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5 Tennis Tips To Avoid Unforced Errors

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You have probably heard the term “unforced errors” during professional tennis matches quite often. This is when a mistake is made by the player, but the mistake was not caused by the opponent. Examples of unforced errors include double faulting and mishitting easy shots.

Here are 5 tennis tips to avoid these unforced errors.

1. How To Prepare For The Next Shot

Many players often run towards the ball without bringing their racket back to prepare for the shot, whether it be a forehand or backhand. In tennis, it is important to be prepared. Being prepared is having the racket ready to swing and hit the ball. When a player is running towards the next ball, it is important to simultaneously bring the racket back. Bringing the racket back gives the player more time to concentrate on timing, footwork, and control. Tennis is all about timing, and being prepared gives players a better advantage.

2. Take Little Steps

Some people may assume that taking big steps or leaps towards the ball gets them closer to the ball quicker. This may be true, but it is more beneficial to take several little steps towards the ball. This helps with footwork, which every tennis player knows is the most crucial skill in tennis. Taking little steps helps avoid over-running the ball, which causes players to be too close to the ball when hitting. It also helps to avoid being too far from the ball, which causes reaching. Taking little steps will help improve footwork and groundstrokes.

3. Blocking At The Net

Swinging at the net is probably the easiest mistake to make in the game of tennis. It is most common when hitting volleys because players think they will hit a winner on a volley by swinging their hardest at the ball. Winners do not usually happen with swinging at the ball because the ball usually goes into the net or beyond the baseline to the back fence. Some tennis tips for blocking the ball are simple. Keep your eye on the ball and block it like you are giving the ball a high-five. And always remember to NOT swing at the net.

4. Place Your Serve

When beginners learn how to play tennis, they tend to think their serves will improve by hitting it harder. This is not the best idea because hitting a serve harder without control will cause the ball to either go into the net or beyond the service box. It is important to start off learning to serve by placing the ball in certain areas of the service box. This will increase your consistency in serves and also give you an advantage over your opponents.

5. Relax When Playing Tennis

Many players tend to get tense and forget to breathe while hitting. It is beneficial to develop a breathing pattern when serving and returning. This breathing pattern helps to relax your muscles and you are able to hit a free-flowing shot. Relaxing also helps you hit the ball deeper towards the baseline.

These are only a few tennis tips to help you avoid unforced errors out on the tennis courts. It would be even more beneficial to know what can be improved in your personal game. Getting tennis tips and critiques on certain shots will help you better your tennis game. Submit a video on any part of your tennis game to get critiques and extra tennis tips on how to improve your tennis game.

Tennis is a great way to keep fit and stay in shape. Visit http://www.LearnTennisQuick.com for more essential tennis tips and tennis video instructions.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Steven_Chang

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Tennis Training for Better Court Performance

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Years ago the only “training” deemed necessary by gurus for tennis is cardio and aerobic conditioning.

Such training modalities included long distance running or biking to train the lungs and the heart.

The cardio programs were long in both distance and duration. The only problem?

This tennis training didn’t transition well onto the tennis courts.

And the reason why is that tennis is not a long distance, duration type of sport.

Tennis is a short burst, start stop, explosive sport, and the training should do it’s very best to mimic this activity. I mean, if you’re a world class sprinter, why would you train by running 10-15 miles at a time? It doesn’t make sense, right?

In order to mimic a real time match, your training needs to be as similar to an actual match as possible. That’s why running 5 miles a day doesn’t do much good unless you’re a relative newbie to tennis training. After a few weeks, the benefits of the duration tennis training will level off and you’ll be at your peak.

It requires as much anaerobic endurance as it does aerobic endurance.

So when you’re putting your training for tennis program together, make sure
you keep this in mind.

To apply anaerobic endurance to your tennis program, you can use a multitude of different variations from dumbbells to barbells to simply body weight exercises.

The trick has less to do with the actual exercises and more to do with how the exercises are put together with one another.

The best way I’ve found to perform fitness for tennis is to use either giant sets or circuits where you do multiple exercises back to back without rest.

One of my favorites is to perform a giant set containing 4 exercises that trains the whole body as well as your anaerobic system.

