CHAPTER 3

Do you have trouble with some aspects of your game? Do you want to correct or change some of your strokes? Then limit your correction to one stroke at a time, perhaps the one that you mis-hit the most or make more errors with.

Work on that one until it feels much better before you start on anything else.

If you work on several strokes at the same time, it may disrupt your game and make you feel like you are going in several directions at the same time.

What is preferable is the feel of the improvement on a particular area, the desired change that boosts your confidence. Stated clearly, it is best to narrow down the area in which you are working. Then, when that stroke becomes grooved-in and steady, you can tackle another one, and so on.

There are two major ways of correcting a stroke:

1) Find out which basic thing you are doing wrong and work on that, getting the missing pieces in one by one.

For example, let's say that in reading this book you realize that you prepare too soon on your forehand, taking your racket back too early.

To correct that, get a friend to hit only high - and slow - looping balls to your forehand. Wait longer and longer than usual before taking your racket back.

The ball will bounce, getting close to you. Perhaps you have already turned your shoulders, but keep both hands on the racket to prevent it from going back too early. Then swing, accelerating from the contact point on and emphasizing the end of the stroke over your left shoulder.

Do this until you lose your panic over stroking too late.

Of course, you may have hit several balls too late, but you also find out how long you can wait. Adjust accordingly, always waiting and stressing the finish of the stroke. By now, it should be a different feel altogether.

Next, work on relating the end of the swing to your placement, as described in Chapter Seven on forehand, perhaps doing the drills around the can.

Repeat these drills until you are sure of this new feel, until you are used to it, until you like it, until you are confident about it. By now the ball should be going exactly where you want.

The same procedure would work, for example, if you feel you need more topspin. Drop the racket head below the ball, then come up over your left shoulder, brushing up on the ball instead of hitting the ball squarely.

Again, exaggerate the topspin in the beginning to get a better idea of what it feels like. Here the string above the net described in Chapter Seven would be a good aid. It will make you pull up farther on your stroke and give you the idea that if you don't get enough roll on the ball it will go out long.

Now you could pick up some other drills from Chapter Seven, or from "Drills for Development" Chapter Sixteen, and practice those until you feel comfortable and confident with your topspin stroke.

Pick up bits and pieces of information in this book. Write them down.

Work on one thing at a time. If you keep it simple and objective, you will come out at the other end with flying colors.

2) The other way to correct a stroke is to start from scratch. Turn to the chapter on the one-handed backhand (Chapter Nine), for example, and go through the whole learning process and each drill, for as long as is needed.

It is very important to start at very low ball speeds, both for the "feed" from your friend or teacher, and for your hit.

At these low speeds you'll be more aware of the movement and how your force gets transferred into ball speed. At high speeds this difference won't be as noticeable as at lower speeds.

There is definitely a different feel between accelerating from the ball forward (push), and accelerating prior to the impact (hit).

On groundstrokes, it should feel like slow motion prior to contact with the ball. Then you accelerate.

The same technique should be applied for your harder hits. Your racket should approach the ball slowly, then you explode from the impact on.

By practicing this way you may be sacrificing some ball speed at first, but you'll be gaining lots of control and understanding.

It will be easier to see why the ball goes in one direction or another, higher or lower, faster or slower, rotating or not.

You are also developing racket sensitivity, awareness of what you are causing and why.

You can choose either method of correction, depending on your advancement and your idea of what you want to accomplish.

Which Basics Are Wrong?

You can find out which basics are wrong by comparison.

You probably have an ideal stroke in mind, perhaps a stroke from some great player. Compare that to your stroke.

First look for differences in timing. When does he start his swing? How long does he wait? How close is the ball when he commits his swing?

Many times the path of the racket is dictated by the way you find the ball. The time you start your swing definitely influences the way you find it.

The most disruptive thing of all is to start your stroke too soon. The racket will start on a swing pattern, then, when you are already stroking, you see how the ball has bounced as it comes toward you.

Now you need to make corrections midway through your swing. This can severely disrupt your stroke pattern. Subsequent corrections to your swing won't straighten out the real problem because it doesn't lie there, but in your timing.

