Jim McLennan's Essential Tennis Instruction

Tennis - moving and hitting - not really much more to it. Quicker players have an advantage, consistent power hitters have an advantage. When it comes to improving the moving, the footwork, your getting to the ball and recovering back to center - there are many training methods to chose from. The first and most obvious choice concerns weight training, where stronger muscles may help you "explode" to the ball. Another variation includes actual dance and balance exercises, where the goal becomes moving with more grace and less effort. The post ETI 017 | Moving to the Ball – Turn and Go appeared first on Jim McLennan's Essential Tennis Instruction.

Hopefully you have seen and worked through the podcast entitled Weighting and Waiting. And as a subtle review, baseball batters "wait" on the pitch with their "weight" back.  Similarly, pitchers and quarterbacks start their throwing motion with their "weight" back. The post ETI 016 | Positioning for the Hit – Moving in Twos appeared first on Jim McLennan's Essential Tennis Instruction.

In addition to consistency, control, spin and power, much less trying to produce your best tennis when the chips are down, a large part of the game includes your precise awareness of the conditions - meaning the direction of the wind, as well as the location of the sun. The next time you are on court with the sun high in the sky, but equally when it is at your back, take special notice of your shadow. As the sun moves through the sky the line or alignment of the shadow will change. The post ETI 015 | Lobbing along the line of your shadow appeared first on Jim McLennan's Essential Tennis Instruction.

Many ways to play this game, many ways to grip the racquet, and truly many ways to hit the ball. Flat, topspin, slice, sidespin, under spin - just to name a few (if not them all). We know to hit up on the ball for topspin, to swing slightly down on the ball for slice or under spin, and to swing more or less level for a flat hit. And one proviso, the ball will always leave the racquet with some amount of spin, it is impossible to hit the ball perfectly flat. But for our purposes, flat will mean a ball with relatively little spin. The post ETI 014 | Alignment – Swinging Up and or Down appeared first on Jim McLennan's Essential Tennis Instruction.

This one is entirely visual. Draw a full circle with your racquet, visualizing the face of a clock. At 3 and 9 o'clock, your arm is horizontal, the racquet head is well away from your body. Down at 5 and 7 o'clock your arm points down, the racquet head falls below your hand, and your reach is not as extended as it was at 9 and 3. Use this feel to know that when balls are low (5 and 7), you actually want to play them "inside" but when balls are bouncing up (9 and 3) you actually want to play them "up and away." The circle of play is a natural way to feel how your arm moves at various heights, and how to position for the low and high shots. The post ETI 013 | Circle of Play appeared first on Jim McLennan's Essential Tennis Instruction.

As Blackie Jones (my first coach) would ask of a student,"If there are two parts to the serve, being the toss and the swing, do you think it is better to swing at the toss, or toss into the swing?" And as his lessons and demonstrations proceeded, we were schooled in the tempo, the technique, and the benefits for a toss that was low without being overly low, and this produced a motion that was rhythmic and flowing. The post ETI 012 | Tossing into the Swing appeared first on Jim McLennan's Essential Tennis Instruction.

Whether pitching, throwing footballs, unleashing your forehand, or unwinding on the overhead or the serve - your non dominant arm plays a very, very important role. I have a daughter, and have never liked the term, "throwing like a girl." That said, inexperienced as well as inexpert throwers let their non dominant arm hang at their side when throwing. And in that manner the throw is one sided. But take a look at any throwing skill and you will see the non dominant arm coil with the wind up and uncoil prior to the throw/pitch/forehand/overhead or serve. The post ETI 011 | The Non Dominant Arm appeared first on Jim McLennan's Essential Tennis Instruction.

At the net put your forearm at net level and parallel to the net strap, with the racquet head at right angles to your forearm. Now practice quickly turning your hand and wrist such that the racquet head snaps forcefully against the net strap. Take your time, keep experimenting – and once this feels somewhat natural – toss up a few (rather than tossing down a few) and see how it feels on the serve. You may be pleasantly surprised! The post ETI 010 | The Pete Sampras Snap appeared first on Jim McLennan's Essential Tennis Instruction.

If you want to hit the ball with less effort and more power, take a page from the baseball batter or the boxer - both wait with their body weight on the back foot before swinging the bat or delivering a punch. Too often players pay too much attention to grips, swings, and spin without ever mastering their balance. And truly even the pitcher puts their back foot on the pitching rubber before hurling the pitch. The post ETI 009 | Waiting and Weighting appeared first on Jim McLennan's Essential Tennis Instruction.

"You are only as good as your second serve." I know, I do write about this quite a lot, but I believe it - and in nearly every instance the statistics of the professional matches support the idea. The match winner always wins more points on their second serve, and the match loser will always lose more points on their second serve. The post ETI 008 | Pressuring the Second Serve appeared first on Jim McLennan's Essential Tennis Instruction.

Note, just like forecasting the weather, with a certain amount of (acceptable) error, the same goes for this picking of winners and more.  That said there are some darn interesting matchups in the next few days, as well as some excellent tennis that was played over the weekend. Caroline Wozniacki.  Somehow I think the press […]

Watch the professional players who are adept at moving inside the baseline to finish the point. They will invariably make contact when the ball is well above the net, if not the absolute apex of the bounce. And at this height (which is nearly always above the level of the net) the net is less an obstacle. In fact, in many instances it appears the stroke and follow through are almost level if not slightly down, that is they are driving the ball over the net but down and into the court. The post ETI 007 | The top of the bounce appeared first on Jim McLennan's Essential Tennis Instruction.

Tennis is a game of “UP.” Suzanne Lenglen, French world champion in the 1920's, was trained by her father. And the story goes that they would have a tennis outing to a park in Paris, but, and this is an important but - they would play as long as she did not hit a single ball into the net. And the practice stopped (dead in its tracks) with her first netted error. Long, or wide and they continued, but the net was the obstacle to be avoided at all costs. The post ETI 006 | Looking through the net appeared first on Jim McLennan's Essential Tennis Instruction.

Holding your finish for just a moment clarifies your balance as well as the quality of your stroke and follow thru. Further, this method has been used by so many famous coaches – Tom Stow, Robert Lansdorp and more. It will help you as well. Stow remarked that if the stroke started correctly (balanced on the back foot with a compact but loose preparation) and finished correctly (weight shifted forward and arm well extended toward the target) then everything between the start and finish - meaning contact - would be just fine. The post ETI 005 | Holding your finish appeared first on Jim McLennan's Essential Tennis Instruction.

Many years ago, in my training with Tom Stow (I was in my early 20's and had already played 4 years of college tennis) he totally remade my game with constant reference to balance, to posture, to playing with less effort and more "conk." Watching our very best players, you can see a similar poise, balance if you will. Federer is the acknowledged master of all this. But you too can start by working on how you carry your head. As amusing (hopefully) as the drill in the video appears, see if you can see if you can perform your swings with a “ball on the hat.”. The post ETI 004 | Balance – in the extreme appeared first on Jim McLennan's Essential Tennis Instruction.