Normally, I’ll piece together 2-3 giant sets each containing different exercises and then perform 3-4 sets of each giant set.

Here’s an example giant set.

1. Jump Rope
2. Push Up
3. Burpee
4. Push Press

In this giant set, I would perform 8-10 reps of each exercise. Begin with exercise number one, perform 8-10 reps, then immediately move to exercise number two. Repeat until the last rep is complete on exercise number four.

This would be considered 1 set. Repeat for a total of 2-4 sets, then move on to giant set number 2 which would contain 4 new exercises.

The workout would be complete once giant set number 2 is completed for a total of 2-4 sets.

If a tennis player consistently trains in this manner, they will see a dramatic improvement in their performance, because the lack of fatigue will allow them to focus on the specifics of each shot.

As the tennis training progresses, intensity can be added by increasing the number of exercises, increasing the number of reps of each exercise, by increasing the resistance of each exercise, or, if you’re looking for a greater challenge increase all four for a truly intense tennis training workout!

Todd Scott is a training advisor to Men’s Fitness magazine and creator of the internationally best selling Tennis Matrix. To learn more go to the tennis training homepage.

Also, grab a free report on the truth about tennis conditioning at the tennis training online Homepage

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Todd_Scott

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High School Tennis Drills

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High school tennis coaches sometimes struggle to find new tennis drills to do with their team. Players can get bored of doing the same drills over and over again. Boredom results in less intensity which leads to poor performance. For this reason, high school tennis coaches need to seek out new tennis drills to make practice more interesting and fun.

The following tennis drills are very popular among both high school coaches and players. They allow players to practice both their net game and their ground strokes. These tennis drills can be modified to suit the needs of individual teams. Tennis coaches can come up with their own set of rules to adjust the drills to the skill level of their players. Each tennis drill starts with the set up phase and then the detailed explanation of rules.

The first game is called “College Drill”. Players divide into teams of 2. A random team starts on side A at the net (instructor can ask a trivia question to determine first team). The other teams line up behind each other at the baseline on side B. The instructor feeds the ball to the first baseline team, who tries to beat the net team 3 times in a row. If the baseline team loses the point, they go to the end of the line. Once a baseline team wins 3 points in a row, they become the new net team on side A. Teams can only earn points on side A. Teams keep their points even if they lose their position at the net. First team to 15 points is the winner. This is a very popular tennis drill.

The second game is called “One Point Tournament”. Players divide into 2 even teams to side A and B. Each team forms a single line behind their baseline. The instructor feeds the ball in, and the first players in each line play out the point against each other. The losing player is out of the game (he can start picking up balls), and the next player in line from his team comes in. The winning player goes to the end of his line, and the next player from his team comes in to play the next point. The team that has players (or player) left is the winner. This tennis drill teaches players to deal with pressure situations.

The final game is called “Rush and Crush”. Players divide into teams of 2. A random team starts on side A at the baseline (instructor can ask a trivia question to determine first team). The other teams line up behind each other at the baseline on side B. The instructor feeds a short ball to the first baseline team, who approaches the net. If they win the point, they are fed a volley. If they win this second point too, they are fed an overhead. Once they win all 3 points, they become the new defenders on side A. If the challenging baseline team loses the point, they go to the end of the line. Teams can only earn points on side A. Teams keep their points even if they lose their position at the net. First team to 15 points is the winner. This is a very effective doubles tennis drill.

High school tennis coaches should continually try to discover new tennis drills. They have to keep the interest and the attention of their students at all times. Rotating useful and effective tennis drills is the key to a successful high school team.

The author is a tennis professional with over 20 years of teaching experience. Find out more at www.protennisdrills.net which is the best resource online to find new tennis drills.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=William_Shelley

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Stretch to Alleviate Soreness After a Tennis Match

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Have you ever played a real tough match only to wake up the next day with killer stiffness and pain in the sides of your hips? It feels like WORK just to lift your foot off the ground or move it from side to side…

If you’re like me, you have, and it’s not just a pain in the hip… It’s a pain in the rear!

I’ve got good news. Here’s one way to fix the pain and stiffness with a post match stretch – and it also doubles as a pre-match warmup stretch to loosen your hips!

