count the same as winners.  Who cares if they barely touched it or not),   because your unforced errors have risen because you are going for it all the time, you are going to inevitably miss more.

And that’s the problem when we look at tennis by trying to win the point with “This Next Shot” in stead of setting ourselves up.

You can’t think like this! You’re making way too many last-minute decisions which will Cause. too many errors.

YOU NEED TO THINK ABOUT SETTING YOURSELF UP FOR YOUR NEXT SHOT (THINKING ABOUT PERFORMANCE)

You should know where you’re going based on the ball you are RECEIVING (we will talk about this in a later episode).  This is called PLAYING THE BALL, NOT THE PERSON.  Only break “the rules “if it’s blatantly obvious.

 All of this will help you:

• create less unforced errors,
• create more forced errors,
• and even more winners (2 shot winners, not 1 shot winners)

I get asked a lot, “Why will you hit more winners if you are not going for it?” Because you will hit more 2^nd shot winners or “follow up winners”  or indirect winners this way.

Let’s say your opponent is at the net and instead of trying to rip a passing shot by them you just get a lowball crosscourt at their feet. If you recover properly, you will move in before your opponent even initiates the volley and when your opponent struggles with this Ball eight out of 10 times, you will be in position to hit the easiest volley of your life, and most likely a winner! (this is the follow up)

This is why those players beat you 6-0, 6-1 and look like they are not even trying. They know how and where to hit  the ball but most importantly where to move after they hit the ball to make the next shot easier for them because they are playing the percentages and good geometric tennis. Plus, this calms  you down as well and keeps you more relaxed which is a good thing

Where does the second serve come in?

If you look at the PDF, the winner most every time has a better % of points won, not necessarily on the first serve, but on the 2^nd serve

And the winner who wins a higher % of the points off the 2^nd serve most every time has more break chances and a higher number of break points won because this directly relates to the 2^nd serve.

Remember, the minimum requirement to win the set is to:

1.    Win every service game

2.    Break their serve once (unless you go into a breaker)

Some Exceptions: If there is a 3 set match where the scores are 6-4, 1-6    7-5, this may not be as obvious because of a nasty second set that was played. I will show an example of this in our video that I plan on producing for you in the next couple of days

 Think about this

When you are receiving a first serve, thoughts like, “just get this back in play” “keep it simple”……. Go through our head. But when the first serve is missed, we go on the offense, or are at least relieved that we don’t have to return that first one. You start to think about what you want to do with this serve on a more offensive level.

For example, let’s define an approach shot. And approach shot is when you move into the court, usually on a shorter weaker ball that enables you ( if you don’t chicken out) to come to the net. Well guess what? 50% or more of the second serves that I see in 4.0 tennis Would be defined as approach shots. They are weaker, they usually land in the same place 80% of the time which will make it easy for us to position ourselves, and they have to be shorter or it’s out!

So when your first serve is not going in , and your second serve does not put them in a defensive position, you should slow the first serve down and stay away from the second serve

Remember that your opponent is thinking more offensively on your second serve now and not defensively.  Their whole attitude has changed mentally so remember , by slowing down your first serve, you still keep them on the defense mentally and your percentages will start to go up anyway and so will your confidence.

 Don’t focus on your second serve as much as you do trying to get your first serve in more frequently.

 But remember, the objective is not necessarily to always slow your first serve down. If you have a good second serve. Then you can still put your opponent in a defense position when you’re hitting it. I have played many a match where I hate returning someone’s high Kicker second serve. You have to be able to count on a second serve under pressure, so the more you work on it, under pressure, the better. (explain drill)

 A good second service will still need to put your opponent in a defense of position, if you can’t do this, then concentrate on a more consistent first serve, so you still have the mental advantage and a better serve. For me, I love the wide angle serve on the deuce side. I know that if I missed the first try, I can adjust and Execute the same served  90% of the time. This takes a lot of practice. Not just me telling you how to hit a good second serve.

 USE THESE STRATEGIES WITH YOUR GAME TODAY AND AS YOU PROGRESS TO THE NEXT LEVEL.

