WebTennis.net Video Tennis Tips

Current & Future WebTennis.net Tennis Tips

1 Brent Abel — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 23:43:00 GMT

We're slowly but surely migrating all past, current, & future tennis tips over to

http://WebTennis.blogspot.com

See you over there...!

Brent

Tennis Backhand Topspin Drive - 2 Must Haves

1 Brent Abel — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 00:56:00 GMT

Being able to "drive" a backhand with a certain amount of topspin is a huge asset to any player's game.

Guess what the biggest problem players have with this shot?

The get too much topspin...

That's right, too much artificial spin doesn't help you with what it is you want to do with this shot.

Think about it, what's your goal when you play either a forehand or backhand drive?

It's to have the ball move through the bounce as quickly as possible so it can do what?

Get to that 2nd bounce...

If you can hit shots that bounce twice, you got it, you win those points.

Too much artificial topspin does nothing more than give your opponent a nice easy shot to handle.

So the key with the backhand drive groundstroke is to apply enough topspin to control the length of your shot but not so much topspin that you take away from the ball being able to penetrate through the bounce.

Make sense?

Check out this video that touches on two vital aspects of the backhand topsin drive.

Want to improve your one-handed backhand topspin drive and
become a much better singles & doubles player?

Well of course you do!

Click here to check out my popular backhand topspin drive lesson.
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Tennis Singles Baseline Strategy - The 3/4 High Looper

1 Brent Abel — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 05:05:00 GMT

It seems like our "need for speed", power, can get in the way from time to time with reality.

Hitting groundstrokes with pace, power, isn't always a big challenge for your opponents.

In fact, I'd much rather have my opponent give me a steady diet of pace when I'm back on the baseline.

I have less that I have to do with pure stroke mechanics, and in fact, I can borrow their pace and re-direct it much easier than having to produce good stroke mechanics to get the same power and direction control.

Try this strategy in singles where you throw in a 3/4 high "looper" deep to your opponent's backhand corner, and if they back up to handle your shot, move in and take their next shot as early as possible to reduce the time they have to recover to a good position.

Check out this court diagram video...

Want to improve your volleys and become a much better singles player?

Well of course you do!

If you haven't already done so, click here now and check out
my forehand and backhand volley lessons.

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Tennis Backhand Slice Tip

1 Brent Abel — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 18:39:00 GMT

Happy New Year!

Not sure why, but I am really pumped for 2009.

It just seems that we have so much to work on, and yet, the kiss of death of improving is always information overload.

So, my goal this year for you is to maximize your learning / improvment.

Let's start with two things...

First of all, I want to hear from you what is the #1 area of your game you want to change during 2009?

Be very specific, not general.

What one aspect of your game, either a stroke or strategy, would you like to be able to say in January 2010 that you worked on and definitley improved upon during this year? Just send me an email to brent@webtennis.net and let me know.

And #2, let's start 2009 with a quick tip on your backhand slice. I know this isn't a super glamorous shot to be working on, but any player who can hit a backhand slice that skids and stays low will have a tremendous weapon from the baseline.

Not only that, but once you really learn to hit that backhand groundstroke slice with true underspin that skids, not a shot that "sits" up over there, then your approach shots and volleys will get a lot better.

Check out this video clip below.

Video not working properly for you? Make sure you have the free
Adobe Flash player installed on your computer.

And if you do have Flash and the video is still not working,
follow this link.

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Want to improve your backhand groundstroke slice and become a
much better singles and doubles player?

Well of course you do!

Discover how to become a backhand slice monster!
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Doubles - Server's Court Position After 2nd Shot

1 Brent Abel — Wed, 24 Dec 2008 12:22:00 GMT

One of the big court positioning mistakes I see in doubles is where the server ends up after their 2nd shot.

You know, they serve and come in behind that serve and then play their 2nd shot, normally either a volley or 1/2 volley back cross court to the returner.

And invariably what happens is the server gers too close to the net.

