Tennis Tips

 

July 2019

3 ways for anyone to improve (a little bit)

For juniors or adults, tennis is something you can always get better at. This could be better at your technique, tactical decisions, physical/athletic prowess and the strength of your mind (mindset).

All of it takes many hours of dedication to hone your craft in tennis. But there are some easy ways to help you play a little bit better. This is for anyone, at any age and any stage.

  1. Be Ready: When your opponent hits the ball, be in the split step posture with racquet in ready position. This means your reactions will be at their best and makes sure you are focused on the first moment that you can judge where the ball is likely going.

  2. Use positive self-talk: When your emotions get the better of you (insert everybody) try and use positively phrased self -talk. Rather than ‘Don’t double fault’ arrange the self- talk to be ‘serve deep to the corner’ and rather than ‘you are going to lose this now’ use ‘let’s get this one, cmon’.

  3. Find Rhythm: You must be able to play a slow to medium pace crosscourt groundstroke that keeps you in the rally. So if things are not going well, it’s often best just to get some crosscourt balls in (doubles or singles) and get some rhythm. 

    Rick Willsmore

Head Coach and Tennis Director
Scarborough Tennis Academy