 I have included a PDF for you on the website of some actual charts that we have our junior players take while at tournaments we travel to. By getting them to chart, they begin to realize what they need to do when it is their turn to go out and play. As you will see, they come up with some interesting names for their opponents, but we show in each set:

1. Ratio of winners to unforced errors of both players (+/- system too)
2. Percentge of points won on the first serve
3. Percentage of points won on the second serve

This is just a start.  As they get more advanced, we might keep track of double faults, what side their unforced errors are from or where in the court, but this simple system get players to focus on what they need to do to be successful.  The game plan will be different for each player, depending on their style and tactics, but the bottom line still remains the same.

Who won the matches? Match 1 = A , Match 2 = A, Match 3 = A, Match 4 = B, Match 5 = A, Match 6 = B, Match 7 = B, Match 8 = B, Match 9 = A , Match 10 = B.  Look for the names on the attached PDF in the show notes on the website

Something New: at the top of the post, I will have a NEW one-page template that will sum up what this episode was about.

You might even want to get a 3-ring binder to keep the templates handy.  I will have this for each episode.  If you are really into it, you might want some tabs in your binder titled:

1. Technique
2. Tactics
3. Mental
4. Singles
5. Doubles

And anything else that may help you keep this content organized.

Have a question, comment or feedback about this episode?  Then click this BIG RED BUTTON on the website and ask or comment.  I want to get to know you better and talk about what you want to hear!

Episode 002 TEMPLATE – You Are Only As Good As Your 2nd Serve – Download This for your binder

The Answers – Match Ststistics For Analysis (Outcomes)

Charting Example

Simple Charting Sheet Sheet1

The post 002 – You Are Only As Good As Your Second Serve appeared first on Realtennis Network.

If you want to get involved in the conversation, you can comment on this post or go to our Facebook page.

In today’s episode we will:

1. Talk to Gus Giltner a prince rep who covers Michigan, Northern Ohio and Northern Indiana. He will discus how to choose a tennis racquet and what to look for (YES, IT IS THAT TIME OF YEAR)

1. Provide you with some homework, if you go to our site, and go to the show notes of episode 001, I am going to provide you with some match statistic that I took a while back.  I will go over.

1. Answer some of your questions that you have been wanting answered

To see any video or comments regarding today’s show, go to realtennisnetwork.com or go to our facebook page.  You can always email me at mick@realtennisnetwork.com oe even better yet, go to thw website and click that BIG RED BUTTON and leave me a message

 First and foremost, this podcast is not about me, it is about YOU our listener and how we can help take your game to the next level. And to be able to make this happen, we need your comments, your questions and your feedback so that I can make this a source where you will want to go to get your questions answered and maybe learn something you were not expecting along the way.

As for the site, it is a work in progress and I am working tirelessly on getting it to flow.  For example, my posts are working, but I am trying to get them to carry over to the other pages automatically.  Hopefully after the next week, it will flow beautifully, so please bear with me as I use the few remaining hours of my life each day to get it running smoothly. The first picture on the right took me about 3 hours to do on photoshop alone, but I am starting to get it!  Oh yeah !!

Now what was with that intro? This is where you come in.  I want to make you a celebrity.  Jones soda story.

Leave me a message on our home page and tell me something that you are frustrated with and we will get you on the intro of one of our next episodes

Just a few things to remember that I think were important after talking to Gus:

1. get with someone that is knowledgeable
2. Go smaller rather than bigger with your grip size.

1. 1. More acceleration of the rqt head
   2. I have read that Nadal uses a 4 1/8 to 4 ¼
   3. Much easier to build up

1. Remember to use the rqt that you like for more than one day. It might just be you and not the rqt.  I am sure you have played well and not so well with your present rqt.
2. Keep switching back and fourth.  You might like one for serving vs another on for your graoundstrokes.  You have to decide which is better
   1. If you are a doubles player, remember that you only be serving one out of every 4 games, but you will be hitting GS and volleys continually (just a thought.

Questions

 Kathi: how do we know the right time to come into the net so they don’t lob us

1. Just remember that if you getting lobbed, it is not necessarily because they are great lobbers, you have to give them a shot that is difficult to lob.  (underspin, at the feet, hitting the ball to the right area of the court, serving to thr correct area of the box.
2. I see this over and over where players want to come to the net, but do nothing to make it tough on their opponent.  The old “here you go” syndrome.  Usually this is follwed by “There it went”, over our heads of course
3. When you know you have wounded them.  This will require a good approach or recognition of a ball that you hit from the backcourt. An example might include a great lob that you hit to them.  Remember that when you see “butts and elbows”, close in!
4. If you stagger correctly, you should not have to worry about the lob.  There are two theories behind this……………….

