Information Central
Tips from the Pros
Power or Control?
Controlling Volleys
Choosing a racket
Changing tactics
Picking a partner
Gameplan
Return of Serve
Finishing the Point
Doubles Tactics
Serving
Moving like a Pro
Playing Topspin Specialists
Playing slicers
Pressure and nervousness
Laying your wrist back
Breathing
Hydration
Become an All-Round Player
Improve as a tennis player
Why take tennis lessons?
Courage about Change
Warming up
Footwork
Positioning & Aggressive Play
Communication
Service
Return of Serve
- Oct 2006
- Jun 2006
- May 2006
- Feb 2006
- Jan 2006
- Nov 2005
- Oct 2005
- Sep 2005
- May 2005
- Apr 2005
- Dec 2004
- Nov 2004
- Oct 2004
- Sep 2004
- Aug 2004
- July 2004
- May/June 2004
- Apr 2004
- Mar 2004
- Feb 2004
- Jan 2004
- Dec 2003
- Nov 2003
- Oct 2003
- Sep 2003
- Aug 2003
- July 2003
Tennis Tips
Oct 2006
Power or Control?
I was always taught that control of the ball was more important than power and that power without control was worthless. Therefore, I spent a lot of time practising trying to hit targets which really helped my consistency.
While there's no doubting the fact that power is important, especially so in today's game, I would say that it might be better to concentrate your efforts on developing correct technique and control of the ball. Then once that is taken care of, gradually try and increase the pace so that you find a good combination of both power and control.
Tennis Tips
June 2006
Controlling Volleys:
Most people make the mistake of trying to hit their volleys too hard and therefore tend to lose control of the shot. Make the right start by focusing on trying to control the shot rather than hitting winners, as I think this is the key to volleying well. There are lots of different things to consider when executing any particular shot and the volley is no different, but sometimes you’re going to find yourself out of position, off-balance and still needing to control and direct the ball.
Therefore, it always helps to know that irrespective of everything else the position of the racket head in relation to the wrist on contact with the ball is what will ultimately determine which direction the ball will travel.
If the racket head is in front of the wrist on contact it will go cross-court, if it is behind the wrist it will go ‘inside out’ and if it is level then the ball should travel pretty much in a straight line. Keep your swing short in a "punch" motion and don't let the racket head drop. So, this is what you should be trying to work on while practising your volleys.
Adam.
Tennis Tips
May 2006
Choosing a racket that suits you:
Choosing a racket is such a personal thing, but there are some basic facts that are good to know that will hopefully help you in your selection. A lot of frames these days are different widths, therefore it’s good to know that the wider the frame the more powerful the racket will be. So you need to take into consideration what style of game you play and how much help you want from your racket, bearing in mind that power is all well and good, but first and foremost you have to be able to get the ball in the court, so control is even more important.
Grip size is crucial – your fingers shouldn’t be able to touch when you wrap your hand around the handle. If this is the case, the grip is too small. Grip the racket and put your opposite pinky finger on the handle. If all touch and it feels comfortable go with this size. All demos come in a 4 and 3/8 grip size.
Strings are often the most neglected aspect of a racket and arguably the most important. Natural gut is considered the most responsive string available and the type most players think has the most feel, and there’s also a whole host of synthetic strings out there to choose from too. Obviously this can create a problem as it’s very difficult to understand which string is the best to use, and why, and the simplest answer I can give you is that it depends a lot on what you want to get from the string itself.
For example, if playability and feel is crucial to you, you might struggle to find a very durable string that meets your needs. Thinner gauges of string are livelier and you can put more spin on the ball with them, but they will probably break much sooner than thicker strings would. If cost is a factor, then synthetic is a good choice, as it’s cheaper and longer lasting, but you won’t get quite the same feel on the ball as you would with something like gut.
These days, most pros use a combination of the two, as this tends to give us the best of both worlds! The best advice I can give anyone who wants to buy a racket is demo, demo, demo!
Adam.
Tennis Tips
February 2006
Changing tactics in a match:
First and foremost, I think it’s very important to concentrate on what you do well and what your major strengths are. Try and get a very clear picture in your mind as to how you want to try and dictate the rallies and that should be your main focus at the start of the match.
On days when you’re playing well and the gameplan is working for you there should be no need to change it. But if you don’t happen to be playing as well as you would want then at some stage it would be wise to fine-tune it so that you can make life as difficult for your opponent as possible all the time. Also, this then gives you the best possible chance of winning every match, not just the ones in which you play well.
