How to play tennis lets our sports writer try and teach you how to play tennis in a whole different way than normal. We will examine a game of tennis shot by shot, and will give you important tips along the way. This will be a great resource that will help teach you how to play tennis.
How to play tennis
Tennis is a physical, mental and tactical sport. The best tennis players in the world have a sublime mix of physical, technical and mental ability. They can serve at well over 100mph. They can cover the court like a gazelle. They mix the split second reactions of a grand prix driver with the concentration of a chess grand master. And they can maintain these levels for set after set.
Each player who ever picks up a racquet in anger - from beginner to professional - has the same basic set of shots to play: serve, return, backhand, forehand, lob, volley, smash etc. The only way to perfect any shot is the practice practice practice.
The Serve
The most important shot in tennis is the serve. The serve is used at the beginning of each point to start play. The server throws the ball above his head and then hits the ball off his racquet over to the other side of the court.
The server aims to drop the ball into the square box on the other side of the net. Most beginners are happy just to get their serve to land anywhere in the service box and this is okay to reach a certain standard.
Keeping control of the serve is vital. Practice serving in different directions, but not too hard. Once you have control and direction, then you can think about increasing the pace.
When serving, watch the ball long enough and don't drop your head early. If you are serving too long, is your ball placement not in front enough? If you are serving into the net, is your ball placement too far in front? If you are serving into the ground you might be throwing the ball up too far in front? If you are hitting the baseline with your serve you are throwing the ball up behind you?
If you have not got enough speed, try to stand tall and hit the ball at the highest point and once you feel that you are really stretched on the contact, then start to slap the ball down with your wrist. If your serve has no penetration, are you actually jumping and landing inside the court? You should be landing at least over the baseline, to be having any kind of penetration.
Return of Serve
The return of serve is the shot played by the person on the opposite side of the net immediately after the serve. When trying to return serve the most common error is not watching your opponent put the ball up in the air. If you watch their toss, you will start to pick up earlier which way the ball is going. This will allow you to prepare earlier and be able to make more returns.
A second error made on returns happens when you make contact the ball and you are looking at the target, rather than the ball. Watch the ball for longer and try to see it hit the strings of your racket.
Volleys
Volley shots are made when the ball is still in the air and has not bounced on the court yet. The number one error for volleys is to be afraid of the ball, allowing the ball to come into you, rather than sending your hands out and the racket out to meet the ball. Volleying a ball coming right at you presents its own particular problems and in this area balance and footwork are the key to improvement.
The second crucial error is people swing at the volleys. The volley is just a catch - get control of your hands to catch the balls on the strings, before you start thinking about power on the volleys. The power of the volleys comes from the legs, not from the arms swinging.
The Smash
The smash is the most aggressive shot in tennis. It is played when the ball is above head height and the player smashes the ball down hard onto the opponents side of the court. The common error on the smash is people take their eyes off the ball and look at the target. This causes the ball to drop and then the shoulders to drop and most smashes are netted. The second error is to smash with the wrist leading, rather than reaching up and hitting the ball when your arm is totally stretched to its limits. Therefore hit the ball at the highest point possible.
The Overhead
The Overhead is played in a similar fashion the smash, although the ball is played with a lot less force. The overhead is another difficult shot for beginners to get to grips with. Beginners tend to backpedal- where the hips and shoulders face the net as the player scuttles in a backward fashion – and if they do arrive (as often they simply cannot move quickly enough to get there with this backpedaling step), their torso and shoulders are poorly positioned for an overhead swing.
The key when retreating for a deep ball along the baseline is the accurate and full opening of the hips before the feet get you started. |
