Does faster mean better in Tennis? (Part I)

The impression I have from many TV commentators and almost every tennis expert that I have read or listened to, is that they all seem to be in awe on how fast the game of tennis today is. Everyone seems convinced that players of the past played slower games and therefore could not cope with today's fast game. Is it true that power and power alone and faster means better in Tennis? I dare challenge everyone to think twice.Remember Mike Tyson in boxing? Who drove him to the border of insanity? A boxer that had mastered an "old" punch, the jab, Evander Hollyfield.In tennis the two most dominant male players of the last few years Pete Sampras and Roger Federer mastered the "tennis jab" the "old" backhand slice from "eons" past. When you have understood the importance of such a shot and the advantages it brings to your game you will understand why sometimes slower is better.Like in boxing the jab is designed to open up the opponents defense to allow a KO, in other words a powerful straight right (or left if you are a left-hander). In tennis the slice backhand is to allow you the put away forehand. In many cases if you do have an excellent slice, many opponents get so frustrated that they end up making unforced errors before you even need to put the ball away! That is a bonus!What happens when the slice is well executed? That changes dimensions in the whole game, from fast to slow, from waist or higer level shots, to low skidding balls, from not bending to getting down on your knees, from being comfortable with your racket grip to having to change gripping slightly to get under a lower ball, from using the opponents pace to having to generate it yourself and so on.So what does a good slice backhand do for you?- If you are in trouble it can give you more time to get back into position by floating it deep.- It can force the opponent into giving you a slower high shot that you can put away.- If you play it short with an angle it can bring any opponent into no man's land and allow you to hit behind them into the open court.- Again, if you play it short with an angle it can force your opponent to have no other choice but to come to the net (where he may not want to be) from an uncomfortable position. Roger Federer has mastered it.- Once you have displaced your opponent out of the court with a punishing stroke, you can easily surprise him with a sliced drop shot (if you disguise it well) instead of a deep ball.- You can use it as an attack on second serves from your opponent (the so called chip and charge) and go to the net. Pete did it both with the forehand & backhand and Tim Henman executes it classically.- Then again, from an attacking position inside the court, if you play it deep with good pace and keep it low, you can approach the net with a much higher likelyhood of winning the point with your next volley.In almost all point situations, time and variation are crucial factors. By playing the backhand slice judiciously, you will be putting both elements in your favor.Copyright © 1999-2005 Tenniscruz.com®. All rights reserved.
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Sérgio Cruz is an ex # 1 National Champion, Davis Cup Player from Portugal and former Coach Jim Courier ATP World Ranking # 1 cruz@tenniscruz.com www.tenniscruz.com

Does faster mean better in Tennis? (Part II)

In part one I explained how the backhand slice can be a great neutralizer of power and an opener for point winning opportunities. Now I am going to show you the ever so important relationship, among time, speed and spin of the ball.For example, a majority of professional players today attack with incredibly fast cross-court strokes, usually top spin and get passed systematically or do not even make it to a confortable position at the net and therefore volley poorly. While few other professional players hit the ball a lot slower but mostly down the line (or up the line if you will) deep with slice, thus getting alot closer to the net and being able to put the volley away. The main factor in both cases is time and its relationship with ball speed, ball spin and the players movement.Players in the first situation besides hitting a non percentage attack shot by going cross court, when striking the ball hard, fast and with topspin they are trying to take reaction time away from their opponents. Nevertheless, in most cases opponents are quick and the higher bouncing topspin ball full of pace allows them to hit the passing shot before the attacker even has reached a comfortable volleying position at the net. Additionaly the court gap the attacker leaves at the opponents discretion by going cross court with the approach means, getting passed, hitting a volley on your shoe strings or hitting a generally poor volley to get passed in the next shot.Much in the style of play of the 50's, 60's and 70's, in the second case because the slice ball is substantially slower it may seem to advantage your opponents time to get earlier to it but, in reality it is in your advantage; you will have more time to run up to the net, while the slower ball is in flight and your opponent can not do anything about it but, wait for the ball to bounce! This will allow you to get in closer to the net and in most cases to hit your opponents passing shot attempt with a winning volley of your own while the ball is in a position higher then the net. Further more, your adversary will have to deal with a deep low skidding ball and a possible need for a slight change of grip to attempt to get under the ball, which will make it much harder to hit an effective passing shot.Here I do not pretend to have given you all the ideas and solutions for the use of the slice backhand, but I am sure that it is a good start for you to build a better game.Remember never underestimate the "oldies" there are many good things to learn from players from all eras in tennis. For example; millions of us tennis lovers would give anything to hit a ball as well as these 3 "Great Oldies":Donald Budge, Lew Hoad or Ken Rosewall. (There are some very interesting video clips from these players on my website.)The important thing is to play the most effective game with the least effort possible, when you have achieved that you have mastered the game. Young Roger Federer is an excellent example.Copyright © 1999-2005 Tenniscruz.com®. All rights reserved.
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Sérgio Cruz is an ex # 1 National Champion, Davis Cup Player from Portugal and former Coach Jim Courier ATP World Ranking # 1 cruz@tenniscruz.com www.tenniscruz.com

