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There are several fundamentals, mechanics, elements, call them whatever, that are common to all tennis strokes.
Space - I guess Captain Kirk and the crew knew the true answer to your tennis success!
But there is one specific fundamental, and if it doesn't happen, all of the other fundmanetals can be thrown out the door.
You can have the perfect grip for that stroke, the perfect shoulder turn out of your ready position to commit to either your forehand or backhand, the perfect balance posture, the perfect swing shape, the perfect everything, but if you have not created the necessary space away from the path of the incoming ball, all of that other prefection can't happen...
I see so many players consumed with only their swing mechanics. They worked endlessly on perfecting a specific swing shape, contact point, finish position, etc., etc., and rarely if ever practice and master the footwork needed
for the necessary spacing away from the path of the incoming ball which will enable them to use their swing.
Look, the swing is really the easiest part of what comprises hitting a tennis ball.
The footwork, creating space away from the path of the ball by moving your feet, is the toughest thing to do because we hardly ever practice this stuff with some real intention.
Our brain gets so locked into thinking about swing mechanics that lots of times slow incoming balls eventually just eat us up.
We never get out of the path of that incoming ball and then we have to improvise our stroke mechanics.
That's a tough way to play and be consistent with your shot making.
Want to be consistent on the court, meaning, want to really cut down on your unforced errors?
Of course you do. If you can consistently create the ideal space away from the path of the incoming ball, your swing mechanics will finally have a chance to become repeatable.
The last thing you want to do out there is force yourself into having lots and lots of different types of forehands for example.
When I recently played the finals of the National 60 Hardcourts last month in Palm Springs, I'll admit that I was good and nervous right before the match.
And I knew that if I could concentrate on just one thing, my nerves would eventually dissipate.
So, in the match warm up, I simply focused on moving my feet so my spacing was perfect for each shot.
I didn't think about shot direction, height, speed, anything else but just creating the necessary space I wanted with my feet.
I knew that my instincts would tell me where and how to play each shot IF, and only if, I had created the proper spacing away from the path of the incoming ball in the warmup.
I wanted to make hitting the ball as simple as possible.
Once the match started, I was in the right mindset to not worry about potential shot outcome, results, and I knew all I had to do was react to my opponent's shots with my feet and then trust that everything else would just work out.
I'm getting a bit off the point here, but the reality is this, if you haven't created the proper spacing to the incoming ball with your feet, it'll be an improv session and probably not very funny...
Try this the next time you're out on the court.
For example, with your forehand groundstroke, figure out what is the ideal distance away from the ball at contact that you want.
Your contact point on your forehand might be ahir different than mine, a hair different from someone else. Doesn't matter...
What does matter is that you first of all identify what is your ideal distance away from the ball when you make contact on your forehand.
What's the distance, what's the position to your side, out in front, etc.
Once you know that distance, then practice creating the space you need with your feet so you can always give yourself the opportunity to play your forehands with that ideal distance away from your body at contact.
The more consistent you are with your spacing, the more consistent a shot maker you'll become.
Brent
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Of all the tips I've received from you, this one probably has helped me the most. I'm pretty sure I read something, along the same line of thought, from you in an earlier blog, about what to work on during the warmup; spacing. And now that's what I do. It's helped a ton. Also, whenever my shots start to fly, or drop in the net, I focus on spacing and staying on my contact point and..voila..back to hitting quality shots in the court. Great tip!!
ReplyDeleteWayne
North Dakota