Balance and Rhythm-
Tennis should be thought of as very rhythmic, like dancing! .. That’s right, it is very similar. When you dance you are in rhythm with your partner (or try to be!) .. The ball is your dancing partner in tennis! If you watch the pros carefully .. you will see they stalk the ball and focus on nothing but! .. They move in harmony with the ball tracking it back and forth flowing with it watching it so intently as if it were prey to them -as if they are going to pounce on it at just the right time. Have you ever seen a nature show, where one of the big cats is running after its prey. As it gains on its prey it mirrors every move right along side it until it lines up at just the right spot to pounce on it? .. That is how intently the pros play watching and waiting, stalking the ball. At that level you have to be completely absorbed in each moment.
http://Mindsport.com has some great focusing exercises to help increase focus and mind strengthening tips for your game.
Balance and Counter Balance is also a major factor in the advanced tennis game – As in any sport when you are balanced you are able to use your weight effectively and efficiently. If you are off balance it is hard to perform anything to its full potential. One of the main issues with tennis players not able to advance their game is that they are off balance when striking the ball and or they do not keep balanced through their stroke.
Let's back up just a bit so I can explain a bit more about this phenomenon.. The reason for off balance shot making is most tennis players hit the ball way too soon! They are too early striking the ball, they rush to get to the ball and overestimate ball speed, trajectory and bounce speed which forces a hurried shot…Now it may not appear to be hurried by the naked eye.. But it is, trust me. Years ago before I discovered this timing issue… I once played doubles alongside a world- class tennis pro.. One thing I noticed is when the ball came to him, he moved to the ball and what seemed like ‘waiting’ for the ball to reach him after the bounce before he would strike the ball! –This was well after what I perceived to be the right ‘time’ to strike it- I remember thinking to myself.. “His timing is way different than mine.. He has more time to hit the ball” and I knew I was missing something.
This is one of the most important concepts for you to embrace if you want your game to evolve. This does require that you adapt your thinking on how you perceive hitting the ball… First, you must not think of ‘hitting’ the ball.. When you hit the ball you take the racquet back and swing at it! .. not so in higher level tennis.. They are swinging for sure… but the concept of how they get their racquet back and bring it to ‘find’ the ball is quite different than the club player swinging at it. So much so that it makes all the difference in how they strike it so well and place it so accurately. Another important principle is that players react too slowly to the oncoming ball- they don’t start their move and reading the oncoming ball early enough
Are you ready to learn how they do this? Well, it’s really no secret, Oscar has figured this out and teaches it in his books and videos.. and others are quickly following this method of teaching as well. The hardest aspect of coaching in my opinion is getting students to adapt a different mental approach or ‘re-think’ their focus- That is how they see the ball, how they approach it and to wait for it- and that is the hardest of all… everyone wants to rush to strike!
In my next blog I will explain how the pros actually 'hit' the ball so hard while still keeping it in the court consistently! In the mean time check out www.hi-techtennis.com to watch pro video clips and get complete and accurate explanation of modern tennis strokes!
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