Five Simple Steps to a Better Tennis Serve --by Richard Pearlman
In tennis there are many strokes that can be greatly improved by only a few simple tips. The serve is often the most technically difficult stroke. Luckily, I have five simple tips that can help you improve your serve.
1. Relax your arm and wrist. The wrist provides 10-20% of the power in a serve. The motion that provides this power is called wrist pronation. What this basically means is that the wrist snaps downward when it contacts the ball. Pronation will occur naturally if your arm and wrist are very relaxed. Snapping the wrist not only adds power to the serve, but it adds more consistency and control. When you serve, you hit the toss when it reaches its peak. If you did not snap your wrist downward, the ball would go long more often. By pronating your wrist, you can more easily hit the ball into the box.
2. You need to have a fluid service motion. I view the service motion as an energy chain. The energy starts at your feet, and your motion adds more energy until you release the energy when you hit the ball. If you have a choppy service motion, your energy will not compound like a chain. You will lose all of the energy from previous parts of the motion. Try and keep your motion very fluid. Your arms and legs should not stop moving until the service motion is complete.
3. Jump into the court. A large portion of the power in a serve comes from the legs. Your legs allow you to throw your entire body weight into the serve thus greatly increasing its speed. If you use just your arm, then you are missing out on plenty of energy that is generated by your legs. Jumping allows you to also hit the ball at a higher height. This means that you will have an easier time hitting the ball into the box.
4. Line up your body with your target. By lining up your body, you should have your shoulder facing the service box. When you hit your serve, your body weight will be moving towards the service box. This will increase the speed of your serve, its consistency, and its accuracy.
5. Last but not least, practice your serve. The serve requires precise timing and technique. You cannot expect yourself to have a great serve unless you put in the practice time. Go to your local courts once a week with a hopper of balls, and just practice serves. You will notice that after practicing your serve it will be more powerful, more accurate, and more consistent.
These tips are simple and you can apply them now with relative ease. If you follow these five simple tips, you will be serving better in no time.
Richard is the administrator and founder of http://www.chattennis.com/ -a tennis forum that focuses on strategy, technique, and the mental game of tennis.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Richard_Pearlman
Improve Your Tennis Strategy --by Alon Vot
Perfecting your strokes is a never ending process which is critical for your tennis game. However, understanding and implementing different strategies is not any less important, and in many cases is the determining factor in prevailing over your opponent.
There is no one “cookie-cutter” strategy that works for all players. Obviously, different players have their own style of playing, and would like to adjust their game to benefit the most of their best shots. This could mean running around the backhand for a player with a great forehand, serve and volley for a big server, or approaching the net at any opportunity for a great net player.
Players also adjust their strategy to gain an edge over their opponent. For example, when playing against an inconsistent player, you just might want to keep the ball in play and not “go for it” too often, letting your opponent make the mistake. Playing to your opponent’s weakest shot is another example.
Nonetheless, there are general “rules” that can be used as the frame on which to build your strategy.
Hit cross-court from the baseline
During a baseline rally, hitting the ball cross-court is typically advantageous to hitting down the line. The main reason concerns your position on the court, as well as your opponent’s position. Hitting cross-court creates an angle that can force your opponent to hit his/her next shot from beyond the sideline. Not only will he/she need to run faster in order to reach that ball, but he will also leave the other side of the court open, allowing you to hit a winner to that side of the court on your next shot.
Hitting the ball down the line is often used as an aggressive shot aimed at tipping an even rally to your advantage when the opportunity arises. If you choose to hit the ball down the line during a rally with a weak shot, you are risking getting punished by your opponent hitting cross-court, this time forcing you beyond the sideline at the other side of the court, if you could even make it in time.
Finally, hitting cross-court is an easier and a safer shot than down the line for many people. Some of it has to do with your body’s position when hitting the ball. Typically, you’d like to keep your shoulder turned toward the court and not “open” your body (chest toward the court) too quickly. This is easier to accomplish when hitting cross-court, since relative to the ball’s trajectory your shoulder is turned more and easier to maintain at that position. Also, less accuracy is required for a cross-court shot than down the line. You can hit your shot at a wide range of angles and depths along the opposite sideline-- a short shot with a sharp angle will send your ball far beyond the sideline after bouncing, while a deeper shot with a wide angle will be directed more toward the center of the court. Hitting down the line allows only a narrow range of angles which is harder to accomplish.
Approach down the line
Approaching the net on a short ball is a great way to stay aggressive and win points. Typically you would like attack balls that bounce before the service line, therefore allowing you an easy shot while moving forward. After hitting your approach shot, your momentum will allow you to get to the net quickly and cover the net.
Approaching the net down the line has the advantage of keeping most of the court covered, forcing your opponent to make a very difficult passing shot. If you approach cross-court, you have a greater distance to run to the center of the net (in between the T-point and the net). You might not have enough time to position yourself before your opponent hits his/her passing shot. Your opponent will also have more angles to choose from for his/her passing shot, whether it is down the line or cross-court. When approaching down the line and positioning yourself a foot or two off center to the side from which you approached, in between the service line and the net, you leave your opponent very little open court to pass you.
