GETTING ANA IVANOVIC BACK TO #1


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.      Work on the coordination of the left (toss) and right (racquet) arms together.  Do this by having Ana close her eyes and serve.  Initially she will miss-hit or miss the ball completely, but in time she will begin to coordinate the left and right arm and achieve a greater degree of teamwork between the two.

2.      Wide Forehands:
Ana is renowned for her big forehand but when she has to move wide it often breaks down. Here is the solution…

a.      Everything in tennis starts in the ground and Ana has poor “ground” on wide forehands.  Her problem starts in the right leg.  Ana must learn to use her right leg to step open-stance and prepare a platform for the forehand.  This platform will create the timing, power and balance needed to play wide forehands effectively.

3.      Play with a Strategy
Ana is a player who thinks that if she plays her game well enough, it will beat anyone in the world.  This way of thinking hurts her because with so many good players around, to consistently win matches you must develop a strategy for each player.  Playing everyone the same way will never work.  Strategies could include slowing the ball down or speeding it up. With some players she might need to keep the ball up higher or down low.  Ultimately she must look for ways to prevent her opponent playing at her best!

These are not major things to work on but together they would make a big difference to Ana’s results and her ranking.

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