The post ETI 051 | Reality Therapy – Facing the Truth on Court appeared first on Jim McLennan's Essential Tennis Instruction.

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And this action creates both forward and downward forces - and is generally associated with netted serves.

The post ETI 047 | Will Staying Sideways help you hit up on the serve! appeared first on Jim McLennan's Essential Tennis Instruction.

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The second serve is about spin that will make the ball curve down as it crosses the net.  Yes it may corner the opponent and either swing them wide and out of court, or kick up into their backhand.

The post ETI 045 | Sidespin Serve appeared first on Jim McLennan's Essential Tennis Instruction.

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As to your reaction - what precisely is your first move? What moves first, what initiates your preparation?

Really an important question.

The post ETI 038 | Dead Hands appeared first on Jim McLennan's Essential Tennis Instruction.

As regards unforced errors, if your opponent never misses and is patient as the day is long, would you consider missing a routine forehand in the 12th shot of a rally a forced or unforced error.

I am now believing that errors are simply errors, and the distinction is unnecessary.

The post ETI 037 | The Art of Winning appeared first on Jim McLennan's Essential Tennis Instruction.

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And before going further, one of the most important (IF NOT THE MOST IMPORTANT) skills in the game of tennis is concentration, focus, and closely and continually watching the ball.

The post ETI 035 | The Dead Spot on the Racquet Face appeared first on Jim McLennan's Essential Tennis Instruction.

The idea is to take a deeper look at your "Use" - the broader issues that influence all you do on court, your awareness, the elements that make you a strong player, but equally perhaps the element that is holding you back.

The post ETI034 | Creating your own Report Card appeared first on Jim McLennan's Essential Tennis Instruction.

Once when racquets were heavy and wooden, we could see (and still see now and then) a type of pendulum swing - back and forth with little whip or acceleration. Interestingly McEnroe still uses such a forehand to truly devastating effect.

The post ETI 033 | Throwing vs. the Pendulum appeared first on Jim McLennan's Essential Tennis Instruction.

When Andy Murray hooked up with Ivan Lendl to capture his two grand slam titles, he was working at the same time with a sports psychologist (the same one who had worked with Lendl years before) to improve his attitude - to improve his emotional responses to the challenges he faced (and still faces) on court.

The post ETI 032 | Attitude – the Space between Stimulus and Response appeared first on Jim McLennan's Essential Tennis Instruction.

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We all know about topspin – but have you ever tried to strike the ball with true topspin – where the ball rolls forward – precisely forward?

The following drop hit drill will improve your time spent practicing on court – and help you with your forehand and or your backhand.

The post ETI 030 | Forward Spin appeared first on Jim McLennan's Essential Tennis Instruction.

Yes there are many ways to hit the ball, and many ways to play this game, but with all the variety of styles and technique – our best professionals are balanced more often than perhaps we readily notice.

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Well, the answer is yes. But the answer is not readily apparent.

Scan and zoom describes two different visual orientations, both of which occur on court.

In your own game, are you better at scanning or zooming? Better yet, are you skilled at both?

The post ETI 028 | Scan and Zoom appeared first on Jim McLennan's Essential Tennis Instruction.

But the question, once you have been ready and now have read the incoming direction of the ball – how do you react? What is your first move?

The first move is about quickness, it is about simplicity, but equally if not more importantly, it is about committing and reacting to only and simply what you have read.

If you want to be quicker and find more time to hit the ball – improve your first move.

The post ETI 027 | The 3R’s of Tennis appeared first on Jim McLennan's Essential Tennis Instruction.

The next era in our game's development occurs from the new "copoly" strings - essentially a polymer material, but somehow little or no friction between the strings.

You will note, no longer do the players walk around between points straightening their strings. That is because those strings move back and forth when meeting the ball - imparting much much more spin.

The post ETI 026 | Loose Strings – Very Loose Strings appeared first on Jim McLennan's Essential Tennis Instruction.

Too often we focus on moving the ball east and west, meaning from side to side. Another option, in some instances a better option, is to play the ball deep and short, very deep and very short. Think of this as moving the ball north and south.

Drop shots will do the trick. Backspin, finesse, stroking from high to low with an open racquet face. But, and this is most important, always meet this ball on the rise, from inside the baseline.

The post ETI 025 | Drop Shot – playing North to South appeared first on Jim McLennan's Essential Tennis Instruction.

