ETI 006 Looking through the netDownload this podcast – You may need to right-click and select Save Link As to download the file to your computer
Tennis is a game of “UP.”
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.
And even now, in drills with players of all ages, and this includes my super senior group of men, the most common, most vexing, most prevalent error is always netted shots.
But somehow because we can see though the net, most errors occur when we fail to lift the ball up and over the net.
It might simply be the visual illusion created by looking through the net. Really.
17 Comments
Coco Jones
August 9, 2011Kathy Feldman gave me your ETI~Please add me to your email list! Great tips! Thanks!
Claudio Velenosi
August 9, 2011Excellent lesson! I have a friend that hits the ball 5′ or more over the net. I can’t remember when he has lost a set playing me or other club players. I cannot remember when he has hit the net. Good thing to remember. Thanks Jim.
David C.
August 8, 2011Yep, I grew up learning that the net was ¨POISON¨, so I learned to hit for the back fence clearing the net by 5 or 6 feet if I hit straight and maybe double that if I brushed up the back of the ball. Now, its a lot easier to find the back line with both sides except that on the topspin stroke I can get the ball close to the back line which is an opportunity for my opponent to cut it off half court or closer. Therefore, an adjustment of the in between became necessary depending on where in the court he is hiding. That net sure looks ominously high from the back line so I´m sure to get my racket way under the ball before the hit and carry it with control to the spot I want. I think the main problem with learning this nuance is that too many of us want to clobber the ball, hit hard, when the opposite works a lot better. First nice and easy control without the need to be macho and then in time the power comes easy. It´s all about the feel.
Larry "Doc" Buhrman
August 7, 2011Jim,
One more point I would like to add. As you have mentioned, tennis is a vertical sport. In today’s modern tennis, with the modern tennis topspin forehand being the dominant groundstroke usually produced by a semi-western or full western grip, closed racket face take back and “lifting” the ball over the net ( a “buggy whip” forehand ), it is even of greater importance to aim well over the net.
Doc
Larry "Doc" Buhrman
August 7, 2011Jim,
As always, great stuff. The net is our biggest enemy. As a bonus to not losing a point due to your ball going into the net, focus on clearing the net and your vertical target creates higher and deeper shots that are usually more difficult for your opponent, especially in a baseline ralley.
Thanks for this valuable tip.
Doc
Michael Jessup
August 6, 2011Chris Sands gave a free lesson to any student that finished a lesson without hitting the net. Never had to give one free lesson.
Barry Parker
August 6, 2011Hi Jim, I have been reading your suggestions for quite some time. Your latest dealt with looking through the net and hitting over the net. I’ve been teaching for about 8 years now and your latest video was a perfect reminder for me regarding this most important concept. Nice job.
Frank Sachire
August 6, 2011Very true Jim. This is a great psychological fact.
Keith G.
August 6, 2011Jim,
Another psychological error this brings to my mind is when you play serve and volley and your opponent keeps hitting his return into the net even though he’s been using heavy topspin down the line and cross-court consistently until you charged the net. It works a lot with guys who aren’t used to ever playing anyone who serves and volleys, esp. young kids who would otherwise crush me.
darius dela cruz
August 5, 2011jim,
it’s really more frustrating to make an error by hitting the ball into the net than by hitting the ball long.
thanks for another helpful tip.
regards,
darius
Bob
August 5, 2011In teaching beginners to hit up I asked them to stand at the baseline with their backs to the court. I then asked them to guess how much of the opponent’s court they could see once they faced the court-they could answer in inches,feet,yards-whatever. When they found out the couldn’t see ANY of the court they were shocked. That included a 6’5″ player. It was a successful way to remind them to hit UP.
Bob
Jim McLennan
August 5, 2011Bob – that is a good one, I will use it, and tell them where I got if from (you)
Jim
Jean
August 5, 2011The best tips are, simple and easy to remember, excellent.
Bill Hess
August 5, 2011As usual good interesting stuff i like the practicing not hitting the net enforced netters the bane of my 3.5 crowd
Dan Higashi
August 5, 2011I believe most unforced errors are balls that hit the net tape, more so than hit the netting. I believe that your body executes the appropriate mechanics to hit a target in mind. In the absence of a target, it assumes the target to be what you’re looking at. This concept is used in safe driving schools where trainees are taught to look at where they want to go rather than what they’re trying to avoid. I think a lot of tennis players are looking at the tape to avoid hitting it but the body doesn’t interpret the “not” part of that command and executes to make the ball hit the tape. It would be interesting if Vic Braden’s experiment with a black net was redesigned to replace the net with transparent plastic, I think the results would be even better; on ground strokes that is where the body takes gravity into account. The serve would be a different story because the body would think it could hit the ball down into the service box, if it didn’t know something was in the way.
Jim Fox
August 5, 2011As usual, Jim, great stuff. Many of our students hit into the net because they are trying to hit “skimmers” — balls that barely skim over the net. They seem to think that if they hit too high over the net, the ball won’t go in to the court. We try to teach them that topspin will pull the ball into the other side, so they can hit about a racket lengths above the net and use the topspin to bring it in.
Degsy
August 5, 2011Jim
I’ve been using a plastic sheet across the net for many years with great success. It really works to get players to hit over the net. The plastic sheet make a noise that everyone on other courts can hear when the ball hits it…
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