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Approach across the body
A very useful shot to approach the net is the sliced backhand.
One of the advantages is that it keeps the ball low, making it harder to hit a topspin passing shot.
Because it is a softer shot, it gives the attacking player more time to get to the net.
By getting closer to the net, the attacking player increases the pressure on the opponent, covers the wide shots better, and makes it much easier to volley into the open court.
On next Sunday's match, being Sampras right handed and Rusedski left handed, both players will use this shot mostly down the line, towards their opponent's backhand.
Observe that this shot is best hit somewhat across the body, rather than following the flight of the ball. If you pay attention to the butt of the racquet, you'll see that it leads the shot around the body, instead of only forward. This gives the ball a longer string contact, increasing control, and making it a firmer shot.
This underspin hit across the line of the ball will keep it much lower and
with some sidespin, curving the down the line ball slightly away from the opponent,
before and after the bounce.
The power of simplicity
What is the strength that separates the very top pros from the rest of the field.
Is it technique, focus, mental strength, tactics, or all of the above?
You could very well call it a combination of all of those. But in a very special way.
Strangely enough, they are interrelated in one particular aspect. They are all geared to help each other in simplifying the task. The body helps the stroke, the focus helps the mind, the timing helps the power, the tactics are to use your strength.
How could all this happen and not get lost in a maze of data? Very simply. Let use a reductio ad absurdum.
(A method of proving the falsity of a premise by showing that the logical consequence is absurd; an instance of this (The Concise Oxford Dictionary). A reductio ad absurdum of the theory that the less one eats the healthier one is would be 'Consequently, to eat nothing at all gives one the best possible health').
Lets say you are a well taught, by conventional teaching standards, player are you are in the final of the US Open. You pay attention to your feet position, the path of your backswing, you make sure you prepare early for the shot (you already pictured in your mind where the ball is going to bounce and how), you are also thinking of where you are going to hit the shot, first, to make sure you don't miss it, second, to get your opponent on the run. What would happen? You probably miss the ball entirely!
Well, that is what conventional tennis teaches you. You do all that and one day you'll be a champ! Unfortunately all you'll get is to look like a "chump".
Top pros achieve a delicate balance of timing, power, control, coordination, focus, and endurance with their instinct and feel. They are focusing on the ball and let their instinct stalk it and then let power fly. They judge their stroke by its feel.
They have practiced long enough to know what is efficient, what will produce the desired result, and what not.
Most of the top pros today have had a role model when they were kids, not just of conduct, but a player they admired as a performer and his/her strokes. Imitation of top players does give you some of the best technique available. If your admired player is weak in one stroke, you can always copy that particular swing from another top pro.
Few are today's top players who broke this copy-cat start and they set a new standard. The Williams sisters did that. How did this happen? According to their father, Richard, in the early 90s they watched my tapes! Although those videos portrayed very un-conventional tennis teaching, he told me, almost four years ago: "it made sense".
Among those featured Venus and Serena's "firsts": the open stance two-handed backhand, a fabulous shot at which both excel. The forehands were also directly opposed at what was being taught in America at the time: a closed stance, follow the stroke towards the target. If you observe long enough, you'll see how much they come across.
To sum it up, the best technique is that which lets you feel the most. If you observe the ball all the way, you find it well, and have a reasonable stroke, with a nice feel and a known finish, you need to think of nothing else.
Overall, stay in present time and don't rush. You have more time than you think.
The best way of performing is the simplest of all. Pete Sampras, asked years ago in a press conference after a 3 hr. match at the US Open, which he won, what did he think during the match. He thought for a while, and he replied: "I think I had one thought".
So simplify your tennis, feel the ball in your strings, and avoid thinking of anything else but the ball.
If you have trouble clearing your mind, count to five, 1 at the bounce, the 2, 3, 4, a little pause, and then hit at 5.
Weird? Well, the first by-product is, you'll look longer at the ball.
Switching court surfaces
Many players have the opportunity to play on more than one surface, such as
Har-Tru or Fast Dry courts (green clay), red clay, hard courts, or carpet.
Changing from one type surface to another will require that you make adjustments both on timing the ball and in your swing.
Hard courts can also vary in speed according to the composite they were built with. Adding more fine sand to the mix, for example, makes the surface slower.
There are differences even within the same type clay courts, depending on how damp the court is.
Carpets at different clubs could differ on texture too.
Some players have difficulty adjusting to different court surfaces.
The main thing to do is to stalk the ball after the bounce, so one adjusts the timing to this part of the flight. It is far better to lose some ball speed in the first few minutes of your adjustment than missing and losing confidence.
Of course you'll have more time on clay, especially red clay. The tendency, therefore, when changing from clay to hard courts is to rush.
But, if you rush, on any surface, you'll be in trouble.
Especially on hard courts. Take your racquet back early and you'd be caught with your racquet behind, or you'll have to force it forward too fast, losing control.
That is why I recommend to shorten the preparation on hard courts. Keep the racquet in front longer, closer to the ball than usual, then go back and forth with your swing. Make sure you accelerate with the ball already on your strings, and rather than following the ball with your racquet, swing up and across the body to have more control.
Overall, let your body tell you how it wants to move on the surface you are playing at. To force your footwork in an unnatural way is the main cause of leg, hip, and lower back injures in tennis.
Be a natural. In this sense, copy the pros.
Speeding up your serve
Most players would love to have more speed (power) on their serve.
Please observe that in the strongest serves, like Sampras', even the first serve has considerable ball rotation.
So, bearing that in mind, I will give you two drills that will accomplish both: strengthening the serve and still controlling it with ball rotation.
The first drill is to go outside the court, and serve over the fence, whether it is 10 or 12 ft. high, with spin.
This will develop bending and extending the arm, using the triceps as the main driving muscle. Most people have too much dependence on the rotator cuff, which is a much shorter and weaker muscle, and the source of most serve injuries.
You'll notice first, in this drill, that you don't hit up as much as you think you did. Even professionals, when doing this drill, net into the fence quite a few of their first attempts.
When you are finally consistent and comfortable hitting over the fence, go on the court and hit from the normal service position. You may need to adjust the angle of your wrist, so as to keep the forward edge of the racquet pointing to the ball and then come across to the right (for a right-hander), otherwise the ball will be too long.
Regardless of how flat you try to hit it, your serve will tend to have some spin. That is a natural consequence of the drill over the fence.
Another drill to give you more power is to go to a large field and serve quite a few balls as far as you can. This will develop the natural release you would have as a thrower.
Again, when you come back on the court, you'll need to adjust your wrist position as above.
The combination of both drills, even if done one time each, will give you a much stronger serve.
Just be careful not to strain your arm too much nor to overdo it, hitting too many balls. Use your sense and feel on how far and how hard you can go.
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