Bigger Better Tennis - Paul Dale

Tami Grende, Wimbledon Junior Doubles Champion Many players and coaches try to approach tennis with the mindset that if they can create the perfect swing, their game and results will automatically improve. I call this the “cosmetic” mindset. They believe that something that looks (cosmetic) correct, translates into a perfect result.  In fact, you see golfers at golf driving ranges adopting the “cosmetic” mindset to improve their games all the time. Golfers spend a lot of time tweaking the position of their feet, where their elbows finish, correcting the angles of shoulders and arms, etc before and after every stroke. The problem with adopting a golfers' “Cosmetic” mindset for your tennis training is that golf and tennis are completely different sports requiring different training methods. In golf, the position of the ball is predictable (stationary), while in tennis the ball is unpredictable and not under our control.  In golf, you can stand over the ball and dictate exactly w

Many players reach a very high ranking with huge deficiencies in their games.  It seems that it comes down to whether you opt for doing "A few things really well" or "Many things OK". But it doesn't have to be that way. Women's tennis is full of players who have solid, dependable  groundstrokes, no serve, no net game, but have still reached the top 100 on the WTA ranking list. In the men's game its less obvious but there are still players with a limited range of strokes and who depend on a very conservative game plan to win matches. This limited range of strokes and conservative approach to points often comes from a players time in the juniors, especially if the player was successful. often players, coaches and parents are not willing to expand the game and take on new initiatives. Pete Sampras is famous for deciding to change from a two-handed backhand to a one-handed backhand as a junior, only to lose early in tournaments for the next t

The serve is a unique shot in tennis because its the only " closed skill " shot we hit, meaning we control all the elements from start to finish. All other shots are " open skilled " which means we must react and adapt to what our opponent sends our way. I believe a big part of serving well is the attitude you bring to serving. If you feel the serve is merely a way to start points then your serve will never be a true weapon. I believe that the serve is your premier weapon and the best opportunity to win points quickly and consistently. You should maintain an aggressive and confident mindset regarding the serve. Having a more positive, aggressive mindset over time also creates "instinct" that helps you maintain control of your service games, maintain momentum with your service games and the ability to get yourself out of those tricky break point situations that come along sometimes.  In order to create instinctive service shot selection when a

Everyone wants a better serve because a better serve almost certainly means that your game will rise to a higher level. The serve is the single most important shot in the game. E The serve can only improve in 4 ways Accuracy   Power Consistency Variety Luckily there are two easy to learn techniques that if mastered, will give you all four of these desired outcomes. 1. The front foot The front foot for a right-handed player is the left foot, and it's the right foot for a left-handed player.  The function of the front foot is to become the "bridge" for weight transfer from the back to the front. Think of the weight transfer during the serve as an action involving three points. (1) Weight on the back leg/foot (2) weight  transitioning to the front foot, and (3) the finish position after contact, which is forward and inside the court. The important middle phase, phase 2, between the back leg/f

There are a lot of tennis myths out there that have been circulating for years. The longer they circulate the more credibility they gather. Many of them can actually hurt your game, particularly if you are trying to play at an advanced level. Here is my list of the 5 most damaging tennis myths... Bend your Knees If you are trying to bend your knees on groundstrokes you could be making a big mistake. Without understanding the reason why we bend our knees the danger is that the important 2nd step will be missing. What is the important 2nd step? It's straightening the legs again after that initial bend. This straightening action transfers the ground forces that the bent knees have prepared. Therefore in reality bending  knees is only the preparation phase, while straightening the legs creates the all important interaction with the ground which sends a chain reaction through the body to assist your swing with timing and power.          Therefore if

The best players use rituals to help them perform Everyone responds to events in different ways. Dropping a glass of water can make us angry, shocked, and frustrated or could even become a catalyst for laughter. It all depends on the person and how dropping that glass of water makes them feel.   Like thousands of other events throughout your day, dropping that glass of water is a CUE that creates an action.  In his bestselling book “The Power of Habit” author Charles Duhigg calls the action that follows a Cue  a Routine . He states that while the Cue is the same for everyone, it’s in the routine that you see the differences in people. Watch a game of tennis and you will see all the same cues. You will observe a player who is fatigued, some matches are more important than others, poor line calls occur, a player will go down a break of serve and another will go up a break of serve. These are all cues that evoke a routine. Many of these routines are destructive and lead to negati

RE-DIRECTING THE BALL DOWN THE LINE IS DIFFICULT BUT CAN HAVE HUGE REWARDS  DESCRIPTION One of the scariest things you do in tennis is to change the direction of the ball and hit down the line off a ball coming from cross-court. You are attempting to re-direct the ball to another angle which requires considerable skill. It’s much easier going back cross-court because you are hitting through the same line. If you can execute the down the line shot well during the rally it’s a big plus to your game because it stops your opponent getting too comfortable with your shot selection, they will now have to worry about the unexpected change of direction – something few players can do that well. Here are the key things to focus on when going down the line (backhand and forehand). 1.       The position of your feet: o   The best way to change direction, either down the line or cross-court, is to change your contact point. Many players try to change their swing to alter