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Dave's Tennis Tips

Be a batter on two-handed backhands. Players that use a two handed backhand do so because two hands provide extra support and power. But even with two hands on the racket, some players still may not get enough power or consistency. What's wrong? Chances are you're not turning your shoulders enough on your backhand. That forces you to use too much arm and not enough body rotation on the shot. Pretend you are a baseball batter on your two hander. Like a batter turn your back and look over your shoulder at the ball. Now you can uncoil your hips and shoulders, rotating your body into the shot for more power while the two-fisted grip gives you stability. Be a batter on two handers and develop a big league backhand.

Catch the Racket for a full finish. The movement in tennis today is to have a full finish on your groundstrokes. One of the key ways to ensure that you finish your forehand groundstroke is to make the catch in your non-hitting hand. This is provided that you have a one handed forehand! The catch happens at the end of the stroke. If a player is right handed they will need to make impact in front of their left foot and then after they have uncoiled to make impact the racket should proceed to the left side of their body were the left arm will meet it to make a catch up near the left shoulder.

Close the Gap on your Forehand. One simple technique to remember when following through on the forehand drive is the saying close the gap. Imagine that you are a left-handed player who has just made impact in front of your right foot on the forehand drive. You have the option of stopping your finish or extending your arm across your body so that you make the catch in your opposite hand. One way to ensure that you make the catch is to imagine the space between your left shoulder and your chin as the GAP. When you start your swing think about closing that GAP so that the left shoulder is touching the chin and you are making the catch in your opposite hand.

Square your shoulders on your Forehand. Basketball players are taught to make sure that both of their shoulders are facing (square) to the basket when they shoot a basketball. Tennis is no different when you are hitting groundstrokes; a person should make sure that their shoulders are square to the net when they make impact with the ball. By having their shoulders square to the net they will ensure that they are making impact in front and that they are uncoiling their body into the shot. So square your shoulders on the shot so that you can nail down that long distance shot.

Rope a Dope. When at the net in doubles imagine that you are connected with your partner by a rope. When your partner moves to the right you should also move to the right to help cover the ball. This means that you should follow the play of the ball by moving side to side with your partner as if the two of you are connected by a rope.

Develop a Smooth Serve. Did you ever notice how great servers make it look so easy? One way to develop a smooth service motion is to take a small plastic bag, like you get at the grocery store. Place a tennis ball inside of the bag and then practice your service motion with the bag and the ball. Make the full figure eight and continue the motion so that you never stop. By developing a smooth easy motion with the bag you will ensure that your service motion becomes much smoother.

Open Racket face. No matter what kind of stroke you hit, topspin, flat, slice etc. what you will find is that your racket wants to be open to the ball at impact. One way to ensure that it is, is to imagine that your racket is a mirror and that the tennis ball wants to see its own reflection in the mirror at the point of impact. This will help you to make a solid impact.

Prepare Like a Basketball Player. When most players prepare to serve they do not take their time, instead they rush through the motion. Ever notice a good basketball player at the free throw line, they will take their time bounce the ball and focus on their target and then shoot. A server should do the same thing, take your time bounce the ball focus on the target and visualize success and then fire!!!

Punch your volleys like a prizefighter. Ever notice how the top fighters shorten up their punches the closer they get to their opponent? A good tennis player should do the same thing, the closer that they get to the net the less swing that they should take on the volleys and the more that they should punch the ball out in front of them. So be like a prizefighter and punch the volley to knock out your opponent.

Play Hop-Scotch on your volleys. Remember when you were a child and you used to play hop-scotch, jumping box to box. When coming to the net split-step before you hit your volley to slow yourself down and regain your balance so that you can step into the ball and have your weight forward.

Bunt back hard serves. When a player has a great serve you should not take a big swing and try to hit the homerun return. Rather you should take a very short back swing, like a baseball player bunting, and block it back.

Call them safe at home. On a slice backhand imagine that you are a home plate umpire and that you are calling the runner safe at home. When your hitting hand goes forward to hit the slice have your non-hitting hand go back in the air as if you are calling them safe at home.



Dr. Dave Marshall, USPTA/USPTR/MSM
PO Box 1472, Bethany Beach, DE 19930
Plantations Tennis 302-526-5111
E-mail: Dave@DaveMarshallTennis.com
Bookings: www.DaveMarshallTennis.com