Jim McLennan's Essential Tennis Instruction

Squaring up – Hitting the ball true – precise contact on the back of the ball. We all know about topspin – but have you ever tried to strike the ball with true topspin – where the ball rolls forward – precisely forward? The following drop hit drill will improve your time spent practicing on court – and help you with your forehand and or your backhand.

Balance, holding your finish, placing your weight precisely against the ball. Yes there are many ways to hit the ball, and many ways to play this game, but with all the variety of styles and technique – our best professionals are balanced more often than perhaps we readily notice.

Is there more to it than simply watching the ball? Well, the answer is yes. But the answer is not readily apparent. Scan and zoom describes two different visual orientations, both of which occur on court. In your own game, are you better at scanning or zooming? Better yet, are you skilled at both?

Ready Read React – the all important "3 R's" of tennis. But the question, once you have been ready and now have read the incoming direction of the ball – how do you react? What is your first move? The first move is about quickness, it is about simplicity, but equally if not more importantly, it is about committing and reacting to only and simply what you have read. If you want to be quicker and find more time to hit the ball – improve your first move.

The following is a two part article.  With part two presented first, and part one to follow. And this intrepid reporter is guilty (as charged) because I had written part one prior to the results in Beijing at the China Open. At that tournament, Rafa recaptured the Number One ranking, but along the way was […]

The game has changed from the old wooden racquet era. Next was graphite composite racquets. Then stronger and stronger players. Followed by more and more topspin (unfortunately from further and further behind the baseline). The next era in our game's development occurs from the new "copoly" strings - essentially a polymer material, but somehow little or no friction between the strings. You will note, no longer do the players walk around between points straightening their strings. That is because those strings move back and forth when meeting the ball - imparting much much more spin.

Play the ball to the open court. Run your opponent. Hit it where they "ain't" (sorry). Too often we focus on moving the ball east and west, meaning from side to side. Another option, in some instances a better option, is to play the ball deep and short, very deep and very short. Think of this as moving the ball north and south. Drop shots will do the trick. Backspin, finesse, stroking from high to low with an open racquet face. But, and this is most important, always meet this ball on the rise, from inside the baseline.

Ikky Kobayashi

Three R's - ready read and then react. Ready - feet spread, knees softly bent, weight on the balls of the feet Read - as quickly as possible read the ball, see clearly is this ball coming to the forehand or backhand side React - turn your shoulders and hips to the ball as quickly as possible.

Tennis ju-jitsu. Blocking, borrowing, deflecting the ball, playing with angles and change of pace. The game is not always about power and winners. Just as easily the game can become one of rebounding the ball, using the opponent's force and incoming shot to create our own. This style, ju-jitsu if you will, comes from shorter strokes, firmer grips at contact, and a willingness to look for angles, dinks, drops and more. McEnroe was the unquestioned master of this - try it out for yourself.

Relishing the contest. Appreciating the opponent. Understanding (really) the rules of a contest. To my mind, some matches are determined before ever hitting the first ball. We have all been in situations where we knew immediately that the opponent had no chance - and equally we have all been in situations where we knew immediately that we had no chance. None at all. The fun occurs, when we play an evenly matched opponent. And in these contest, both players have an even chance to win. Look for these opportunities. Keep your cool. You can be ahead and blow this lead, you can play from behind and catch up - but in any event there is chance, there is luck, there are a few balls close to the line.

Time and Angle.  Tactics - plain and simple. If you move the opponent well behind the baseline - you will have more time to respond, and their angle of play becomes smaller. If that opponent is as deep but in one corner or the other, their angle remains the same but their cross court shot will cross the sideline at a steeper angle. The famous Jack Kramer was known to play the ball deep and up the middle, whenever he had not gained control of the point with his serve or volley. The same will work for you.

Ours is a game of managing errors, of keeping the ball in play, and with each and every shot always playing the percentages. Play the ball close to the line, you encounter the risk of an error. Play the ball close to the line when the opponent is out of position, now the reward may outweigh the risk. But worse, sometimes it is possible to lose points simply because you are never truly taking any risks. With this in mind, consider the line of the incoming ball, and whether you return the ball back along that same line - and this play will always minimize errors. You are playing essentially as a wall. But if you change the line, such that you take a cross court and return if up the line, or you take an up the line and return it cross court - in those instances you are changing the line of play. If the opponent hits the ball much harder (setting up a power line) then your decisions become much more important, said another way certain decisions expose you to much more risk. I recommend always play back along incoming cross court power lines - minimize risk, let them change the line. The post ETI 020 | Power Lines appeared first on Jim McLennan's Essential Tennis Instruction.

Many elements are combined to produce the serve - and one of the secrets is to have all the elements firing in the appropriate sequence. Timing - we have all felt the effortless hits and unfortunately we all have at one time or another, felt the effortful hits. One of the most important sequence during the serve occurs with regard to the racquet drop and the knee bend. In general, on the serve, one must fire in quick sequence large muscles first leading to smaller and then smaller muscles, culminating in a whip at the top of the swing. As regards the racquet drop and knee bend, the best one I heard on this was from Vic Braden, who said, "Fire the extensors baby!" The post ETI 019 | Fire the Extensors appeared first on Jim McLennan's Essential Tennis Instruction.

One of the most common phrases in tennis today is 'hit a heavy ball'. So what is a heavy ball? The incoming shot "feels heavy" when that shot has a lot of momentum. Generally heavy shots are produced with a combination of racquet speed as well as body weight "against the ball." The post ETI 018 | The Heavy Ball appeared first on Jim McLennan's Essential Tennis Instruction.