Hey, I’m glad you made it for this tennis recovery tip of the week…. AND… on a Friday at that.

Now in tennis, there are two very important things that you want to be doing and that are absolutely vital to your ability to perform well out there on the court:

A. Tennis Court Movement: Deciding on the correct movement needed to get to the ball the quickest  and in the least amount of time.

B. Tennis Shot Recovery: Executing the right recovery plan so you’re ready to properly execute the very next shot.

*WARNING* This (lack of shot recovery) is  a big problem that I see in so many player’s games today. Once players hit a shot, they just stand there without moving to the next position to extend the point.  Then they find themselves drastically out of position and late on the next shot and end up losing what could have been a “make-or-break” point in the match.

So, you’ve got to keep moving once you execute your first shot!   You’ve got to get back! Remember, there is always one more! Never think that ONE shot is good enough! Haha…

Sorry about that. I really needed to get that off my chest, and definitely wanted to make sure you don’t ever make a mistake like that .

But anyway, I’ve got a powerful tennis strategy for you that will  help you move correctly and achieve proper tennis recovery when your opponent tries to take you out with an out wide forehand.

Now when your opponent tries to pull you off the court using a shot out wide to your forehand side, you want to make sure that you use an open stance. Why? Because if your opponent has hit the ball wide, this is going to send you “sprinting” in the direction of the sideline to get it – pulling you off the court.  The open stance will make it so you can still hit a great ball even when you’re on the run.

But if you want to be able to recover and get back into your ready position in the least amount of time (…which is the #1 goal of this strategy), you can’t just say ok, “I’ll use my open stance.” That’s only half of the puzzle. And you don’t want to be 50%, do you? If you were in school, that be an F.

So, to make it complete and give you the best chance to command the point and take the offense again, you’ll need to hit the ball in a very specific manner using a very easy trick.

What you want to do is  hit what I refer to as a brake step forehand.  The way you execute this is by bracing your outside leg and using a break step to obtain a much quicker recovery back to the middle. (see below)

3 Keys To Achieving Terrific Tennis Recovery:

1. Brace Your Outside Leg: In other words, you want to travel to the ball and right before you make contact and initiate your swing, just brace your outside leg  with a slight but firm bend at the knees (…which would be the right leg for right-handed players.  And the left leg should be a lot straighter and more stiff during this.	(Brace)
2. Shift Your Body Weight: Then, as soon as you feel the ball hit your racket, your opposite (left) leg should be lifting off the ground and at the same time.   When you initiate your swing from this stance,  the majority of your body weight will shift to the other side and will naturally cause your other leg to elevate.	Shift and Raise
3. Brake Step and Recover: Lastly, you want to put on the brakes and stop all movement with your right leg (same that you braced with in step #1) and recover back to the middle using a side pedal.  Notice that the heel is pointed or turned slightly inward toward the center of the court. That’s the beauty of this strategy. You’re basically, executing your shot and recovering in the very same move. Pretty cool huh? It saves you a ton of time and makes extending the point and possibly winning it much more likely. If this wasn’t in your arsenal, you would have been too late	Brake Step

NOTE: Those three movements should be done ALMOST simultaneously. Immediately following one (brace), the next one should have already started (the leg lift).  Then lastly, a split second after, utilize the brake. Don’t fuse them all together, because you’ll find yourself off balance.

If you attempt to combat your opponent’s offensive shot and don’t or forget to include this brake step, you’re going to be in some serious trouble. Why?  When you’re traveling to catch a speedy shot out wide, you’re going to be using a tremendous amount of “short-spurt” energy to propel you in the needed direction.

This means, all of your body weight along with gravity and momentum will send you completely off the court, leaving you waaaaaaaaay  out of position.  And it’ll also make it hard for you to get back to the middle in time. Yea, the fork will be in you. You’ll be done .

But by using the brake step strategy, all of that power and energy will be harnessed and delivered through your shot instead of pulling you off court and giving your opponent a ton of open court space.

Now like I said, you always want to recover. Never stop and stare after you’ve hit your shot or even after you’ve made your brake step.  Continue to move, stay on your toes, and get back to the center hash mark if you can.

Thanks for taking the time.

Have a great day and an even BETTER GAME!

Brian

P.S. Have a safe and fun halloween. If this tip helped you in anyway, please leave what you thought down below. It’ll help out a lot when all the other TMC campers read it.