In order to be able to think clearly during your matches it’s very important to try and remain as calm as possible on the court so that you can correctly analyse the situation and make the necessary changes as and when they’re called for.
Every member of a real team is always thinking what useful part she or he might play in a situation. How can he back up his teammate in this tricky predicament? What job isn't getting done that she might do to help the team succeed in this emergency? How can he cover for that slip his teammate just made? How can she make her partner's serving even more effective than it is? In short, on a real team, every member is constantly on the lookout for ways to support the team by supporting its other members.
Quite simply, if you’re winning then continue doing what got you into that position, and if you’re losing then try something different! I always tell my students try changing your shot first, then change your positioning.
Adam.
Tennis Tips
January 2006
Picking a partner:
Some say it's important to choose the right person and to choose a person you like. Unfortunately, most of us don't have a very long list of prospective partners to choose from.
In seeking a partner, don't go looking for a clone of yourself. The most successful partnerships are forged between players whose styles contrast. Both in personality and playing style. On a tennis doubles team, if both players bring the same set of strengths and skills to the match, together they bring only half as many strengths and skills as they would if they each brought a different set.
The other main reason why unlike partners fare better is that unlike partners naturally role play. Role playing in pursuit of a common goal is just a fancy name for teamwork. This doesn't mean that twins, like the Brian Brothers, with the same skills and temperament cannot make good partners. But they must plan and work at it, whereas to unlike partners teamwork comes naturally. Teamwork is simply working TOGETHER in mutual support of a common cause.
Every member of a real team is always thinking what useful part she or he might play in a situation. How can he back up his teammate in this tricky predicament? What job isn't getting done that she might do to help the team succeed in this emergency? How can he cover for that slip his teammate just made? How can she make her partner's serving even more effective than it is? In short, on a real team, every member is constantly on the lookout for ways to support the team by supporting its other members.
Students of tennis have often observed this phenomenon, noting that odd couples make surprisingly good doubles teams. Here are some doubles dynasties that fit the bill. John McEnroe and Peter Fleming. Martina Navratilova and Pam Shriver. Francoise Durr and Betty Stove. Mark Woodforde and Todd Woodbridge. Not to mention Billy Jean King and Fred Stolle. Sometimes the disparity isn't so much in ability as in style, temperament, physique, or personality. But if winning is the goal none of this matters, so long as neither player does things that reflect badly on the other.
Adam
Tennis Tips
November 2005:
Concentration:
Concentration is obviously a key element of doing anything well. A funny thing about tennis is that most of the time on court while playing a match is spent NOT hitting balls. Time spent in between points and at changeovers is often the most important as that's when you have the chance to work out exactly what's happening in the match.
Unfortunately, the flip side is that it also allows you plenty of time to lose concentration or to start letting negative thoughts enter your mind! Most players try and combat this by having a routine between points which they can focus on.
Lleyton Hewitt is a very good example of this; if you watch him play you willl notice that he always does the same things both between serves or between points. Most of his time is spent working with his strings, shirt and cap before he plays the next point. Most players always bounce the ball the same number of times before serving:
So to try and help you stay in the present and stop your mind wandering perhaps think about trying to put a routine together which works for you. If playing doubles talk to your partner between points.
Experiment and try and stick with it regardless of the situation.
Remember: you only have the ability to be able to think about one thing
at a time, so try and make sure that one aspect is positive and
relevant.
Adam
Tennis Tips
October 2005:
Gameplan:
Always have an idea of what you want to try and
achieve when you play a match, and how you are going to set about
achieving it.
I believe in concentrating on my own
gameplan and trying to execute that to the best of my ability
irrespective of my opponent. However, sometimes my plan needs to be
fine-tuned, depending on the strengths and weaknesses of my opponent.
Therefore,
I believe it’s imperative to have a clear picture of how you can hurt, and eventually beat, your opponents, and to
continually work on those strengths on the practice court.
Look for your opponents strengths and weaknesses the next time you
warm up against them. See if they are making mistakes on the backhand
side, or if they like move around it to hit the forehand. If they hit
a two-handed backhand feed them some lower balls to see if they can get
down for them, and if a one-handed backhand some higher. See if they
want some overheads. If they are missing them, then you have a go to
shot when you get in trouble by lobbing it high to that person in the
match. Also see where they hit most of their practice serves to,
because that's usually their favorite place to hit it during the
match.