It is far better to wait until after the bounce of the ball to start your swing because then you know where the ball is really going. You'll also get to know the "too late" boundary, something that you may have been totally unaware of.

People that are constantly afraid of "being late" may be consistently early. In tennis, this results in inconsistency.

This difference in timing may be very small, especially at high ball speeds, but it definitely changes your approach to the ball.

The key is to "feel" that you are waiting, instead of trying to get ready as soon as you see the ball coming your way.

Slowly you'll become aware that you can time your groundstroke to the bounce of the ball, not to your opponent's hit.

Once this is corrected the stroke usually becomes easier, more natural, more effective, and you get more feel.

It doesn't mean that you'll need less force, because pushing can be a greater effort than hitting. You are accelerating the racket with the ball already there, while in a hit you may actually be throwing the racket at the ball. But with correct timing and technique the stroke will feel smooth.

Your efficiency and accuracy are in direct ratio to correct timing and technique. Therefore, the timing is the first important detail you should focus on.

Here is a list of some of the things you can check out when you have problems with a particular stroke:

1) Check your grip by pressing your racket flat against a vertical surface, like a fence or a wall, to see if you have good support of the racket.

Although many topspin shots are hit leading the shot with the racket's upper edge, some kind of support for the impact on the strings is necessary for the shot to be truly effective.

To test the grip for your backhand slice and your volleys, push with the bottom edge of the racket, angled at 45 degrees to the wall.

2) Do you start your swing too early?

On groundstrokes, do you wait for the bounce of the ball?

3) Do you focus on finding the ball, or are you focusing on something else?

4) Does it feel like you hit behind the ball, or that you hit from the ball forward?

5) Do you follow through just by the momentum of the early part of your stroke, or do you deliberately accelerate toward the end of your swing?

6) Does it feel like you finish the stroke in the same place all the time, independent of where you hit the ball, or does your finish vary?

7) Do you concentrate on finding the ball and then the "finish" of your stroke, or are you thinking of your footwork or something else?

8) On your groundstrokes, do you sweep your hand smoothly through the stroke, or do you make sudden changes in racket angle, disturbing its path?

Usually more than one of these problems shows up, as one thing done poorly induces problems in several other areas.

Basic errors are compounded with compensations dreamed up to somehow get the ball into the court.

For example:

1) An incorrect grip makes a stroke awkward.

2) A too-early preparation usually causes tightness and stiffness during the stroke.

3) Not focusing on finding the ball causes lots of mis-hits.

4) Hitting behind the ball rather than from the ball forward causes loss of control. The result is a tentative followthrough.

5) Not finishing the same groundstroke in the same place will give you a different stroke for every occasion. You will then have to resort to adjusting the racket angle differently each time, plus make adjustments for ball speed, height, spin, etc. This actually makes for hesitations, especially under pressure.

Most of these examples are for groundstrokes.

The volley has a completely different feel. As your body goes for the ball, you wait till the ball is near to discharge your shot, stopping your hand at contact with the ball.

By correcting one or two things that are basic, everything else should fall into place.

I can only generalize in this chapter, because there are many ways of swinging, and few ways of hitting the ball really effectively.

"Overall, the most important thing is to get the ball in the court."

You may think you have beautiful strokes, but if the balls don't land consistently inside the court, nobody will get to admire your game at Wimbledon or on TV--or in the finals of your club tournament.

In other words, "consistency" is the name of this game.

Mats Wilander has been a prime example of consistency. Midway through the 1980s he was probably the player who made the least errors in a match.

He could go for several games without an unforced error. He hit his first serve with spin, not with overwhelming power, but consistently in.

By 1988 he had developed an excellent backhand slice and some good volleying to add to his flawless topspin strokes. Now he coupled his groundstroke steadiness with good excursions to the net on important points. He waited for the shorter ball to attack and he didn't miss approach shots either.

All these assets, plus his superb conditioning and speed, got him three Grand Slam* tournament titles that year and he shot to #1 in the world.

*Grand Slam: Wimbledon, The U.S., French, and Australian Opens won in the same calendar year.

Borg, Lendl, Wilander, Becker, Agassi, Courier, and Michael Chang are all classic examples of the modern topspin game.

