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MONTHLY NEWSLETTER june
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Welcome to the June Newsletter and to all new subscribers. Please introduce your tennis, colleagues, students, club
members etc to: to sign up for their free email newsletter.
In This Issue As a thank you for subscribing to the monthly newsletter, there is a FREE BONUS of 100 drills. See below.
HOW
TO BUILD A SUCCESSFUL CLUB or IMPROVE YOUR EXISTING CLUB. Every club wants
to be more successful and the question is ‘What is more success?’ My new website
will help and advise on improving your club, with lots of ideas to put into practice. Your committee and members may need
a change of mind, but progress often entails radical thinking. The website can be accessed
via the website: http://www.tennisatthenet.com PRE-GAME
WARM-UP. They do their warm-up off court
on the practice courts prior to going on to the match court as they then
only have 5 minutes to prepare before starting. There is now a concensus of opinion
that it is wrong to do static stretches before you do your warm-up and even before you start to play. It has been discovered
that after static stretches it takes the muscles up to 20 minutes to adjust to playing conditions. You should start doing easy strokes
in the boxes for at least five minutes, you can then do some dynamic stretching – such as lunges (any stretch that involves
movement) proceeding into your normal hitting workout and/or match. Static stretches are for flexibility
and should be done in your warm down at the end of your play. ELEMENTS OF THE STROKES. There are
five elements to the strokes in playing tennis. 1/. Control 2/. Placement 3/. Depth 4/. Spin 5/. Power All strokes
should be learned roughly in this order. We must learn
to control the ball, how we hit the ball; we must learn to hit the ball softly as well as hard. We have a
saying in tennis: ‘It is easy to hit the ball hard, but hard to hit the ball easy’
and we have to learn the hard bit first. This takes time and cannot be rushed. Once you can
control the ball, this will enable you to learn how and where to place the the ball. One of the ways you are going to be able
to win at tennis is to be able to place the ball where you want to, and often this is away from your opponent. We are now
in a position to look at depth, this is different to where we are able to place the ball. Depth covers hitting the ball short
and close to the net, and all of the variables until the ball hits the baseline. This requires being able to hit the ball
at varying heights, to get the ball to the back of the court, does not necessarily mean hitting it a lot harder. By hitting
the ball a little higher over the net, achieves what you are trying to do. To move on,
it is now possible to add different types of spin, such as under-spin (slice or possibly a chop), side-spin and top-spin.
There are other combinations of these spins, but the above will suffice initially. Of
course there is still the flat hit to consider,
although to get the ball over the net, even a flat hit has some minor form of spin. And finally, you can start adding power to your game. Please don’t mistake power with muscling
the ball. To achieve power there are a number of factors involved – the most important at this stage being good technique,
followed by bio-mechanics and the kinetic chain – use of the turning of the body and shoulders etc. Even a change of grip will enable you to hit the ball harder and still get it in court. |
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Serious Drill - PRESSURE PLAY - DEUCE
GAME. Game starts at deuce. B is serving
and has to try to win the game to retain the serve. If B wins the first point score is advantage
B – then has to win point from the advantage side or the score reverts to deuce. If A wins they get
a game plus take over the serving and next game starts at deuce.
 Fun Game - SKELETON. Set out six cones
as shown – everyone starts at the first back cone on the left, as it is their turn they move to the forward cone. Coach feeds a ball
which must be hit over the net anywhere into the overall court. If they succeed they go to the back of the line – if
they don’t, they are dead and move to the middle cones. As soon as there are more than one on the middle and right cones they must also go to the back of each line as
they succeed. The coach must feed
all of the lines in turn. When failing at the middle they are buried and go to the last cone. On failure there
they become skeletons, they go round to the coaches side, and put their racket in the tramline near the net, and must
catch the ball after one bounce to go back to the live position (first cones). Whoever is caught
moves to the net position. Playing
Successful Doubles.
MOVEMENT OF THE PLAYERS IN DOUBLES. Movement in doubles is not dependent on skills, these differ
widely depending on the standard. By learning how to move correctly, together
with your partner, will make you a better doubles player and enable you to win matches, even against a pair with better technical
skills than you. Naturally, the better your techniques, the better will be your
game, especially if you and your partner work as a team. The following are the priorities required in order to be ready
and in a position to attack or defend against your opponents play. Each player should achieve a balanced position in order to
cover the largest possible court area and to be able to move quickly to attack the ball, and also to defend if the ball is
hit directly at you. The balanced position we are looking for is the split-spring
position. Split -
your feet are shoulder width apart, you are relaxed with
knees slightly bent and the weight should be on the balls
of your feet. Spring – this position will enable you to move
quickly, to either
attack or defend your opponent’s shot, or to improve your
position on the court. You are now ready to move quickly in reaction to your opponent’s
hit –
to the right, left, forward or backward. Just as you use the split-step when approaching the net etc.,
you do the split-spring as your opponent takes the racquet back ready to hit the ball. If the ball is then hit to your partner, you should continue
to move in order to improve your position on the court. When you hear your partner
strike the ball, you should then be ready for your next move. The important point to remember is that you deal in time
not distance and all players on the court should use the movement of the ball between players, in order to improve their
position. There are three factors that determine how much time you have
to change your position. Factor 1.
How much distance has the ball to travel. The further the ball travels, the more time all four players on court have
to improve their position. Factor 2.
Speed of the ball. The harder the ball is hit, the faster it will travel
and the faster it will be returned. Factor 3.
Speed and quickness of the player. The player who reacts quickly and moves
well would have an advantage over a slower player and would be able to gain a better position in relation to the opponent’s
return angle and the net. Opponent’s return angle. See the following diagram which shows the return angle as relating
to doubles. Every shot creates a return angle and if you are in the middle of this you have the best chance of reaching your opponent’s
shots. 
Every time one of the players hits a ball, the return
angle changes and this means that all the opponents must move in order to be in the middle of the possible angles. The ball
should be your guide for side-to-side (lateral) movement. It is not possible to cover every shot that might be made;
the best that anyone can do, is to be prepared for the for the high-probability shots; take away the easiest shots and leave
only the most difficult shots, which your opponent will need an element of luck to succeed. At all times during a point, all four players have a best
place to be, and it is important to learn and understand where these will be. In doubles, a player has less of the court to cover, than
in singles. The closer partners move to the net, so the distance between them narrows. Attack the net whenever possible after you have succeeded
in the forgoing areas. When partners are at the net, they are the most powerful
players on the court. This gives you certain advantages:
Less skill is needed to hit the ball over the net because of
your proximity to the net.
Being close to the net gives you opportunities to use sharp
angled volleys which your opponents will have difficulty
covering.
You can play more aggressively and even with miss-hits,
they may still be winners. Having established your position at the net, this should
not be given up unless two things occur:
The ball is hit behind you and
One or both opponents rush the net. Do not leave the net position even if the ball is hit
behind you, but your opponents stay back on the baseline.
If you have any
questions, please do email me.
TO VIEW GO TO: HTTP://WWW.TENNISATTHENET.COM I.T.F approved pressurised Tennis balls – can of four only £2.60 plus postage. See on website -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=--= Tennis Racquets and Stringing. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Top Quality racquets and excellent junior racquets at competitive prices. Until next month, John Hoskins – Coach. BEWARE ! Please feel free to pass this tip on to your family and friends, however, before doing this, please delete the unsubscribe link at the bottom of this email, otherwise they may accidentally unsubscribe you. You are subscribed to ‘’Tennis
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