Tennis Relaxation

RELAXATION Everyday that I teach, it becomes more and more apparent to me how important relaxation is to tennis. Relaxation of the muscles during a stroke are vital to releasing the potential of each shot. When hitting groundstrokes, the bending of the legs creates tension because the muscles are contracting. During the actual swing the legs release that tension and the muscles are lengthening which places the muscle in a relaxed state. The arms similarly are contracting and releasing during all tennis strokes. The finish of a swing might create muscles that are contracted but this is a result of the force of a swing. How to use this information to improve your tennis is what I'll explain next. Try to implement a pattern of bending the legs slightly and then straightening the legs during a forehand, backhand and serve. Most players will naturally bend their legs and use them so you should have someone watch you hit to see if you really are using the legs. Secondly, try to exhale during the execution of the stroke. Many pros and other players even grunt loudly as a result of their voracious swings. This is a sign of exhaling the air from the lungs. You don't have to grunt as you hit but you should breathe out. One method I like to use is to say words out loud as you swing. Saying "yesssss" during the contact insures that air is being released. Holding one's breath during a tennis stroke makes the muscles tight and is sometimes referred to as "choking". Another method I use to help with relaxation during a swing is to feel loose with my arms during the back swing and forward swing but to squeeze my grip right at impact with the ball. After squeezing the grip on contact I will release that tension again on the finish. In this method the body is relaxed except for the wrist on that's only for a short time during impact. The last thing to watch to see if you are relaxed when hitting is to check out your follow through. You'll see the pros forehands and backhands will wrap their arms over and around their shoulders. This long finish is a result of relaxing the arms after the contact, and allowing the arms to slow and stop their movement by themselves. Try touching your racquet head to your back on your groundstrokes. I might take some doing but it will show you how to lengthen your swings to relax your arms. To make this long tip short, try to be more relaxed and tension free as you hit tennis balls. You could end up with more topspin, more depth, and more power.

A little bit of tennis History any tennis beginners should k

For any future athlete that intends to start a new activity, knowing a little bit of history about the sport is always a good idea.Ball games can be traced back for hundreds and thousands of years. Usually played for entertainment or during religious ceremonies, ball games became highly popular in countless civilizations worldwide. European monks probably created the game of tennis. The players quickly found out that instead of hitting the ball off walls they had better control using their hand. A leather glove was soon created, and not long after, an adapted handle completed the first racquet. As the racquets evolved, so did the balls that were used. A bouncier type stuffed with bran material soon replaced the first primitive wooden balls. The game became highly popular amongst monasteries all around Europe during the 14th century. At one time, the church considered forbidding the game.In 1874, Major Walter C. Wingfield patented in London the equipment and rules for a game fairly similar to modern tennis. In the same year, the first courts appeared in the United States. By the following year, equipment sets had been sold for use in Russia, India, Canada, and China.Croquet was highly popular at this time, and the smooth croquet courts proved readily adaptable for tennis. Wingfield's original court had the shape of an hourglass, narrowest at the net, and it was shorter than the modern court. His rules were subjected to considerable criticism, and he revised them in 1875, but he soon left the further development of the game to others.In 1877, the All England Club held the first Wimbledon tournament, and its tournament committee came up with a rectangular court and a set of rules that are essentially the game we know today. The net was still five feet high at the sides, a carryover from the game's indoor ancestor, and the service boxes were 26 feet deep, but by 1882, the specifications had evolved to their current form.The growth of tennis continued and the 1927 Championship saw the first ever radio broadcast of a tennis event. This increased its popularity further and in the 1930s the game became highly fashionable, led by British stars such as Fred Perry and Don Budge and International Champions such as Henri Lacoste. You'll notice from the photographs that tennis fashions were somewhat different in those days! Long trousers were the order of the day for men, and for women it was long dresses and stockings.Fashion trends became a development in their own right and Bunny Austin from the USA shocked the crowds in 1933 when he became the first player to step out on to centre court wearing shorts! The 1930's became Wimbledon's boom time and in 1937, the championship was broadcast on the radio for the first time. This was a significant event, truly introducing tennis to the world.Throughout the 1970s and 1980s the game became dominated by the new legion of international players and crowds became captivated by the likes of Bjorn Borg, Jimmy Connors, and John McEnroe. In the ladies game stars such as Sue Barker, Chris Evert Lloyd and Martina Navratilova filled the courts with fans. Britain's foremost ladies player was Virginia Wade, the last Brit to win the Championships in 1977. The prize money went up, as did the hemlines of players clothing! In 1986 the Championships adopted yellow tennis balls for the first time - partly to make the speeding balls more visible for television camerasAbout the author:Gavin Dye Webmaster & Author at http://www.tennis-supply.com