Last of all don't forget to talk to your partner about a gameplan, so you both will be on the same page during the match.
Adam
Tennis Tips
September 2005:
Return of Serve:
Try and make your opponent play as many balls as possible. So, I choose
to block the return on 1st serves the majority of the time. I usually
don’t have enough time to take a full swing anyway and if I can get the
ball back well enough to neutralize the serve and start the rally on
level terms with my opponent then I feel I’ve done a good job.
If
my opponent tries to serve and volley I find a blocked or chipped
return to the feet works well, which then hopefully sets me up for a
pass on the next shot. I usually try to return up the middle of the
court, as this gives me a high margin for error just in case I hit it a
bit too early or late.
Obviously when trying to return second
serves I’m much more aggressive, often trying to follow it into the net
if the court surface is quick enough to help me out a bit. This puts my
opponent under a huge amount of pressure because even if my return
isn’t very good it means they still have to hit a passing shot to win
the point.
If you prefer to play from the back of the court then
I suggest trying to use your favorite shot as much as possible so you
can dominate the point straight away. You can also try and take the
ball on the rise so that your opponent has very little time to recover
from serving.
Adam
Tennis Tips
May 2005:
Finishing the Point
How to finish off the point: The biggest mistake most people make having set the point up nicely is to lose concentration and try too hard to hit a winning shot – going too close to the line and missing – or taking their eye off the ball as they look into the space, anxious to see if their shot is indeed going to be a winner.
It’s very important to have specific patterns of play in mind when playing, irrespective of your game style. As you have an all court game, then it would be useful to try and think of tactical ways you can win points. For example, try and serve a slice serve wide to ones forehand in the deuce court and then playing your first volley into the open court to their backhand, and then a second volley, if you get one, back to their forehand. Practice this leading up to the match with a friend and therefore when the opportunity presents itself you're not thinking ‘There’s the open court – I must hit a winner!’ Just concentrate on executing a particular shot – be it the first volley to ones backhand or the second one to their forehand – and more often than not it turned into a winning shot anyway.
Try this in many variations and when the time comes it will seem much easier to put the ball away.
Adam
Tennis Tips
April 2005:
Doubles Tactics
Doubles Tactics: I know most of us are getting ready for ALTA doubles, so I will go over when to hit the ball cross-court and down the line. Playing cross-court is a higher percentage shot than going down the line – the net is lower in the middle and there’s more court to hit into when going cross-court – but the down the line shot can also be very effective if used wisely.
Try and think about your down the line shot when you’re in an advantageous position and when you’re looking to put your opponent under pressure.
I would advocate using the down the line shot perhaps on a second serve return if the serve is weak or short and high balls thus giving yourself the best possible chance of hitting an aggressive shot. When you try this aim straight at your opponent to force them to have to play a very difficult volley rather than trying to hit the line as obviously the margin for error then becomes very small.
When hitting cross-court try and mix up the
pace and spin you put on the ball: if your opponent is at the back of
the court then depth is useful which should put them under pressure and
give you the opportunity to come into the net. If your opposition is
cross-court at the net then drive the ball down to their feet which
makes them a target and is effective as the volleyer then has to hit
up, something that is difficult to do. If they are in a 2 up
situation, try playing the ball down the center if you can so you
take away angles on their next shot.
Adam
Tennis Tips
February 2005:
Serving
Try not to hit the serve too hard; usually 70-80 percent pace is good enough, especially if you can get above 60 per cent of your first serves in play accurately, and then just every now and then hit a really big one just to keep your opponent guessing.
Variation is vital; no matter how good your serve is if your opponent knows where it's going they will have a far greater chance of returning it effectively, so make sure you not only vary the direction but also the speed and type of spin you put on the ball. Try and develop both spin serves; use some slice on the first serve and some topspin on the second serve in order to give yourself a margin for error.
Irrespective of your natural gameplan, serve and volley occasionally as a surprise tactic no matter what surface you're playing on; this will help keep your opponent guessing as to what tactics you're going to try and use after the serve so they won't have the utmost confidence when selecting what type of return to try and hit.
I know serving is difficult and it can be very boring to practice,
but the improvement you'll see long term is well worth the time
invested.
Adam
Tennis Tips
December 2004:
Move your feet and your stance like the Pros
What is the difference between very advanced and beginner players other than upper body technique? Yes, it is foot work and the stance. Beginner Players take 1,2, or maybe 3 steps to get to the ball. Professionals take mostly between 15-20 steps to fine tune their distance between them and the ball when hitting.