Even if you're about in the middle of your service box, the returner, who is cross court from you, now has a really good opportunity to play a nice deep lob over you.

Check out this court positioning diagram video.

Want to improve your half volleys and become a much better
doubles player?

Well of course you do!

Discover how to make 1/2 volleys in your sleep!
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Doubles - Returner's Partner Tip #2

1 Brent Abel — Mon, 22 Dec 2008 21:32:58 GMT

Let's do a quick followup on our last court positioning tip for the Returner's partner in doubles.

We touched briefly on it, but I want to be a little more specific if your partner returns serve shaprly cross court into the server's alley.

As the returner's partner, what do you immediately need to do maximize court coverage for that situation?

Want to improve your volleys and become a much better
doubles player?

Well of course you do!

If you haven't already done so, click here now and check out
my forehand and backhand volley lessons.

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Doubles - The Returner's Net Partner - 1

1 Brent Abel — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 23:51:00 GMT

I see this doubles court positioning mistake all of the time and at almost all skill levels.

If your partner is returning serve in doubles, and your partner plays a low cross court return of serve away from that server's net partner, what you do next as the returner's partner will probably determine whether or not your team is going to win this point.

Check out this video...

Want to improve your volleys and become a much better doubles player?

Well of course you do!

If you haven't already done so, click here now and check out
my forehand and backhand volley lessons.

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My #1 Pet Peeve - Starting The Rally

1 Brent Abel — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 18:59:00 GMT

The #1 thing that players do that absolutely sets me off is how they abuse their game when they start off a rally... Down below I've got a short video for you.

You know what I mean, you pull a ball out of your pocket, drop the ball on the court ,and then typically hit a forehand groundstroke to start a rally.

I've never measured it, but I'll be that if I did, most players start 95% of the rallies with their forehand groundstroke.

Any wonder why the backhand typically is not as strong as their forehand for beginners?

But that's not what gets me.

What drives me nuts is to watch players grab a ball out of their pocket, let it drop anywhere in front of them, and then just completely slop over a forehand with zero attention to proper stroke mechanics.

Every time you do that, your brain gets yet one more opportunity to think that's how you're supposed to hit that forehand.

And worse, and this really is the one that makes me want to look for a bridge to jump from, players get up to net and start off a rally not with a volley but with a topspin forehand groundstroke.

You're kidding me right?

Now you're training your brain to think that volleys are supposed to be topped from below your waist.

Dumb...

Look, this is a golden opportunity to train the exact stroke you want to have.

How many times do you think you drop a ball to start a rally every time you go out on the court?

A ton of times.

Don't abuse this opportunity.

So, the next time you're out on the court, to start a rally, please...

get a ball in your non racket hand,
start the rally by holding your hands in front of you as if you're in normal "ready" position,
turn your shoulders, drop the ball at precisely the spot you want to make contact so your swing won't be crowded or you won't have to reach for the ball,
go through a perfect swing shape for that forehand,
make sure your swing shape has a tempo you can actually feel,
keeps your eyes down through contact,
allow the swing tempo to go all the way to your finish position,
and then look up...

Do this methodical routine every time you start a rally and your game will get better.

Alternate between forehands and backhands when you start a rally.

You'll probably look a little awkward those first few times you try to coordinate the ball drop with your backhand, but come one, you'll get it right, and your backhand will love you for this extra attention.

Work on picking up the ball right after the bounce to improve your skill of taking the ball on the rise.

Create a slightly higher bounce from your ball drop and work on hitting that tough shoulder high forehand.

Hit drives, slice, 3/4 loopers, etc. You get the idea.

This is the best opprotunity you're going to have to do some mindless tinkering and getting some real "feel" for each of your strokes.

And whne you're at net and you start the rally, please, please toss up a ball and hit a normal volley. You'll get good enough to where you can do both forehand and backhand volleys. Think your volleys just might improve if you took this opportunity to hit a volley perfect?

You bet...

Check out this short video.

