WIN FREE TENNIS LESSONS!

You could win up to 3 FREE GROUP LESSONS worth $120.

How?

If you persuade someone, or even several people to book programs with us by the end of APRIL, we will add one, two or three extra group lessons to your current program. 

Junior Programs

For a 10 week program– You get 1 Free Lesson Added

20 week program– You get 2 Free Lessons Added

40 week program – You get 3 Free Lessons Added  (That’s $60 value)

Adults Programs

6 week program – You get 1 Free Lesson Added

10week program – You get 2 Free Lessons Added

16 week program – You get 3 Free Lessons Added  (That’s $120 value)

Please have the person to quote your name as the source of the enquiry when he or she contacts us.

Terms and Conditions:

• Cannot be redeemed for previous bookings or referrals
• Credits applied for new student signups to the school
• Offer lasts until 30^th April 2015

Simple Tennis Corrections for Forehand Mistakes

Sometimes small adjustments to your technique will pay huge dividends in your game. Here we’re going through 5 common forehand errors that are a must change for anyone looking to improve their technique and stop making unforced errors.

1 - Using The Wrong Tennis Grip

Back in the olden/golden days of tennis the continental grip was used for just about everything from forehand, backhand, volleys, serve and all inbetween. A good example in the 1970’s is John McEnroe who used the continental grip on his forehand. But with the pace, athleticism and equipment of todays game, a whole lot of changes have been made to keep up and play better tennis. One of which is the grips.

Today’s standard grips to use on the forehand are the eastern forehand grip and the semi-western forehand grip. Often grips are a hybrid between the 2. Some players still also use a full western or close to.

The eastern forehand grip is the grip used to hit flatter balls and considered a more traditional grip. Some players who use the grip include Roger Federer and Pete Sampras.

The semi western grip is now the most popular grip used, especially by professionals. Some of whom include Rafael Nadal (although his is sneaking towards the full western grip), Andy Murray and Djokovic and Sam Stosur

Depending on what court surface you play on, who you play against, your swing and what feel natural will determine which grip is right for you.

2 - Closed Stance Footwork

The most common forehand footwork errors include:

• Stepping across the body with the left foot before hitting the ball which. This closes the body off to the court too much and inhibits body rotation thus power and swing length, and recovery steps

• Stepping forwards into the ball with the right foot opening the body to the wrong side of the court. This opens the body too much and making a take back non existent.

Modern footwork has us using open and semi open stances, unlike the closed stances of yesteryear. Depending of your court positioning, try and keep a gap between your legs if facing the net. For instance, if stepping for a wide ball step out with the right foot, loading the leg and  driving up through the leg.

If you need to step into the court you can step forwards into the court and there be no gap, so long as the left leg doesn’t step across the right. There are variations such as the walking/hopping crossover forehand used on short wide balls and return of serve.

3 - No Body Rotation

As mentioned in the footwork, if you don’t turn the body, you don't get any swing on the ball or power in the shot. After the split step use the right foot to step open and turn the body out. From here move into position and hit the ball. There are different variations depending on which direction and how far you have to move but basically speaking turn the body as soon as possible.

Some cues to help turn the body include:

• Pointing at the ball

• Looking over your left shoulder

• Point the butt of the racquet towards where you want to ball to go

• Face the side fence (beginner)

4 - No Topspin

If you're not hitting with any topspin chances are you have the wrong grip, incorrect swing or poor preparation. This can even result in backspin if you’re not careful. Topspin in when the ball spins forwards, putting more air pressure on top of the ball, making the ball dip into the court. This means you can clear the net by a safe distance but make sure the ball falls into the court before the baseline of the other side. It also allows the ball to jump up and forwards after the bounce.

Topspin if used well can increase your consistency hugely and it also allows you to control the pace of the ball.

For maximum topspin use a semi western or full western grip, although the eastern forehand grip can still generate a lot of spin. The simple principle remains come from below the balls contact point, brush up and over the ball, finish the follow through. Try to make the ball spin forwards.

5 - No Follow Through

Follow throughs can differ greatly among players. Just look at Nadal’s over the head compared to Andy Murray’s below the elbow follow through. The grip has a lot to do with the follow through, so does your court positioning as well as where your contact point is, where you want to ball to bounce and how much topspin you hit with.

For a beginner we generally teach ‘over the shoulder’. This gives a definitive point to finish to. However as swing get more advanced and players use different grips, follow throughs change. When using an eastern forehand grip, over the shoulder or between the shoulder and elbow is the general finishing point. With a semi western or full western grip finishing the swing over the head or between the the shoulder and elbow is the go.

If finishing over the shoulder, a good checkpoint it to ‘catch’ the racquet at the end of the swing. This ensures the body rotates and the left arm swing through as well.

When using a western variation your swing is more of a wave or windscreen wiper action as opposed to the closed off racquet head in the eastern grip.

Conclusion

So check your forehand next time you’re playing and see if you’re making any of these errors. They are pretty simple to correct with some time, coaching and repetition. Remember there is not 100% way of hitting the ball. Every player has their own idiosyncrasies and way of hitting. See what works best for you.

