Getting Control Over Nerves in Tennis

Posted on 09/11/2016 by wdkealy

 Control Over Nerves in Tennis

When there is another person across the net from you, whether in warm-up, practice, or a match, it is important to learn techniques for controlling your nerves..

5 Ways to Control Your Nerves

  1. Warm up properly. Take the time beforehand to get your body moving-do some slow stretches, jog a quarter mile, skip some rope, perform some calisthenics,etc. If you have the time, do this an hour before your time on the tennis court. Your mind and body will benefit from this.
  2. In pre-warm up on the tennis court with your partner/opponent  focus on the ball travelling from racket to racket. The nerves you feel with gradually dissipate as you begin to adjust your timing and your movement in accordance with the movement of the ball. You will find yourself adjusting different elements in your game: i.e. your forehand isn’t as comfortable as your backhand, your not tracking the ball as well as you volley at the net, your first serve is smooth and powerful, etc. By focusing on these your nerves will calm as you focus on putting the different elements of your game together for this occasion.
  3. Determine your emotional state. Some days you are too relaxed and need to push yourself to perform at a higher level. This causes you to ‘ramp up’ your physical approach and get the adrenalin flowing. Other days you are too nervous and need to take deep breaths and slow yourself down, forcing yourself to a more relaxed state of play. Exercising control over nerves while playing tennis is extremely important.
  4. Slowly tune out the sounds and action that have nothing to do with your ‘on court’ play. Spectators watching, dogs barking, horns honking, sirens in the distance-all fade away as you submerge yourself in playing your ‘best’ tennis.
  5. Recognize your level of concentration and your opponents. This will help greatly in overcoming your anxiety at certain times. For example, you go up 5-0 in the first set and are cruising. Your opponent, raising the level of his game, gradually turns his 0 into 1,2,3,4, and then 5 games. By now, and hopefully quite a bit before 5-5, you have realized your opponent is concentrating at a higher level and has found a way back into the match. Instead of letting your nerves get the better of you, at this point, you have to analyze what is happening and find a way to counter act it. Focus of intensity of concentration has much to do with this ‘turnaround’. This could turn into a winning experience for you, or a learning experience, as you grow in your practice/match play.

Conclusion

This blog is just touching on how learning to control your nerves before, during and after  practice/match play in tennis, will benefit your having fun playing tennis. I hope you find these helpful and share some of your experiences in ‘controlling’ nerves.

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Approach Shot-Tennis

Posted on 09/06/2016 by wdkealy

Approach Shot-Tennis

The approach shot was used much more in the past than it is in todays game.

The ‘Old’ Days

In the ‘old’ days of tennis (i.e. wood tennis rackets, more difference in surfaces,less power, etc.) the approach shot was a viable alternative in most match situations. The player would wait for a short ball, hit it deep (usually down the line with slice) and follow it in to the net. This would set them up for a volley. Of course this would depend on the style of their opponent.  Some players liked the player to come in. They enjoyed the opportunity of hitting a passing shot. Other players didn’t like it when a player came in and challenged them to hit it past them. Players like Pat Rafter, Stephan Edberg and Martina Navratilova all loved coming to net, putting pressure on their opponent, and trying to end the point with a volley.

The “new” Era

Starting in the 90’s the racket technology began to change with the rackets getting stiffer and the stringing technology improving. This caused the game to change in ways that stifled the approach shot as it was known prior to the 90’s. Now a player coming to net had to contend with increased power and spin coming back at him at the net.It changed from the net rushing player having the advantage to the ground stroker at the baseline having the advantage due to the increased speed of the ball coming off the racket and the increased spin on the ball which opened more court to hit the passing shot into. This in turn changed the fundamentals of the ‘old’ approach. Now the attacking player, if he chose to come to net had to be aggressive with his approach, hitting with ferocious power and topspin as opposed to the slower slice.

