I have a tennis tournament in only one weeks time! I want to have the right preparations such as diet, warm-up techniques…

I want to be physically and mentally ready for the tournament. What should I do?

Also, before I play, I tend to get butterflies in my stomache. How can I make my self-esteem high so I can play my game?

Here are a few tips on how to prepare for a tournament.

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I would like to ask for some help. Today I played an opponent that totally took the rhythm out of my game.

He slowed the game down to a crawl. He took extremely long change-overs and he would take 30-40 seconds after each point to get ready for the next point.

He even hit himself, accidentally in the face and took about 5 minutes to get composed. This strategy seems to bother me the most. I have worked on it but I don’t have the experience to over come this just yet.

The score was 6-2, 4-6, 8-10, so I didn’t completely fall apart but my focus and rhythm became sporadic.

Please help me come up with some way to cope with this distraction.

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Hi Tomaz,

I recently purchased the Strategy Encyclopedia and really enjoyed reading it.

I haven’t had much of an opportunity to put it into practice, yet. As well as playing tennis recreationally (3.5-4.0 level) I also coach the high school boys team where I teach.

You said that you’d answer some questions regarding tennis. My questions are more in line with coaching the boys high school team.

These boys are 15-18 years old and most have very little experience playing tennis (about a year).

I was wondering what kind of tennis conditioning drills we could do during practice to help them to be in better shape to move around the court.

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Tomaz! I have bought both your e-books and they have been more than helpful. I might give you my story later on.

But first, I’m really unhappy. Got a problem with my left knee.

And I went to see an orthopedist. Over stressed tendon. (Don´t know the English terminology)

Anyway. No tennis. Rest and building up my muscles around the knee - for 12 month!!!

How do I handle this situation? Yes, I will rest my knee from hard tennis training and I will go to the gym.

What can I do to approve my tennis anyway? I’m allowed to stand still and hit balls. I’m not allowed to run or jump.

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Well, of course you may say. Why would anyone practice at all if you could play well without it?

You’re right in most cases. A player recently asked me if he would be mentally fragile if he didn’t practice for a while.

By mentally fragile he meant that wasn’t really confident about his game since he didn’t practice.

It’s logical, that if you don’t practice, you can’t play that well. Right?

NOT necessarily!

It depends how many years you have been playing before.

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A tennis drop shot is an effective way to bring your opponent to the net, make them run and disrupt the rhythm of their game.

One of the keys to an effective drop shot is not only good execution but also disguise.

This video will show you a disguise you have probably never seen before.

Liked it?

Ok, here are some tips on how to learn this super drop shot: (more…)

I need to avoid a paralysing effect when it comes to the overhead smash.

I can do it very well if relaxed, but this is not the usual case. I tend to sabotage it.

Sometimes we paralyze, when our mind fights between two ideas.

This happens with smash because the first idea is to hit hard. You’ve seen in it on TV and overhead smash is supposedly an easy shot.

That’s of course far from the truth. In fact, it’s probably THE most difficult shot.

Why?

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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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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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