Excellent Use Of The Drop Shot

Last week, I played in the provincial doubles in my age group.

I'll be adding an analysis of my matches over the next few weeks, but to cut to the chase --we lost 6-3 in the third to the provincial champions.

It's the second year in a row that my doubles partner and I have lost 6-3 in the third set, to the eventual champions. We like to think we're getting closer each year to winning the title. We've identified a number of areas that can be improved, and I'll be discussing those over the next few weeks.

But, there's another very real benefit to playing in the provincial championships.

I get to see the best players in the province in all the different age groups, and its an opportunity to learn from a lot of superb players, many of whom have represented Canada internationally.

The finals of the men's 50's showcased two excellent players. Both were extremely quick  and talented, and took most balls, on both the backhand and forehand, on the rise.

The winner has an exquisite drop shot and often used it to end points. For example, he would get  a short ball that would seem to cry out for a deep approach shot, and he would feather a gorgeous drop shot winner.

Of course, his technique and disguise were superb. From a purely visual point of view, he seemed to be carving the shot with a long swing instead of bunting the ball as a lot of club players do.

Since then, I've been practicing this shot off both the forehand and the backhand.

I feel that one of the keys is to keep very loose and soft hand,s and then gently carve the ball with a fluid swing that is shorter than a ground stroke, but longer than a bunt.

Here are a couple of links that I've found for you on the drop shot.

The first highlights coaching by Gilad Bloom, a former pro player, who focuses on disguising the drop shot.
Just click on the link and then scroll to the video in the middle of the page on the right side.

Tennis Drill To Learn Disguise On The Drop Shot

Here is another drill by top teaching pro Brent Abel on how to practice the short game. The key here is to use the continental ( volley grip ) and not to use your topspin grip.

Short Court Drop Shot Tennis Drill

And, finally a clip of a somewhat talented, and well-known pro, hitting a drop shot winner from the baseline.
I'm being facetious because the clip is of the great Roger Federer. Watch though, the position of Fed's opponent when he hits the backhand dropper. The opponent is in the deep backhand corner and the front court, up the line dropper, is very far from  him.

Federer Drop Shot
Until next time,

Glenn Sheiner M.D. - author of Insider Tennis Strategies Champion Seniors Tennis Players Using Drop Shots 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.

Technorati Tags Tennis

Interesting Experiment Using Ball Machine

I like to use the ball machine at my club.

It's funny, but many of my tennis buddies don't go near the ball machine, and I'm not sure why. I find it both relaxing, and a great way to work on specific parts of my game.

There's a muscle memory argument in favor of using the ball machine, but I also think there's a psychological argument. I need to hit hundreds of whichever shot I'm working on, to begin to gain a little confidence. And, as we all know, in tennis confidence is critical.

 I always play with the ball machine controls, as I suggest that you do, if you use a machine. On most machines, you can adjust ball speed, ball height, ball spin, ball location, and the interval between shots.

You can practice hitting crosscourts on the run by setting the machine up to feed balls to the backhand corner, and then the forehand corner, forcing you to bust your gut. Or, you can set the machine to produce high, soft, mid-court balls so that you can practice your aggressive forehand.

You're only limited by your imagination.

Last week, I decide to have some fun with the machine.

I wanted to see what kind of ball the highest settings would produce. So, I cranked up the spin and speed to the max. I had to keep the height set to just over the net, because these babies were flying over the net like a Jimmy Connors forehand.

Then, I rushed over to the opposite side of the net to see if I could return these bullets with my forehand and 2 handed backhand. The first few were a disaster. I couldn't time the ball properly, and if I did, I mishit most of the balls.

Gradually, I sped up my trunk rotation in the set up, so that by the time the ball landed I was finished my backward core rotation. Then, I focused on minimizing any wrist and arm rotation, and just tried to rotate my core back towards the ball and through the ball, so that I finished with my back shoulder now underneath my chin as I looked forwards.

To my amazement, I began to make very solid contact. I began to suspect then that my standard forehand didn't have enough core rotation, and actually relied too much on wrist and arm motion.

Of course, this type of swing is a return of serve type of swing against a big serve. But, as I mentioned above I think it's a great way to get a sense of the control and the stability that you can get from good core rotation.

Here are a couple of videos which might help explain a little bit. The first video is a very basic instruction about arm swinging versus core swinging. You can skip the ad of course.

The next video shows the full forehand on a regular ball with great core rotation. In the full forehand, there is, of course, a big backswing and lots of arm and hand rotation, but I suggest you focus on the core rotation.