So, ok, it is important to take a lot of steps, but that alone will not make you hit the ball better. It is important to stand correctly when you hit the ball. In simple terms that means on every shot you hit you have one balance stability foot and one power forward foot. Which one is which? Your outside foot on a right handed forehand, for example, is your right foot. which will give you all the stability to be able to transfer power and rotation into your forehand and left foot which will move forward while the right outside foot will stay balanced. So for a right handed backhand your outside balance foot is the left one, while your inside power move foot is the right foot. Get your footwork and your stance right and you will be on your way to hit like the pros.
Tennis Tips
November 2004:
How to play TopSpin specialists
How do you play a TopSpin specialist, an opponent who hits every shot with heavy topspin? What's the characteristic of a heavy topspin? The ball loops high over the net, decelerates quickly, bounces quick of the ground and high out of your hitting zone. You need to hit the ball as early as you can off the bounce, to use all that power and spin against your opponent. Failure to do so will allow the ball will bounce quickly out of your hitting zone which will make you hit a shot without authority.
Prepare early, keep your feet moving, attack the ball early, and hit the ball right after it bounces before it leaves your hitting area. That will help you to handle topspin and use it against your opponent.
Tennis Tips
October 2004:
How to play a slicer
When playing a slicer you have to attack the ball. Slicers will most likely cut under the ball and beside the ball, so that the ball will stay low, will bounce back or to the side. You have to keep your feet constantly moving so you can judge the ball and quickly react moving towards it and attacking it.
Try to take the ball as early as possible after it bounces before it can do anything funny due to the backspin or sidespin. Also try to hit it also with a slice if its below the net tape, otherwise attack it with topspin and open up the court by hitting short angles.
Sliced balls tend to float in the air, so by opening up the court with short angles you make it harder for your opponent to hit the slice because they might miss their shots deep.
Tennis Tips
September 2004:
How to handle pressure and nervousness
Everybody from very advanced to beginner level player has experienced pressure and nervousness on the tennis court. Some of it is healthy and good, as it makes us as players more aware of the importance of the match we play or the point we are about to win.
The main problem is to find a way how to handle those factors, how to channel them into positive energy. When you feel scared, nervous, or pressured, try to jump around, breathe deep in and out, make sure you are sweating and running a lot so you can channel your nervousness into positive energy and play better. When you learn how to overcome nervousness and use it positive you will reach a different level of playing. You will be able to handle pressure and become a good competitor who knows when its important to really step it up a notch. Good Luck and play better!!!!
Tennis Tips
August 2004:
Lay your wrist back
On your groundstrokes it will be a huge advantage to lay your wrist back when taking your racket back to get more topspin on the ball.
By setting your wrist back you will achieve more power, control, and spin to hit more efficient baseline shots. It will help you to play more penetrating shots that can open up the court or drive right through it.
Make sure to keep the wrist back all the way until you execute your shot, and then to let it come through to get the extra spin on the ball.
Good Luck trying to work on that and see you at Drills.
Tennis Tips
July 2004:
Breathing
Breathing, inhaling and exhaling helps you stay in the game and not get out of breath, but also provides your muscles with oxygen, so you don't cramp up while playing.
You should inhale before the ball gets to you and exhale while you hit to stay relaxed and not get out of breath.
It will help you to hit the ball harder by using the dynamics of the muscles
and the stroke instead of staying tight while hitting. It is more economical
to breath while hitting, to keep you from becoming tired.
Enjoy playing relaxed by breathing properly.
Tennis Tips
May-June 2004:
Hydration
Summer is here and that means heat above 85 degrees and 90% humidity. If we play in that heat, we have to hydrate our bodies every day to keep us running well. We need to take minerals like calcium, potasium, and magnesium to make sure that we do not dehydrate.
If you know you will play you should hydrate at least 8 hours before playing, meaning you have to drink a lot of water to fill your body cells with water, so that when you actually play you just fill up the gas tank in the breaks, without ever running empty. Please make sure to drink a lot before coming out to practice, drills, or matches. It will help you play better.
Good luck in the heat!
Tennis Tips
April 2004:
Become an All-Round Player
Tennis has changed in the last 20 years. It has developed and some discuss
and question whether it has changed for the better or to the worse.
It has become so much more athletic and powerful which is great, but on the
other hand I certainly believe that it has lost its facettes of the game
that make it so interesting.
