Okay, so I was watching the U.S. Open (tennis) on T.V. the other night and as I watched the players I thought to myself that tennis has got to be the hardest sport in the world. It takes way more than effort to succeed at tennis. It's even said that 65% of tennis is mental. Your not on a team like football or hockey. You don't have the support of your teammates. It's just you against the person across the net, and yourself. There's no other sport like tennis. It's like a combination of every sport and every physical, mental, endurance, ect. Even Rafael Nadal( number 2 ranking pro tennis player) was voted the best athlete in the world! So when i looked up "the number one hardest sport in the world" i found things like water polo, hockey, and football. Really? Each one your on a team and your never constantly moving around with the ball. Okay, so i consider gymnastics and golf as hard sports but they don't require you to constantly move around like in tennis. Raquet Ball and Badmittin and Table Tennis are all siblings of tennis. Here is an article about what it takes to be a pro tennis player...
All great players are masters of the following: Technique, Positioning, and Decision Making.
Great Technique boils down to having strokes that can come through for you on the big points. A lot of players can keep it pretty close for most of the match's duration, but then when it comes crunch time their strokes crumble. The first thing to always examine when a stroke is falling apart is how the player is striking the ball. If they have any technical deficiencies in their stroke then it will show up under the gun. Technique generally comes down to one thing: spin. Can you produce it and can you deal with it coming at you. Why is Nadal such a sure fire winner everytime? Spin. He hits a heavy ball, which gives him a huge margin for error and so he doesn't give any points away and he can produce incredible ball speeds, so if his opponents can't match those speeds their own strokes falter and leave them vulnerable to the attack.
Positioning: Can you get in position for the ball time after time? Are you fit enough to keep it up for a full match? Do you split-step and so anticipate where you should be? Do you line up the ball in your strike zone? Or is the ball always too high or too low? These are all questions you should ask when looking for ways to improve your game.
What allows a player to make good decisions before, during, and after a point? Imagine it is match point and you have been winning points by being steady and consistent, and then you decide to go for a drop shot, which you haven't used all match, and you blow it. Why did you choose to hit the drop? Maybe, right before the point began you forgot to remind yourself of how you have won points and so what you need to do to keep winning them. Possibly, your feet froze, because you were tight and couldn't move and so went for the hail-of-mary drop-shot, so you could end it all and just get it over with. Maybe, you could have told yourself "happy feet" or "stay light and steady" and you would have stayed on your game plan. And most importantly, what will you do now? It is no longer match point, you blew it. How will you respond? Throw your racket? Berate yourself? Or refocus and remind yourself what you need to do to win the next point? The great decision makers like Federer have a game plan and stick with it while it is working. They also have the ability to change their game plan if it is not working. They don't let their emotions cloud their judgement.
If want to figure out which of these three key aspects of the game you are deficient in, then contact Higgins Tennis and let us work with you. We can videotape your strokes to check your technique. We can improve your fitness and get you to understand your ideal strike zone(s). Or we can put you in game situations or watch you play to see what kind of issues come up for you when it is time to perform.
So what's the deal? I just want some opinions please!!!!
All great players are masters of the following: Technique, Positioning, and Decision Making.
Great Technique boils down to having strokes that can come through for you on the big points. A lot of players can keep it pretty close for most of the match's duration, but then when it comes crunch time their strokes crumble. The first thing to always examine when a stroke is falling apart is how the player is striking the ball. If they have any technical deficiencies in their stroke then it will show up under the gun. Technique generally comes down to one thing: spin. Can you produce it and can you deal with it coming at you. Why is Nadal such a sure fire winner everytime? Spin. He hits a heavy ball, which gives him a huge margin for error and so he doesn't give any points away and he can produce incredible ball speeds, so if his opponents can't match those speeds their own strokes falter and leave them vulnerable to the attack.
Positioning: Can you get in position for the ball time after time? Are you fit enough to keep it up for a full match? Do you split-step and so anticipate where you should be? Do you line up the ball in your strike zone? Or is the ball always too high or too low? These are all questions you should ask when looking for ways to improve your game.
What allows a player to make good decisions before, during, and after a point? Imagine it is match point and you have been winning points by being steady and consistent, and then you decide to go for a drop shot, which you haven't used all match, and you blow it. Why did you choose to hit the drop? Maybe, right before the point began you forgot to remind yourself of how you have won points and so what you need to do to keep winning them. Possibly, your feet froze, because you were tight and couldn't move and so went for the hail-of-mary drop-shot, so you could end it all and just get it over with. Maybe, you could have told yourself "happy feet" or "stay light and steady" and you would have stayed on your game plan. And most importantly, what will you do now? It is no longer match point, you blew it. How will you respond? Throw your racket? Berate yourself? Or refocus and remind yourself what you need to do to win the next point? The great decision makers like Federer have a game plan and stick with it while it is working. They also have the ability to change their game plan if it is not working. They don't let their emotions cloud their judgement.
If want to figure out which of these three key aspects of the game you are deficient in, then contact Higgins Tennis and let us work with you. We can videotape your strokes to check your technique. We can improve your fitness and get you to understand your ideal strike zone(s). Or we can put you in game situations or watch you play to see what kind of issues come up for you when it is time to perform.
So what's the deal? I just want some opinions please!!!!