So, get out and use the ball machine if you have one available. Crank it up and work on your core rotation. Until next time,

Glenn Sheiner M.D. - author of Insider Tennis Strategies Using The Ball Machine To Improve Your 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
Tennis Cartoon Screensaver. You can download a trial version for FREE.

Technorati Tags Tennis

A Tennis Lesson With the World's Top 60 year Old Player

I've written my last few posts on the play of Larry Turville. Larry is the number 1 player in the United States in the over 60 category and was number 1 in the world in 2010.

So, while I was planning my Florida vacation, I decided to google Larry and see where he lived, and if he was still teaching. Turns out he lives in Naples, which is a 2 hour drive from Miami, where I was going to attend a medical convention. And, it turns out that he still does a little teaching.

So, I set up a 2 hour lesson with Larry and hoped that it would turn out to be a nice day since we would be training outdoors of course.
Here is a photo of Larry and me. Remember its not that I'm that short (about 5' 10") but Larry has legit NBA height!

The day of lesson came and the weather in Miami was cloudy at 10 am as I took off in my rental car to drive to Naples. The drive to Naples from Miami is fairly dull if you take the main highway but, as I was driving, the weather was getting better and better. By the time I arrived in Naples, it was a gloriously sunny day. I had a quick bite, stretched, and drove to the address where Larry had told me to meet him.

The meeting place was a private driveway in front of a large private home. When Larry arrived, we introduced ourselves, and Larry took me around to the back of the house where it turns out, there were 5 beautiful clay courts.

He later introduced me to the owner, a nice fellow who apparently in addition to being in real estate, runs a tennis camp of sorts on his private courts.

We ended up having a great 2 hour lesson and I got a chance to get to know Larry a bit. He's giant, about 6 foot 8, and walks and talks with a slow, graceful attitude.
He'd been on the tour in his younger days, and owns a win over Vilas and Tiriac in doubles. After that, he was the head coach at Rice University for 17 years, and now he runs a seniors tennis tour in Florida in the winter.

We had a chance to work on a lot of different things in those 2 hours. Of course, lessons revolve around the needs and desires of the student and I had some specific questions for Larry.

I quizzed him on his slice backhand and how he used it in the lethal pattern which I have described in previous posts. The pattern, to review, is a couple of deep crosscourt slices, then an inside out slice up the line.

He showed me his technique and how he used a slightly different technique to hit the cross court slice as compared to the inside out slice.The main differences had to do with how open you are atacontact ( more open for the inside out slice) and the contact point (lower for the inside out slice).

I was able to get a good sense of this pretty quickly, and have been using the inside out technique since I've come home. I find that its good on approach shots up the line as well.

We also worked on moving left and right for groundstrokes. Larry plays a lot on clay and likes to teach a gentle sliding technique into the ball. I had never done this and found it quite difficult. However Larry was very efficient with this technique and I could see how mastering it could prove to be really valuable. Larry told me that he's available for the occasional lesson in Naples. I've already referred a friend of mine from Toronto who winters in Naples, and he had a great lesson as well. Larry can be reached at lturville@msn.com

Consistency And Depth Of Groundstrokes

This is the second post commenting on the 2011 US Hardcourt National Championship that was won by Larry Turville in the 60 year old category.

And, as I mentioned in the previous post, Larry was also the 2010 world champion in the 60's.

If you haven't read the previous post here are the links to the finals:
2011 US Hard Court Tennis Championships Part 1

2011 US Hard Court Tennis Championships part 2




These clips were put up on Youtube by Brent Abel atwebtennis.net

What you'll notice is how little Larry has to move to cover most of the court. But, watch very closely at the little steps he takes after hitting the ball. These little steps enable him to get into an excellent location on the court as he anticipates his opponent's next shot.

The key here is that Larry calculates his best optimal position just after he hits the ball and BEFORE ( caps intentional --its that important) his opponent actually hits the ball.

Most club players watch their shots and then react. Better players automatically adjust their position as part of the recovery footwork.

Watch here how the great Ilie Nastase moves after hitting the ball. In this video, he's playing Arthur Ashe who possessed a wicked serve. Ashe would often serve wide in the ad court to Nastase's backhand and serve and volley behind the serve.

Ilie Nastase versus Arthur Ashe US Open Finals 1972

You don't have to watch the whole 7 minute clip, although it may be one 7 fabulous minutes if you really enjoy the mastery of old time greats. And, as an aside, can you name 5 other players who played with the brilliant athleticism of Nastase?