For example,
it is important to be serve very hard, and hit very hard, but
does that mean that we should just serve hard and stay back and power rally
the
ball around? I don't think so. I think it is sad that only Roger
Federer has realized that athleticism and power don't have to develop a new game, but rather emphasize
an allcourt game. All court play helps people being able to play from anywhere and have a
solution for any kind of problem on the court; be it smart defense, great
offense, or risky play.
I believe that a good tennis player at any level should feel comfortable on
any position of the court, be at at the baseline, the serviceline, or the
net
area. The more options the more we have to think about, but if you school
yourself to be able to control all those areas and use the high percentage
shot for each situation you will as a consequence become a much better tennis
player.
Good Luck and enjoy your game!!!
Tennis Tips
March 2004:
Improve as a Tennis Player
We all want to improve as tennis players, be it a beginner, or a more
advanced player.
Most players make the mistake to work on, or play with what they are
comfortable with.
That means basically they dont like to get out of their comfort zone and
rather improve their strength,
instead of also working on their weaknesses.
It is psychologically a simple normal reaction to work on whatever strength we have and to stay in our comfort zone, instead of getting out of it and work on our weaknesses, whatever they may be.
Take your lessons as helping steps to improve. It is really important that you implement what you have learned during practice into your game. Use also your playtime to work on your weaknesses, especially when you play someone who you know is weaker, and who you know you normally beat.
When you play and practice with weaker players you can always use it to become a better player yourself by creating your own limitations of how to play. Make yourself play and work on your weakness, no matter if you lose to the person you are practicing with. You know that you can beat them with your game, so challenge yourself to try to beat them with your weakness, and as a consequence your game will improve.
It is clearly important to work on your strength and it's fun to hit the shot you know you can hit, but it will improve you so much more to turn your weaknesses into solid reliable strokes, and maybe later into strengths. Improving as a tennis player means that you basically eliminate weaknesses and become a multi faceted all round tennis player that can be comfortable anywhere on the court. Good Luck with your improvements and see you at drills.
Tennis Tips
February 2004:
Why take tennis lessons?
Why should you take a tennis lesson? This question is really important for beginners or advanced players, even pro players.
You want to take a tennis lesson to improve as a player. I am sure everybody has thought about that perspective. But going deeper into the matter you become a better player by analyzing and adjusting your own game to the situation.
So in reality you become a better player by taking lessons to become your own Coach on the court when you play, and only you can adjust to the situation while playing a match.
Consequently you take lessons to become your own Coach on the court. Your Coach helps you to analyze, maybe restructure your strokes, and make adjustments, but you are the person who has to start using and implementing new learned items into your own game.
Have fun taking lessons and becoming your own Coach. That is what it really takes as a tennis player to improve at any level.
Tennis Tips
January 2004:
Courage When Trying to Make Changes to Your Game
I hope everybody has a successful 2004. I also hope that everybody used the off-season for some work on their individual strengths and weaknesses. It is apparent that when someone has a weakness they need to work on it, maybe totally change patterns of the shot or movement to go further in the game and to also learn how to use an opportunity in the game when it is presented.
Everybody feels comfortable playing their game. After working on new shot or movement selections most people do not incorporate the worked on change in their game and revert back to old bad habits if they might win the match more easily by doing so.
My feeling is no matter what the change, a new backhand, service toss, learning slice, top-spin, etc., you must be willing to have the courage to "risk losing" to ultimately achieving success. Most players revert back to old habits when the result is on the line. You might possibly achieve a victory in the short run, but you will be hurting your overall development in the long-run if you don't have courage to stick to your guns.
So if you have worked on something new, or are working on something new, try to incorporate that new facet into your game, even though if you might lose in the beginning. It will help you in the long term perspective to become a better player, who can react to more situations in the game. This will make you able to respond to a difficult shot.
Tennis Tips
December 2003:
Warming Up:
Warming up is important at any time of the year, but especially when the temperature falls and we play outside. A few minutes invested prior to play protects us from getting injured and gets our muscles ready to move quick and smooth.
But what should be included in a good warm up? We have to include jogging, sprinting, and stretching to get our muscles ready. A responsible athlete will always have the same warm up routine that can be different from individual to individual. I also use a jump rope.
You should jog around the court using multiple movements like jogging with knees up, leg kicks, jumps, arm circle movement, and other movements that include your entire body. If you do that for at least 5 min. you should be warmed up enough to go from moving to a static warm up that includes stretching.