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The WarmUp - What You Do The First 5 Minutes Is Critical

1 Brent Abel — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 00:25:00 GMT

You know, what you do with those first 5 minutes every time you go out on the tennis court, whether it's to practice, play a match, take a lesson, whatever, those first few minutes can dictate how you're going to play on any given day.

One of my fellow members at the Berkeley TC complained the other day that he can't figure out why one day he can play well and the next day pretty lousy.

When I first started working with Tom Stow, he had me do this simple exercise every time I saw him for the first 15 minutes or so when we were on the lesson court.

It seemed so simple at the time, and because I wasn't paying as close attention as maybe I should have, he rode me like there was no tomorrow.

I couldn't figure out why we had to spend so much time getting what appeared to be this easiest of drills down to a perfect science.

Well, after what was probably way too long for Tom'e liking, it finally sunk into my thick skull.

The first few minutes you spend on the court have to be dedicated to aligning yourself to the path of the incoming ball, even if you're doing a short court warmup and just tapping the ball back and forth.

And aligning yourself to the path of the incoming ball means - are you moving your feet in such a way that you're lined up a certain distance away from the ball so that your natural contact point is going to be absolutey perfect?

Most players get sloppy with these first 5 minutes, and then you end up sending the wrong information to your brain about your strokes.

Too often, and hey, I was really guilty of this for a long time, I see players standing in one place and reaching for balls and / or letting balls crowd them.

Your brain thinks that how your forehands and backhands are supposed to be played for that day...!

--- Watch this short video ---

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It's Luke Jensen On The Phone (That's right, the 1993 French Open doubles champ)

1 Brent Abel — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 19:34:00 GMT

I had a great chat on the phone this morning with Luke Jensen, 1993 French Open Doubles champ and currently the women's tennis coach at Syracuse.

Joel Drucker, one of the world's leading tennis writers, also joined us.

You can hear that interview below...

Luke Jensen Joel Drucker

Luke is probably in the 1% of college tennis coaches out there who are teaching and coaching a true "all-court" style of play.

In fact, the kids who play at Syracuse for Luke are trained in all-out serve and volley tennis.

You know me, I'm now thinking there is a future for junior tennis players with guys like Luke promoting serve/volley and all-court tennis.

We talked about how Luke got involved in tennis, what made him an all-court player, why and how he recruits by telling his prospects that they will play at a higher level in college with this style of play, that they will have a better chance if they go out on the tour, and what I liked the most, why learning and refining an all-court style of play will insure that those kids will keep playing and having fun on the court once they get older...

What a concept? - "A Sport of a Lifetime"...

Well, it's about time that someone with some real street cred is out there being passionate about a style of play that is different then the mind numbing 3-5 feet behind the baseline boring crap we see coming out of so many junior programs in this country.

I also asked Luke about a couple of his favorite drills to help the rest of us with our "transition" skills from the baseline up to the net.

Get settled in, get comfy, and here's about 25 minutes of stuff I hope you'll enjoy.
_________________________________

- Luke Jensen, Joel Drucker, & Brent Abel
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The Drop Shot - One of the Strategies

1 Brent Abel — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 19:30:00 GMT

My wife Mai and I were playing this game yesterday on the court that we both love to play because it gives you an opportunity to work on so many aspects of your game.

Not that I want you working on more than any one thing at a time, but you can be very creative with the types of stroke elements and strategies you can practice.

We call it "25". I'm sure it's got lots of other names, and this drill isn't unique, but it's simple and a GREAT workout.