Anyway, if you watch the 2 points starting at 39 seconds, you'll see what I'm talking about. Ashe is serving in the deuce court first and serves to the Nastase forehand. Nastase blocks back a forehand return and then immediately bolts to the center of the court.

The next point, Ashe serves to the Nastase backhand in the ad court and Nastase blocks a backhand return and then again bolts to the center of the court to anticipate Ashe's next shot.

Even though Nastase didn't win either of these points, he put extra pressure on Ashe and often made him hit another ball.

So, train yourself to recover to the optimal spot as soon as you've completed your stroke. Don't wait for your opponent to hit the ball before you move.

Until next time,

Glenn Sheiner M.D. - author of Insider Tennis Strategies Champion Seniors Tennis Players 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.

Technorati Tags Tennis

Have You Ever Wondered How Good The World's Number One 60 Year Old Is?

Ok, this post may not be for any younger players who still want to play every shot like Federer and be known as Rog the Second at the club.

But, if you've ever watched high level competition in the 55's and over, the game shifts from being a primarily physical battle to one of tactics, placement, endurance, and smarts.

The game is still physical, but you see less jumping on the groundstrokes ( if you see any), and less running around the backhand for example.

So, to get the conversation started, here is a link to the beginning of the 2011 US hardcourt finals in the men's 60 year old division.




The clip was posted on Youtube by Brent Abel, an ex-national champion, excellent instructor, and tennis entrepreneur.

Brent has posted tons of great free stuff on youtube.

This clip is the first of 3 of the men's 60 final. One of three interesting things is that the man who won, Larry Turville,was also the world's champion in the 60's in 2010. So, if you ever wanted to know what type of player can be a world champion in the super seniors, then study this tape.

There's so much to learn here and I'm going to use this match as the focus of my next few blog posts.

First of all, Larry Turville is 6 foot 8 inches tall!  I don't know about your experiences, but at our club there is an elite player who is also 6 foot 8. Like Larry, he sort of moves in a way that looks slow, but covers the court in one step most of the time.

And, like Larry, his serve comes in from a different angle so seems to bounce higher than a serve from a shorter guy.

And, like Larry, you think there openings on the court, but then with one large step, the openings are covered.

But, I'm going to start with Larry's bread and butter shot -- the slice backhand. As Brent points out in the commentary, Larry's backhand is consistently extremely deep, landing within 12-18 inches of the baseline with regularity.

Most of the time he seems to go crosscourt and, it must be pointed out, that Larry is right handed and he was playing a righthander in the finals, so a crosscourt backhand would go to his opponent's backhand.

But, watch enough of the match and you'll see how Larry will hit a down the line slice that tails away from the court. So, after forcing his opponent into the backhand corner, Larry will then hit this up the line slice with sidespin that tails away. Even if his opponent can get to it, the odds are that he won't be able to do much with the ball, and Larry will really be set up to do some damage with the next ball.

It's a devastating pattern but one that must be executed with precision. If the down the slice veers to much to the center, then you would be giving your opponent an easy forehand --a cardinal mistake at almost any level.

That's lesson one --try and see if you can incorporate that pattern into your play.

Until next time,

Glenn Sheiner M.D. - author of Insider Tennis Strategies Champion Seniors Tennis Players 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.

Technorati Tags Tennis

Rediscovering The Slice Serve

A big win for me last week at my club!

I played the number one player on the club's ladder, someone who I haven't beaten in a few years.

As usual, I'm giving up about 20 years and these younger bucks tend to have two handed backhands and good returns off the backhand side.

Of course, this is a problem for me as my favorite weapon is the big serve to the backhand side, hoping for a winner or at least a weak return.

What's been happening the last few years is that guys have been standing way back to return my serve similar to the way clay courters like Nadal return. And, unless you can hit the perfect spot, everything is coming back.

I recognized this a few years ago, and started working on my slice serve in both the deuce and ad court.
It's not as easy as it looks if you want to hit it with good direction and good disguise. Experience has taught me that if you make a mistake and hit a mediocre slice serve, you might get a blistering forehand return back at your feet.

You can play with your toss by moving it a little to the right and see if you're opponent is observant enough to notice this. If he isn't then you can just hit more slice by tossing further to the right, but ultimately you'll want to hit the slice off the same toss that you hit your flat serve with.

And, now back to the match.

As I went up to serve, I noticed as usual that my opponent was standing way back to help him return off the backhand side. But, as he positioned himself, I could see that he wouldn't be able to cover a good slice serve especially in the deuce court.

