Bigger Better Tennis - Paul Dale

  The Necessity of Hitting Aces in Professional Tennis In professional tennis, the serve is more than just a way to begin a point—for advanced players, the ability to hit aces consistently is not a luxury but a necessity. Let’s explore why delivering aces is crucial and how it impacts a player’s overall game and match performance. Dominating with your serve is a crucial part of  professional tennis. 1. Serving Aggressively: Protecting Your Service Games Losing your serve can spell disaster, and often means also losing the set. Matches at the professional level are frequently decided by a single break of serve, and recovering from such a loss of serve can feel like climbing a mountain. This is why maintaining an aggressive mindset and aiming for aces throughout the match is vital. An aggressive mindset keeps you "honest". Hitting regular aces can save energy while also sending a psychological message to the opponent, signalling that they will have few chances to break your se...

A comprehensive guide for the Serve for advanced Coaches and Players. Paul breaks down the critical elements in successfully holding your serve. Learn 3 simple serve techniques and 3 easy-to-follow serve strategies to help keep your opponent guessing.

I’m not a fan of using repetition to practice when training players. I use repetition drills very rarely. Repetition drills are when a player has to hit many balls one after the other, either from a basket feed or with someone at the other end giving you the same ball. Repetition drills contain very little that is similar to match-play. I understand it looks good to people watching the lesson from a distance outside the court and on Instagram posts but repetition drills offer very little to players wanting to develop a new technique or pattern for their next match. Often coaches feel that they have done their job by showing the student the new technique and then drilling it many times through repetition. They believe the transfer of information (the new technique being taught) from the practice court to match court should happen automatically and is the players' responsibility. This is false. It’s the coach’s job to introduce the new technique AND to creat...

If you can’t hold serve, you can’t win the match. That’s how important the serve is in tennis. Players with average ground-strokes but great serves have done well in tennis, particularly on the faster surfaces. The serve is not a complicated stroke, but it can be prone to breaking down under pressure in matches. Therefore, it’s important to understand the key elements of the serve so that, under pressure, you can focus on one or two things that will make it work for you. Here are the 2 key elements I recommend you focus on when under pressure in matches. If done correctly, each of the two elements will cover any problems you may be having with your serve. THE FRONT FOOT The front foot is the 'Bridge' for your serve. It’s the transfer point for your forward movement during the serve. Soon, the player's left foot  will begin to dominate the  service action and supply  timing and power to the wrist  If this 'Bridge' is weak or ineffecti...

WHEN YOUR PARTNER GOES INTO HIDING... If your friends go into hiding each time you look for a doubles partner, it's probably because your serve sucks. There's nothing more frustrating in doubles than having a partner who constantly double-faults.  Or that feeling of wanting to run for cover to protect yourself every time your partner serves one of their weak serves. Nobody wants to play with a partner who has a weak serve. But it doesn't have to be like that because improving your serve can happen quickly just by improving your wrist. Your wrist plays two very important roles when you Serve. It not only helps make the ball go faster, it also works like a "target finder", helping direct the ball to your target.  If you can keep the wrist loose while serving, it will take all the pressure off your shoulder joint, and prevent injuries in the long-term.  So these are the advantages of using your wrist to serve, but how do we make the wrist supple and relaxed when we...

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 ...

ANA IVANOVIC HAS SUFFERED WITH CRONIC TOSS PROBLEMS THROUGHOUT HER CAREER DESCRIPTION The ball toss is one of the most common ailments with many players when serving.  Ana Ivanovic is a player who struggles with her ball toss constantly.  For many years I have taught the importance of using an intelligent wrist instead of focusing on the ball toss. However the toss is important because the wrist can only operate effectively if the ball is within a reasonable range.  If you have to reach or in some cases step to reach the ball, as Ivanovic does often, your serve will suffer with inconsistency. The usual cure for a wayward toss is to work on the toss arm so that the ball can be placed in the perfect position for the ball strike.  Ana Ivanovic told me that coaches have been trying to work on her left arm toss for years.  They had tried a variety of drills and gimmicks but the problem still persisted. It was after hearing this that I st...