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February 23, 2004 This edition of the WebTennis.net
Newsletter is the complimentary, text only version. Not yet a member? It's only $7 / month. Check it out here Hi and welcome to the Feb 23, 2004 issue of the WebTennis.net Newsletter. It's been three weeks of trying to get moved in and I guess all I can say is, if I ever decide to do this again, well, you've got full permission to come right on over and say, "Hey idiot, remember what a bummer that was back in '04...? Are you sure you really want to put yourself through that body and mind numbing thing again...?" And of course, I'd thank you profusely for reeling me back in to some form of sanity...! But I really can't complain, because this little abode in Moraga, CA is just what the doctor ordered for me and my three little youngens. Everyone's digging their new digs with enough bedrooms and bathrooms to keep three daughters happy. (At least until tomorrow. I'm sure they'll be a new "thing" that will need attention...!). So enough about me. Let's get into a couple of tips that I'm hoping will help your tennis, no matter what skill level you're at these days... OK, here we go... Serve and Volley Transition... Audio... turn your speakers and click here You know, the term "serve and volley" is misleading. We rarely ever get the chance to actually serve, make a mad dash up to net, and then be in a controlled on balance position to play a really forcing volley as the shot immediately after our serve. We've just got too much to cover to get that close to the net. There are times when our opponents will hit a very weak return that comes up short on our side of the net, but more often than not, we're only able to get about 1/2 way between the baseline and the service line where we should going through a "split-step" footwork pattern to enable us to react to the direction and speed of our opponent's return of serve... The biggest mistake I see (and of course I'm never guilty of this one, right...!) is players trying to get too close to the net and are then off balance for playing the correct shot. The correct shot is any shot that you can play on balance that maximizes your ability to efficiently move to the optimal court position to challenge your opponent's possible passing shot. The biggest mistake that players make here is they don't "wait"... So, the focus is not on the quality of your volley or 1/2 volley, but much more on your ability to efficiently and quickly move through that shot to set up in the ideal net position inside the service line. Did I say "move through" your volley or 1/2 volley...? Yep, but don't think I've given you carte blanche to run through that shot without any semblance of a split step. Your job on the split step is to come into a balanced position that will allow you to move literally in any direction once you see the direction of the return of serve and/or to wait there to "receive" your opponent's return of serve in case they hit a big time smoker right at you... I always prepare for worst case which to me is a tough dipping bullet (bullets dip, right...?!) down low at my feet. So my racket prep is in my split step is never with a though of "racket back" once I determine the direction of the return. The one thing that can kill your ability to receive this tough shot properly is going to a racket back position. Once you go racket back, forget it, you've now committed to a swing, and the swing speed coming back in to contact and the high to low swing path just makes it impossible to control your volley or 1/2 volley... The shot is much more again about playing this shot with your feet, not thinking stroke production. Reach for your opponent's return of serve with your feet and not your arm. My students hear that all of the time from me, and in fact, I've got a little device that forces them to keep their racket arm to their side so they have to move their feet to reach the ball to their right or left. Trying to reach a ball with your arm too early that is hit at you can also really mess up this transitional shot. You tend to get off balance enough where the stroke mechanics are not good, but worse case, your feet are not set up to move you to your next desired court position. Remember, you challenge your opponents by forcing them to pass you when you have outstanding court position that only gives them a sliver of open court to your right, left, and over your head. Don't put a ton of pressure on yourself to have to hit the greatest volley or 1/2 volley ever hit. You just don't have to do that... So, we get back to the word "wait", and that really applies more to you taking your time with the transitional shot, not rushing through it by reaching with your racket arm or not going through a split step pattern. Take the pressure off of you having to hit a great shot, take your time to play whatever you have to play so you can stay on balance, and say to your opponent "hey, come on, let's see what you got...". And will they pass you from time to time? Yep, yes, yeah, uh huh, and so on. But, the strategy is to accept the fact that players at your skill level have a certain number of passing shots "in their bag" on any given day, and your shot is to empty that bag asap...! I'm serious... I get passed and see it as a positive. Do not get passed a couple of times and think that you've failed. You're making a statement to your opponent and even though they've won an individual point, they really aren't that comfortable knowing they'll have to hit perfect shots past you all day. The key to really good and fun serve and volley tennis is the transitional shot. Take your time and "wait" to play that shot immediately after your serve. No need to rush. My coach Tom Stow used to drill me and my pals on this shot over and over again. His thinking was, it's just a heckuva lot more fun to play tennis this way...! And he was right... Second, if you're in the San Francisco Bay Area Saturday March 13, well, I'm teaching an afternoon workshop on Singles Strategies where we'll spend a lot of time on this specific shot, it's technique, and strategy, among other strategies. Click here for complete details and to enroll... Have fun out there, move forward, take your time with your shots, be quick in getting to balls, and yet, never a need to rush the stroke... Here's where to enroll for the
Saturday, March 13, 2004 Workshop Here's where to become a WebTennis.net Premium Member NEW Instructional Product from Brent The Fundamentals of the One-Handed
Backhand Groundstroke Drive
I've produced my own instructional product for this shot, the one-handed backhand groundstroke. It's a CD and DVD of 60 minutes of video lessons and audio clips. The video lessons play on both your computer's CD and any DVD player. The audio reminders play from the CD from either your computer or car CD players. The CD and DVD set will be shipped within 24 hours of your purchase and generally take no more than a couple of days to arrive to you if you live within the continental U.S. Here's what you get...
NEW Doubles Instructional Product - Online and CD...! "Your Top Ten Biggest
Challenges in Doubles" by Brent Abel and Pat Blaskower After reading the latest issue of Tennis magazine, maybe it should be the top eleven challenges which would include one about having to deal with all of the mis-information you have to put up with out there...! (OK, I'm calming down, hang in there with me...!) Doubles coaching guru Pat Blaskower and I have partnered up to give you the answers to ten of your most often asked questions about how to deal with specific situations in doubles...
Pat and I took your ten most asked questions and discussed exactly how to solve those problems. This instructional product is a one hour discussion segmented into 11 parts (intro and the answers to the ten questions).
Here's what you get... - Immediate access to the one hour online presentation of this lesson. You can listen to each of the ten answers directly from the webpage. - Each answer is a discussion between me and Pat which gives you our combined teaching and playing wisdom of nearly 100 years (yikes...!). - Each answer is a MP3 file that you can also download to your computer where you can listen "off-line" and/or burn your own CD. - The lesson CD will be immediately shipped to you. - PLUS, unlimited email and telephone support from Brent! Yep, I'm available to help you. Just let me know. - And with all of my instructional products, you get my 100% fully refundable lifetime player satisfaction guarantee.
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$39 Feedback and Contact... As you know, I'm always interested in your opinion of my newsletters, products, and your overall tennis learning experience with me. Please feel free to drop me a line if you have any suggestions, criticism, ideas for topics, whatever... I want to hear from you...! Thanks. |
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