So, I began hitting every first serve to his forehand in both the deuce and ad court. I moved my toss a little to the right and was very conscious of hitting the right side of the ball without opening up too early.

I also served and volleyed behind it to take away any floating returns.

I probably won about 80% of the points in the deuce court which made it pretty easy to hold. That put a lot of pressure on his serve and , even good players get tight, when they feel like to have to hold because they're not going to break.

As I've said the trick is to try and hit the slice with the same toss and same motion as the down the middle serve in the deuce court and the wide serve in the ad court.

Here is an incredible video of Pete Sampras hitting a slice serve ace in the deuce court. Notice where the ball crosses the net ( about halfway between the center and the sideline) and where the ball hits the court ( a couple of feet up from the interestion of service line and sideline)

Sampras Slice Serve

Staying Observant During A Match

Sometimes, you just have to be observant during a match.

Usually, when I play someone with a big forehand and a less powerful backhand, I'll tend to serve to the backhand and avoid the forehand.

But, I would say that there are many players, especially those with two handed backhands, who have more technically efficient returns on the backhand side.

So, although they may generate more power on the forehand side with a much bigger loop, they actually may make more errors.

In a recent match, I was playing one of those tall, young guys with a big semiwestern forehand and a two handed backhand --the norm for young guys these days.

Early in the match, I hit a second serve kick to the forehand and I paid the price as a winner whizzed past me.

A little later, I made another mistake serving to the deuce court, and hit a slice kick to the forehand. This serve made my opponent move to his right and he hit it way wide.

This miss made me wonder if I had found a little treasure to mine for the rest of the match.

So, I went back there with similar good results. And, I kept going back, even on first serves. Turns out that, on this day at least, my opponent didn't have good footwork when forced to move to his right on the return. He became off balance and netted a lot of returns, even though he hit them hard.

So, always keep your brain working during a match. even your mistakes may bring you dividends.


Until next time,

Glenn Sheiner M.D. - author of Insider Tennis Strategies Serving To The 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
Tennis Cartoon Screensaver. You can download a trial version for FREE.

Technorati Tags Tennis

Playing Like an Ex-Davis Cupper

It gets harder and harder to be an attack player as one gets older, in my opinion. Of course, it's also harder to be a baseline retriever as one gets older.

In general, it's gets harder to win matches when you play younger and faster opponents, especially on clay.

Of course, you could choose younger opponents who are hopelessly slow and out of shape, but I don't come across too many of those at my club and in tournaments.

What to do when you aren't the younger and faster player?

I've been able to observe some of the tricks of high level super senior players ( ex- davis cup level) and I've also been experimenting with some tactical changes in my game. Here are some of the tactics to consider.

1. In general, wily veteran tennis players position themselves on the baseline or preferably inside the baseline. This reduces the amount of court they need to cover and can compensate for being the slower opponent.

2. Of course, being on or inside the baseline, means that you have to take balls early -- either off the bounce in half volley fashion, or at a height somewhere below the shoulders.

3. If the ball is hit very deep and is going to land near the baseline, these wily vets don't move back and hit the ball as it falls. Instead, they often just volley the ball out of the air.

The net effect of playing someone with this style is that many balls come back to you much earlier than you expect, often flatter, and with less pace. It can create awkwardness and throw off your timimg. And, if you're not careful, you could find yourself at the bar trying to explain how you just lost to a 70 year old!

Now, let me tell you how this all relates to my game.

My fundamental style in my youth could be described as an attack player who could get to the net quickly, and had a good overhead. So, if I could hit a good approach shot, I could usually get good net position, and be in good position to win the point.

As I've gotten older, I've lost a step or two in approaching the net which means that it's now a lot easier for my opponents to get the passing shot at my feet, and the odds now favor them.

So, I'm in the process of adjusting some of my tactics against certain opponents.

Many of the guys I play are younger, faster guys who like to play the modern, heavy topspin, defensive game. Which means that if I hit a deep ball, they like to maove way back behind the baseline, and then hit a heavy topspin back to me.

What I've begun to do is to come in the moment that I read that they are moving way back behind the baseline. And, if they hit the high topspin ball, I either hit a swinging volley or hit a drop volley. If I execute correctly, they will have great difficulty covering my shot. I don't have to be right on top of the net to hit these shots which compensates for my lack of closing speed.

Playing this way, means that I can be patient and then punish them for not being willing or able to hit balls early.

It gives an older, slower guy a chance!