The game has changed. I liked the old style of setting up your points and anticipating a player attacking a short ball and the foray into the net to see if he could outduel his opponent. Nowadays, there is so much power in the game, fitness enters into the mix and so do injuries. The game is played at such a high velocity now the players tend to stay back and rally back and forth until one makes a mistake. The spectators thrill of seeing which player is going to slice and dice and attack the net is mostly gone with advent of the power and technology in the game today. It is power, power, power.

What are your thoughts? Do you enjoy the power in the game today versus the old strategies that used to be employed?

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How the Game of Tennis Has Changed

Posted on 08/23/2016 by wdkealy

How the Game of Tennis Has Changed

What makes the game of tennis interesting today is the personalities, not so much the style of the game each pro plays. Before the advent of similar surfaces, stronger racket technology and newer string technology, the game seemed to be more interesting in turns of style of play. Personality was exemplified more in the way pros applied their trade.

Style of Play

It used to be players were categorized by their style of play. They seemed to fit into four categories:

  1. Offensive base-liner – this type of player stayed mostly on the baseline and created openings by hitting high paced ground strokes and either opening up the court for a winning shot or over powering their opponent with velocity. A player of this nature was Andre Agassi with his aggressive baseline style of play taking the ball early and hitting punishing groundstrokes.
  2. Defensive base-liner – this type of player had good foot speed, not overpowering ground strokes, but consistently put the ball back in play until forcing an error. Good strategists, they wear their opponents down by their mental toughness as well. An example of this type of player would be Brad Gilbert.
  3. Serve and volley – this type of player had a strong serve and rushed the net at every opportunity as they were very effective volleyers. They exerted pressure on almost every point by the threat of coming to net and finishing the point off. A player of this type in the past array of pros was Stephan Edberg.
  4. All-court player – this type of player could either stay back and rally, or come to net and attack, equally well. Their personality could adapt to either, or both styles of play. A player of this nature was Pete Sampras.

Today’s Game

In today’s game with the players staying back and hitting with such power and top spin due the advances in technology and also with the surfaces becoming so similar, the pro’s personalities and different styles of play don’t seem as exciting as they used to be. Matching up an offensive base liner against a serve and volleyer on different surfaces used to be entertaining, to see which one could impose his stye of play on the the other. In today’s game it seems much more dependent on conditioning and mental ‘freshness’ with the players.

Let’s Talk about Your Game

This blog dealt with professional players. Let’s talk about the club level of play. At this level the game can be more interesting as the game isn’t at the most powerful level of play, which allows different styles of play and personality to enter the arena. This makes again for a more interesting match up in terms of the four types of player we discussed.

What type of personality are you? Which category would you fit into? Understanding these four types of players, would this help you to fit your game into a better practice and playing schedule?

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Wood vs Graphite-Tennis

Posted on 08/15/2016 by wdkealy

Wood vs Graphite-Tennis

Tennis rackets have come a long way from when I started playing the game. The change from wood rackets to steel to graphite to ‘beyond’ has forever changed the game of tennis.

Wood

The game has made a huge transition with the technology of today compared to yesteryear when wood rackets were all that were known to play tennis with. Ever wondered how a wooden racket was made? Doesn’t that sound complicated and amazing? However, there are some factors with wood that would not stand the test of time and newer racket technology replaced. One of those is weight. The average weight of wood rackets was between 14 1/3 to as high as 17 ounces. The construction entailed laminations glued together. Two things would happen to these wooden rackets. The weight of the rackets would change as the wood dried out and the laminations would loosen as the glue dried.

The weight of the rackets would vary depending on the type and weight of the wood used. It was typical of a player to go to the factory and sort through myriad of rackets to find the same weight and balance in two or more rackets. There was also more flex in the frame as the ball impacted the frame which caused string tensions to be much higher. Bjorn Borg typically strung his around 80 plus or minus pounds.

