If you are a ‘novice’ enthusiast or if you have been playing for a long time, surely you have asked yourself, at least once in your life, how to play tennis to win more matches and have fun with your greatest passion.
Maybe you repeated it in your mind in a moment of despair during a game in which you missed yet another backhand at the net.
Or you repeated it while you were trying to improve a shot in class from your trusted teacher, but with poor results.
However, all (or almost all) fans at some point in their ‘tennis career’ have to deal with this question if they want to find out how to improve at tennis, level up and have fun with this wonderful sport.
And this question, however generic it may be, hides within it some very interesting nuances, which I want to help you analyze with me, in today’s article, to really understand how to become good at tennis.
In fact, in these lines, I have decided to enclose the 3 main secrets with which you will discover how to play tennis and why most of the fans find it difficult to improve, remaining ‘glued’ on that level of play, for years .
Secret # 1 The Grips
You can’t find out how to play tennis without knowing and applying the correct grips to your shots.
The basis of this sport is represented by the correct grips for all the fundamental strokes of modern power tennis.
Trust me, I’ve seen a lot of enthusiasts come to class with completely wrong grips, hoping to improve quickly.
You must know that the grips represent the prerequisite of the technique. They are the foundation, the foundation of your tennis.
And, as you can see, starting to pick up the racket as it happens is definitely not the best thing to do.
Because you are going to produce a series of technical defects on the movement resulting from the incorrect use of the handles.
And these technical defects, if automated, over time, lead to a block of improvement and a ‘tennis stasis’ .
You basically don’t move forward or backward and you get completely stuck, paralyzed, on that same level of play.
And not only….
The great risk of contesting in the wrong way is precisely that of hurting yourself and causing unwanted tendon inflammation that risks removing you from the field for several weeks…. not to say months!
And here, to avoid all this, below I offer you a ‘list’ of the grips recommended and not recommended in modern power tennis so that you can build your tennis on a solid foundation.
RECOMMENDED HANDLES:
Serve ====> Continental
Straight =====> Eastern, Semi – Western, Western One
Handed Backhand ===> Eastern, Semi-Western
Two Handed Backhand ====> Continental (dominant hand) and Eastern by Straight (non-dominant limb)
Game of Flight and Smash ====> Continental
HANDLES NOT RECOMMENDED
Serve ====> Eastern, Semi-Western and Western (‘pan’
serve ) Straight ======> Full Western, Continental
One Handed Backhand =====> Continental
Two Handed Backhand === ===> Eastern (dominant limb) and Semi-Western-Western (non-dominant limb)
Flight and Smash Game =====> Eastern, Semi-Western and Western
Well, after this summary ’roundup’ of grips, if you want to deepen the discussion and find out how to find your ideal grip and keep it permanently….
you must know that a few days ago I wrote another article, with attached video tutorials, in which you can find out how.
====> Click here and go to the article
Secret # 2 Le Stance
Another fundamental technical element to discover how to play tennis in a simple and efficient way concerns the stance , that is, the optimal position of the feet that allows you to achieve greater stability and balance and to transfer the weight of the body from back to front in the same way. correct .
In fact, many fans start playing tennis for the first time thinking that the shot must only be carried out with the arm, leaving out the legs aspect.
Well, there is no more wrong thing to think!
In tennis, as in all sports, the shot always starts from the bottom , i.e. from the use of the push of the rear foot which activates the entire kinetic chain and develops the shot, giving energy from one muscle segment to another in a progressive manner and ordered over time .
That’s exactly how it works!
Thinking of playing tennis with just your arm is a bit like thinking of cooking without pots.
Stances are really essential to find out how to become good at tennis and get that optimal translocation of body weight from back to front and push your shots with full force.
And to do all this in the easiest, most concrete and effective way, there are 3 fundamental elements to train:
1) STARTING POSITION
By starting position I mean the attitude that the body assumes while it is waiting for the ball. In fact, when the ball is far from you and on the other side of the field, you need to be awake, active, and ready for any tactical-strategic choice of your opponent.
And, to do all this, there are some essential aspects to respect such as:
* Width of the support base (approximately one meter with the feet over shoulder width)
* Low heels and body weight on the forefoot
* Slight tilt of the torso forward
* Elbows slightly detached from the trunk
* Muscle relaxation
* Horizontality of the gaze
These aspects are really essential to get off to a good start and be ready for any blow from your opponent. Not respecting them means assuming a waiting position, which is very different from a correct starting position.
2) LAST STEP AND DETERMINATION OF STANCE
When you are about to strike, it is important to distinguish the last two steps from the rest of the move .
The last two steps of support must be heard. Your feet have to hit the ground violently to find that feeling of anchoring to the ground and stability that will allow you to transfer all your weight to the ball .
If you perform the last two stopping steps as if you were ‘walking on eggs’ the opponent’s strike will take you away like a hurricane crashing on the Florida coast in September.
Pay particular attention to the last two steps and determine a solid stance, keeping the foot base wide so you can get more balance and stability.
Take care of this detail and your tennis will level up exponentially.
3) USE DIFFERENT TYPES OF STANCE
Not all stances are the same. You need to know which stance to use based on the shot you are going to perform.
For example:
If you find yourself moving on the short range it is preferable to use a neutral or closed stance while, on the long range it is preferable to use an open stance in order to gain time and return to the mid point first.
The differentiation of the stances is really fundamental and, even more fundamental is the training concerning all the types of stances so that you can have an absolute mastery of all the areas of the field and move like you’ve never done before.
Secret # 3 Develop linear momentum
After adjusting the grips and resting your feet well, the third and final secret that I recommend you apply in your shots if you want to find out how to play tennis in a simple and efficient way is to develop linear momentum .
Momentum is that type of motion that is activated with a simple formula which is that of mass x acceleration .
Basically, your entire body weight has to push forward and go in the direction of the opponent’s court to produce more ball speed.
Linear momentum is that motion that guarantees you the ‘flat shot’ , so to speak.
And, to know how to play tennis in an easy and intelligent way, one of the first fundamental steps is precisely to carry out a correct translocation of the weight of the body towards the front so that your shot can come out of the ropes correctly.
So, for a suitable technical learning, my advice is to learn and automate the linear momentum as best as possible (push forward) before inserting the angular momentum which is what allows you to add more rotation to your shots.
And all this happens because linear momentum grants you more stability and balance .
The simpler the transfer of the body (from back to front), the sooner it is possible to insert additional elements in the stroke such as the development of angular momentum (rotational energy) and pelvic rotation.
These last two elements, in fact, could be counterproductive in the swing if a good command of linear momentum has not been achieved.
Conclusions
Very well! Even today we have reached the end of this article where we have seen together so many very interesting and above all practical things to improve your tennis right away!
For my part, thank you for reading this article ‘how to play tennis’
If you wish to receive any clarification or have any doubts about this topic you can comment below, I promise to answer you as soon as possible!
In the meantime I wish you all the best and as always….
Play Tennis with Passion!
Titian
PS: if you want to deepen our specific training method for enthusiasts and discover those ‘Tricks of the Trade’ that can really change your tennis….
You need to know that right now you have the opportunity to sign up for my completely FREE 1 hour ‘Perfect Technique’ Webinar in which I reveal how to quickly transform your striking technique and beat your historic club rival in just 30 days .
To date, hundreds of fans who have followed this FREE Webinar have immediately achieved extraordinary results with their tennis, results that until a few days before they believed impossible to achieve