One player on each side of the net standing a foot or so behind the center mark of their baseline
Player #1 drops a ball to start a groundstroke rally and hits their groundstroke (this is a great opportunity to drop and hit a backhand groundstroke) directly to their partner, Player #2.
Player #2 plays their groundstroke directly back (after one bounce) to Player #1.
If Player #1 can't get to that shot, then stop, and re-start the rally. Any player can start the rally.
Assuming that Player #1 can handle that shot from Player #2, then the point goes live!
So, the 3rd hit of the rally is when it starts to count.
The first player to win 25 points by a margin of 2 wins that game.
Mai and I always play 3 games.
And at least for me, after 3 games I'm drenched. You don't take much time between points, so you're always playing and getting a ton of exercise.
Since there is no serving in "25", we also like to take a few minutes after our 3 games to hit a few serves just to keep the shoulder good and loosened up...

There are a million and one things you can work on, and I'd love to see you always include a stretch of points where you only think of "spacing".

Just prior to your partner making contact with their shot, you conciously think of making sure that your first duty to react to their shot is to make sure your feet quickly get you properly aligned to the path of that incoming shot.

If you don't consistentyly have good spacing to the path of the incomoing ball, it doesn't really matter how much of a perceived opportunity you may have had.

You don't want to have to constantly "ad lib" your stroke mechanics because you don't have good spacing.

Anyway, here's what I spent a lot of time on yesterday when Mai and I played "25"...

She's really, really fast on the court. Plain and simple. Her natural pure speed combined with her anticipation and knowledge of my game makes it nearly impossible for me to hit a drop shot winner.

If I can ever hit a drop shot that she can't get to, then I know I've hit a good one!

But to be able to pull off a dropper she can't get to, I must have first established in her mind that there's a very good chance I just might be playing an approach shot.

The only way for me to do that is to show her a few approach shots early in the game.

I'm working less on my actual approach shot and working more on making sure she thinks I'll be approaching in the future on anything she hits relatively short to me during a point.

Once I've done that, played a few approach shots, then the drill for me is make my next eventual drop shot appear to be yet another approach shot.

And there's the big key to playing good drop shots. Disguise, false advertising...

The drop shot has to look as if you're going to approach, plain and simple.

Coming out soon will be a new full blown lesson from me on all of the drops shots in the game including the drop shot I've just described, the 1/2 volley drop shot, the return of serve drop shot, and of course the one we all love, the drop volley...

Hope this tip helps.

Brent

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"Hi Brent,

I want to tell you how mcuh your recent tip on the tossing motion has helped me.

I tried it and despite your warning that this it would not be an easy thing to do right away, I really didn't have much trouble getting used to it.

I then bought your Serve DVD, and you were right, after 50 or so practice serves I really did feel more natural power and a better sense of how to apply spin.

I'm still working on my accuracy, but I can see that it will eventually get much better after a few more practice sessions.

Thanks again Brent. Keep up the good work with your tips and lessons."

Steve K, Denver, CO
________________________________

Brent's Serve Lesson DVD - "The 3 Magic Moves of the Serve"
For More Power, Spin, and Better Placement Accuracy

Two Great Tennis Forehands Compared - Sampras & Gonzales

1 Brent Abel — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 13:56:00 GMT

This tennis tip is Chapter #15 from my Forehand Groundstoke Lesson where I do a side by side video comparison of Pete Sampras and Pancho Gonzales's forehand groundstrokes.

I point out the similar "3 Magic Moves" that you can copy and model for your own forehand.

I have also put together a huge forehand lesson package that includes 4 DVDs at a 50% discount! Limited supply available. Claim yours now...

Follow the link below to see this forehand groundstroke tennis tip.

Pete Sampras and Pancho Gonzales Tennis Forehand Groundstrokes

Brent

Tennis Serve Pronation Tip

1 Brent Abel — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 16:33:00 GMT

Tennis Serve Pronation

Here's a simple drill to help you better understand how pronation works for your serve.

If you don't have this element in your service motion, you're losing power, spin, and eventual placement control.

Plus, proper pronation really helps in doubles on your 2nd serve so you can get your serve to get a good bounce up and out of that receiver's strike zone.

How to Practice the Tennis Serve Pronation

As you'll see in this video, we're not working on the entire service motion, but just a specific element of it.

DO NOT grip your racket handle tightly when you do this drill. Never, ever. Got it?

