Have you ever been frustrated by an opponent who masterfully pulled one drop shot after another when you least expected them?

And even if you reached the ball you still lost the point most of the times?

There’s a way to counter these drop shot masters and you have to approach it from two ways.

Don’t Allow Them To Play A Drop Shot

If it was just that simple. Of course, you cannot play every ball in such a way that your opponent can’t play a drop shot (without risking too much of course), but you can keep in mind the general strategy of play that makes is much more difficult to play a drop shot. Read the rest of this entry »

If you’ve ever watched the coin toss at the start of the match when Rafael Nadal is one of the players on court, you’ve definitely noticed his sprint to the baseline after the players decide on which side they’ll play and who will serve first.

I believe there is a reason why Nadal starts his warm up in that way as I have personally done a few similar things before matches to get into the right state.

The following article will explain what the state is, why we have three different responses to perceived threats and how we can trigger the right one to perform well at the start of the match.

Did you know that your performance at the beginning of the match depends almost entirely on your state?

State can simply be described by how you feel (tense, relaxed, activated, …) and what is your mental state (calm, alert, upset, …). Read the rest of this entry »

Marin Cilic defeated Igor Andreev today in Monte Carlo but there was a game at 4:1 in the second set that can demonstrate what kind of situations happen in tennis and how mentally tough one has to be to overcome those.

Marin Cilic backhand - Photo by MARWAN NAAMANI/AFP/Getty Images

It was 4:1 for Cilic and he was also serving.

Here are 3 critical situations where Marin Cilic had basically won the the point but immediately “lost it” because of some external factor which he couldn’t control: Read the rest of this entry »

Andy Roddick has played some great tennis yesterday in the semi-finals of Miami Masters 1000 to beat Rafael Nadal 4:6, 6:3, 6:3.

Nadal has been playing great the whole week (except the first set against Nalbandian) and while Roddick didn’t have big problems with his opponents either, I personally had big doubts that Andy could beat Nadal in his current form.

The reason for my doubts is this: Andy has been playing too controlled and too conservative tennis – in my opinion.

I mean too controlled tennis to win major tournaments and to get into the top 3 in ATP rankings.

His game has matured so much in the last 5 years as a result of his work with Jimmy Connors and other experiences coaches but there was also a hidden drawback to this – all the coaches were focused on eliminating Andy’s errors and weaknesses and Andy has been listening to them too well.

He cut down on his unforced errors and I believe that he became just too focused on not making any mistakes at all.

If you’ve been watching tennis closely in the last few years, try to remember some spectacular or inspirational shots from Roddick. I personally cannot remember many. Read the rest of this entry »

I just ran across this article on Wozniacki by James Martin of Tennis.com. On the surface, the article might appear to equate offense with power. “She needs to hit harder and go for more winners.’ But if you read a little deeper you will see that there is more to it than that.

James Martin also talks about a mindset.  It is an assertive mindset that distinguishes the true champions.  Sampras does not have the most powerful serve. Federer does not have the most powerful strokes. They hit hard but there are others who can hit harder.

They both have fluidity and variety. In fact, if you think about Federer, Sampras and McEnroe everyone would agree they have incredible hands. So does Borg and so does Nadal. It is not as natural but they have used variety to augment their games.

And all of them used offense.   But the overall theme of the article seems to bottle up the essence of a higher level of tennis.

Read the rest of this entry »

Dear Mr. Mencinger: Great blog and website. I need your help, please. I am an active club player. 31 yrs old playing my best overall game (good groundstrokes and volleys).

But for the last 2 years, my serve toss has been a struggle. I thought it was technique, but I have served well in the past. I tend to start serving well and then the moment I miss one toss, doubts kick in.

My tossing arm feels paralyzed and I forget what my toss motion (and overall serve motion) looked like. I start changing things out of nervousness. Read the rest of this entry »

What’s the best advice you can give me on how to improve my game most efficiently?

I’m an educator in passion and mathematician by training, so I’m always interested in the most efficient method.

Feenix Y. Pan, Ph.D.
Learning Consultant in Mathematics
www.door2math.com

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Hmm, tough question.

Let’s look at your question from this perspective: you need to play a lot in con-competitive situations and complement that with competitive play.

Fast improvement in technique and coordination and feel comes from NOT playing for points. Read the rest of this entry »

I’ve been playing tennis for about two years. I’ve always liked it  but I’ve never liked the competition aspect of it.

I just don’t understand the need for competition. All is see in it is to see who is the winner and who is the loser.

I find happiness in hitting the ball over the net not winning a match and then hurting the other person’s feelings because they lost. I love drills, practices, fake matches (when you don’t score) but I don’t like tournaments.

This past tournament I was favored to win. My first match was last night and I knew that I could beat the other girl 6,0-6,0. But I didn’t. Instead I got onto the tennis court and barely moved my feet farther than three steps. I hit balls I knew were far out.

I can hit well, I have good technique and am actually quite good but I don’t like the competition part. I try very hard in practices, lessons, and drills. Maybe i don’t like competitions because I already know I can beat the people so I find no use in proving it.

I really want to play more tennis but the only way I can is if i compete. But I hate competing and never want to. Is there something you recommend that I do?

——————————————————– Read the rest of this entry »

Roger Federer and Andy Murray started the final of the Australian Open 2010 in a very controlled manner. There was of course a lot on stake for both players.

Roger Federer volleys at the Australian Open 2010 (Photo by PAUL CROCK/AFP/Getty Images)

Andy Murray was looking for his first Grand Slam title while Roger was looking to extend his record of Grand Slams to 16 and slowly but surely create a record that most likely won’t be broken for many years to come.

Here’s what happened in the match…

First set

Andy’s tactics was immediately obvious – play to Roger’s backhand over and over again and hope that Roger becomes frustrated with his inability to finish the point and get out of backhand-to-backhand exchanges. Read the rest of this entry »

Kim Clijsters has had a good run at the Australian Open 2010 until her third match with Nadya Petrova when she unexpectedly lost 6:0, 6:1.

Many players can start to doubt their abilities and lose confidence and don’t know how to approach such a match with the correct mindset. But that’s the wrong way of thinking and it can start a downward spiral of confidence.

Kim Clijsters not playing well at Australian Open 2010 (Photo by Clive Brunskill/Getty Images)

Here’s what Kim said about the match:

Q. Is it hurting you more the fact that you lost the game or the fact that you lost the game 6‑0, 6‑1?

I think I haven’t changed anything in my whole preparations before every match. Everything was the same, same routine, then something like this happens. That’s probably the most frustrating thing about it, is not knowing. That’s sports. You know, it can happen.

There are two important things Kim mentions: Read the rest of this entry »