Theresa: What do you do when you have a really good player at the net who gets everything

1. Pick a window, she cant be two places at once
2. Have your partner stand back with you if she is getting blasted
3. Lob her over her backhand side or crosscourt where you have more room and she has to move more
4. Catch the returns earlier, so she cant get to the ball as easily
5. Hit it right at her, if she is poaching a lot, she will be moving away from your return

To finish up this episode, I said that in the last episode we were going to talk about winners and errors.  We are going to save that for episode II, but I am going to attach a PDF in my show notes (on the website) with some match statistics on it.

What I would like you to do, is to go over them and decide who you think won the match.  I will go over the answers in episode II and we will talk about what we should be focusing on when playing singles, and if we have enough time, I will throw in some great doubles ideas that are rock solid statistics as well

Match Statistics Info Sheet (No Names)

What questions do you have? I would sure love to hear from YOU OUR LISTENER! So please go to the website and push that red button, go to our Facebook page or call me on the Skype hotline at 231-735-8518

See you in episode 2!

The post 001 – Choosing the Right Tennis Racquet to Fit Your Game Style With Gus Giltner of Prince Global Sports appeared first on Realtennis Network.

 My name is Chris Michalowski, also known as coach Mick here to guide you through this first episode of the Realtennis Network

If you are serious about taking your game to the next level, then this podcast is for you, where I am dedicated, with the help of experts from around the world, to instruct, entertain and encourage you to take your game to the next level.

This first episode is kind of an orientation of what to expect when you listen to the podcast or watch our YouTube channel

WHAT IS REALTENNIS?

 Through the use of audio video and print, I hope to bring all of your questions to the table and answer them in a way that makes sense to you.

To be able to do this, we need your comments, questions  And feedback so we can make this a source where players will want to go To get their questions answered by leading experts from around the world.

Just listen to whom we will be talking to in some of our upcoming episodes:

1. An NCAA Division 1 National Championship coach
2. A WTA Tour player and her take on what is important in taking your game to the next level
3. A coach from the biggest Junior Tennis Academy in Europe
4. A 28-time Grand Slam tennis Champion and the only guy to win both the singles and the doubles in ALL 4 major tournaments EVER!
5. A 5-time state pro of the year and 2-time Midwest pro of the year ,  A USPTA Hall of fame coach and author of how to beat every style of player.
6. An ACE (American Council on Exercise) National trainer of the Year
7. Dartfish Dave
8. Prince Sales rep

How can I define what Realtennis might mean to you. Our listener:

1. Real tennis might be defined as, yes, I know that the kinetic chain will allow me to hit the best groundstrokes possible and reduce injury, but I have a match tomorrow

Wants and Needs: I want to hit a certain way, but all I need to do is…………

 Percentage tennis: Doing what makes sense will definitely win more matches for you, but there is always a time to “Break the rules”

“Tennis is a game of percentages, not absolutes”

 Stroke Similarities (common denominators): There is no one-way to hit a ball, but there are certain “COMMON DENOMINATORS” that most of the great players have incorporated in their strokes.  You can do the same with your style.

 Playing with the tools that you have in your toolbox at the present time: This will change and the more tools you have to get a certain job done, the easier it may be, but don’t use tools you don’t own yet for the most part.  Can’t hammer a nail into a board very easily with a caulk gun.

Self-Realization: The key to stating your journey to the next level:

 Once you realize where you are at in your game, HONESTLY, you will have a much easier time doing the things you need to do to get to the next level

 The Keys to winning matches:

1. Winners and Errors and why both are important (Check out episode 1)
2. Why your percentage of points won on second serve is extremely important
3. Percentage tennis
4. Knowing what tools will beat the player/team across the net from me
5. What do I need to think about mentally

What do the real players on tour say they think is important?

In episode 001, we will be talking to a representative from Prince, Gus Giltner, on how to choose a racquet and going over unforced errors in the pros that was discussed in tennis magazine

The post 000 RealTennis Network – Orientation to Our Online Tennis Network appeared first on Realtennis Network.