Once you get a feel for where your racket ends up in relation to your hand, you can then simply start to practice how you would naturally finish the serve motion.

http://blog.webtennis.net/2008/11/18/tennis-serve-pronation-tip.aspx
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Tennis Serve Tossing Motion - How to Hold the Ball

1 Brent Abel — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 17:25:00 GMT

Tennis Serve Toss - How to Hold the Ball

I will be the first to admit that this is one of the biggest challenges I have in teaching the serve.

How to hold the ball...

And it's absolutely vital to hold the ball a specific way to be able to naturally get into the proper "hitting position" for your serve.

It seems like a minor thing, but if you hold the ball with your palm facing up, not only can your wrist or elbow get into the toss, but you also end up with your shoulders turned slightly open after the toss, and both of those situations can be a problem for your serve.

There are lots of ways to hold the ball for your serve, and you can probably eventually be able to be consistent with your toss placement, but ther cahnces of you ending up in a good hitting position to be able to take advantage of that good toss is slim.

When my serve really improved was when Tom Stow worked with me on how to hold the ball on my serve.

And I fought it and fought it, but once I got it, it made perfect sense.

My bet is that this is going to feel completely unnatural for you. That would be normal and it will take a lot of practice for something that seems so simple. The payoff for your serve wil be huge...

How to Practice the Tennis Serve Toss

There is no magic bullet here. Focus first on simply trying to lift the ball with a straight arm from your shoulder and hold the finish position of your tossing motion. Don't even try to hit the serve for a good 100 practice tosses.

Just see if you can get your toss to a general area that works for your serve, but insure that you have completely finished the tossing motion first.

Consistency in your toss placement will come with practice, but until you get there, don't compromise with the tossing motion's finish position.

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Tennis Passing Shot Strategy

1 Brent Abel — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 21:02:00 GMT

Tennis Passing Shot Strategy - Short Lob Over the Backhand Side

This is one of my very favorite plays in singles when I'm stuck back on the baseline or playing a pusher.

From inside my baseline I'll play a drop shot to my opponent's backhand side (most players will then play their approach shot up the line) and then play a 3/4 lob over their backhand.

I'm not concerned about my lob going deep where they can't get to it, and in fact, I want to play my lob short enough where they have to take it as a high backhand volley as they move backwards.

If you've got an opponent who plays that high backhand with a two-hander, you're going to win this point almost every time because it's incredibly awkward for that player to maintain any sort of balance and court position recovery as they struggle to handle that 3/4 high lob of yours.

How to Practice the Lob Passing Shot

You really need a practice partner for this practice session. Just work a rally until you get a ball you can play from inside your baseline, play a drop shot to your partner's backhand side, have them play their shot up the line, and then practice the specific height over the net that will equate to the depth you want.

Then evaluate what shot is most likely to come back from your opponent and see if you can move into the court enough to be able to cut off their shot with either a volley, 1/2 volley, or approach shot and play your 2nd shot to the open court.

Practice being calm and taking your time on both of these shots. You're in charge here...!

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Becoming a Better League & Tournament Player - Coaching

1 Brent Abel — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 18:48:00 GMT

Hi and it's good to be home. Well, after 10 days in Hawaii, Mai and I reluctantly made the trek back home from our honeymoon, but in the end, it's good to get back settled in after a couple of incredibly great weeks...

At the Hapuna Beach Hotel next to the Mauna Kea Hotel on the Big Island of Hawaii - 2008

But let's get back on track with our tennis...

One of the things that I've always thought about in response to so many requests for personal coaching from a number of our WebTennis.net subscribers is how to make it happen in a meaningful way.

And the traditional method of on-court instruction is always there, but I wanted to do something different, especially with those of you who are really interested in improving as a competitive player.

It's one thing to be able to feed you balls on the teaching court and work on your strokes, but it's an entirely different thing to be able to see how you actually play in a league or tournament match.

