April 24 post REVISITED!

Serving During a Tie-Breaker

The other day my partner and I had clawed our way back from 4 games down in a set to get ourselves into a tie-breaker. My partner was serving during the tie-break at 8-9 (set point). He faulted on his first serve meaning that if the next serve didn't go in we would lose the set! How is that for pressure?

Long story short-- he got the serve in and we won the set 11-9. But the point of this is DON'T PUT YOURSELF (AND YOUR PARTNER) IN THAT POSITION. Get the FIRST SERVE IN for ALL THE BIG POINTS - and being down SET POINT is a pretty big point!

Having A Weapon!

The tennis weapons are generally a forehand, backhand or serve. When my friend recently played in a tournament, winning his first match and losing the second, he told me, "I need a weapon." I don't think he was asking me about guns, knives or a taser, but something he could do on the court to trouble his opponent.

Could great defense be a weapon? Consistancy? Mixing UP a serve that tops out at 75 mph? Yup. All of those can be weapons. I even quipped initially to him that "correct scorekeeping" could be a weapon because when you play people my age (50!) and I say to him while I'm serving, 30 - all? he can reply, "No, LOVE 40!"

QUICKNESS can also be a weapon as can TENACITY. An opponent who seemingly gets to EVERYTHING causes you to overhit or go for too much with that volley or overhead or try and finish a point too early.

We can't all have Roddick's serve, Rafa's quickness or Soderling's (flat) forehand, but can all become better at one thing and maybe even be known for it.

Paying Attention Out There!

Two things.

I am playing the other day and it occurs to me that when I lose a game at love, it's generally 4 points in about 75 seconds. One and two ball rallies typify these games so guess what? When I am down at Love-40, I now try and just keep the ball in play and play a longer point. Since making this adjustment I have begun to win a higher percentage of these games, but it started with PAYING ATTENTION to my game and recognizing a pattern.

Numero dos. I played with a friend last week and I had never played him in singles before, only in doubles. I noticed that when serving on the deuce court, he would clobber his forehand return to me. BUT on the AD court he would actually prefer a backhand to return and would at times run around his forehand. There was something about the angle of the serve, or something else that wouldn't meet his eye about that forehand return that he didn't like. Knowing this led me to serve to him more effectively. So to reiterate and again remind readers, "the unexamined tennis game is not worth playing."

Tie-Breaker Anyone?

After playing two sets with a friend today we then played two tie-breaks for fun. It had been maybe more than a month since I had played one and then months before that. As I was serving in the tie-break I was reminded that getting the first serve IN is even more important than during a regular game.

Not getting the first serve in is basically risking a double fault. As everyone knows the first one to seven (by two) wins so giving a free point (or two) out of 7 is like burning money because it's wrinkled. Not good.

So the next time you are in that situation and it's your serve, try for a 3/4's serve to your opponents backhand if possible. It's a safe, effective shot and you won't be throwing anything away.

And since we're on the subject of STRINGING...

I have been stringing for maybe 5 to 6 years. I would guess I am coming up on 100 racquets already on two different machines. Of the approximate 100 racquets, I have strung my own maybe 60-70 times and the others for kids on the tennis team that I no longer coach.

Currently I string two types of nylon in my own racquet. My current hybrid consists of Tecnifibre NRG2 in the mains (the vertical strings) and Prince Synthetic Gut with Duraflex (or PSGD for those "in the know") in the crosses- horizontal strings. I also string the shorter cross strings 2 lbs softer since the shorter the string the less elastic it is.

Anyhow, I say all this because as I was demoing some new racquets from Tennis Warehouse I received 4 racquets and 2 of the four I could not identify what the strings were. It got me to thinking about these phantom strings and I decided that I would rather have unknown strings at the proper tension rather than my favorite strings strung too tight or too loose. In other words, the TENSION IS MORE IMPORTANT than the string but of course you can have the best of both worlds by having your favorite string AT the correct tension for your game, and the season (see post immediately before this one).

When I moved out here from MN in '96, I was a casual (and weak) 4.0 player. My Head racquet was probably 28mm thick (beam) meaning at over an inch it was stiff and powerful. The trouble was I could never control the darn thing. So I cut out perfectly good strings and had it restrung at the stringers suggestion 4 lbs tighter. It was just cheap synthetic gut but do you know what? All of a sudden the "suck" racquet was now a much easier, much more controllable tool. Of course I overdid it later when I had it strung 4 lbs tighter again, learning that there is a happy medium and finding a good balance between power and control.

