Bigger Better Tennis - Paul Dale

, You may have been looking at competition all wrong. Maybe competition should not only be about throwing the "kitchen sink" at your opponent to try and beat them down. Even if your strategy leans towards all-out offence: relying on a big serve and a dominating forehand, introducing some subtlety to your game might produce surprising results. After all, why would you want to play an opponent at full strength? Wouldn't it be better to neutralise their strengths first before playing them?  While that may seem overly simplistic to most, reducing your opponent's effectiveness is possible and entirely necessary if you want to reach the top.  STRATEGICALLY SMART "The first job of any army is to  make  themselves  unbeatable first" You must have a plan before every match that addresses your opponent's strengths and weaknesses; otherwise, you're inviting trouble. Without a plan, every match could be a battle because you could be allowing for the best version

All competitive players strive to perform at their very best. They hope for consistency of performance and believe  that playing to the best of their ability should be enough to win matches. However, while trying to achieve your highest level might seem like a good goal, I feel there is a better mindset for you to adopt when you compete.  PICKING WINNERS Have you noticed how difficult it is to confidently pick who will win at tournaments? That's because players throughout the draw all play at a very similar level. Even players who seem to have all the strokes and look like world-beaters often lose in the early rounds. Yet often, players who end up winning the event don't look special at all. I have a theory for this. It's often difficult distinguishing why some players win, and others lose.  During matches, all players experience highs and lows. There will be periods of struggle and periods of comfort.  I BELIEVE CONTROLLING THE "GAP" BETWEEN THE HIGHS  AND LOWS D

You often hear the phrase "take the ball on the rise" in coaching. It's used to encourage the player to step in and take the ball with some weight transfer, and "taking it on the rise' seems  to help the player time the ball better. But what happens when the player can't achieve "stepping in"?  I coach advanced players and relative beginners. If I told an advanced player to "step in" and take every ball "on the rise", they would see me as crazy. At an advanced level, stepping in and taking the ball on the rise every time is impossible. The speed and depth of the ball mean that often, the ball dictates what you do, not you, so stepping in and taking the ball on the rise is simply impossible.  Likewise, telling a beginner to take every ball on the rise will only lead to frustration. They can only do it on some balls. The problem with trying to teach the "ideal" technique is that  there is no  such thing as the "ideal

As tennis teachers, we've become obsessed with teaching how the strokes should look, the outward appearance of the stroke, rather than the Fundamentals. It's as if we're more concerned with creating picture-perfect strokes than a fundamentally sound stroke. We're trying to craft a visual masterpiece, but often at the expense of the core skills; the Fundamentals. Fundamentals are our game's building blocks,  while  the way a stroke looks is the Form. Whenever any new player reaches the top of the tennis rankings, Coaches look closely at that player's style and try to copy what the player is doing technically to have made them so successful. They're unable to diagnose the new player's strokes more deeply, so they are left with looking at the "cosmetics" of the player. Anyone learning tennis through the  form  method never learns to adapt to different types of balls or correctly analyse what they must do on each stroke, nor what is causing their e

While stroke mechanics and fitness are crucial, they pale compared to the advantages of being mentally resilient, strong, and adaptable.  This article will deal with a topic I have expounded on for years: the importance of mental training and highlighting how it can make or break  a player's performance.  TENNIS IS A MENTAL GAME People often describe tennis as a mental game; coaches are happy to make that statement but later continue emphasising technique and form in their practice sessions! Everything returns to the status quo.  Nothing is done on the practice court to reflect the importance  of having  a r esilient, strong and adaptable mindset during competition. ...in competition, the battle is fought against  an opponent and also within one's own mind.  Your ability to stay focused, composed, and  confident during crucial moments can be the  deciding factor between victory and defeat. RESILIENCE UNDER PRESSURE: At its essence, mental strength in tennis is the ability to h

So much time is spent by players working on their groundstrokes, yet in my opinion the Return of Serve is a bigger factor in winning matches. If each player is dominating with their service games during a match, it's up to the Return Of Serve to create the break of serve to  win the  match. The Return of Serve is the key to unlocking tight matches.                                       THE GOAL WHEN RETURNING SERVE Your goal when Returning Serve is consistency. You want to get as many balls back to start the rally as possible.  Put yourself in the Server's shoes for a moment. You've been serving really well and landing lots of first serves, but your opponent keeps making their returns and forcing you to engage in the point. What should they do? Do they change something or continue to play the same? Whichever course of action the Server takes, you have managed to get into their head, create doubt and influence their decision-making. When you are returning the Serve...  Aim