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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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

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.

TMC- Superior Serve Strategy 101

The serve is one of the most important, if not the most important shot, in the entire game of tennis. It’s a tremendous factor in determining the tempo over the course of the match. This is where you can really take command and put the pressure on your opponent.

But if you fail to win your service game, you place yourself under a lot more pressure and it becomes much more difficult to win the match. That’s why this one concept is so crucial.

Yes, I see players with beautiful “looking” serves that go in. But to be honest with you, those same players aren’t the ones winning on a consistent basis. And the reason why a lot of players find it difficult to win their serve consistently is because their focus is misplaced.

They’re stressing the mechanics a little more than they should. Don’t get me wrong, mechanics are definitely necessary, but the mental part of it is much more important.

What separates the “ok” players and the great ones is their strategy. Being able to know the correct serve to hit in a specific situation, is incredibly crucial. If you just hit it your hardest every time, that isn’t gong to get you the results you want.

Also, you don’t want to use the same strategy for every player. Each opponent you face is going to have different strengths and weaknesses. Knowing what serve angle (…wide, up the T), spin (…topspin vs. the kick serve), speed, and trajectory to use to disrupt your opponent’s individual game plan the most will in fact take you to that next level of serving.

The way you figure this out is to study him before the match. See what types of serve he has trouble with, and which ones he simply rips to shreds.

Some serves that you have to choose from to help build your arsenal:

1. The Outwide Serve (pulls your open off the court)
2. The T-Serve (straight up the line where the two service boxes connect)
3. The Rib-Breaker (down the middle and directly in the body)
4. Flat Serve = (P-O-W-E-R)

Remember to mix these up, because you always want to keep your opponent guessing. But hey, if you see he can’t hit one particular serve, and he continuously is making error after error, stick with that!