Ready - feet spread, knees softly bent, weight on the balls of the feet

Read - as quickly as possible read the ball, see clearly is this ball coming to the forehand or backhand side

React - turn your shoulders and hips to the ball as quickly as possible.

The post ETI 024 | Split Step – Be Quick appeared first on Jim McLennan's Essential Tennis Instruction.

The game is not always about power and winners. Just as easily the game can become one of rebounding the ball, using the opponent's force and incoming shot to create our own.

This style, ju-jitsu if you will, comes from shorter strokes, firmer grips at contact, and a willingness to look for angles, dinks, drops and more.

McEnroe was the unquestioned master of this - try it out for yourself.

The post ETI 023 | Borrowing Pace – Tennis Ju-jitsu appeared first on Jim McLennan's Essential Tennis Instruction.

To my mind, some matches are determined before ever hitting the first ball. We have all been in situations where we knew immediately that the opponent had no chance - and equally we have all been in situations where we knew immediately that we had no chance. None at all.

The fun occurs, when we play an evenly matched opponent. And in these contest, both players have an even chance to win.

Look for these opportunities. Keep your cool. You can be ahead and blow this lead, you can play from behind and catch up - but in any event there is chance, there is luck, there are a few balls close to the line.

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If you move the opponent well behind the baseline - you will have more time to respond, and their angle of play becomes smaller.

If that opponent is as deep but in one corner or the other, their angle remains the same but their cross court shot will cross the sideline at a steeper angle.

The famous Jack Kramer was known to play the ball deep and up the middle, whenever he had not gained control of the point with his serve or volley.

The same will work for you.

The post ETI 021 | Deep and Up the Middle appeared first on Jim McLennan's Essential Tennis Instruction.

Play the ball close to the line, you encounter the risk of an error. Play the ball close to the line when the opponent is out of position, now the reward may outweigh the risk.

But worse, sometimes it is possible to lose points simply because you are never truly taking any risks.

With this in mind, consider the line of the incoming ball, and whether you return the ball back along that same line - and this play will always minimize errors. You are playing essentially as a wall. But if you change the line, such that you take a cross court and return if up the line, or you take an up the line and return it cross court - in those instances you are changing the line of play.

If the opponent hits the ball much harder (setting up a power line) then your decisions become much more important, said another way certain decisions expose you to much more risk.

I recommend always play back along incoming cross court power lines - minimize risk, let them change the line.

The post ETI 020 | Power Lines appeared first on Jim McLennan's Essential Tennis Instruction.

Timing - we have all felt the effortless hits and unfortunately we all have at one time or another, felt the effortful hits.

One of the most important sequence during the serve occurs with regard to the racquet drop and the knee bend.

In general, on the serve, one must fire in quick sequence large muscles first leading to smaller and then smaller muscles, culminating in a whip at the top of the swing.

As regards the racquet drop and knee bend, the best one I heard on this was from Vic Braden, who said, "Fire the extensors baby!"

The post ETI 019 | Fire the Extensors appeared first on Jim McLennan's Essential Tennis Instruction.

The incoming shot "feels heavy" when that shot has a lot of momentum.

Generally heavy shots are produced with a combination of racquet speed as well as body weight "against the ball."

The post ETI 018 | The Heavy Ball appeared first on Jim McLennan's Essential Tennis Instruction.

When it comes to improving the moving, the footwork, your getting to the ball and recovering back to center - there are many training methods to chose from. The first and most obvious choice concerns weight training, where stronger muscles may help you "explode" to the ball. Another variation includes actual dance and balance exercises, where the goal becomes moving with more grace and less effort.

The post ETI 017 | Moving to the Ball – Turn and Go appeared first on Jim McLennan's Essential Tennis Instruction.

And as a subtle review, baseball batters "wait" on the pitch with their "weight" back.  Similarly, pitchers and quarterbacks start their throwing motion with their "weight" back.

The post ETI 016 | Positioning for the Hit – Moving in Twos appeared first on Jim McLennan's Essential Tennis Instruction.

The next time you are on court with the sun high in the sky, but equally when it is at your back, take special notice of your shadow. As the sun moves through the sky the line or alignment of the shadow will change.

The post ETI 015 | Lobbing along the line of your shadow appeared first on Jim McLennan's Essential Tennis Instruction.

Flat, topspin, slice, sidespin, under spin - just to name a few (if not them all).