So, here's what I'm thinking, and if you're interested in becoming a better league or tournament player, please give me some feedback on my idea.

I met with Craig Paulter, the Tennis Director at the Mauna Kea Hotel on the Big Island, and we discussed several ways to allow me to bring a few of my competitive players to their gorgeous tennis facility to work on their games privately and to coach them during the Mauna Kea's senior tournament in May or their class level tournament in September.

Class level means the tournament organizes players by their skill level such as 3.0, 3.5, 4.0, etc., not age group. Senior means that the tournament is organized by age group.

Anyway, here's what I'm thinking...

The tournaments are 3 day Fri-Sun events.

You travel on Tuesday to Mauna Kea, and then you and I do some private on-court one on one coaching on Wed and Thu mornings along with a scheduled practice match on those same afternoons with another player at your skill level where I'll watch and evaluate your match play.

Then on Fri-Sun mornings, we'll do a tournament match warm-up session and I'll watch and evaluate your tournament matches.

I'll also be available for to have breakfast with you Wed - Sun if you want to meet early to discuss that day's itinerary, strategies, etc.

We'll also meet at the end of the day Wed-Sun and discuss how you're doing and any additional feedback I might have for you.

So, in effect, we're talking one on one instructional time with me Wed & Thu, 5 days of match play evaluation Wed - Sun, match warm-ups for your Wed & Thu afternoon practice matches and your Fri-Sun tournament matches, and end of the day meetings Wed-Sun (how about some appetizers and an adult bev or two...!).

In addition, I'll also do some videotaping of your match play and on court instruction and produce a post event DVD for you with my evaluation and feedback.

I can realistically do this type of tournament coaching for only 4 players at a time.

I'll put together a package that will include your room for two arriving Tue and departing Mon, breakfasts Wed - Sun, all tennis court fees, your tournament entry fees, my instructional and coaching fees, plus the post event DVD I'll mail to you.

Your package will not include:

Air transportation to and from the Kailua / Kona International airport on the Big Island of Hawaii (if you don't want to rent a car, I'll be happy to pick you up at the airport on that Tuesday),
lunch and dinner
other purchases you may make unrelated to the package I mentioned above.

So, it's a start. I need to get a feel for your interest. Send me an email to brent@webtennis.net and let's see if this is something you're really interested in...

And by the way, the WebTennis.net official video tip ball feeder extraordinaire who just happens to be my beautiful wife Mai, a strong 5.0 player, will be in attendance throughout for additional on court help and boogie board instruction...(!)

Brent

Mental Tennis - How to lose the first set 6-0 and still win the match

1 Brent Abel — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 00:20:00 GMT

Mental Tennis Skills

I recently received a great question from one of our WebTennis.net subscribers about a tournament match I played this year in 2008.

I lost the first set 6-0 and it really wasn't that close...

And yet, I eventually ended up righting the ship and winning 6-4 in the 3rd set.

Losing the first set of a tennis match badly like 6-0 or 6-1 isn't the greatest of confidence boosters, for sure, but if you panic, it's over.

I've got an audio clip, approximately 7 minutes, I just recorded that I want you to listen to. If you'd prefer to read the transcript, no problem, you can download it at the bottom of this post.

You can also download the mp3 version of this audio if you want to save it to your computer or play it on your iPod.

This Tip's Related Tennis Lesson

Brent's Downloadable Lesson - "Mental Tennis Skills"

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The Tennis Half Volley - The Feet Are The Key

1 Brent Abel — Sun, 19 Oct 2008 05:15:00 GMT

Being Consistent with The Tennis Half Volley

Lots of players absolutely cringe at the thought of having to deal with the 1/2 volley.

And their perception is usually that the half volley is all about how ell you stroke the ball. And to me, the half volley requires very little stroke mechanics and much more timing and commitment to when you're going to move through the shot.

