Tuesday, May 03, 2005

More On Playing Artful Tennis Pushers

The last time we talked about the psychology of playing pushers and how important it is to respect the skills they are bringing to the table.

If you're struggling in a match and all you're thinking is how embarassing it is or how you should be wiping the pusher off the court, then the pusher has won the battle of the minds.

Instead, you should be relaxed, enjoying the challenge, and focusing your thinking on how to outsmart the pusher.

From a technical point of view, the pusher usually gives you a ball with less pace than you're used to. And, for most players, this throws off their timing and they end up being out of sync.

When faced with slow balls, most people plant their weight too early and lock into this position thus freezing the hips. And, then when they swing, they don't have any power left in their lower bodies and they end up with less powerful arm swings.

And, because the swing doesn't feel smooth, the frustration level grows and the whole thing just gets worse and worse.

So, first of all , keep your feet moving until the last second and then plant your weight on the back foot and begin your swing. This will solve many of the problems with a slow ball.

Until next time,

Glenn Sheiner M.D. author of INSIDER TENNIS STRATEGIES The Ebook guaranteed to make you a smarter tennis player and take your tennis to the next level.

Monday, May 02, 2005

Playing The Artful Pusher

The question I probably get asked the most by aspiring tennis plaers is how to beat a pusher.

The answer --it's not easy and I'm going to explore this in the next few blog entries.

The first thing though is that you have to get over the idea that because you hit the ball harder than the pusher you are therefore a better tennis player.

Wrong, wrong, wrong!

You hit with pace - the pusher usually hits with precision. Isn't precision as important if not more so than pace?

You lose your cool - the pusher maintains his. Isn't controlling your emotions an important part of winning tennis?

You get sucked into patterns you don't like - the pusher controls the patterns. Isn't being smart tactically part of winning tennis?

So lesson 1 -- GET OVER YOURSELF. The pusher may be a better player than you are.
Don't get overconfident just because you hit the ball harder and don't lose your cool when you are forced to hit the shots you're not used to.

Next time we'll explore some of the patterns that pushers like to use.

Glenn Sheiner M.D. - author of INSIDER TENNIS STRATEGIES The Ebook guaranteed to make you a smarter tennis player and take yout tennis to the next level.

Tuesday, April 26, 2005

Different tactical tennis patterns on clay

Let's face it - clay court tennis is different than hard court tennis.

And it's arguably more fun, more athletically challenging, and more stylish allowing you more time to hit beautiful angles.

And, as tempting as it is to try and play the same patterns on clay that you play on hard court, sometimes your old standby hard court patterns and tactics just don't work as well on clay.

For example, on hard court, a big inside out forehand can hurt your opponent and the point can often be won on the next shot with either another inside out or an inside in forehand up the line.

On clay your opponent can usually return your first inside out forehand without any trouble. so to hurt your opponent and gain an advantage you have to be more patient and hit a number of inside out forehands sometimes trying to pull your opponent wide further and further off the court. Then, when the opening is there you can go inside in up the line.

Watch the rallies on clay now and observe the patterns the players use . You'll notice how they're much more patient than on hard court.

Until next time,

Glenn Sheiner M.D. Author of INSIDER TENNIS STRATEGIES the tennis Ebook that can make you a smarter player and help you to win more matches now.

Saturday, April 16, 2005

Playing hard court tennis on the clay

Saw a little bit of Federer's play this week at Monte Carlo. He's always a treat to watch but it struck me that he's still trying to play hard court tennis on the red clay.

He's chipping and charging, serving and volleying and hitting big shots and following them to the net --all classic hard court tactics.

But these tactics are less successful on clay because his opponents have time to track down his shots and set up to pass. So his winning efficiency goes down .

That's why I think he'll have trouble winning in Paris.

Until next time,

Glenn Sheiner M.D. author of INSIDER TENNIS STRATEGIES The tennis Ebook guaranteed to make you a better player.

Wednesday, April 13, 2005

Federer vs Nadal -- A lesson in tactics

What a match. Federer versus Nadal in the finals of the Nasdaq 100. Nadal is a superstar in the making with power,speed, grit, and incredible shotmaking ability.

But--and there's usually a but -- Nadal's style of play and his tactics make him susceptible to fatigue just as you saw in the finals versus Federer as he had nothing left for the last 2 sets.

Nadal plays way behind the baseline which means he has to run great distances to get to balls and then has to hit them with full force to get them back deep and with heavy spin. So, while it looks spectacular and can be impossible to defeat, it is so draining physically that it's almost guaranteed that Nadal will slow down as a match progresses.

Plus Nadal merely spins his first serve in so he gets no free points there either.

Bottom line -- Nadal needs to improve his first serve and also learn to try and end some point earlier by standing closer to the baseline. Then, when he really needs to grind it out in a 5th set he'll have some energy left.

Until next time,

Glenn Sheiner -- author of INSIDER TENNIS STRATEGIES The tennis Ebook that can improve your game immediately.

Wednesday, April 06, 2005

A quantum leap in my tennis confidence

Wow. I recently took a set off the number 1 player in canada in the 50-55 age group. I'm 49 so I'm getting close.