Graphite (composition)

The first to make an impact on the tennis world with a racket other than wood was Jimmy Connors and Billie Jean King. After that came the world of aluminum and graphite rackets. The staying power of graphite was greater. With graphite construction the tennis rackets were lighter and stiffer allowing more racket head speed and a looser string tension causing power and spin to become prominent in the game. Although the frame allowed for a tighter string tension the control exhibited through the use of top spin brought the string tension down to allow the ball to ‘sit’ on the strings longer to impart the spin.

The evolution from wood to largely graphite tennis frame construction has also changed the strategy of the game. With wood rackets the players could utilize the whole court in a more enjoyable (my opinion) experience either playing from the baseline in a defensive or offensive way, serve and volleying, or using both (all court player). Nowadays, with the power from the graphite frames and looser strings rarely do players foray to the net on a consistent basis. In doubles players can play more from the baseline utilizing power over finesse at the net. I miss the developing strategy of players with the ‘slower’ game that wooden rackets produced. However, the athleticism is still amazing to watch and the angles that are generated using the technology of today’s game is still inspiring (and tiring).

 

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Technique Change vs Time-Tennis

Posted on 08/07/2016 by wdkealy

Technique Change vs Time-Tennis

Change is most often difficult. I like to get into a pattern I feel comfortable in and stay there. That goes for tennis as well. I like to hit the tennis ball the way I want to. What happens when that way of hitting the ball is taken advantage of by my opponent and I end up not enjoying myself due to my inability to counter act my opponents strategy?

Technique

I started playing tennis late – in my mid teens. I learned from a book written by Bill Tilden, ‘How to Play Better Tennis’. I followed everything in the book to a fault practicing against a backboard from 4-7am as many days as I could. The only thing I couldn’t copy properly, even though I thought I was, took place in the serving motion. I even won some tournaments with the improper motion. While I thought I was dropping my arm into the ‘back scratching’ position I was, in reality, hitting my serve with my arm completely straight (similar to bowling in cricket). It wasn’t until a touring pro came through and gave a clinic that I was told I wasn’t dropping the racket down behind my back to generate more power and rhythm in my serving motion. Obviously I wanted to change this to become more proficient at the game. This desire to change my technique propelled me to spend more time on exercises to change my muscle memory and allow my ‘throwing’ motion to become ingrained. A player’s desire to do this is dependent on the drive they have within them to make the necessary change. It does not happen over night.

Change

I didn’t realize it at the time but the time to change my technique took myriad hours of exercises and drills (many of which I would make up off court as well as on). Years later I chose a vocation of a tennis director. Working with students over 40 years of teaching I applied the time principle of changing technique, or forming a new habit. I found the average time was three months. This was only the physical (muscle memory) change. To take the change into a competitive situation took even longer. After the initial three month period a junior player would then begin to play tournaments again. It would take an addition 2-5 months for the change to enter their competitive game and they would become totally comfortable with it. An interesting factoid was when Bill Tilden, in the mid 20’s when he was dominating tennis, lost the first two joints of his middle finger due to gangrene setting in from an infection gone bad. He took three months off – relearned his backhand from underspin to topspin and came back to dominate again.

When I was Orange Lawn as their tennis director we had a pro tournament there for some years directed by Gene Scott. It never ceased to amaze me how many world class pros came to play, some with considerable faulty technique. With just one or two changes in their technique I could see how it could improve their win/loss results. However when a player has achieved that status in the world it is almost impossible for them to change psychologically. They feel they have to give up to get and because they have worked so hard to get where they are they are not able to handle it psychologically, even if it means in 2-8 months achieving even a higher ranking in the world stats.

If you are contemplating a change in your technique I hope this article will help you to understand the end result is worth it, if you will have more fun playing the wonderful game of tennis.

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Power or Consistency in Tennis?

Posted on 07/24/2016 by wdkealy

Power or Consistency in Tennis

Tennis is a dichotomy of power and consistency. On the one hand power wins out over consistency; on the other hand consistency wins out over power.

