Tennis Tip of The Week: 3-11-09 :: Serve Rituals Are For Winners!
For this week’s tip, I’ve decided to go deeper into serve strategies since I’ve been receiving so many emails about it in the last few weeks. I actually posted some quotes of some of the others who were experiencing serve problems, and the major issue that I saw across the board was consistency (see below).
Have you felt like Jon, Megan, or Nick at any time during the course of a set? If so, I think I’ve got something that just might get them, and you, over the hump.
Well, first, let me tell you, it’s not magic. There are actually some factual reasons behind why this happens to you. Check them out below.
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3 KEY REASONS FOR YOUR
SERVE INCONSISTENCY
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| 1. Tennis Tension: You’re already tense about the serve itself before you even start your motion - let alone hit the ball. And when your mind and muscles are tense, only negative or unwanted result usually happen.
2. No Consistency: If both your mind and body, are always doing something different, how can you expect the constant level of results you need and want? 3. Mind & Body Fatigue: As the match grows longer and longer, your mind and body definitely grow weaker than when you hit the first one in the opening game. It’s very natural (..and frustrating) to see your serve start to break down. |
If you feel those reasons apply to you, don’t worry. There’s an easy way to fix this.
You need to develop a ritual. And by ritual, I mean a series of mannerisms or body movements that you do EVERY single time you step up to the service line. It’s been proven to dynamically boost consistency of performance in the sports world for ages.
You see it in basketball when players are at the free-throw line, when the quarterback is getting ready to hit his receiver for a touchdown, and in baseball right before a strike out. Why? It works! And it’s the same for tennis.
I’ve listed some of the most common and effective ways to produce a working ritual for your serve below. Go ahead and check them out.
SERVING RITUAL THAT WORKS FOR MORE THAN 93% PRO PLAYERS
| 1. Shuffle your feet from side to side while on the balls of your feet. This is also great for keeping your body loose :). 2. Bounce the ball a particular amount of times, (try 3 to start). 3. Take a breath. I recommend a long deep inhale through the nose (…hold for the count of 4), then slowly exhale through the mouth. This is known as the diaphragmatic breath and helps quiet down any butterflies that might be flapping around in your stomach as well as drain the anxiety from your mind. 4. Take a short pause, and take a quick gaze over to your opponent. This also can let you know if your opponent has changed his position or unknowingly favoring one side more than the other. 5. Rock your body back and shift your weight more towards the back foot. 6. Make your toss. 7. Lastly, strike the ball for an automatic ace ::wink:: . |
This ritual strategy will help to eliminate the lack of control and consistency problems that you were having on your serve, and give your confidence a royal boost at the same time - especially if you’re involved in a rather long match!
Yes, this is definitely win-win-WIN situation for you. Give it a try, and let me know how it works.
Here’s to winning,
Brian Hall, Head Coach
Tennis Mind Camp
http://www.Myspace.com/TennisMindCamp
webmaster@TennisMindCamp.com
P.S. If you have any suggestions for future tips of the week or have concepts
that you would like covered, simply reply to this post.
These tips are wonderful, I cant wait to use them on the court! My boyfriend will be very surprised when I beat him!
I do that ritual a lot when I play. It pays off and forms greater focus but some times the fatigue still takes its toll on my serve.
could just be that once i get going i go all out until the very last point
Thanks for the tips coach. I would like to add a couple points that I find helpful in my service ritual. At the moment after my body, hands and racket are in position and I glance across the net I focus my eyes on the spot I want the ball to land. I visualize the ball hitting that spot. Then when I make my toss I totally focus on the ball not just glance at it. Doing this has raised my consistency a lot.
I have definitely used these on the court and they help me every time!! I must admit its hard to calm myself down in order to do the rituals. with all the adrenaline pumping from the match, but as time goes on im sure ill get better maybe ill be like Sharapova one day and have the hair flick down to !!
Brad i think that looking at where your going to serve the ball can be good but as you get better in your game if u stare at a spot too long your opponents will be able to read your eyes and you give away the element of surprise. But everyone is different : )