This was by far my biggest set win in my life and although I lost the match it validated a lot of the work I've been doing on my game and my tactical approach.

How I'd do it? I served big and well. More interestingly, I noticed a few patterns that were working to my advantage and I kept on using them.

For example, I noticed that my hard flat serve to the backhand wasn't giving my opponent trouble . He was able to block them back with a short slice backhand stroke. But ,when I hit hard kick on the first serve the height of the bounce surprised him and he made mistakes.

Also I noticed he was vulnerable to a really tough slice serve so I really went after my slice to give it a mean curve after the bounce.


My confidence that I can take a set off anybody is now sky high. Can't wait for the next tournament.

Until next time,

Glenn, Author of INSIDER TENNIS STRATEGIES The tennis Ebook that can take you from losing to winning in a day.

Monday, March 21, 2005

FINDING THE UNEXPECTED WEAKNESS

Played a tournament match against a good player in an ITF sanctioned masters match.

The fellow was a good player with a solid 2 handed backhand and what seemed like a decent forehand in the warmup.

As the match started I began by serving mainly to his backhand as I usually do and I could see that he had a terrific 2 handed backhanded return. He had great technique, really good racket head speed, and he could rip returns even off big serves.

So, of course, I started testing his forehand and I was shocked to see that he had no set routine on the forehand. Sometines he would open his racket face and try to hit a slice forehand return and sometimes he would try and rip a drive. Either way, he was making tons of errors. I strated going to his forehand about 90% of the time, held easily, and won 2 and 3.

Now, here's the amazing thing. His starting preparation massively favored his backhand return. He began in a 2 handed backahnd grip on his backhand side. This meant he had extra hand movement to position himself for a forehand return. And even though I was killing him on the forehand side, he never tried to start off in a forehand grip to neutralize my tactic!

Until next time,

Glenn Sheiner author of INSIDER TENNIS STRATEGIES the tennis Ebook that can make you a better player immediately.

Wednesday, February 02, 2005

BREAKING LEFTY'S SERVE

Serve and volleying lefties are tricky, especially in the ad court.

They pull you wide and unless you hit a really well placed return they have a lot of open court to volley into.

In my last match I was faced with playing one of these guys.

Initially, I started by returning with normal 2-handed backhand but I wasn't happy with the results. So, late in the first set which was on serve, I decided to really move my feet with his slice and then hit a soft slice return right up the line forcing him away from the center of the court.

It worked perfectly . I broke to win the first set and then broke again early and won the second set and the match in straight sets.

Moral of the story as always --keep searching for creative ways to switch patterns into your favor.

Until next time,

Glenn - author of INSIDER TENNIS STRATEGIES The Ebook guaranteed to make you a smarter tennis player and take yout tennis to the next level.

Monday, January 31, 2005

Back to Focusing On Our Own Games

Well, the Australian Open is over and , man, there was some spectacular tennis. Now we can all go about working on our games while we wait for the French Open.

Played in a provincial(state) tournament on the weekend . Top players -great competition!

In the first round I played an aggressive lefty. I noticed in the warmup that his slice backhand was hit with too much slice so that it floated in the air and that he was inconsistent with his topspin backhand. Also noticed that his backhand volley was weaker than his forehand volley.

So before the match had even started I had a good idea of what I intended to do. I served topspin slice high into his backhand and followed up by coming to net. Didn't go for big flat serves because I wanted him to have to contact the ball high .

Worked like a charm and I had very little trouble holding.

He had a good serve and volley game himself so I'll talk about my approach to breaking him next time.

Until Then,

Glenn -- Author Of INSIDER TENNIS STRATEGIES the tennis Ebook guaranteed to make you a smarter player and take your game to the next level.

Sunday, January 23, 2005

Agassi vs Johannson -- Agassi's Superior Mind

What a match last night! Agassi could do nothing but stand and watch ace after ace whiz by. By the end of the night the tall Swede Johannson had aced the world's greatest returner 51 times -- a new record!

But, if you watched the match you might have observed a few interesting things.

First, Agassi never panicked .

Agassi knew that he was holding serve as easily as Johannson was , just in less spectacular fashion. And, as long as he was holding, he knew he just needed a couple of returns or mistakes by Johansson to win the set.

Secondly, as commented on by Patrick McEnroe, Agassi varied his return position. His regular inside the baseline position for returning serve just wasn't working so he moved way back to see if his percentages would improve.

Agassi did what all smart players do --he changed a losing pattern . After all , if the new pattern doesn't work you're no worse off but at least there's a chance the new pattern will be far more productive.

Can't wait to see Agassi vs. Federer.

Until then,

Glenn --- author of INSIDER TENNIS STRATEGIES the Ebook on tennis tactics and strategies that is guaranteed to take your game to the next level.

Wednesday, January 19, 2005

WATCHING THE AUSSIE OPEN ON TV

You got to love Brad Gilbert.

In addition to writing Winning Ugly , and coaching Andre and Andy to the top, he's now providing commentary on tv for the Australian Open.

