How to play better tennis
If you look at the statistics of a tennis match, the player who commits less unforced errors usually comes out as the winner. This is also true for professional players. That is the reason why consistent counter punchers are so successful on the tour like Rafael Nadal, Lleyton Hewitt, Jelena Jankovic, Caroline Wozniacki and Gilles Simon. Most tennis fans are always puzzled why most of these athletes lack the firepower most of their contemporaries have, but still win many matches. Their consistent and steady games do it for them most of the time. Why would you try to hit a high-risk shot, hoping that it ends up as a winner, when you can just watch your opponent self-destruct?
It does not matter how many breathtaking winners you hit, if your errors vastly outnumber your winners in every match you play, you will lose more often than not. Something that many casual and recreational players do not realize is that tennis is a game of errors and if you can omit some of those mistakes, most of the time, you will win. You do not have to hope to produce a high-risk winner whenever you hit a stroke. Sometimes just keeping the ball in play will get the job done. However, let me clarify that being consistent is very different from being a “pusher”. Being smart with your shot selection is not the same as waiting for someone to miss.
Below are some pointers on how to be more consistently consistent and how you can play better tennis.
Groundstrokes
Just adding topspin in your groundstrokes will vastly improve your game. Topspin gives your strokes more margin for error over the net because it will pull it back down on the court, no matter how hard you hit it. The spin will help you be more consistent and reduce your mistakes during the course of the match in general.
Directing most of your shots cross-court is also a very effective strategy as well in playing better tennis. When you aim cross-court, you are aiming at the lowest part of the net and that gives your shot more chance to land in. Observe the pros. You see them hitting cross-court most of the time. They just change direction when they see an opening or their opponents hit down the line.
When you do try to hit down the line, do not aim for the lines too much. Give yourself more room by hitting 3 or 4 feet inside the sideline. Give your adversaries more chances to whiff before going for more.
Do not try to hit an all-or-nothing winner when you are well outside the sidelines. This kind of high-risk, low percentage play will surely wreak havoc with your game throughout the match. Instead, try to hit a floating slice shot, a moonball or a defensive lob to try to get back in the point.
Serve
Nothing feels as good in tennis when you are serving flat (without any spin) first serves ace after ace, but realistically speaking, it does not always work that way and is a recipe for certain defeat if you do not know how to serve with spin. The same applies for groundstrokes; spin allows you to get the net out of the equation. It also eases the pressure you feel in holding your serve, so you have a better chance in reducing your number of double-faults. Always keep in mind that great placement rather than power is sometimes better when serving.
Roger Federer is a great example of a player who has great placement on his serves. He does not always dish out ace after ace compared to his stronger rivals but the fantastic placement of his serves usually put him in a position of advantage without having to crank the power most of the time and risking a double fault. Patty Schnyder is also a good example. If her first serve is not on, she usually uses topspin or slice serve to help get her first serve percentages up.
Return
When returning serve, always keep it simple. For powerful first serves, it is usually better to chip it back with slice cross-court than to match it with some power of your own. Most players try to hit a winner off a strong first serve and unless you are Andre Agassi, a great player who has impeccable timing, then that is a sure-fire way to defeat. It is better to start a point in neutral terms when you are returning first serves than be at a big disadvantage for trying to hit an outright winner.
Watch Justine Henin. Whenever she faces Venus or Serena Williams, players who have the best serve in women’s tennis, she usually does not try to go too much when returning their serves. She usually targets a safe part of the court with a slice return in order to negate the sisters’ bludgeoning groundstrokes. Then she will try to work her way back into the point by using her own formidable weapons, her gorgeous backhand, potent forehand and smart all-court variety.
This is a very smart and safe strategy that a club player can employ, not just for pros, against big servers, and will guarantee to help you win more points, eliminate unnecessary errors and help you play better tennis.
Fitness and Footwork
Fitness is essential in order to advance to the next level in tennis, but much more so when you are trying to become a more consistent player. Being in optimum physical shape also gives you a mental edge; you know you can outlast your opponent by making him fight for every point and not giving anything so easily.
You must also improve your flexibility by doing Pilates or Yoga etc. Having a flexible body can help you avoid injuries by virtue of doing the above-mentioned exercises. What is more, either doing one of these exercises is also a great way not just to enhance your flexibility, but also to strengthen both your core and legs, which where most of your balance or power comes from. Speaking of legs, substantial leg strength is very much necessary in order for you to be faster. Leg strength, obtained through lunges, up-hill walking or running, or plyometrics will do wonders for your game, specifically for your movement when exploding towards the ball. It is no coincidence that most fast tennis players have bulging quadriceps muscles.
As for endurance, running and cycling are good workouts for building stamina and cardiovascular strength. However, make sure you do more footwork drills in order to build up your foot speed and footwork along with your cardiovascular ability.
Try to keep your weight on the balls of your feet so you don get caught flat-footed when contesting a point and always do the split-step before your opponent strikes the ball so you can better move in any direction the ball is going to. Nadal and Jankovic are great players who have fantastic footwork and you can take cues from (not the splits though).
Well there you have it. The aforementioned pointers on how to play better tennis are certainly very doable, and will do wonders for your game as long as you take the time to incorporate them properly into your strategies on-court and into your fitness regimen off-court. Most importantly, always have fun when playing matches. You can have access to the best techniques and coaching, but if your not enjoying yourself out there, all these pointers will be all for naught.