Fortnightly tips from our Development Officer
Second serve: The foundation of your game
The second serve in tennis is one of the fundamentals of the game that separates the champions from the club player. A player that wishes to improve the tennis serve must work on the second serve in tennis.
Who has the best serve in the history of tennis? Many people will say that it is Pete Sampras. The 7-time Wimbledon champion and 6-time year-end world number one had one of the fastest and most accurate serves. Few people could effectively return against him because he kept them guessing with variations in speed and placement. He seemed to hit a ton of aces in every match he played. This was certainly true about his first serve. But what people need to appreciate just as much is that Sampras also had the best second serve ever. It’s true that tennis players are only as good as their second serves.
Even if you don’t serve like Pete, it is important to learn how to hit a good second serve if you want to be competitive. Unlike the first serve, it is inherently a stroke that is under immediate pressure. If you miss it, the point is lost, and your opponent didn’t even have to do anything. It is essentially a gift that you give away. At the professional level, there have been players who had great talents but were handicapped by their second serves.Anna Kournikova retired without winning any singles title mainly because of her weak second serve. To an extent, Venus Williams, great player as she is, has not won as many titles as her sister Serena in part because in comparing the two, Venus’ second serve is more vulnerable.
A good second serve is almost always a spin serve. Sure, you can go for a big flat second serve just as you would go for a first serve, but only if the score is 40-0 and you are up by a break or two. Basically, the most effective second serves are all hit with a good amount of spin. It is even recommended that players hit spin serves for their first serves as well. It just gives you that much many more options and keeps your opponent guessing – the same way Sampras kept his opponents guessing!
There are two kinds of spin serves – the slice serve and the kick serve. Most coaches recommend the kick serve as the main second serve for any player. There are variations of the kick serve as well. A kick serve is essentially a topspin serve. Like all topspin shots, it bounces up high and pitches forward. It can force the returner to try to hit the ball from an awkward height. A heavy kick serve is very difficult unless the returner is well inside the baseline and taking the ball early. But the spin can make the timing required for this kind of return very difficult.
However, if the returner’s forehand is the weaker side, then the slice serve should be more often employed. Sometimes, for these players, the forehand is the side that breaks down more easily, especially if they use western grips and have elaborate, long swings.
Now imagine a left handed server. A slice serve from a lefty will bend out wide to a right hander’s backhand. Even if it is a strong two handed, the returner will have to stretch out so wide that he or she may be forced to hit with one hand or be so far off the court that the server’s next shot will almost automatically be a winner. John McEnroe and Martina Navratilova made careers out of this kind of serve.
The surface also dictates a little as to what kind of second serve to use. On surfaces where the ball bounces high, topspin serves should be used more often. On low-bouncing surfaces like grass, the slice is more effective. Clay is unique because it accentuates the way a ball bounces. So both the slice and kick serves are useful because slices bounce really low and topspin really high.
In a sense, the second serve is the most crucial shot. You wouldn’t want to give any gifts to your opponent. You have to at least make him or her earn the points. So make sure to practice your second serve. Give it even more priority in your practice sessions than your first serve. After all, if you have a good second serve, you automatically will have a reliable serve to hold all your service games – and that’s half the battle already.
Sources: Optimum tennis.
The second serve in tennis is one of the fundamentals of the game that separates the champions from the club player. A player that wishes to improve the tennis serve must work on the second serve in tennis.
Who has the best serve in the history of tennis? Many people will say that it is Pete Sampras. The 7-time Wimbledon champion and 6-time year-end world number one had one of the fastest and most accurate serves. Few people could effectively return against him because he kept them guessing with variations in speed and placement. He seemed to hit a ton of aces in every match he played. This was certainly true about his first serve. But what people need to appreciate just as much is that Sampras also had the best second serve ever. It’s true that tennis players are only as good as their second serves.
Even if you don’t serve like Pete, it is important to learn how to hit a good second serve if you want to be competitive. Unlike the first serve, it is inherently a stroke that is under immediate pressure. If you miss it, the point is lost, and your opponent didn’t even have to do anything. It is essentially a gift that you give away. At the professional level, there have been players who had great talents but were handicapped by their second serves.Anna Kournikova retired without winning any singles title mainly because of her weak second serve. To an extent, Venus Williams, great player as she is, has not won as many titles as her sister Serena in part because in comparing the two, Venus’ second serve is more vulnerable.
