Wednesday, July 22, 2009

Do You Need Modern Technique In the Seniors?

 tennis coaching tennis tactics Should all players adopt the modern forehand style of Federer or Nadal or is the classic forehand that Pete Sampras hit better?

And, really the question has to do with senior tennis since there are very few kids who are learning the classic Landsorp forehand with conservative grips.

My view is that the modern rotational strokes with wiper finishes are great especially when you're playing against someone who gives you pace and a high bouncing ball that you can hit at waist height or even higher.

But, enter a top seniors tournament and you find yourself hitting well-placed low balls with little pace. And, it's not easy to rip these balls since you have to generate all the pace yourself.

I'm coming to the conclusion that having the ability to really hit through these balls with heavy, fairly flat strokes is a skill that good players need. Hitting too much spin on these balls often gives your opponent more time to chase the ball down and hit a reply that you may not like.

Even Federer and Agassi vary their forehand finishes to get the effect that they desire. So, if you're a heavy topspin player who has trouble putting the ball away and attacking, then try to flatten out your strokes when you're attacking. Study the Sampras forehand finish and try it out.
Until next time,


Glenn Sheiner M.D. - author of Insider Tennis Strategies Top Tennis Tactics Like The Sampras Forehand guaranteed to make you a smarter tennis player and take your tennis to the next level. Also, check out the world's top tennis humor screensaver
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Sunday, July 05, 2009

Roddick's Match Of His Life

 tennis coaching tennis tactics Take away the horrible backhand volley at set point in the second set breaker and you'd have to admit that Andy Roddick played the match of his life.

And, yet he still lost, which tells you how hard it is to beat Roger Federer.

What struck me about the match was the obvious improvement in Roddick's game. I believe a lot of the credit has to go to Larry Stefanki, Roddick's coach.

A-Rod has always been able to blast his serve but, in the past, he was not a top ten player in baseline rallies, especially on the backhand side.

Federer went hard at the Roddick backhand as usual but today Andy's backhand held up extremely well. A-Rod seems to have much better movement and balance when running to the backhand side and this now allows him to pass well up the line when attacked.

As a matter of fact, it was a couple of shanked forehands that cost A-rod the last game and the match.

I think players at all levels underestimate the importance of movement and balance.
They try and hit with huge power and spin.

But, I can tell you from personal experience that if you don't move well and maintain good balance, then good players will eat you up. And, if you're not set well, you won't have a chance to hit those big shots.

So, think of yourself as Fred Astaire and glide around the court.

Until next time,


Glenn Sheiner M.D. - author of Insider Tennis Strategies Tennis Tactics That Almost Helped Roddick Win Wimbledon guaranteed to make you a smarter tennis player and take your tennis to the next level. Also, check out the world's top tennis humor screensaver
Tennis Cartoon Screensaver
. You can download a trial version for FREE.

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