Use Your Feet to Insure Shot Accuracy & Good Court Position

Think of the half volley as simply a footwork pattern. Your racket just goes along for the ride as your footwork moves your body against and through the shot. Your body weight moving through the ball gives the shot enough power with plenty of control IF you don't add a lot of unnecessary swing to it.

If you combine moving your body weight forward along with a swing, you typically get uncontrolled power and then you lose consistency.

Look, another way to think about the purpose of the approach shot is that it's all about where you want to end up on the court after you play that 1/2 volley.

And don't ever forget that consistently good court position where you're forcing your opponent to have to hit perfect passing shots all day long is normally going to win the match.

So, the 1/2 volley is a means to an end, meaning, where do you want to end up on the court when your opponent is forced to hit that big passing shot.

I'll give up trying to hit a winner for good court position any time. Check out this video from chapter 5 of my lesson on the half volley.

The Tennis Half Volley - How to Practice

Get a practice partner to feed you some slow underhand fed balls that you have to to take on the rise and feel how your racket sort of preps to cover the eventual contact point and then move your feet through the shot with very little to now swing.

Keep your head down through contact and don't allow your eyes to "peek" at your shot until you feel your feet have truly moved through the shot.

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Follow Up To Spacing & Waiting

1 Brent Abel — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 18:51:00 GMT

Here's a follow up to what we discussed yesterday about focusing on your feet first so you can consistently get a good spatial distance away from the path of that incoming ball.

Good spacing also allows you to move comfortably forward against the ball at contact which gives you much better control of the length of your shot.

But, what I love the most about good spacing is the abilty to always move forward and then morph that forward movement into an approach shot if I look up after my shot and can see my opponent is either reaching for my shot or slightly off balance.

You can hit decent shots from time to time when you back up at contact, BUT you can never take advantage of those times when you hit a really good forcing shot if you back up.

You may have seen this video already, and if so, it's a good one to review and spend time practicing.

Yep, as the end title on the video states, I'm doing a 2 for 1 lesson sale for a couple of days only.

Take advantage of it before I pull the sale page down.

Cliam your 2 lessons for the price of 1 over at:

http://www.webtennis.net/Lesson-Special.htm

"Waiting" For The Ideal Contact Point

1 Brent Abel — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 04:11:00 GMT

After my regular Wednesday tennis match with Carlos this afternoon at the Berkeley Tennis Club, I sat down and had a great discussion with fellow member and world classs tennis writer Joel Drucker about a bunch of tennis related stuff, but what we focused on the most was what I believe that world class players have that the rest of us don't...

Natural and fearless swing timing where the racket is always delivered perfectly at the ideal point of contact and without hesitation and concern for the outcome.

Over and over and over and over again...

That is a HUGE component to being able to play well.

And being able to take out that concern of the swing timing each and every shot so we can make contact at the right time, you know, natural timing, it just frees up a player and gives that player a ton of confidence.

Look, some players like Andre and Marat have this insane gift of natural timing, but you know what, it all starts with a set up position in relation to the path of the incoming ball.

If your spatial distance away from that path of the incoming ball is not right, it's either too far away or too close to you, then God given natural swing timing goes out the window.

Let's be real. It all starts with your ability to move your feet in such a way that your first focus is on that ideal spatial distance away from the path of the incoming ball.

When was the last time you actually practiced working on being consistent with your distance away from the incoming ball?

Seeing if you can make that distance each and every time?

Once you're consistent with your spatial disatnce away from the ball, you'll start to feel this incredible sense of being able to "wait" for the ball to get into the perfect contact point for your swing.

Tell you what... Once you get that ideal distance right for you, you'll be known as a natural timer...!

Here's one of the chapters from my Forehand Groundstroke Lesson.

I hope you'll go out there in the next few days and get a practice session where you work on this stuff.

Again, nothing else matters if you're inconsistent with your spacing. You'll always be improvising, and you may be OK for awhile, but eventually it'll all break down.

What do you think? Please respond with a Comment here at the Blog.

Thanks, Brent

Brent's Forehand Groundstroke Lesson

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