Listen to ever word he says. He can't help analyzing, evaluating, looking for holes in player's games as he forecasts for ESPN.

The guy is a tennis mental giant.

If you can begin to understand how he's aproaching his evaluations and apply it to your game you'll be on your way to taking your game up a notch for sure.

Until next time,

Glenn --author of INSIDER TENNIS STRATEGIES
the Ebook guaranteed to make you a a better and smarter tennis player fast.

Monday, January 10, 2005

Getting Nervous Against Better Players

We've all been there.

You get a chance to play someone who's a level or two above you. You're excited to show everybody how much you've improved and how you're going to provide tough competition.

What happens? You're so tight that you don't play as well as you can and it turns into a disaster.

What can you do?

Well I think the first thing is to expect it to happen. It usually happens in the beginning of the match and often the first set goes by very quickly.

Don't panic. Instead tell yourself after the first set that you've got nothing to lose now so just get loose and go for your shots.

Remember , you're not going to win this match anyway. What you want is to get a feel for how your best shots will hold up at this new level. So, if nerves cost you the first set , just tell yourself that there's nothing left to lose and really let go in the second set.

Until next time,

Glenn --author of INSIDER TENNIS STRATEGIES the Ebook that is guaranteed to make you a better and smarter tennis player fast.

Saturday, January 08, 2005

Why The Top Players Are The Top Players

Why?

One reason is that they have no huge weaknesses. Nothing that's so vulnerable that they can be eaten alive.

A lot of decent club players have some good weapons but also have pretty big holes. Now , up to a certain level you can hide your holes or at least minimize them.

That's the beauty of playing in tournaments even if you're outclassed by the top seeds. If you get a chance to play the top seeds you might lose badly but you'll learn 2 critical things:

1. What parts of your game work at that higher level;

2. What parts of your game don't stand up .

If you're smart you'll realize this is one of the best free lessons you can ever get.

More later,

Until Then,

Glenn - the author of INSIDER TENNIS STRATEGIES the ebook on tennis strategies and tactics that will help you become a smarter player fast.

Tuesday, January 04, 2005

More Tennis Tactics Talk

Just to continue on from my last blog.

To recap, I was playing a top player. I was hitting inside-out forehands into his backhand and he was responding by hitting perfectly placed slice backhands up the line.

Now, if you recall, Pete Sampras used to set up in the backhand corner on groundstroke rallies, hit inside-out forehands and almost lure his opponent into hitting up the line backhands. Pete would then run over and absolutely crack a crosscourt forehand, often for an outright winner.

Now , I can't do this as well as Pete obviously and I was getting hurt by my opponent's up the line backhands slices. So, as the match went on I tried to make 2 adjustments.

The first was that I tried to hit more balls to his forehand to change the patterns . And secondly, I tried to position myself more towards the center of the court and less in the backhand corner so that I wouldn't have to run as far to cover his down the line backhand.

So, as I always say, think, think, think when you're on the court and always try to change a losing pattern.

Until next time,

Glenn
The author of INSIDER TENNIS STRATEGIES-the Ebook
on tennis strategies and tactics that will help you become a
smarter player fast..


Monday, January 03, 2005

More On Playing Against A Super-Quick Tennis Player

I want to continue to talk about some of the tactical considerations in my match against a top-ranked super-quick player.

I think it's important when you play somemone to try and figure out if opening the court up will be to your advantage or not.

What do I mean by opening the court up?

I mean hitting angled shots that will pull an opponent wide. This is great if your opponent is slow or doesn't hit well on the run. But if your opponent actually is quicker than you and hits well on the run then by opening up the court you are allowing your opponent to turn the match into a quickness game.

If you're the slower one then you should think about hitting a lot of balls down the center to cut down the angles.

So, quick opponent consider rallying down the center. Slow opponent consider opening up the court with angles.

Until next time,

Glenn
The author of INSIDER TENNIS STRATEGIES --the Ebook
on tennis strategies and tactics that will help you become a
smarter player fast.

Sunday, January 02, 2005

Playing A Super-Quick Ranked Player

Played a practice match with a friend of mine today who is ranked in the top 6 in the province of Ontario in our age category in the vets.

I lost a tight one ( 7-5 ,6-4) but there were so many interesting tactical considerations that I'm going to examine them over the next week.

The first thing was that this guy was one of the quickest guys that I've played in a long time. Also very steady and very smart, so you can imagine that it was a tough match.

My favourite baseline pattern is to hit inside-out forehands to my opponent's backhand. Then I'll either come in on a short ball or hit an inside -in forehand and attack on that.

This guy defended brilliantly by slicing his backhand up the line with tremendous accuracy. This not only made me run way over to my forehand side but it opened up the court and allowed him to use his quickness as he returned my next shot.

Moral of the story -- If you're being attacked by a player with a big inside -out forehand develop an up- the- line backhand to add to your arsenal and don't automatically go crosscourt.

Until next time,

Glenn
Author of INSIDER TENNIS STRATEGIES -- the Ebook on
tennis strategies and tactics that will help you become a smarter player fast.