Here’s How to do it:

1. Walk over to the fence and place both hands on the rail

2. Slightly bend both knees

3. Place your right ankle on your left knee

4. Slowly bend your left knee and Lower your hips toward the ground

5. Hold for 8-10 seconds and switch legs

6. Repeat 2-4 times

* For pictures, log on to Tennis Stretch

This stretch really hits your hips and will work out the lactic acid build up during your match.

The next morning, if you’re still stiff, take a hot shower and repeat The stretch *immediately* afterwards.

The hot water from your shower will loosen up your muscles and actually
allow you to get a deeper stretch with less risk of injury.

If you’re super stiff, you may need to repeat this stretch several times throughout the day to help alleviate the tenderness.

Important note: This stretch also doubles as a pre-match stretch to loosen up your hips. Perform 2-3 sets of 8-10 seconds before hitting the courts.

As one of the nation’s most in-demand fitness trainers, Todd Scott is a training advisor to Men’s Fitness and Muscle & Fitness Hers magazines. You can find his articles on news stands today and in nearly every issue of Men’s Fitness or Muscle & Fitness Hers magazines for the past 2 years. A high school champion tennis player-turned-fitness expert finally decided, after a little arm twisting by his tennis clients, to allow public access into his Tennis Specific Fitness Databank to help people just like you develop strength and power to hit stronger shots and win more matches.

Todd’s additional resources IgnitingYourGame.com.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Todd_Scott

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Simple Quick Guide to Tennis Parenting

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It’s extremely difficult to emerge today as a top young player without the support of a parent. It usually starts with parents awesomely watching on TV the top tennis players of today such as the likes of Federer, Nadal, Djokovic, or Sharapova. Seeing them play makes most parents say “How I wish someday my child will be like them”.

If you are one of these parents, and you decided to introduce your child to tennis game, or more, you want to be the primer tennis tutor of your child, this one’s for you.

(Each pointer is bulleted so as to make it more comprehensible)

• First and foremost, the key to positive tennis parenting is learning to give unconditionally to children. Expecting something in return, especially from your financial investment, or amount of time and effort spent, then you’re just giving conditionally. Children feel pressure when expectations become too great, causing “burn-out” and drop out of the sport.

• Children are not supposed to be pushed to play the game farther than they do. That’s why self-motivation has to be developed at their very early age. Let them determine what their goals in tennis will be, as this can help develop their appetite for playing the game more.

• Communication is key to understanding to your child. Use positive advice to get positive feedback. Avoid criticism, and if you can’t, make it constructive, not destructive. Always let them hear you when you praise them because it boosts their morale.

• Misbehaving kids during play on the tennis court, such as smashing the racquets is not a pretty sight. Make them realize that emotional control is one of the most important elements that top players possess.

• Let your tennis kids know that it’s OK to lose to make them not feeling discouraged during sub par performances. Offer positive advice and listen to what they have to say. This will take off pressure and will let them go on enjoyably competing in the sport.

• Confidence is developed among players in the practice court, along with match experience gained over time. Make them understand that they have control over their thoughts and actions during game. Teaching self-discipline and self-control will enable them to perform to their best level consistently.

• For a capable tennis parent who believes he or she can perform the primer tutoring to their child, kindly consider the following attributes you should possess to gain success.

a. Athletic abilities.

b. Understand basic strokes, fundamentals, strategies and tactics.

c. Patience and understanding.

d. Can motivate, inspire and gain respect of the child.

e. Instill belief, confidence and good sportsmanship.

f. Enthusiastic in their approach to make the game fun in the process.

• When a time comes that the parent has realized their child deserves more because of obvious potentials, it would be a sound decision to look for a more capable professional tennis tutor to tap and enhance it.

So to speak, tennis is such a lifetime sport and a great character builder to offer youngsters. Playing the game is a rewarding experience and will help them prepare for the successes of everyday life.

Juanito Sanz is a long-time experienced recreational tennis player who unselfishly shares his knowledge to beginners for the love of the game. You are welcome to visit his website at: http://www.TennisTipsForEveryone.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Juanito_Silleza_Sanz

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