Of course, these are just general concepts that you might want to utilize for the most part in your game, but not always. You also want to mix and match different shots and place them differently, keeping your opponent guessing all the time. However, building your points around this basic strategy is a sure way to improve your game.
Play Better Tennis - Improving the Mental - Powerful Tips --By Johnny Scarpelli
Many tennis players already know the facts I am about to share with you, but they don't properly utilize them.
Put some thought into these, decipher if you are really applying these into your game plan.
Play Better Tennis - Improving the Mental
This skill was the hardest for me to learn, I call it mastering your emotion.
One technique that my friend developed, is called 'only the ball'. When your playing tennis and you start focusing on whats in your head too much, remember their is only the ball.
This technique is simple but it is powerful. 'Only the ball'.
In order to help the momentum in your head, you can use a system of saying what is happening on the field. For example:
As your opponent hits the ball, say 'hit' in your head. As the ball hits the court, say 'bounce' in your head.
That is another simple but powerful tip.
Have a 'killer instinct'. The goal of tennis is too win, so every chance you get should be harnessed.
If you have the advantage, press it right to victory. If you find a weakness, exploit it as much as possible.
If you ever get nervous in a tennis game, or anytime in real life, focus on your breathing. It is impossible to be scared while you focus on breathing in and out, go ahead and try it!
Have a game plan that incorporates all sorts of possible situations, this will help you feel like your in control even if your losing.
Other important skills are based on pacing yourself. Make sure you don't work really hard in the beginning, and notice if your opponent is getting tired quickly.
Sometimes it is worth it to give up a few points and make your opponent tired early in the set.
Tennis is a mental game as much as it is a physical one, and these mental tips will hopefully help you stay calm and assist you in being a better player.
My story is boring so I'll keep it short. After six months of a respected personal trainer, I felt like my improvement had peaked.
My friend suggested I purchase this e-book on mental tennis. I purchased it, thinking I could use their money back guarantee if I didn't like it. Well the book was extremely helpful.
After I read this book, I bought every other book this author offered. I found them all to be worth their weight in gold. Here is a link to my lens where I review one of this author's products.
If you found those tips helpful, check out my lens which has tips about serving better. It also has a link to the e-book that taught me about mental tennis.
If you do decide to give these products a shot, send me an email at seds0@hotmail.com, I'll share with you some other tips to help you learn tennis.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Johnny_Scarpelli
Tennis Lessons - Books, DVDs, And Videos To Improve Your Tennis Games --by Ness Dorig
Nowadays, it is fairly easy to get and find resources to help improve your tennis games. This resources, besides hiring a instructor come in the form of books, dvd's and even videos. Just type "tennis lessons" on Google or Amazon and you will find large selection of these items. This article will outline some of the more popular resources available today. The books, dvd's and videos presented are designed for and will benefit both beginners and advanced tennis players alike. One might call it a collection of resources to help enhance the level/s of your tennis games and for an overall enjoyment and satisfaction for the game. 1. How To Play Tennis: Instructional Videos For Tennis Beginners. This lesson is best for tennis beginners. It consists of 49 step-by-step tennis instruction videos covering all 6 basic strokes in tennis: # forehand groundstroke# backhand groundstroke# serve# return# forehand and backhand volley # overhead. The videos cover all the basic strokes listed above and offer playing tips to jump-start your tennis game. Plus a whole lot more. 2. Tennis Stomper: The Ultimate Tennis Training Rolodex. Featuring 57 Tennis Specific Exercises Incuding Over 150 Photos, Step-by-Step Descriptions, Plus A 33 Minute Video 3. Tennis Mind Game Tennis EBooks. About Strategies And Mental Toughness That Will Help You Win Even Against Your Toughest Rivals. 4. Insider Tennis Strategies And Tactics. Improve Your Tennis Game With Insider Strategies Of The Top Players. Improve your tennis game with insider strategies of the top players. With insider tennis strategies you will be understanding tennis so well - you'll outsmart anybody, anywhere, anytime! 5. Renegade Mindset Techniques For Tennis - Mental Game Mastery. Cutting-Edge Tennis Psychology Technique. This is a mental game mastery with cutting-edge tennis psychology technique. You'll find out why most players will never reach their true potential and how you can quickly and easily transform your game, leaving your opponent dazed and confused; they'll be begging to know your secret! Again these are just a few of the most popular tennis lessons available online today. All rights reserved. Article may be re-printed as long as the content remains intact, unchanged, and the link remains active. Ness Dorig has written many articles about sports and recreation and is a webmaster of a website offering news and information regarding tennis lesson resources to help improve your tennis games. If you're interested in learning more about tennis lessons be sure to check it out. Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Ness_Dorig
