The Sun and Heat
Dealing with the sun will take you out of your game and leave you losing to players you’ve trained to beat.

The one positive is that most tennis courts are laid out north to south, so neither player must stare directly into the sun, but occasionally this will be the case.

If this is the case, you and your opponent will be staring into the sun finding yourselves self-blinded.

Then, if you and the heat factor on a hot or humid day, the results can be devastating.

1. Start your match with conditions in-mind. Let your opponent begin the slow, torturous match by serving in the sun. Your opponent will start off the match with a negative attitude, setting the groove for the match. (more…)

Shot preparation is as important to making good shots as the actual execution itself. Without good preparation, your body isn’t as easily (if possible at all) able to get the power, balance, and control needed to hit an effective shot.

Good shot preparation is made up of two key elements- footwork and racquet preparation.

Footwork in shot preparation is basically getting to the ball. Most coaches will tell you that you should split-step, pivot the foot that is in the direction where the ball is heading, and get to the ball as soon as possible.

This article is about racquet preparation. Racquet preparation is the backswing taken before the point of contact.

It may not sound like much, but racquet preparation is a key to generating power because it is the source of your racquet head speed- an essential to a hard ball. Here are the keys of getting the most out of your racket preparation. (more…)

Are tennis retrievers driving you crazy? Learn how to get them out of their game and make them fear yours.

Everybody hates retrievers. They require a great amount of patience and skill to get even close to beating them.

In fact, you might be one yourself. If so, don’t feel bad.

A retriever’s style is just as good as any other, even if “it’s not even tennis” or “they have no skill whatsoever”.

At times, we have all just got the ball back in play to win a match.

But still, many people have no idea what to do when their opponents get every single ball back. What do you do? (more…)

by Alexander Claussen

You and your opponent just walked out on the court. You warm-up, and the match starts. You start off the match with an error in the net, and a “C’mon, right here,” rings in your ears. You let it go. Next point, your opponent says loudly the same phrase just as you begin your ball toss. You double-fault.

It is one thing if your opponent is trying to pump himself up, but I don’t think this is the case. During the many years of my playing of tennis, I have encountered players whose strategies heavily rely on this concept, gamesmanship (and cheating too).

And of all the cases I have encountered, it wasn’t the actual acts of gamesmanship that won the match, but the overreaction of the victim player.

If you are an active player, you’ve probably experienced players like this many times. Whether it’s stalling, questioning every line call, or like the example presented above, we all need to learn how to handle gamesmanship that leads to on-court meltdowns and ultimately the match.

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