Hey, I’m glad you made it for this tennis 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. Court Movement: Deciding on the correct movement needed to get to the ball the quickest  and in the least amount of time.

B. 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’ll help you move correctly and properly recover 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)

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.

Hey guys,

I know I normally do the “Tip Of The Week”  a little later on in the week, but with that amazing Mens final that happened at Wimbledon yesterday,this one just couldn’t wait.

Now, before I say anything, I need to clear something up.  A lot of people have been saying that they’re surprised of how well those two guys played yesterday.  That is a bunch of rotten tomatoes.

Because let me tell you, I was not surprised by what happened yesterday in London, and you shouldn’t be either. Amazed, yes. Entertained? Most definitely. But surprised?  Not in the least.  The reason why I’m not surprised is because I expected a high level of tennis. Why?

Well, what  many of the top-ranked players on both the ATP and WTA tours like Andy Roddick, Roger Federer, Venus Williams, and Dinara Safina do is execute a very special mental formula. Now this formula does slightly tweak itself for the individual player, but they all have one very powerful characteristic in common.

…The same characteristic that was put on display at the all-England club yesterday - Intense Mental Toughness and Focus.  All of those  players I mentioned are very well trained in this area and can increase the level of their game during the most mind-wrenching moments in the match.

They’re able to maintain great power and consistency on the ground, and can fight off as many break points as they need to. Stretching a match to the limits of 15-13 in the 5th set of the biggest tennis tournament on the planet  is just one of the perks.

But seriously, this ability is what separates the many players who would normally develop a brain freeze during those critical points from the ones holding up the trophy at the end of the day.

Sadly, the ones who end up struggling in this area are falling victim to the sport’s most deadly elements: indesicion, fear, doubt, and hesitation.  Now, if you have trouble with your IFAMT, it’s highly likely a result of one of those 4 elements or  some combination. But I can’t be 100% sure because I’ve haven’t been out on the court with you personally (…yet).

But, I can tell you this… Don’t worry,  you don’t have to be a pro to gain this type of mental prowess. You have to know “why” it is that you’re having this problem, and then, get the formula on how to fix it.

That being said, check out the formula below.

————

I really wanted to write this post to let you know that impeccable mental strength is not merely a gift that you were blessed with when you were born or given to only a select few. Anyone can attain it. The ones who do have really worked for it through practice and learning the right stuff to get the job done.

Applying the 3 strategies above is a great place to start. After that, practice is all you need, then you’ll really start seeing a change! Good luck. Hope to see you at the next Wimbledon!

All the best,

Brian Hall, Head Coach

TennisMindCamp

webmaster@tennismindcamp.com

P.S. Congratulations to Rafael Vital Jr. for winning the “Are  You A Wimbledon Wiz?” contest over the weekend. Feel free congratulate our fellow camp member by posting something simple like “way to go”,  he deserves it!

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.

**********************

3 KEY REASONS FOR YOUR

SERVE INCONSISTENCY

**********************

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.

Hi there,

Have you played in a high-level tennis match recently? If so, I’m sure you know that having great confidence when you’re playing can instantly take your game to a whole new level.

However, the problem is that a lot of people don’t have the ability to keep their confidence at an all-time high for every single match.

So if you fall into that category (…as does most of the tennis world) and think your confidence could use a huge boost, the mental strategy below may really do the trick.

Concrete Confidence For Tennis 101:

Always remember, you’re going to hit some low points as well as some high points during a match, everyone does in fact. So don’t get down on yourself if you start to slide a little.

If you get stuck thinking about what you’re doing wrong, you’re never going to get out of that rut. I’m telling you,  these things have a way of balancing themselves out more than 97.9% of the time.

And believe me, I understand if you feel that balancing out often takes a lot longer than you’d like. So, a great way to increase your confidence right away is to play some opponents whose games aren’t quite as developed as your own.

Now, to some that may sound cowardly and counter productive, but that’s not the case at all.  Sometimes you can see real progress until you take a step back a little.

Because what is usually the core around the confidence is in the mind not in the game itself.  You need to start feeling good about yourself ASAP. Otherwise you’re going to keep going deeper and deeper into the hole of negativity. And you may never get out.

So, the faster you rack up a few consecutive wins, you’ll see your demeanor and the way you feel about your own game start to shift in the right direction. And you’ll begin to look forward to playing your matches again because you actually feel like you have a real shot at winning them.

Now, one thing is critical.  Don’t get anxious and agitated if the success doesn’t come as rapidly as you might like. The truth is, it may not happen right away.

It may take a couple to more matches than you may anticipate. Just stick with it, and before you know it your confidence will begin to shoot up, and it will show in your results.

If you do that, you’ll be having a lot more fun out there.

It’s always more fun when you win :)!

Have a great Wednesday and an even BETTER GAME!

All the best,
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.