There were a lot of very interesting and correct answers in the original quiz question “How do you know that you hit a top spin?”.

If we make a summary of your answers and differentiate between what is the proof of [tag]top spin[/tag] and what a possible indicator is, then here are my tennis thoughts:

First, we have 5 senses through which we perceive outer world: sight, hearing, feel, smell and taste.

So obviously we cannot smell or taste a top spin shot , but we can see it, hear it and feel it.

(more…)

All right, another short lesson on my Squidoo tennis lessons page.

This time it’s about backhand.

You’ll learn some quick tips on how to grip the racquet correctly, what is the follow-through for one- and two-handed backhand and how to prepare for playing from the baseline.

The serve lesson with follow soon…

And if you are a Squidoo user please vote for my lens. And if you are not, why don’t you sign up?

Wolf Blass wines is organizing a contest where you can win a trip for 2 and accommodations to the New Haven ATP tournament.

You can send a video of your best shot, best play or boldest match and [tag]Jim Courier[/tag] will make the final choice, who is the “One”.

Note that this is only eligible to US citizens so check the official rules for some other exceptions.

I have recently taped one of my favorite tennis tricks but I am not a US citizen so no contest for me. ;(

I haven’t uploaded the video anywhere yet, but I will let you know when it’s up.

Since I am in Thailand I still cannot access and upload to Youtube. (grrrr….)

Some of you may also have noted that Youtube has removed one of the Federer videos I had in my account.

It belongs to the All England Lawn Tennis Club. I’m fine with that and I only hope that they upload it back to Youtube so that people can benefit from it.

[tag]Tennis Australia[/tag] still lets me keep the full [tag]Roger Federer[/tag] video but they have asked and removed all other slow-motion videos I uploaded.

I am fine with that too.

Actually, here a nice link back to your site Tennis Australia and thank you!

To get access to the Roger Federer slow motion video and more goodies subscribe to the TennisMindGame.com newsletter.

I recently had a tennis lesson with an 11 year old girl in the tennis academy and we were working on top spin.

She was hitting sometimes with lots of spin and sometimes too flat.

So then I asked her: “Was this a top spin?”

She: “Yes.”

Me: “How do you know?”

She: no answer…

She knew that she hit a top spin backhand but she couldn’t explain to me how she knew.

2 days later I had a lesson with an adult advanced recreational player.

At one point, I asked him again: “Was this a top spin?”

He: “Yes, sure.”

Me: “How do you know?”

He: paused for 10 seconds then told me one thing right and two things that were not exactly necessarily true.

I realized that something what may be obvious to a tennis coach studying tennis for 20 years is not so obvious for a tennis player who hasn’t spent countless hours THINKING about tennis.

So here is a quiz question: How do you know that you hit a top spin?

Test your knowledge and reply in the comments box below.

The correct answer will be posted on Friday, 22nd of June here on the blog and in the next issue of the TennisMindGame.com newsletter.

You can check the past issues of the newsletter here.

I’ve been working on my tennis lessons lens on Squidoo lately. Don’t know what Squidoo is?

It’s a website where anyone can build a page (a lens). You can build a page about anyting you like, want to promote, want to share thoughts about and much more.

Here is a Squidoo FAQ…

If you do know what Squidoo is and you are already a member, then please rate my lens!

And let me know of your lenses too so that I can return the favor.

Feel free to comment too at the bottom of this lens…

I plan to add new tennis lessons every few days and right now you can read an introductory tennis lesson which covers the split step and ready position, and a forehand lesson which covers the grip, contact point, follow-through and preparation.

This a very short version of the full How To Play Tennis video instruction package for beginners that you can find on my website.

Stay in touch for more tennis lessons on Squidoo…

Andy Roddick was one point from losing a final match with Nicolas Mahut in the finals of the Queens tournament.

Mahut led by a set and had a match point in the second set tie-break. He missed a passing shot and Roddick eventually won the tie-break and the match with a 4-6, 7-6 (7), 7-6 (2) score.

Here’s what Mahut said after the match:

“I was one point away to put my name on the trophy,” Mahut said. “It was just an easy passing shot like I hit a thousand passing like that. But it’s easier when you practice. When you have to make it to win the tournament, it’s another shot.”

So how can you learn to hit the shots when it matters most? (more…)

What intense exercises can I do inside (of my home) it it’s raining outside?

Can I improve my footwork by doing something inside?

Yes, I agree, there is not much you can do about your footwork inside if it is raining.

But…

If your room is high enough, you could do jump rope.

Even just doing the basic bounce step with both feet will help you improve your footwork.

There are many different jump rope drills so here is a website that goes much more into detail about jumping rope:

Jump Rope Institute

Another thing that you could do inside to improve your hand-eye coordination is to learn juggling.

It’s a great skill to develop not only for tennis but also to impress your friends.

So here how you learn how to juggle…

There are other exercises that you can do inside, especially work on your strength.

But I came across and article that gives you many more ideas how to work on your fitness at home.

Home Court Advantage

I came across a very useful website which helps you find tennis lessons in your country and town. I know that many people use search engines like Google and Yahoo to search for tennis lessons but this search rarely works well.

That’s becuase not many tennis professionals have websites and even if they do, they rarely optimize them for a search like “tennis lessons new york”.

TennisLessons.com tries to solve this problem in two ways:

1. By allowing tennis pros to register their services and specify where they are located

2. By allowing tennis players to search for tennis lessons in their town (or country) and see if there are any pros listed in that area.

The service is free and very simple to use.

So if you have been trying to find a pro in your area, go ahead and search TennisLessons.com for a pro.

And if you are a pro looking to find more customers, register and post an ad. It will take you just a couple of minutes.

By the way, I’m working on one website with free online tennis lessons and will keep you updated as I add new lessons every few days…

I am playing in a League in my city. There is woman that I played against. She is very talkative.

After every point she has to a joke or comment about my shots. I found that it is very difficult for me to concentrate.

Is there a rule in Tennis that the opponents have to be silence during matches or can I just tell her to shut-up?

Hi, I did a quick check in the Code of Tennis and didn’t find the exact answer to your question. The code of course says that you shouldn’t speak while the ball is in play.

I have been once in this situation too, except my opponent started to talk and chat as soon as we sat down in the changeover. We had only one bench so we sat close together.

I tried to be nice for a few changeovers but then I realized that I don’t like it. I prefer to empty my mind and get ready for the next game.

So I told him that I prefer to sit quietly in the changeover. He got the message and shut up.

But the most important thing here is how you communicate with the other person. It’s not a good idea to tell people what to do. Their ego will come up and they’ll fight you or annoy you even more.

You can’t control them and there is no law against talking.

What you can do is communicate how YOU feel and what YOU like.

Something like: “Hey Jane… I prefer to empty my mind and analyze my mistakes in the changeover. I need some silent time. I hope you understand.”

Try it and let me know how it worked.

There were two recent shock defeats on the ATP tour in the last week.

First, Lleyton Hewitt lost to a qualifier Jo-Wilfriend Tsonga (France) in Queens and second, Richard Gasquet lost to a qualifier Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi (Pakistan).

How come these unknown qualifiers are able to beat experienced top players? (more…)