Total Tennis: Hints, Tips and Advice to Help your Game
73Welcome to the Total Tennis Hub
Many people have been contacting me about to the video clips I have posted on YouTube asking for advice, tips and information about tennis. Having played on the pro circuit and coached thousands of people all over the world I am now going to pass my knowledge onto anyone who wants it.
I want this hub to be as interactive as possible so GET INVOLVED! Ask anything you want and I will answer your questions. Questions can be anything from how to get a faster serve to what the best tennis rackets, strings and grips are. Where appropriate I will post coaching videos on the hub demonstrating correct technique.
THIS ADVICE IS ALL COMPLETELY FREE SO PLEASE DON'T BE SHY :)
*******COMPETITION ALERT*******
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I have 2 pairs of tickets up for grabs to the most exciting tennis event of the year at the O2 arena (22nd to the 29th November). All you have to do is send me an email with your name, email address and answer to the question below. The winners will be posted on the Hub on November 17th.
Question: How many ATP Masters titles has Roger Federer won in his career.
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Me in Action
Favourite Tennis Racket Brand?
What is your racket brand of choice?
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Playing College Tennis is a fantastic way to develop your tennis game ready for the pro Tour. There are numerous examples of top players who have come through the college system eg James Blake.
Just like any tennis academy, the value however depends on the quality of the coaching, the players you train with and the level of competition you face.
One mistake many people, especially outside of the US make is that despite what people think, you can still play on the Futures Tour whilst in the College system, the only issues you face are the amount of Prize Money you are allowed to accept as all College players must be Amateur.
My advice would be to choose college tennis over a Tennis Academy purely because you will end up with a degree to fall back on if you don't make it high enough up the rankings. Looking at the quality that is coming through in the Junior Game, that degree may be worth its weight in gold.
Always research the Tennis programmes at potential Colleges and ideally you want to go to the one with the highest standard of players rather than the one which will guarantee you play every match. The quality of the other players will force you to improve considerably more than if you are the best player in the squad.
Making a living from playing on the Tour is very tough. It depends on how high you are up the ATP rankings and also where you rank in your respective country. A good example of this are the Spanish players. There are many Spaniards in the top 200, but this means that the weaker players get far less attention than the UK no 3 who may be ranked outside the top 200 in world. Dan Evans, ranked 5 in the UK and 300 in the world had the opportunity to play Davis Cup which in turn will provide him with money and Wild Cards into Challenger Events, some of the Spaniards ranked 150-200 in world will never get this opportunity.
Making it in tennis is tougher than ever, a recent report released by a top French Academy declared that nowadays parents would need to invest $3m if their child is to make it in the game. Naturally a large proportion of this money is made up in sponsorship, but it paints a clear picture of the investment required to make it in the modern game.
:)
hope that helps :)
I like your strokes in your video. Can you post what racket and strings that you are using ?
Hi there,
I am using a Head Prestige liquid Metal, custom weighted to 360lbs. I have 12g in total of lead in the head located at 10 and 2.
I have 12g in the handle.
In this Video I was using MSV focus hex 1.18. since then I have moved onto Signum pro Black.
cheers
From watching your videos, you have a very solid forehand. Can you explain/ give any tips on how you hit with your forehand?
When you look at the best players in the world it is very easy to see that technique varies from person to person. No tennis coach in the world would have set out to teach Rafa to hit his forehand like he does, yet it would only be a very brave person to suggest it was not one of the best shots in the modern game.......
The fundamentals hold true for all varieties of the forehand, backhand or serve for that matter, its all about weight transfer, rotation and maximising the kinetic energy that is transferred into the ball from the racquet.
My technique on my forehand is most certainly not textbook and I would not teach anyone to hit the ball how I do but speak to any of my opponents and ask them if they enjoy facing it and the answer will always be hell no!
There are 5 things you need to be able to in tennis (ignore the mental and endurance aspects in this circumstance).
1) Consistency
2) Depth
3) Positioning
4) Spin (top, slice and lack of)
5) power
When you are able to achieve all of the above at will you will find that you beat many players. The key is to master the points in order starting with "1" and progressing all the way up to 5.
In terms of the technical aspect of the forehand, I would argue that the most important part of it is your positioning in relation to the ball, if you can get this right every time, your quality of shot will go through the roof........
Are there any racquets that you would recommend to demo
Kengi,
Racquets are a very interesting topic. Many players get sucked into the marketing campaigns convincing you that new technology is better. The best piece of advice I can give is learn to know what specs suit your game. Forget about makes and prices, simply understand the following:
1) How heavy do you like your racquet to be?
2) What balance (head heavy, head light or balanced
3) Do you like an open or tight string pattern.
4) What strings do you like (power spin control etc etc.
Armed with this knowledge you will surprise yourself what frame you decide on buying. With half decent technique a discount last year's model will be no less effective than the latest racquet three times the price.
A majority of tour players still use the old frames re-painted to look like the latest range.
Recommendations:
Without a shadow of doubt, the most effective club level racquet is the Babolat Pure Drive. With its large sweet spot, decent weight and ample power almost any intermediate or higher player can use this stick.
A worthy alternative is the Head Radical. Not too heavy there is plenty of room to customise it with additional weight, this frame will serve most players well.
This topic is so vast I cannot recommend specific frames unless you tell me a bit more about your level, the type of specs you look for and what you are looking for from a new frame ie more power or control etc.
hope this helps
Does lead tape/weights affect your game greatly? Also, how do you know where to put them?
