My Tennis Tips

Feel the racket tip

My kinetic chain during forehand motion includes everything up to the forearm, but not the wrist. In most cases, my wrist is fixed and there is not enough wrist “whipping” or snapping. Try to feel all the force created by body rotation at the tip of the racket by pushing through the wrist during the contact with the ball.

Step into the ball (Put weight forward)

A lot of the time, if my footwork isn’t great, I tend to only rotate in place instead of stepping forward and putting my weight into the ball. From now on, at every shot, focus on stepping into the ball, putting that weight forward into the ball. Do not mind making mistakes. REMEMBER, intentionally try to step into every ball with a closed stance. The keywords are a closed stance and stepping into the ball.

Use body rotation, not just arm during backhand strokes

I’m only throwing my arm, but I’m not using my legs or body rotation in my backhand stroke. Make sure I twist enough and use that leg to push off the ground, kicking off the rotation and putting weight into the ball at contact.

Reminders for better, more consistent serve

1. Keep looking up during the entire serve motion. Think of making contact at the highest point, rather than trying to push the ball down.
2. Toss and drop your legs.

Footwork

Footwork is the key to tennis. At my level, focus more on the lower body and getting the footwork right than on the upper body and the swing. Here are unnegotiable, key parts of good footwork.

1. Split step when the opponent is about to make a contact with the ball.
2. After hitting a ball, recover using a side step followed by a shuffle step.
3. Always face the court.

Concrete action plans

1. Ladder step training
2. Medicine ball drills
3. Serve practices