Tennis in Marin: Warming Up
Warming Up
The safest way to warm up before playing tennis seems to be to have both players stand on the service line and tap the ball on one bounce back and forth. This allows you to warm up your hand/eye coordination and find good contact without risking a painful mis-hit with a full swing.
For some players this is not easy. Many players today are taught to take a full swing the first time they step onto the court. If your opponent prefers too warm up from the baseline, be sure to swing slowly and watch the ball closely to avoid mis-hitting the ball with a full swing.
It is best not to do anything quickly until you have broken a sweat. Overdressing at the start helps. Some like to jog a few laps around the court. Some like to take a few practice swings without the ball.
Another good idea is to do some stretching exercises before even picking up the racket. Warming up is always fun if you have some buddies. For kids, its good to take tennis lessons with other kids or do a tennis camp in Marin.
If you would like more information, check out our website at Dave Kregel Tennis Academy
Marin Tennis: Serving in Singles and Staying Back
SERVING IN SINGLES
Serve and Stay Back: Many tennis players stay behind the baseline after they serve and depend upon their opponent’s errors to win points. Players with powerful ground strokes will hit the ball deep and crosscourt until their superior strokes prevail. Players without powerful strokes but are very quick and agile often just get everything back and rely on frustrating their opponents. Other players just rely on strategy (spin, change of pace, moon balls, unreturnable serves or luring their opponents into hitting their weakest shots).
A highly successful tennis strategy is to wait for your opponent to hit a short or weak shot and then attack. Here are three good ways to attack a short ball (one that lands near the service line).
The most popular is to hit it over the lowest part of the net(the center strap) with enough topspin to keep it in the court. It works best when you have an angle and you are standing still. Your goal is to hit a winner and end the point. At our tennis club in Marin county, we have created drills that will perfect this shot.
If you have to hit the short ball on the run, it is safer to hit it flat, straight ahead, and deep. Your goal is to follow it to the net and put away the volley. This shot is called an approach shot and is best taken on the rise. It has a short backswing and a short followthru. You should move in with the racquet back, holding your volley grip.
The third shot is the dropshot. It should be used sparingly, never on the big points, It works best as a surprise and when your opponent is far behind the baseline.
If you like any of this strategies and would like more information or would like to schedule a lesson,
please call me at (415) 515-7724 or visit our tennis club in marin website