Eddie,
The greatest effect to your game will come from improved technique and fitness around the court. Having said this I am a believer you should be playing with the greatest mass you can comfortably handle in a racket.
When you hit big shots, you need stability in the frame, this is increased with mass. As well as this a heavier frame will enable you to hit a heavier ball which is harder for an opponent to deal with. This is assuming you can generate enough racquet head speed. I would suggest that messing around with lead is something best left to advanced players. Give it a try but don't be too bothered by it until your frame feels too light.
Here is a great link to some info on adding lead to your frame and the different effects it has by putting it in different areas around the frame.
Hello I am new to tennis and I have watched a lot of tennis lately. I saw that very few have 1 handed backhands and nearly all of them have 2 handed backhands. I also noticed the players with 1 handed backhands are very good, like Federer and maybe you XD. So I'm wondering, is the 1 handed backhand better than the 2 handed backhand?
Hi Steven,
There are arguments to support both single and double handed backhands. There is no question that a double handed backhand is significantly easier to master than a single. It is a far more compact stroke with a lot less to go wrong! In recent yrs new frames have come to market which offer significantly more power than had previously ever been possible. This has enabled players to generate massive power, coupled with the fact that they r stronger and fitter than ever... With this increase in power, players opt to use the double hander as it allows them to deal with the added power and weight of shot.
Firstly my advice is try to use both and see which one produces the best results and feels most natural. If you are happy to use either I would suggest opting for the double. The downsides are mainly lack of reach on the backhand wing, but this is a small sacrifice to make for more solid backhand returns and probably a more consistent stroke.
You may notice from my video that I use a single handed backhand. I personally prefer the variety in spins and angles, but would almost always coach any new player to use 2 hands.
Good luck and let me know which backhand you go with.
ps
One of Fed's biggest weaknesses is his high backhand. This is almost always the case with any player who uses a single hander........
Oh haha thanks for the response! I tried both and yes, the 1 handed backhand is harder to control. I use both accually hehe XD I use the 1 hander for cross courts and 2 hander for down the line and service returns. So should I stick with the 2 handed backhand?
How many hours a week did you have to practice to develop your strokes?
Jon,
When I was young I trained about 12hrs a week. When I played full time I played for approx 3hrs a day 6 days a week.
I know this has been a while. But, what tension do you string your racket at?
Well, you have given some great advices. Lucky to be your #4 fan (4 is my lucky number). Joining your fanclub and would like to invite you to join mine. :)
im 13 years old and really want to play proffesional tennis, but I also want to have a backup plan such as a good degree. Im planning on playing college tennis. i dont know how to get recruited.
I forgot to put this in my post. does it cost anything at all to go pro in tennis, and how do u make it into wimbledon?
Whow I would love to be able to play tennis 3 hours a day, 6 days a week. Problem is that there are only out door courts in my area and england rains all the time.
The Kinetic Chain
(The information in this article was taken or adapted from the High Performance Coaching Program Study Guide.)
The parts of the body act as a system of chain links, whereby the energy or force generated by one link (or part of the body) can be transferred successively to the next link. The link system in the service action, which starts from the ground, can be explained in the following way (Elliott and Saviano, 2001; Elliott & Kilderry, 1983):
- Leg drive
- Trunk rotation
- Upper arm elevation
- Forearm extension, upper arm internal rotation and forearm pronation
- Hand flexion
The optimum coordination (timing) of these body segments and their movements will allow for the efficient transfer of energy and power up through the body, moving from one body segment to the next. Each movement in the sequence builds upon the previous motion and they all contribute to the generations of racket speed.
This transfer of energy in sequential coordination is also enhanced by the stretch-shortening cycle of muscle action. The stretch-shortening cycle
involves the active stretching (the muscle is activated but is
elongated by another force) of a muscle in a countermovement
immediately followed by a more forceful shortening of the muscle in the
desired direction. In the forehand, for example, the chest and
shoulder muscles are actively stretched (coaches often use the cue
“loading” here) as the trunk rotates into the shot and the inertia of
the arm and racket cause them to lag behind.
The active stretch
of the muscle stores energy in the elastic elements of muscle and
associated tissues such as tendons, which is reused as the muscle
begins to shorten. This sequence of muscular coordination tends to be
chosen naturally by the brain, but sometimes this must be coached in
players who develop pauses, that in turn lead to missed segment
rotations or problems in sequencing segments.
The most effective tennis strokes begin with leg drive generating ground reaction forces that can be transferred up the segments of the kinetic chain to the racket. Proper timing of the segments in the kinematic chain and stretch-shortening cycle muscle actions maximize the transfer of energy to generate the greatest racket speed.
Example—One-handed backhands tend typically involve five kinematic links that the player has to coordinate (Groppel, 1992). In most cases the one-handed backhand is based on a sequential summing of the motions of the legs, trunk, arm, forearm, and wrist/hand. Two-handed backhands during early learning use fewer body segments, so many young players find this stroke easier to coordinate. In the modern two-handed stroke a similar number of segments are rotated as for the on-handed stroke.
College Tennis Camp 2 years ago
I commend you for creating this site. Free knowledge is always great :-)
What are you thoughts on up and coming players choosing to play college tennis to prepare them for the circuit? What would you say the percentage of players who actually make a living on the tour? Take care and stay in touch!