Oh, and just in case you think it only applies to older guys, check out Jeff Salzenstein's video tip on the same topic

Swinging volleys

Until next time,


Glenn Sheiner M.D. - author of Insider Tennis Strategies Swinging volleys 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.

Spanish Tennis Drills

If The United States and Spain were both tennis stocks, then for the last 10 years, the Spanish stock has been in a bull market, while the United States stock is bearish all the way.

The most obvious sign of this would be the number of Spanish players who have been populating the men's top ten, as compared to the shrinking number of Americans.

Add to that, the fact that even the USTA hired a Spaniard Jose Higueros as the Director of Coaching in 2008.

Not to mention that even without Rafa, the Spanish Davis cup team just took out the Americans in Austin, on Andy Roddick's home court.

Ok, but is there a difference between the coaching that one receives in Spain versus the US?

And, I won't be a smart ass and suggest that the difference is that the lessons in Spain are given in Spanish. If that's all that was required, the the USTA could send its pros to Berlitz language training and everything would be AOK.

I won't pretend that I have trained at a Spanish tennis academy or that I know the inside scoop about what they talk about at the USTA. I will say though that I have read quite a bit about the differences from people who have trained in both places.

A great example would be the pro Chris Lewitt who has written articles on John Yandell's excellent site Tennisplayer.net and who has his own site at chrislewit.com . It seems that the difference is that the Spanish system is fanatical about movement, defense, and racket head speed to generate heavy topsin.

Growing up in North America, every tennis lesson that I have ever seen or taken involved a pro on the other side of the court hitting balls to me(except for the serve). But, it seems that having the pro on the same side of the court and feeding balls by hand is a big part of the Spanish training. And, there are designed movement drills that incorporate both offense and defense.

What's nice as well about these drills, is that it looks like it would be quite easy to have a friend feed balls and for you to get a high level workout.

Here are a few links to a few spanish type drills. Enjoy and maybe you can incorporate them into your training.



Spanish Hand Fed Drill

Spanish Tennis Drill

Spain Tennis Academy


Until next time,

Glenn Sheiner M.D. - author of Insider Tennis Strategies Spanish Tennis Drills 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.

Technorati Tags Tennis

Serving On Slow Clay

We all know that clay is a slower surface then hard court. But, throw in some heavy rain the day before, and clay courts can become incredibly slow.

Depending on your style of play, this may or may not be an advantage. But, in my last ladder match at the club, it hurt both myself and my opponent.

Both of us have pretty big serves and are used to getting a lot of free points. But, the courts were so slow that returning his big first serve was pretty easy. On the other hand, I couldn't get many free points either so it was a match with lots of breaks.

Because I wasn't having much success serving I probably tried to do too much and I lost my rhythm. And, while my rhythm was disappearing like Kim Clisters in the third set at the French, my lead evaporated and I found myself in a tiebreak.

At the start of the tiebreak, I decided to just hit hard second serves as my first serve and give up all thoughts of aces or winners. Knowing that you're going to hit the same serve on both the first and second serve tends to relax me, since I don't have to worry about changing my toss or swing plane under pressure.

And, wouldn't you know that my opponent missed a big forehand when he tried to rip a high second serve. No doubles and I won the breaker 7-1.

The lesson here is to get a sense of what is happening when you hit your second serve. If you're winning a majority of the points on your second but are struggling with a low first serve percentage or the courts are too slow, then consider just hitting seconds.

Until next time,


Glenn Sheiner M.D. - author of Insider Tennis Strategies Serving on slow clay 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.

Technorati Tags Tennis

The Best Backhand Volley In Modern Times

For me, the modern era began with the Jimmy Connors dismantling of Ken Rosewall at Wimbledon in the early 70's.

All the great names like Gonzalez, Laver, Newcombe, Hoad, Budge, and Roche are all before my time.

It's not like I don't know who they were. I even have 2 of Pancho's instructional books, and I saw Gonzalez and Laver play in their 60's at exhibition events.

Plus, I have the incredible privilege of hitting with and talking tennis with a great Canadian player, now in his 70's, who played against Don Budge and Maureen Connolly.

When it comes to backhand volleys, you really only hear 2 names -- Tony Roche and Stefan Edberg. McCenroe, Sampras, and Rafter were good volleyers but perhaps a notch down on the backhand side from Roche and Edberg.

What makes a great volley?

Everyone will begin with consistency and placement. But, if there's one word which describes a great volley, to me it's the word stick. To stick a volley is to hit a volley with a sound that can be described as a thud. The ball takes off low, like a rocket, hits the ground, and then scoots unhittably away.