So what's the lesson? Pay attention to your tension and even write it down. I do EVERYTIME I restring and keep that paper with my tennis gear so I can reflect on it each time I need to restring and make small adjustments or keep it just "as is". There is nothing worse than playing with a racquet that is strung too tight-- it has the sweetspot of a penny. Conversely, a racquet strung much too loose and it will be great for overheads (at the net) and not much else since you won't be able to place your power with any accuracy.

Stringing Different for Summer

Hey Y'all,

Why would someone string different for an average temp of 80 vs an average high of 65? Because WARMER weather means more ELASTICITY in the strings and more power -- but less control. Usually stringing about 2 lbs TIGHTER in the Spring/Summer does the trick.

So if now in the warmer weather you find more of your balls sailing long, time to adjust with your next stringing.

What to do about those pesky...

HIGH KICKING BALLS to your BACKHAND? Yeah, good question. The absolute WORST thing to do in reponse is to back up and get yourself way off the court. Then your weak return will be shallow and your opponent will be able to read WAR and PEACE in the interim while they are readying themself for your ball.

SO if that is the worst, the BEST bet would be to MOVE IN- before the topspin takes over and it climbs above your shoulders. This way you can take it as a volley, or half volley. Another idea is when practicing, have someone hit 50 of them (high kicking backhands) to you while you hold your ground and LEARN to hit a ball ON THE RISE-- ala the Nick Bolleteri - Andre Agassi school of thought.

This is a hard shot for everyone but it becomes easier with practice. So pick one of those 3 styles mentioned above, or practice all three, until you get comfortable handling these difficult shots.

Reading about...

Not exactly reading a "how to" book, but if you are an Agassi fan, as I once was and to a certain extent, still am, it's an interesting read that puts you into the locker room before a big match, what's going on, an inside look that I hadn't really read before.

It's probably at your library, but reserve it since this 2009 book goes fast.

Also, Sampras's book is there though I didn't see James Blake's book though I am told it too is a good read.

A Contrarian Moment

I first heard the word contrarian maybe 20 years ago when I would follow the stock market with some interest. A contrarian would buy stock in a company when everyone else would be running for the exits. A contrarian acts contrary or against what would seem to be "common sense".

The common sense for most people on the tennis court is to win you have to hit the ball hard, harder or hardest.

The other day I was playing a good friend whose game I know well and once again he was attacking the net. His shot to me was mid-court to my backhand side. I generally loop the ball to his backhand with topspin so he has to volley UP or hit a half-volley. I have erred in the past hitting a hard line drive right at him but that usually results in an easy block volley putaway for him and I lose the point.

-- Back to the point above. My opponent is at the net and instead of me looping the ball with topspin or hitting it hard, from my backhand side, I hit an angled 25 mph slice to his backhand side that would land at his feet-- knowing he would have to half volley. He can half volley "okay" and I would not do this against a doubles specialist or someone else who is gifted with short balls. So what happened? My opponent half volleyed weakly (as I expected or hoped) and I came in and won the point.

It takes brains, instinct, and a contrarians appetite for risk taking to hit a ball softly to your opponent but sometimes it's exactly the right thing to do.

Are You Addicted?

***** BREAKING NEWS!!*****
This is even MORE important than hitting with the right racquet!

Yes, that might sound sacrilegious, especially if you work for Wilson or Prince, but I am continually reminded of what is MORE important than using the "best" equipment. Actually there are probably 5-10 things more important-- just read some of my older posts-- but I would say the number one thing is to TAKE THE BALL EARLY (inside the baseline, like our pal Fed in this picture).

Many tennis players sit (and camp out, build a house, raise a family...) AT or BEHIND that security blanket called the BASELINE-- waiting, waiting, waiting for the ball to come to them, which with topspin, it often does. I think the addiction to staying on the baseline is even more common than being hooked on Twitter, Reality TV, or Facebook. There are so many balls that you can come into the court and take 5-8 feet early and just those few feet can make a world of difference to your opponents "prep time". Being INSIDE the court just a few feet also gives you better angles into your opponents court; angles that don't exist from behind the baseline.

Worse than camping out at the baseline are those players that BACK-UP because the ball is coming in at an extreme angle, and they fear the ball getting above their shoulders. If you do back up, it now gives your opponent even MORE time to set up for their next shot. If the ball is coming in and going to kick up high, taking the ball early-- with a 1/2 volley, full volley, swinging volley, or a regular shot will be much better than giving your opponent ample time to get into the court and become the aggressor.

Taking the ball earlier than usual many times also has the added benefit of hitting a slightly flatter ball, which is faster and that too gives your opponent less time to set up for their shot.

Finally, a long baseline rally gets into a rhythm, and that is not necessarily a good thing. By taking the ball early, it disrupts your opponents rhythm, perhaps enough to draw an error.