Power

In this blog I am only dealing with a specific definition of power: to move or travel with great speed or force. I will not be going into how to generate that power; i.e. racket technology, stringing, hitting technique,etc., only with the aspect of speed or force of a shot executed in the playing of the game against an opponent. We’ve all seen, or played, someone who hits their first serve with as much power as they can. When it doesn’t go in, they ‘blip’ the second serve in. We have all played someone who tries to power their ground strokes and win the point by ‘outhitting’ the opponent. When skill doesn’t measure up to power, power loses. When Player A and Player B reach a point in their contest that Player B starts to draw ahead, Player A thinks that in order to even the score he has to overpower Player B and starts hitting out with the result of more errors and loss of the contest – if their abilities are the equal. That gets old with  time and takes away the enjoyment of the game.

Consistency

Consistency in tennis would be meaningful in the context that Player A hits the ball over the net one more time that Player B, thus winning the point. When starting out, fun is the name of the game. Going out with your friend(s) and playing a game of tennis means knowing how to score and win or lose points. Technique doesn’t have as much to do with the enjoyment at this stage as keeping the ball in play one more time than your friend and winning the majority of the points. How you do this is up to you, which is the creative side of the game. Some move quicker to the ball than others. Some have a knack of placing the ball better. Others have a sense of hitting a shorter, higher ball harder and winning more of those points. Consistency plays a big part in having fun.

Combining Power with Consistency

There is a point where the two, power and consistency, work together. I always taught four concepts: control – get set up to hit the ball, consistency – get the ball back in play, placement – get directional control of your shot, and power – hit with more speed. Develop good technique with consistency first. Over time your consistency will develop with more power because you have good technique and are able to execute the shot at a faster rhythm due to muscle memory (biomechanical feedback) becoming ingrained. Having coached individual tournament players and men’s and women’s teams over the years there was always one thing I could say that would be accepted when losing. “You needed to be more consistent.” I always had agreement.

If you have a choice which is more satisfying to you – working on consistency or power? Which is more fun – POWER. NOT!

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Technique-less motion vs more motion-tennis

Posted on 07/17/2016 by wdkealy

Technique-less motion vs more motion-tennis

Less motion in learning technique in tennis means learning quicker and extending your enjoyment of tennis into later years by putting less stress on your body. More motion puts more stress on your body parts and takes away enjoyment of the game as you grow older unless you adapt to less motion.

Less Motion

Less motion simply means focusing more on the basics of the stroke. Racket back early, turning sidewise and combining weight shift with leverage produces a compact, precise motion putting minimum stress on ligaments, muscles and joints. As we grow older our ligaments, muscles and joints become stiffer and less flexible. A simple technique of racket back, turning sideways and contacting the ball off the side of the front foot in ground strokes produces this.

More Motion

More motion such as an open stance, western grip, and looping the back swing puts much more stress on the ligaments, muscles and joints. As we grow into our later years, with all these body parts becoming stiffer, less muscle mass and less flexible joints and movement, we can’t produce the power necessary to make this type of technique effective. This kind of technique, with  more motion generating more power take much more time to develop in timing the ball to good contact.

Very few players will rise to the ranks of professional. All players can play the game into their 80’s and 90’s. As we get older and our bodies become stiffer and less flexible our movement is compromised as well. Learning simpler techniques and combining our weight shift with proper applied leverage can allow us to continue to enjoy tennis, lessening the risk of body injury.

Don’t be distracted by how the pros hit their shots. Enjoy the athleticism of the pros as they play, but don’t try to play like the pros unless you have 10 years, start when you are 6 or 7, and have put in about 10,000 hours of practice culminating in winning the NCAA D1 tennis title. Then give yourself two years on the professional tour spending an average of $150,ooo each year. At the end of that time either hang it up or move up in the rankings where your competitive earnings are paying your way.