Stretching should again include the entire body, neck, upper body, arms, lower body, legs, and stretches should be held for at least 20 sec. and pushed further and further.
Now you can start paying mini tennis what professional tennis players call hitting in the service box. Just hit nice and easy, going through the motions, but without power, more just to get the muscles used to the motions used in tennis. That should take at least 2 min.
After that you can warm up from the baseline hitting back and forth, going to the net, and then hitting serves so that you hit all the shots and warm them up. Now you should be ready to play full speed without worrying too much about injuries.
Good luck and enjoy playing, even though it is cold outside. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. We are looking forward for a 2004 with a lot of programs and fun for everybody in Legacy Park.
Tennis Tips
November 2003:
Footwork on the Tennis Court:
What are important factors of fast feet on the court? Good Footwork can be achieved by working on balance, power, explosiveness, flexibility, and agility on and off the court.
Balance is achieved by staying down low on every shot you hit, while keeping your body and your shoulders steady and contained.
Power is achieved by using your legs to push up and forward into the shot and to transfer the energy of your entire body into the shot.
Explosiveness is achieved by bursting from a standing start on your toes to a run down. A quick first step can only happen if you stay on your toes while waiting for the next shot.
Flexibility is achieved by really leveling your body on every shot with the balls level, so that you can strike the ball every time in your hitting zone.
Agility is achieved with crossover steps to recover from a shot towards the next ball coming.
If you use all those factors and work on them on the court playing and off the court running your game will improve due to better footwork.
Good luck and enjoy yourself working on your footwork.
Tennis Tip for the Month of October 2003:
Positioning and Being Aggressive:
Doubles is all about shifting from defense to offense and offense to defense. You and your partner have to see the situation and immediately react to it. If you play a bad shot and your opponent can come in on it, you have to adjust and become defensive by taking a few steps back and holding your position anticipating that the ball will be drilled at you. Your job is at that point in time to reset the point and get yourself in the best position to come in and take advantage of the net. You have clearly more angles and possibilities of shot selection the closer you come into the net area. Doubles is all about being aggressive and closing the point at the net, no matter what level. Even when you do not hit a ball you should still position yourself for the next shot. Good luck with positioning and shifting.
Tennis Tips
September 2003:
Communication with your Doubles Partner:
It is important to have a game plan with your partner. Try to communicate before, during, and after every point with your partner. Both players should know what the game plan is and where they want to position themselves to be prepared for the hopefully created point that will appear.
On serve and return talk with your partner about how you, or your partner will return or serve, so that both know what is going to happen. Doubles is a team sport and needs team communication to be played successfully. Both partners win and lose together. If one partner plays weaker, the other one has to take the lead and carry, and vice-versa.
Both partners should try
to cover the court so that they can cover the high percentage shots. If one partner
poaches or switches the other has to hurry and cover the other side.
Both players have a function on the court, even if one of them does not play,
positioning is extremely important. Communication in doubles is essential
for a successful team.
Good Luck and do not forget to communicate.
Tennis Tips
August 2003:
Serve Smart in Doubles:
Smart Serving is essential in doubles to win. Serve with 70-80% Power and 100% Control and Placement to get the return you want to produce. You have to see your serve as a set up shot for the put away volley. You should mix your serve up, so that your opponents do not get a rhythm on their returns.
Communicate with your partner and have a game plan on every serve you hit. It is not just important for you and your partner to know what you want to create with your serve, but it also slows down the game and gives you no chance to get into a hurry.
If you serve out wide (Slice or Topspin) let your partner cover the down the line alley and close the center area of the court, so that you cover 80-90% of the court. Basically 80-90% of the returns will go into the target zone you already cover and expect.
If you serve to the T (Flat, Slice, or Topspin) your partner can either stay and get in front of the ball or poach. 80-90% of the balls will go down the middle. If your partner poaches he/she has to commit to poaching and that means you have to cover the other side.
A serve right at the body (Flat, Slice, or Topspin) will mostly create a block or pop-up shot that you or your partner should put away.
Serve well and good luck. Do not forget; keep the percentage high by not going for winners on your serve.
Tennis Tips
July 2003:
Return in Doubles:
Try to mix up your returns and play the percentages while also communicating with your partner where your return is going to go. Mixing it up means hitting either cross-court with heavy top spin on the feet of your opponent, or hard down the line at the body, or a lob down the line.
Do not go for winners on your returns, rather see your return as a set up shot, so that you can put the next ball away. Return well and good luck!!!
>