TM: Early Preparation -- Easier Said Than Done?

Here's another great tip from Tomaz.


By Tomaz Mencinger
TennisMindGame.com

Racquet back early - but when?

We've all heard the common instruction to "Take your racquet back" as soon as you recognize where the ball is going.

The problem with this instruction is that it makes your think too much (Self 1), and you lose perception of the ball. The result - you don't hit it well and you think that you did something wrong.

Negative emotions come into play and that's not good for your game, to say the least.

The other problem is that by quickly taking your racquet back you make a jerky movement and you disrupt the fluid motion of your body. You also cannot time the contact well.

I'm not a brain expert, and I cannot explain why that is, but from my 10-year experience of teaching tennis I sure can affirm that that is what happens.

Now what to do?

Here's one of the ways that I use with the players to help them prepare early: When the ball flies from your opponent's racquet, it flies over the net, bounces on the ground and flies again to you.

So there are two arcs - one before the bounce and one after the bounce.

What you need to do is to imagine that your racquet is somehow connected with the ball. And when the ball is flying in it's first arc (before the bounce) you need to follow it with your racquet.

The closer the ball gets to the bounce point, the more it "pushes" your racquet back.

So you move your racquet back in harmony with the incoming ball.

After the ball bounces, you will automatically move your racquet forward at the right moment.

Practice following the ball with your take back move and you'll notice you have more time to set up and hit the ball.

Enjoy your game!


Copyright 2006, Tomaz Mencinger -- all rights reserved worldwide

Tomaz Mencinger is the author of The Mental Manual for Tennis Winners and an athletic consultant who works with nationally ranked juniors at the Benc Sport tennis club in Ljubljana, Slovenia.