How do I avoid self-cluttering?

This happens occasionally when I get to the ball and freeze because my footwork stops.

After that I play a short ball which my opponent can easily attack.

Let’s try and figure out why you freeze. The most obvious reason at least in my experience is lack of decision.

You see a ball and then you start consciously thinking all the things you need to do “correctly” like:

• prepare early,
• get into the right distance,
• try and use the closed stance,
• keep your eyes on the ball and head still,
• etc.

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I have a question regarding feel in tennis. I have played various sports and have spent most of my junior years playing golf.

I know its probably difficult to compare the two sports but I was wondering at contact should the feel be the same.

I know when a golf ball is hit properly the feel is always light almost as if you are hitting air and it always feels like you can hit the ball further because it felt so effortless.

Should hitting a tennis ball feel the same way in that at contact the ball should feel light on the racquet?

Right now my contact does not feel right in that it is not the same feel as with the hitting a golf ball.

I am thinking that maybe the contact does not feel the same because its easier to create leverage using the golf club where in tennis the racquet is shorter and you are trying to hold and let the ball sink into the strings and use the rebound effect to create power.

Plus I know my mechanics in tennis are not that good. But since I am starting out in the sport I was just wondering what type of feel I should be striving for.
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My big burning question is about hitting hard! I hear coaches ask my son to do it all the time.

When he does it he loses control and loses the match.

When he hits in a controlled way he finds a pace on the ball that works for him and that pace increases as he gets more confident.

The coaches say that he needs weapons so hit harder it will eventually work! What do you think?

Yes, the only way to learn how to hit hard is to try.

And yes, at the beginning you lose control but eventually you become better at it.

So the general approach is right, the key question is how do you go about it.

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You may know that you “should” come to the net more often to finish the point but somehow you resist that and stick to the comfort of the baseline.

Why is that?

You resist coming to the net because you feel uncomfortable there. So you need to dig even deeper and ask yourself why do you feel uncomfortable at the net?

Some of the possible reasons are:

1. You don’t trust your volley and overhead skills.

This mistrust can be legitimate – meaning your net skills are really not that good and you make too many mistakes OR your net skills are actually good but your OPINION about them is negative.

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If you are looking for quality tennis equipment take a look at Tennis Experts online store.

Tennis-Experts.com was created by Chris Lewis, a 1983 Wimbledon finalist so rest assured that the owner knows a lot about tennis and what equipment is best for you.

The main categories on the website are Racquets, Shoes, Bags, Strings, Accessories, Juniors and Other Items and each of them expands into another submenu.

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Hi Tomaz,

What you are saying is helpful, it is just that I am having trouble implementing these thoughts.

I just can’t seem to break through that little voice that says “No, Impossible” and as a result my game sucks.

I don’t care about winning, I mean that is nice, but I really just want to play well.

But when I get on court I switch immediately from positive mindset to negative, and what is worse is that I know that I’m doing it.

I have been playing rather bad for a very long time, and I think I have somewhat trained these “impossible” thoughts to come out when I get on court.

I am sick of this mindset and really want to change it, and I really want to play great tennis, but I haven’t a clue how to retrain my head.

Yes, I know what I haven’t told you.

It’s a WAR.

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Every time I set up for a stroke I doubt myself.

I have been trying to ignore these thoughts of failure but they just keep coming back and I don’t really know how to deal with them.

I have tried to think positively instead, but no matter what I do the thought of failure remains.

As always, any help is appreciated.

The thoughts persist because you are trying to fight reality. The reality is that you will miss occassionaly and you cannot convince yourself that you won’t.

What works for me is the statistics approach.

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I am an A Grade Junior player and I have some big matches coming up in the next couple of weeks, which I was hoping you might be able to help me with.

My game involves solid (not fast) first and second serves and a big forehand. My opponent’s weakness is that his footwork can sometimes be all over the place, and he does have a temper. What can I do to take advantage of his footwork?

About your opponent’s poor footwork - make him use it.

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Tomaz,

A coach I know teaches a topspin groundstroke style that produces shots with a pronounced curved trajectory and land deep into the opponent’s court with an aggressive high bounce (above shoulder level on a hard-court).

This style seems to be very effective: it pins your opponent to the back court and often forces him to produce a weak or short reply.

However, I also see that most pros don’t play this way. They hit shots that have tremendous pace and spin, but don’t bounce up that high.

Is this because unlike us, the pros can actually produce a winner off of a high bounce, so feeding a high bouncing ball to them is actually giving them an opportunity?

Please write an article discussing the mechanics of hitting high bouncing balls. Thanks!

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There’s no way you’re going to gain respect on court if play well but pick up a tennis ball like a clumsy beginner.

In order to really make an impression on your opponent you’ll have to pick up tennis balls like a true jedi master.

You saw Star Wars, right?

It’s a long journey so may the force be with you…