Edberg is the best volleyer I've ever seen. Not only did he gain incredible position on his serve and volley, but he stuck his volleys. Watch this clip a thousand times if you want to learn how to hit a world-class backhand volley


Edberg Backhand Volley

Until next time,


Glenn Sheiner M.D. - author of Insider Tennis Strategies Best Backhand Volley 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.

Technorati Tags Tennis

Doing Less Can Be More On The Return

Everybody always talks about how the serve and the return are the two most important shots in tennis. You occasionally see someone at the club practicing serves, but almost never do you see a club player practicing returns.

When you play a lot of matches against good players, you begin to realize that a return that lands somewhere in the mid-court area is often just an invitation for a good player to crack a big forehand and take control of the point. A losing strategy for the returner.

Often, the response of the returner is to try and hit harder, but this is often counterproductive as it increases the errors and is much harder.

So, here's a strategy I recently used with great success.

I was playing a young guy with a big serve and a big forehand. Although I was returning all of his serves, he was able, with his quickness, to run around and hit dominating forehands on almost all my returns.

So, I tried something completely different.

I started semi-lobbing his returns deep crosscourt and watched with amazement as to how this changed the patterns. First of all, I had a lot of time to recover into good defensive position. This alone is very valuable.

But, I also noticed how many errors my opponent started to make. It's a much harder shot to hit a big forehand off a ball that is coming almost straight down like a semi-lob. The timing is different and the contact point is higher.

Of course, smart players might try and come in and take the ball out of the air but so many young players are poor volleyers and just don't want to do this.

Many years ago I played a Canadian legend. This man had been number one in Canada for many years in his prime and had played all the greats like Laver.

When I played him, he was in his early sixties, although he was the best-conditioned sixty year old I've ever seen. And, he beat me badly but not with power. He beat me with his head.

He took my big first serve to his backhand and took it early, hitting a floating return that landed inches from the baseline. I had never played anyone who played with this strategy and I found it very difficult to deal with. He took it so early that serve and volleying was difficult. And, if I let the ball land, it landed so deep and with such little pace that I couldn't do much with it.

So, if you're not beeaking serve, try floating semi-lob returns deep and see what happens.

Until next time,


Glenn Sheiner M.D. - author of Insider Tennis Strategies Tennis Return Tips 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.

Technorati Tags Tennis

What I Learned From A Great Doubles Player

The club that I play at in Toronto has a lot of top players. There are a lot of players who play competitive seniors tennis and who rank at or near the top in the country. ( There's a 73 year old legend who can play with all but the best younger guys -- he takes everything incredibly early)

Last week in the club doubles championship, I had the pleasure of watching the club's best doubles player. He's also one of the top doubles players in the country.

What did I learn you ask?

An incredible amount and I'll try and pass on some of the lessons I picked up by watching.

1. An incredibly compact return of serve. Essentially, a quick unit turn with almost no independent arm motion. Almost impossible to make an error and able to take the ball early and put it right back at the server's feet.

2. Incredibly compact volleys. Same story -- shoulder turn with very little independent arm action.

3. A fantastic overhead -- able to hit with angle, power , and able to bounce the overhead over the head of the other team. Try hitting a typical overhead that bounces over the heads of your opponents. Not easy! But very valuable.

4. Fantastic balance. Never out of balance when the other team was preparing to hit. Very quiet body.

5. Drilled a lot of volleys at the net man. When he had a volley that he could generate pace on, he drilled it at the net man -- remember this is top level men's doubles.

6. Precision serving. Not big but well placed.

Try watching the best doubles players at your club --especially youngish seniors ( 35's and 40's) and see what you can pick up. Then go out and incorporate those changes into your game.

Until next time,


Glenn Sheiner M.D. - author of Insider Tennis Strategies Great Doubles Tips 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.

Technorati Tags Tennis

What The Average Guy Or Gal Can Learn From Rafa

Wow.

That's all I can say about Rafael Nadal's performance last night in the US Open final.

Especially, the third and fourth set. No errors, unbelievable defense, crisp volleying when needed, and accurate,powerful serving.

We are watching one of the great players of all time.

But, are there are any lessons that Bob or Mary, who play at the club, and right now are preparing for their summer club championships, can use?

Because, as great as Rafa is, he plays tennis with the logical abilities of one of those IBM supercomputers. Let's have a look at some of the tactics Rafa used last night to dismantle a very game Novak Djokovic.