A good second serve is almost always a spin serve. Sure, you can go for a big flat second serve just as you would go for a first serve, but only if the score is 40-0 and you are up by a break or two. Basically, the most effective second serves are all hit with a good amount of spin. It is even recommended that players hit spin serves for their first serves as well. It just gives you that much many more options and keeps your opponent guessing – the same way Sampras kept his opponents guessing!
There are two kinds of spin serves – the slice serve and the kick serve. Most coaches recommend the kick serve as the main second serve for any player. There are variations of the kick serve as well. A kick serve is essentially a topspin serve. Like all topspin shots, it bounces up high and pitches forward. It can force the returner to try to hit the ball from an awkward height. A heavy kick serve is very difficult unless the returner is well inside the baseline and taking the ball early. But the spin can make the timing required for this kind of return very difficult.
However, if the returner’s forehand is the weaker side, then the slice serve should be more often employed. Sometimes, for these players, the forehand is the side that breaks down more easily, especially if they use western grips and have elaborate, long swings.
Now imagine a left handed server. A slice serve from a lefty will bend out wide to a right hander’s backhand. Even if it is a strong two handed, the returner will have to stretch out so wide that he or she may be forced to hit with one hand or be so far off the court that the server’s next shot will almost automatically be a winner. John McEnroe and Martina Navratilova made careers out of this kind of serve.
The surface also dictates a little as to what kind of second serve to use. On surfaces where the ball bounces high, topspin serves should be used more often. On low-bouncing surfaces like grass, the slice is more effective. Clay is unique because it accentuates the way a ball bounces. So both the slice and kick serves are useful because slices bounce really low and topspin really high.
In a sense, the second serve is the most crucial shot. You wouldn’t want to give any gifts to your opponent. You have to at least make him or her earn the points. So make sure to practice your second serve. Give it even more priority in your practice sessions than your first serve. After all, if you have a good second serve, you automatically will have a reliable serve to hold all your service games – and that’s half the battle already.
Sources: Optimum tennis.
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How to hit a kick serve from USTA
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Serena Williams hits a big slice serve
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Pistol Pete Sampras’ serve
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Mental Toughness – How to cope with anxiety
Competition can cause athletes to react both physically and mentally in a manner which can negatively affect their ability to perform. From a physical perspective, these include:
Even the top players in the world admit to being anxious at times when the pressure is on, but they usually have developed coping strategies to deal with their anxiety. Regulating Anxiety The key point is not to eliminate feelings of anxiety since some anxiety can benefit performance. Instead, it is crucial to control and manage feelings of anxiety more effectively. Have fun – enjoy the moment My top tip is to have fun and enjoy the present moment. This involves playing every point as it comes while enjoying the experience without being concerned about the outcome. Remember, ‘it’s only a game’, and games are meant to be fun! Most top players look forward to pressure situations rather than fearing them. They are viewed as the most exciting ones. Slow down – take time between points When the pressure starts to build, and feelings of frustration and anger surface, one of the easiest (but least effective) ways of coping is to rush and get off the court. This may occur because anxiety can be uncomfortable, and one way to get rid of it is to get away from the situation causing the anxiety. When a player experiences feelings of anxiousness and tension, and starts rushing their serves, they should walk to the back of the court and play with their strings, go for the towel, or walk to the ball furthest away from them to use for the next point. An even more effective way to slow down is to develop consistent pre-serve and pre-service returns routines. This enables you to keep composed and slow down under pressure. |
Roger Federer wins his 1st Roland Garros: all the anxiety and pressure blows out
Control your breathing
One of the simplest ways to cope with pressure is through proper breathing. Research indicates that in pressure situations, players do not coordinate their breathing patterns with their stroke production. Often they hold their breath while performing (thus increasing muscle tension) rather than breathing out (thus decreasing muscle tension). Some players accentuate breathing out by ‘grunting’ when striking the ball to ensure that they do breathe out on every shot. Deep breathing from the diaphragm between points reduces accumulated pressure and helps to keep the player relaxed. Set up stressful situations in practice A very effective way to prepare for stressful situations is to occasionally practice under pressure. As you come used to playing under these conditions, you will not be negatively affected by pressure during competitive situations. For example, instead of simply practicing groundstrokes, try to get a certain number of strokes in a row to fall past the service line as you practice keeping the ball deep. If you hit a ball short before you reach your target you have to start over. As you get closer to your target the pressure starts to build, which is similar to a competitive match. |