We know to hit up on the ball for topspin, to swing slightly down on the ball for slice or under spin, and to swing more or less level for a flat hit. And one proviso, the ball will always leave the racquet with some amount of spin, it is impossible to hit the ball perfectly flat. But for our purposes, flat will mean a ball with relatively little spin.

The post ETI 014 | Alignment – Swinging Up and or Down appeared first on Jim McLennan's Essential Tennis Instruction.

At 3 and 9 o'clock, your arm is horizontal, the racquet head is well away from your body.

Down at 5 and 7 o'clock your arm points down, the racquet head falls below your hand, and your reach is not as extended as it was at 9 and 3.

Use this feel to know that when balls are low (5 and 7), you actually want to play them "inside" but when balls are bouncing up (9 and 3) you actually want to play them "up and away."

The circle of play is a natural way to feel how your arm moves at various heights, and how to position for the low and high shots.

The post ETI 013 | Circle of Play appeared first on Jim McLennan's Essential Tennis Instruction.

And as his lessons and demonstrations proceeded, we were schooled in the tempo, the technique, and the benefits for a toss that was low without being overly low, and this produced a motion that was rhythmic and flowing.

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Now practice quickly turning your hand and wrist such that the racquet head snaps forcefully against the net strap.

Take your time, keep experimenting – and once this feels somewhat natural – toss up a few (rather than tossing down a few) and see how it feels on the serve.

You may be pleasantly surprised!

The post ETI 010 | The Pete Sampras Snap appeared first on Jim McLennan's Essential Tennis Instruction.

Too often players pay too much attention to grips, swings, and spin without ever mastering their balance. And truly even the pitcher puts their back foot on the pitching rubber before hurling the pitch.

The post ETI 009 | Waiting and Weighting appeared first on Jim McLennan's Essential Tennis Instruction.

I know, I do write about this quite a lot, but I believe it - and in nearly every instance the statistics of the professional matches support the idea.

The match winner always wins more points on their second serve, and the match loser will always lose more points on their second serve.

The post ETI 008 | Pressuring the Second Serve appeared first on Jim McLennan's Essential Tennis Instruction.

And at this height (which is nearly always above the level of the net) the net is less an obstacle. In fact, in many instances it appears the stroke and follow through are almost level if not slightly down, that is they are driving the ball over the net but down and into the court.

The post ETI 007 | The top of the bounce appeared first on Jim McLennan's Essential Tennis Instruction.

Suzanne Lenglen, French world champion in the 1920's, was trained by her father. And the story goes that they would have a tennis outing to a park in Paris, but, and this is an important but - they would play as long as she did not hit a single ball into the net. And the practice stopped (dead in its tracks) with her first netted error. Long, or wide and they continued, but the net was the obstacle to be avoided at all costs.

The post ETI 006 | Looking through the net appeared first on Jim McLennan's Essential Tennis Instruction.

Further, this method has been used by so many famous coaches – Tom Stow, Robert Lansdorp and more. It will help you as well.

Stow remarked that if the stroke started correctly (balanced on the back foot with a compact but loose preparation) and finished correctly (weight shifted forward and arm well extended toward the target) then everything between the start and finish - meaning contact - would be just fine.

The post ETI 005 | Holding your finish appeared first on Jim McLennan's Essential Tennis Instruction.

Watching our very best players, you can see a similar poise, balance if you will. Federer is the acknowledged master of all this. But you too can start by working on how you carry your head.

As amusing (hopefully) as the drill in the video appears, see if you can see if you can perform your swings with a “ball on the hat.”.

The post ETI 004 | Balance – in the extreme appeared first on Jim McLennan's Essential Tennis Instruction.

Said another way, if you are on a bathroom scale and you drop and suddenly land you will be lighter when dropping but heavier when you land. And this down and up action adds to the power of the upward drive.

So when using the ground to create more topspin and more power, the key is how you push on the ground, and whether you can create an upward rotational movement.

The post ETI 003 | Corkscrewing – using your legs for topspin and power appeared first on Jim McLennan's Essential Tennis Instruction.

Once upon a time strokes were long and deliberate, and remember the racquets were heavy. And the sweet spots were small. Now the racquets are lighter, the sweet spots larger, and the loosely strung co-poly strings are like magic - and the all combine to make our modern model more about acceleration rather than deliberation.

Learn how to loosen up, shorten your backswings, lag the racquet head, and accelerate thru the ball. More topspin and more power will be at your command.

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