Less is more. Don’t put time into more which produces less enjoyment. Tennis is a lifetime sport.

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Second Serve-Tennis

Posted on 07/10/2016 by wdkealy

Second Serve-Tennis

A second serve in tennis is associated with consistency. This normally means, at the higher levels of the game, using more spin while still accelerating the serve motion through the ball.

Grip

The grip is key in hitting a second serve. The Eastern grip does not allow the racket face to meet the ball at an angle proficient with putting spin on the ball. The  continental or one-handed eastern backhand bevels the racket face as your forearm pronates to contact the ball causing it to spin. Depending on the angle of pronation the ball will either have side spin(slice) or topspin.

Slice Serve

The pronation of the arm on the slice serve is similar to the action of throwing your racket at the side windscreen while your body is launching upwards and forwards. The racket will move across the back of the ball from left to right (right handers) or right to left (left handers) causing the ball to rotate sideways. As the ball moves through the air with wind pressure moving it down and sideways, the spin takes effect on contact with the court. The ball stays lower and moves sideways. By increasing the speed of the swing, thus increasing the rotation, the spinning effect pulls the ball down into the court and has a greater consistency of staying in.

Topspin Serve

The pronation of the arm on the topspin serve takes place from behind the back launching the racket in an upward motion causing the racket to meet the ball starting at the bottom of the ball and brushing upward towards the top. This is quite an awkward motion to undertake as the back has to arch and the ball toss is arcing up to a position that, if allowed to bounce, would land behind your left heel. If you happen to hit upward on the right side of the ball you will effect a slice topspin that will thrust itself forward and sideways on contacting the court. If you hit upward directly in the middle of the ball you will effect a true topspin similar to your forehand topspin, although that also could have some sidespin on it depending on how you contact the ball. If you hit from left to right up the back of the ball on your topspin second serve, you will have executed an American twist which means the ball will bounce opposite of the slice and with topspin as well. Playing a left handed player can be a cause of much consternation as we right handers are not used to the ball bouncing into, or away, from us with the opposite spin than we normally encounter.

Learning a second serve helps your game in many ways, some of which are:

-when serving in a pressure situation you are able to hit through the ball knowing the increased spin will have a higher consistency of landing in.

-you can use a second serve for a first serve when in a 30-40, or ad-out situation thus taking pressure off yourself by getting the first serve in.

-using spin can throw off the timing of your opponent causing a weaker return than normal.

Taking the time to learn a new grip for a second serve or practicing to get more speed, especially on a ‘kick’ serve, will add a new dimension to your game and is well worth the time spent learning it. It will also help your first serve (flat) by increasing your pronation, adding more power to your motion and speed to the ball coming off your racket.

 

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Humidity-altitide-temperature-affect tennis

Posted on 07/03/2016 by wdkealy

Humidity-altitude-temperature-affect tennis

It seems simple. A tennis court for singles is 78 feet long and 27 feet wide, a service line 21 feet from the net and a centre line. A player has a strung tennis racket averaging 27 inches and a tennis ball with dimensions of 2.57-2.70 inches and a weight of 1.9802.10 ounces. How difficult can it be. It seems straightforward. Put the ball into play with a serve, either allow it to bounce once after the serve or volley it out of the air. Put it all together and you can play a game of tennis. Of course-the scoring: 0,1,2,3,4; when 3 all – play win by 2 points in a row.  Rename the points:love,15,30,game,deuce. That’s it. Tennis in a nutshell. Or is it?

Humidity

humidity-the amount of water vapor in the air. Higher humidity reduces the effectiveness of sweating in cooling the body by reducing the rate of evaporation of moisture from the skin.

Playing in drier conditions is much more fun than playing in humid conditions. Your body moves easier through the air and the ball feels lighter coming off the racket. When the humidity is higher your body feels sluggish and doesn’t move as quickly around the court. The ball feels heavier coming off the strings and the experience is not nearly as enjoyable. It takes more work to play in humid conditions as opposed to drier.

