I seem to have a problem at the net on an approaching shot. I cannot seem to place it in the right direction as I would like to.

I am 15 and play almost every day. Plz help!

It’s tough to say why you miss because I can’t see you play.

Some reasons may be:

1. You hit too hard
2. You may rotate your body too much and again focus on power instead on accuracy
3. You may worry too much about the outcome or your opponent passing you and you’re not focused on the approach shot

Let me know if any of these sound true!

I think that the problem may, indeed, be attributed to the third mistake: I worry to much about the outcome of the passing shot that my opponent may play when I play the approaching shot. (more…)

Tomaz,

First off, let me thank you for your email updates.

If you have time, I would appreciate your perspective on tennis ball machines.

As a former golfer (30+ years), I was accustomed to playing and practicing by myself. Now I’m a tennis player.

Beyond working on my serve alone, it seems that ball machines are the best substitute when I don’t have a playing or hitting partner available.

Here are a few questions I have:

1. What do you think is the best way to use a tennis ball machine?

The ball machine can shoot tennis balls very accurately at the same spot over and over again which is difficult to replicate even with feeding from the basket. So you can use it to work on your technique.

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Tomaz your website is truly great. It has really help me as well as your books particularly in the mental part of my game.

Thanks for the kind words! Ok, to your questions…

1. I have a pretty good serve that´s very fast and I have continue to improve it but i find that most of my serves land long, any suggestions?

Since I can’t see your serve I can only guess what could be the possible reasons for hitting the ball out:

- your elbow keeps pushing forward and thus keeps the racquet head slightly open. You can also pull it down too early. The racquet head should go down first after the contact and the elbow and the rest of the arm should follow. (more…)

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.

(more…)

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.

(more…)

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.

(more…)

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.

(more…)

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 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.
(more…)

Hi, I was viewing your Tennis For Beginners videos online and had some questions about the serve.

The basics of serving I understand such as the grip. Here are some questions about some things I am not sure about:

1. My first question deals with the transition from the trophy position into the forward swing. In coming out of this stage should the lower part of the body be moving forward while the racquet and hand are going back.

It would kind of feel like you are going in two different directions at once.

Yes, if you analyze it like that, then this is true. But that’s not how you learn to do it.

(more…)