RETURN OF SERVE

Forget about taking a swing, even if shortened on the first serve. Rafa was slicing back all first serves on both the forehand and backhand side. And, he was slicing high and with great depth so that when the ball landed almost all advantage for Djokovic was gone.

This is very similar to the way Roger Federer plays Andy Roddick --neutralize the big serve by just blocking it, and then seeing if your opponent has the goods to win the point after the bounce.

Of course, the flaw in the strategy would be a susceptibility to guys who follow in their serves and volley but, since serve and volleyers are a dying breed, Rafa doesn't usually have to worry .

Djokovic did serve and volley a few times, and actually did well, but it's not his game.

HIT SLICE BACKHANDS HIGH AND UP THE LINE

Another Nadal pattern, when in trouble on his backhand, is to hit a slice up the line. Often, he hits it with lots of height so that it gives him plenty of time to recover to good court position.

This one is a little tricky to volley since it's usually over the backhand shoulder.If Nadal makes a mistake and floats the ball over the forehand shoulder --- it's good night.

Learn To Hit Sharply Sliced First Serves

Nadal makes a living hitting his slice serve in the ad court. It goes to the backhand of the righthanders and is a devastating shot. But, notice how much trouble Nadal has when righties slice wide to his backhand in the deuce court.

In general, a good slice serve is pretty rare at the club. It takes a lot of practice to be able to get enough action and movement so that the serve doesn't sit up in the strike zone.

A good slice serve will force your opponent to stand further to the side to cover it, and open up a lot of court for the serve in the other direction.

So, you'll have guys guessing or cheating -- a big advantage.

A lot of the stuff that Rafa does is unteachable so don't even humor yourself and try those insanely whippy forehands, but these three things above can win you a whole bunch of matches.

Until next time,


Glenn Sheiner M.D. - author of Insider Tennis Strategies Win The US Open Like Rafa 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.

Technorati Tags Tennis

Imagine A Lesson From Robert Lansdorp

For those of you who are aware of who Robert Lansdorp is ,the excitement of having a private lesson from this famed coach would be intoxicating.

For those of you who aren't aware of Robert Lansdorp, here are a few words of introduction.

Mr. Lansdorp is the legendary Southern California coach who coached Pete Sampras, Tracy Austin, Lindsey Davenport, Elliot Teltsher, and Maria Sharapova.

Philosophically , he is as old school as they come, a tough disciplinarian. From a tennis pooint of view he is a believer in classic grips and penetrating ground strokes rather than loopy topspin shots which he calls academy balls, with more than a touch of disdain.

I go back and forth all the time as to what is the best method for a club player -- the aggressive flat game as espoused by Lansdorp or the modern heavy topspin game.
I've discussed that topic in this blog and, I can say that I am now attempting in my own game to flatten out mid court balls and hit more winners or shots that force errors from my opponents.

Here is a link to a private lesson that Lansdorp is giving to a very talented 8 year old. Watch the whole clip, I picked up a number of technical tips, especially at the 2 minute and 40 second point Lansdorp Private Lesson

Until next time,


Glenn Sheiner M.D. - author of Insider Tennis Strategies Amazing Forehand Tennis Lesson 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.

Technorati Tags Tennis

Drop Volleys On Clay

Here's a thought for everyone who plays on clay or Har-Tru -- Should all volleys (or at least the great preponderance) be drop volleys? You know those feathered touch shots hit with soft hands that drop just over the net? The type that John McEnroe made famous?

After growing up playing predominantly hard court tennis, I now play on clay. And, since I'm an attack player, coming to net and volleying away my opponents' passing shots is a big part of my game.

The classical approach to volleying is probably to volley deep and into the open court. Of course, sometimes you need to volley behind an opponent but, on hard court, if you volley with some sting to the open court, you can probably hit a winner.

Attacking on clay is a whole different animal.That's why, when you watch the upcoming French Open, you may not see too many points ending with volleys.

On clay, volleys sit up and give quick opponents enough time to hit either good passing shots or devastating lobs. Many quick players on clay play a defensive style of game, they stand quite far behind the baseline and just keep returning the ball until they can for get an error.

So, I've discovered, the hard way I might add, that deep volleys don't work that well on clay. Recently, I've begun hitting a lot of drop volleys and angled volleys,using soft hands, and my appreciation for using all the inches of the tennis court has greatly increased.

If your opponent is deep behind the baseline and you hit a drop volley, it's almost physically impossible for your opponent to run up and get to the ball. The short angled volley works the same way.

The other factor to consider is that most clay courters want nothing to do with approaching the net. Hittng drop volleys draws your opponents in, so that even if they get to the ball, they'll be at the net which is a place they usually don't want to be.