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Becoming a competitive tennis player – The importance of continuity and goals
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As you will have heard many times continuity is a key aspect to become a performing tennis player. To make a long story short Tennis is a complete sport which requires so many specific technical, tactical, mental, physical skills. If tennis was a world these four guys would be its continents. We can’t afford to underestimate the importance of training with continuity. Generally, a tennis player should be immersed in the tennis world as much as possible. The tennis world is vast and there’s nothing more fun than setting goals, seeing your own improvements and enjoying its competitive aspects. It’s important that a tennis player sees his/her short-term goals along with a long-term one. The short term ones are the steps that we aim to achieve daily in order to improve all the aspects of our game (from the 4 ‘continents’). Having short term goals is essential to understand own improvements and reach the long-term goal. Do not limit your dream but follow the right path to achieve it with commitment, passion and determination. Tennis becomes hugely more enjoyable and fun when we develop an adequate technical confidence of our strokes, we manage to understand the different game situations and we can deal with our ‘mind’ to control it during training and matches. As I said it’s mainly about personal goals and ambitions but if you do have one, don’t wait – GO FOR IT, your road will be exciting with plenty of personal fulfilment! ITF Recommendations for Performance Players >>> |
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Mental Toughness - How to concentrate in Tennis
Every player and coach knows, or should know, that psychology has an incredible effect on performance. Furthermore, many elite players believe that optimal performance in the top tier of competition is more mental than physical. So, the mental aspect for a tennis player needs to be trained as much as (if not more sometimes) the technical, tactical and physical. There are many factors which determine achieving what is commonly defined as MENTAL TOUGHNESS. In this post I will give you some tips about one of the most important aspects: CONCENTRATION. Concentration can be defined as the ability to focus on the relevant cues in your environment and to maintain that focus for the duration of the match. The most obvious cue is watching the ball. Other relevant cues include watching the movement of your opponent’s racquet and his body language, verbal cues or focusing between points on strategy or shot selection. It is vital that concentration is maintained over the course of the match, a single lapse in concentration could be the difference between winning and losing. Improving Concentration To help cope effectively, several tips for improving on-court concentration are presented below: Use cue words One of the best ways to keep your mind focused on the match is through the use of cue words. These simply are words that can help trigger a particular response. These words can have an instructional component (e.g. watch the ball, take the ball early, follow-through) or they can be more motivational or emotional (e.g. relax, positive, strong, move). The key is to keep the words simple and let them trigger the desired response. Practice with distractions present One of the ways to cope better with distractions in a tennis match is to practice with distractions present.For example, crowd noise can be generated, movement by players on adjoining courts can be created and bad line calls from opponents and umpires can be incorporated into practice. Play one point at a time – stay in the moment Focusing on past and future events is one of the main causes of a lapse of concentration, Therefore, playing one point at a time is essential to maintain proper concentration. When Bjorn Borg was asked ‘what was the most important reason for his incredibly successful tennis career?’ he replied ‘it was my ability to play one point at a time and not worry about what just happened or what might happen. The only thing that was important was the point to be played.’ Check out these clips:
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Be a fighter
The importance of training and of being a fighter by Matteo Russo Competitive tennis is such an exciting and extreme sport and many compare it to boxing. A player constructs every single tennis point in a game to create the opportunity to knock out (K.O.) your opponent and to avoid the vice versa. To help you understand this concept, you must enjoy training hard with continuity. By that I mean that every time that you’re on court you should give 100%, hit every ball as if it was a match point of a Grand Slam. Improvements in your technique will help you develop more confidence and ability to make appropriate choices regarding the shot you choose. Most importantly, a competitive tennis player should be set on this way of thinking: “Be a fighter” The following video shows what I am talking about. One of the greatest fighters/player in the history of tennis – Jimmy Connors - in one of the best tennis points ever played. |
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