Bigger Better Tennis - Paul Dale

Many coaches are involved in the daily task of developing junior tennis players to reach the top of the game.  A very important question for those involved in junior development is “When we develop junior players for the future, what in essence are we trying to develop”? What is the goal? A simple question with profound implications to the way we approach each on-court session. For years my goal or mission statement when training junior players was to create a player with “Perfect Defense on Wood, and Perfect Offense on Clay”.  Think about that, defense on the fastest surface and offence on the slowest surface. Probably the fastest surface you can play on is a wooden floor indoors. Think of the problems you are faced with on fast wood.  · Returning serve: requires exceptionally fast reflexes and compact strokes · Teaches a player the skills of staying relaxed enough in the hands to adapt quickly, but firm enough on contact to stabilize the racquet ·   Fast ...

When Ana Ivanovic loses matches you can almost hear a collective groan from tennis fans around the world.  Many people want to see her get back to the form that won her a Grand Slam title (French Open) and the #1 ranking in the world. She is simply one of the nicest players competing on the WTA Tour. Getting back to her past form will not happen unless Ana works on several key areas of her game.  Here is a breakdown of those areas:                                           1.       The Serve: Ana’s problem with the serve is well known.  Many coaches have tried to find the solution by working on her toss, which tends to become wayward at the worst times. Isolating the toss will not solve the problem.  Here is the solution... a.  ...

Many years ago I was watching a boxing bout on TV. During the fight, the commentator made the statement “In boxing the jab is everything, from the jab comes everything”. It seems that in boxing the jab does many things and the fighter who can dominate with the jab has an enormous advantage.  The jab establishes distance, allowing one fighter to control the space between himself and his opponent.  The boxing jab is also used as a first step from which other punches follow.  A jab can be followed by a hook, an upper cut or another jab. What the commentator also said that day was that the fighter who dominates with the jab will control the fight. The boxing jab is a "stepping stone" to other combinations I began to wonder what the tennis equivalent was to the boxing jab.  I believe the cross-court is the tennis “Jab”.  The cross-court is used as a way to set up the point.  Whenever the cross-court is strong enough it will create the first step ...

I n the heat of the battle, it’s difficult to think clearly.  With so many things going on it's sometimes easy to forget the basics, and to be forced into making decisions in a match that you normally wouldn't make.  But to perform at your best in matches certain parts of your game must function perfectly in order for you to win.  Some people call them 'The Percentages', and everyone has a slightly different version of what playing 'The Percentages' actually means. Essentially I believe "The Percentages" are all about the choices you make in a match. The Percentages involve your shot selection and the type of strategy you employ at different times during the match.  I like to call "The Percentages" the '5 Core Elements of Match-play'. Executed correctly, they are the key ingredients needed to play at your best in competition. I expect my students to mentally monitor the 5 core elements throughout the match, particularl...