Watch the great clay courter Rafael Nadal play these next few weeks. When he hits a deep penetrating groundstroke which pulls his opponent very deep or wide, Nadal sneaks in and hits a winner drop volley. He's learned that when your opponent is deep and wide, that the play to make is to hit the drop volley.

Until next time,


Glenn Sheiner M.D. - author of Insider Tennis Strategies Tennis Tactics Like Hitting Drop Volleys On Clay 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.

Technorati Tags Tennis

Playing Women

In today's world, there are a lot of excellent female players at clubs all over the world.

And, if you're club is like mine, there are a lot of men who really don't want to lose to a woman.

The problem for a lot of the guys is that the women might actually be better players technically.

My observation is that women in general have better backhands than guys, and guys tend to rely much more on power, speed, and a big serve and forehand. Very few women seem to have one-handed backhands, they tend to have very solid two-handers, whereas a lot of guys still have slice backhands and rely on running around to hit forehands.

I fall into the latter category although I also have a two-hander. However, I've observed that it's very difficult to win baseline rallies consistently if you're constantly are at a disadvantage with one pattern -- especially backhand to backhand.

So, here a few generic thoughts about how to beat women.

First of all, if you have a good serve, you must capitalize on it. And, this might involve serving and volleying which is something most women aren't familair with playing against.

Secondly, I've observed that getting balls high can bother wome more than pace. So, if you're able to hit a very high, bouncing, topspin stroke this could be very effective.

Third, try to stretch the court wide and make it a speed game . Do this only if you're the faster player, as otherwise it might work against you.

Fourth, hit a lot of short slice and drop shots to turn it into a short ball/ volley game instead of a groundstroker game.

Lastly, get your ego out of the way. If you're playing not to lose, you're probably going to lose.

Of course, there are exceptions to every rule, but I haven't seen too many serve and volleying women at my club.
Until next time,


Glenn Sheiner M.D. - author of Insider Tennis Strategies Tennis Tactics To Help You Beat The Women At Your Club 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.

Technorati Tags Tennis

The No Split Step Serve And Volleyer

First of all, greetings to all and my apologies for having gone AWOL for awhile.

Just general life business. I, of course, did manage to continue studying this exceptional game of tennis which keeps us all enthralled. Frankly, my interests have veered toward the technical, and I'll be sharing some of my thoughts with you on these subjects, as well as my traditional thoughts on competitive play at the club level and on the pro tour.

There are very few serve and volleyers at the club level but, occasionally, you come across one. Sometimes, the serves aren't even particularly good but the players just come charging in so fast that they are on top of the net to volley away winners.

Sometimes, these players seem so tough, regardless of how hard you hit the return, that you wonder how they lose to anyone.

The secret for most of these players is that they don't split step. They just keep charging in full bore to get the net. As long as they don't have to change direction too much, or god forbid, go backwards, they're fine.

Two quick examples of guys I've played.

One is a good senior player in the 50's with a slow kick serve to the backhand, very good foot speed, with average volleying skills. He recently started to serve and volley on his slow serve. He's fast enough and his serve is slow enough that he gets great position for his first volley.

Seems like an unbeatable strategy, right?

Well, if you play guy like this and can't win by using the traditional counters such as returning low or wide, try the lob on the return.

Think about it, the player is charging forward without splitting. Just let him keep charging and then lob over his head. When I tried this, it worked like a charm since he could never get on balance to hit a powerful overhead and actually missed many.

Now, you won't see this on the pro tour because there are very few serve and volleyers, and the ones that there are have great footwork and would destroy a lob return.

The second situation involved a big strong 25 year old with a huge serve. Because of his height and serve, I teased him that he was the Ivo Karlovic of the club.

He hit his huge serve and also came in without splitting, getting incredible net position. And, in this case, a practice match, I resisted trying the lob and kept trying to beat him with great returns.

But his serve was big enough that I couldn't direct the ball as well as I would like so I couldn't break him. Walked of the court after the loss, and thought about the match and playing the guy again.

I vowed that If I had to play him again, I would lob.


Until next time,


Glenn Sheiner M.D. - author of Insider Tennis Strategies Countering The Club Serve And Volleyer 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.

Technorati Tags Tennis

Do You Need Modern Technique In the Seniors?

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
Tennis Cartoon Screensaver. You can download a trial version for FREE.

Technorati Tags Tennis

Roddick's Match Of His Life

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.

Technorati Tags Tennis