Tennis Drills

In this article we look at some exciting drills for hitting partners who do the same old stuff week in and week out. Give your game some direction, objectives and strategies!

Most intermediate tennis players I coach have a hitting partner they train with at least once a week. This gives them an opportunity to practice the technique or tactics we’ve been working on at that week’s tennis lesson.

Having a hitting partner is the most cost effective way of improving your tennis shots, for you and your partner as well.

Tips for practicing with a partner

• Get a partner at your standard or preferably slightly stronger than you. This will often bring your game up to their standard. Just as playing someone weaker might throw your game out a little.
• Book a regular time for practice. Whether it’s weekly or fortnightly, make a commitment and stick to it. Practice drills are as important as match practice.
• Use different venues and court surfaces. This will test how you adapt your game to changing conditions and will benefit those who play tournaments around town.
• Have a few different hitting partners of varying styles. Examples include a heavy topspin hitter, hard flat hitter but also someone who you really enjoy hitting with. It keeps the game fun ;)

In this first edition of quality drills for hitting partners we’re going back to the old saying KISS. Keep It Simple Stupid. Some try to get too fancy too soon. If you can’t keep long rallies at simple angles, you need to work on that first. Some of the drills can be performed with a ball machine but I’ve written them out in a partner format.

Drill 1 - Crosscourt

Crosscourt is your bread and butter. To be able to stay in a match for more than 2 shots you need to have a solid crosscourt shot.

The benefits of a crosscourt ball are more length of court to hit to, you hit over the lowest part of the net and with the body naturally turns across the court. More importantly for the intermediate/advanced player is that you don’t have to recover as far as if you played a down the line ball. This will be explained further in our court positioning post coming soon.

The Tennis Drill:

Place a cone or drink bottle in opposite corners of the court about 1 metre in from the baseline and single lines. Simply try and hit the bottle on the other side of the court. You’re looking at rallying 20 balls in a row. The bounce should be in the vicinity on the bottle, or at least deep than the service line. A 20 ball rally is a benchmark you should aim for.

To add a competitive element to the drill play first to hit the others bottle over 5 times.

Progression:

Rally 4 balls crosscourt then the point starts. Then rally 6 balls then play, then 8 etc. Aim for 20 ball rally then play the point. You can score if you want.

Drill 2 - Unforced Errors

Tennis matches are won and lost on unforced errors, not winners as some like to play. Getting the ball in one more time, even as a lob or soft shot is better than hitting an all or nothing last ditch hit.

The Tennis Drill:

• Play the point out full court
• Each unforced error is a strike
• Winners and forced errors don’t count
• 3 strikes and you do 10 burpees and repeat.
• This also builds fitness and adds pressure, especially after a few sets of burpees.

Progressions:

1 - Have one player covering doubles court and the other on singles as shown by the red rectangles. Same rules apply with strikes etc.

2 - Add rule if you win on a volley you can minus a point off the strike score.

Drill 3 - Doubles Approach

This one is for the double players out there. Most weekly tennis competitions around these days have a doubles and single element and this is a great drill for teaching when to get to the net and play a strong volley under pressure.

Doubles tactic numero uno, get to the net. I see a lot of social doubles and too many people either hang back at the baseline or in ‘no man’s land’. Generally social payers start in the neutral doubles positioning of one person at the net and one on the baseline. From here any short ball that pulls you into the court or if you hit a strong enough ball to get the other players out of position, or give yourself enough time to get to the net, get to the net. If you have the option of hitting to a baseliner as opposed to a net player you should nearly always play to the baseliner.

The Tennis Drill:

• Play the point out crosscourt including the doubles alley. RED AREA
• The ball must be hit back crosscourt if it bounces on your side.
• If you play a volley it can be placed anywhere in the full doubles court BLUE AREA, meaning it should be put away.
• Assuming the opposition can return the volley the point is played out full doubles court.
• Play an approach shot that makes the opponent play a bounced ball because it forces them to play a crosscourt ball back to you.

Progression:

• If the ball bounces before the service line you must approach no matter what. This adds pressure on whoever hits the ball short because you know the opponent is approaching and they have a hugely increased chance of winning at the net.
• This drill can also be played down the line, doubles alley included, and full court singles

Within tennis training there are an infinite number of drills and variations. These are just a few of many more to come. I hope you have enjoyed these drills and keep on the lookout for more to come.

If you have any questions please let me know in the comment section.

Congratulations to all our participants in the Autumn Adults Tennis Tournament.

With a big day of competition starting at 9am, 24 players battled it out in 4 divisions to make the finals. I huge BBQ was cooked up by Tony to keep the furnaces burning. Through the highs and lows our finalists for each division were:

1.      DAVE ALLAN defeated JOHNNY CAMPOS

2.      DAVID O'DRISCOLL defeated KAROL  TARASIUK

3.      MYAT MIN ZAW defeated ASHTON PEREIRA

4.      CATHERINE NIEC defeated MARIAN LENTFER

The next tournament will be held on Sunday 29th June. To book check out http://www.fourseasonstennis.com.au/index.php/adults/tournaments

Welcome to the first post on the Four Seasons Tennis Blog.

We are excited to bring you tennis news and events, coaching tips and specials so stay tuned.