Altitude

altitude- the term is commonly used to mean the ‘height above sea level’ of a location, in geography the term elevation is often preferred for this usage.

Playing in Bogota (9,350 feet) and playing in Monterrey (1770 feet) are two different experiences. Higher altitude means less oxygen and less resistance for the tennis ball. Sea level means more oxygen and denser air creating more resistance for the tennis ball. Depending on where you were raised means adjusting to different conditions when playing at either higher altitude or sea level. Both have challenges.

Temperature

temperature- an objective comparative measure of hot or cold.

Temperature affects the body, the strings in your racket and the tennis ball. Your body under colder conditions is not as pliable and you are more likely to pull a muscle or move slower until your muscles become warmer and even then you could cool off quicker and risk injury if you don’t keep moving. Under warmer conditions your muscles stay warmer and more pliable, allowing you to move, stretch and recover easier and quicker. When playing in extreme heat you must be careful to hydrate and watch for heat symptoms such as heat exhaustion (white spots on cheeks) and heat stroke (stop sweating-get to shade-ice the back of your neck-get medical help).

The tennis ball is affected by temperature as well. Colder weather has the effect of a lower bounce – higher temperatures causes a higher bounce due to the reaction to temperature change of gases inside the tennis ball.

These three:humidity, altitude and temperature can create another dimension of understanding in your approach to your tennis game. Understanding some or all could improve your enjoyment of the game.

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Racket stringing-tension-tennis

Posted on 06/26/2016 by wdkealy

Racket stringing-tension-tennis

In my years of teaching I have found one of the most underrated aspects of club players is their attention to stringing. Much attention is focused on lessons and techniques with little paid to the strings that are key to the feel and control they give in contacting the ball. In many cases I would ask the player if they played a musical instrument with strings such as a guitar, violin, etc. When they acknowledged with a, ‘yes’, I would then ask if they took care of the strings on their instrument by keeping them fresh and the tension correct. We would then translate that into their tennis racket and the tension and newness of the strings they used. The basic rule in the tennis industry with club players is to string your racket each year the number of times you play per week. If you play once a week restring your racket once a year – twice a week, twice a year, etc. When the pros came to play the tournament at our club each year some (the better players) would restring their rackets before every match.

Tension

When a racket is purchased ‘off the shelf’ consumers don’t consider how the racket was pre-strung. The manufacture of the racket gives a large number of unstrung rackets to a ‘stringer’. This stringer knows he will not be directly responsible for how they play or break after sale. His main focus is putting the cheapest string and lowest tension into each frame he strings. He is paid on a per racket basis, normally. This means he wants to use cheaper string and lower tension (higher tension could cause the strings to break before sale) to increase his profit margin. Whenever I recommended to someone, buying a racket, I would tell them to go to one of the retail outlets, find a top end racket of last years model (the manufacturer will sell off his supply to retail outlets at low prices to make room for his newer inventory) and the retailer will offer this top end racket at sale prices while still making a profit. Then you take your racket to the local pro shop and have an experienced stringer ask what type of player you are and he/she will recommend a string and tension that will suit your game. After a few restrings you will become comfortable with the type of string and tension you like to play with.

Players who need to save on cost will use a thicker, stronger string that will not break as quickly but will not have the ‘feel’ of a softer, more pliable string. Gut conveys more vibrations through the strings, up the racket into your arm and shoulder. This significantly helps you to determine the distance and trajectory of your ball placement(feel).

There is much more that goes into your choice of the type of string and number of times per year you restring your racket. Just remember that strings stretch and dry out, even if you don’t use them. It is not how many times you play with new strings that determines when you restring your racket, but the freshness and type, with tension, that puts the ‘feel’ back into your game.

Don’t hold back on experimenting with string and tension. Depending on your personality you may find an enjoyment in the game of tennis that you have been missing.

 

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