So is McEnroe, who as a youngster was a strong topspin player, and also great on slow clay courts. He later adjusted his game and his grip to the faster surfaces and became mostly a serve- and-volley player, but retained his great touch and control on his groundstrokes.

Few players have combined great groundstrokes with tremendous prowess at the net. In that sense, McEnroe and Laver are the most complete players of the modern era, and Becker is quickly approaching that stage. Becker's only trouble spot is his low forehand volley, which he hits too flat.

If you want a powerful and efficient game, these are some of the players who could stand as an example for you. I would not hesitate to include Graf's forehand, Evert's two-handed backhand, Navratilova's serve and volleys, Sabatini's topspin backhand, and Seles's groundstrokes, in the greatest strokes in the game, male or female.

We always have a favorite. Sometimes we admire a stroke from one player, another stroke from someone else. A careful analysis can find the differences between your stroke and the ones you think are the best.

Working out which are the most important details to focus on may take some trial and error on the practice court.

If you are an advanced player, you may have a lot of data already. You get all this new data and sometimes it seems hard to put it all together. The best way to make an important correction is to focus entirely on the new data for a while, and practice that particular shot.

After you adapt to the new feel and see the results regarding control and placement, go back to a very concerted effort on getting the ball in the court, thinking of nothing else.

The new data, if it is true and beneficial, should align itself with your past experience, provided you threw the misconceptions overboard.

If something goes wrong after some practice, focus on the new data again and work on it a while longer. The errors should diminish with more practice time.

It is very hard to push erroneous data on a very good player. He would be very unhappy after a few tries. Again, the truth is simple. Things either work or they don't. Your accuracy and consistency will either improve or it will not.

You may test something new for a while, but if it doesn't give you more feel and control, drop it by the wayside.

To improve the feel of your stroke and also as a warm-up exercise you can attach a weight to your racket (see pictures on next page). Use this weight to mimic your strokes, without hitting the ball.

By swinging with this weight attached to your racket, all the way through to the end of your stroke, you'll become aware of your natural stroke path, the one that doesn't require unusual forces that disturb the racket angle and therefore your control.

At some point close your eyes and swing slowly at first, then accelerate from the imagined impact point to the end of the stroke, feeling your arm all the way. Keep repeating it until you get used to that feeling of power from the imaginary point of contact to the end of the stroke.

On the topspin forehand stroke, for example, the increased weight of the racket will make you feel the work of your biceps muscle as it pulls the racket over your left shoulder. You'll learn to use the forces of nature to your advantage, rather than fight them with an unnatural or mechanical swing.

You may also notice that lifting your body helps you accelerate the racket on its way up. Learn not to resort to sudden turns or jerking motions, but to a strong lift.

On other shots some different data will turn up. You'll get a "feeling" for which is the best way to stroke.

The end result of this type of practice is increased feeling. When you take the weight off and start stroking the ball, your racket will feel light. If you have practiced properly, accelerating your groundstrokes from impact on, your timing will not be affected. On the contrary, it will reinforce the feel of finding the ball first, then hitting from the ball on.

On volleys, the increased weight can be used to reinforce the stopping action. Much power and control is gained after you take the weight off, but only if you time volleys properly and stop at contact with the ball.

Another good exercise is to practice your strokes in front of a big mirror. Look at the mirror, not at your hand. Imagine finding the ball first, touching it, and then watch yourself accelerate to the end of the stroke.

When you get back to the court try to slow things down, at least in your mind. Your eyes are focused on the ball, your other senses are focused on "feeling" it.

The mechanics may be important, but what will help you remember and repeat a stroke is what it feels like.

Repeating a stroke slowly and deliberately, all the way to the end, will register it both at your conscious and your instinct level, allowing you to call on the information at any time.

After a while you'll hit the ball instinctively the same way whether the ball is fast or slow. As long as you don't panic and rush your shot, the same feel will take over.

You may not have time to figure it all out consciously, but the "feel" will be the same.

Then, when somebody asks you about your groundstrokes, somehow show this "feel." With your hand or your racket show how you carry, how you push the ball.

On volleys, show how you stop your hand and direct the ball.