Tennis Drills — Brent Abel's WebTennis

Tennis Doubles Domination 2.0 by Ian Westerman

February 15, 2011 By Brent 1 Comment

I’m pleasantly impressed with online tennis professional Ian Westerman’s new course on doubles, ‘Doubles Domination 2.0″.

Why am I telling you about one of my online tennis competitors?

Simple, as we all know, we don’t have just one tennis how-to book on our bookshelf.

We’ve got a few if not a lot more. Same thing with tennis instructional DVDs.

Look, the reality is that it’s good for you to hear a different voice from time to time.

I wouldn’t alert you to a different voice if the other pro’s fundamental principles being taught went completely against my teaching style, but assuming they’re pretty darn close, hearing someone else say pretty much the same thing is a benefit to you.

I’ve just watched a free video that Ian sent me that is an introduction of what’s coming with DD 2.0.

Well organized, good instructional content, and I really liked this video.

I’m curious what you think after watching it.

DD 2.0 is not going to be available for a few more days, but in the meantime, Ian’s got 3 complimentary videos that he’s going to make available to us prior to opening up DD 2.0.

Click here to watch Ian’s 1st video.

After you watch the video, I’d really be interested in reading your feedback here in the Comments area.

Thanks in advance.

Brent

Filed Under: Tennis Drills, Tennis Tip, Tennis Tip - Doubles Return of Serve, Tennis Tip - Half Volley, Tennis Tip - Practice, Tennis Tip - Serve - Volley, Tennis Tip - Volleys, WebTennis Doubles Workshop

Tennis Groundstrokes – What Are The Geometric High Percentages?

July 15, 2010 By Brent 10 Comments

Look, you probably already know this stuff, but I’ll bet some serious $$s that you don’t spend enough time on the practice court developing a real bread and butter cross court topspin groundstroke.

You do? Each and every week developing unflappable trust and confidence? Really? Come on…

OK, I agree, there are some of you out there who are carving out practice time each and every week and grooving solid high percentage cross court forehand and backhand groundies.

Well, if that’s you, you’re in the minority of players who actually think about the geometry of the court and practice a cross court groundie so often that you’re totally surprised when you miss one in a match.

You must have this go to shot in your arsenal ready to roll at any given time.

In this video below, one of things that I didn’t mention is the pressure you put on your opponent when they figure out that you have no problem rolling another cross court solid groundie and pretty much telling your opponent…

“Hey, whaddya gonna do? I dare you to either come back cross court to me again cuz I’ll be hammering another one over there, OR, go ahead and take your chances up the line cuz you’ll open up the lower 40 for me when I go over there and drill yet another high percentage cross court groundie into that open space. Come on, whaddya got?”

And that all sounds so darn well and good, but if you’re not putting in some practice time each and every week hitting at least 10 minutes of mindless (not idiotic, but mindless in the sense that you’re not critiquing each and every groundie) cross court forehands and then another 10 minutes doing the same on the backhand, you aren’t developing the confidence and most importantly the trust of the geometry of the court.

Download Video or MP3

So, let’s get your cross court forehand and backhand beautifully organized so you can know what the specific fundamentals are that you should tinker with to insure that you’re set up to take advantage of the geometry of the court.

As you may have read in a recent post, I am just about finished with a big time update of my backhand lesson.

The new 2 DVD set is going to be ready the week of July 19. Don’t purchase the backhand lesson yet.

(And if you’ve already bought my backhand lesson, no worries, you’ll be receiving a free download version next week).

Wait until July 19 to hear the announcement for the release of the new updated backhand lesson because I will be offering a 48 hour window of opportunity where you can pick it up at a Special price that will include some great Bonuses.

In the meantime, grab your copy of my Forehand Topspin Groundstroke Lesson and let’s get started re-organizing your forehand into a dependable lean & mean never missing fighting machine…!

Brent

Brent’s Natural Topspin Forehand Groundstroke Lesson

Downloadable & DVD – Click here

Filed Under: Tennis Backhand, Tennis Drills, Tennis Strategy - Court Positioning, Tennis Tip, Tennis Tip - Backhand Groundstroke, Tennis Tip - Forehand, Tennis Tip - Practice, Tennis Tip - Topspin

Tennis Strokes – Swing Freedom – Practice Being "Smooth…"

May 5, 2010 By Brent 20 Comments

One of the most common denominators with top players, especially, top ranked world class senior players, is their ability to be smooth.

Not all of them, but there are a lot of top players where you can copy & model their ability to be smooth & have that calm look to their game.

And smooth to me is a sense that you have time to complete all of the necessary fundamentals involved in:

your initial read & react to the direction & type of your opponent’s shot,
that you have time to move your feet to get you over to the spot on the court where you’re going to eventually execute your stroke,
that you can trust your initial instinct to fully commit to the shot type & direction that you want to play,
that you have time to make any last second spacing adjustments to the path of the incoming ball,
that you have time to wait for that perfect moment when you initiate your swing,
that you have time to allow your racket and swing path to simply pass through the ball at contact without the need to fight the ball,
that you have time to allow the swing to finish to it’s complete finish position,
and that you have time to recover with your footwork back to what is now the new center of the court…

Rarely do I ever feel I have that element of time when I’m a bit too frantic, a bit too concerned about the result of my swing, and certainly if I want to hurry everything to be done right now.

One of the things I practice each and every week is a sense of being smooth…

That’s right, being smooth with my feet, the way I carry my head when I move by keeping it still, and being almost artificially smooth with my swing.

For a few world class touring players, being smooth and having incredibly natural timing is an inborn gift.

Hate to be the bearer of bad news, but most of us including yours truly, have to practice this element of swing freedom.

Practice being smooth…

Do you know the difference between when you’re a bit too over anxious out there or being smooth?

Very few of us practice this feeling. For most of us, we go out there in practice and matches and just have zero awareness if in fact we’re playing the game on balance, on time, and with a real purpose of not fighting the ball at contact.

Play with a purpose of being smooth.

Check out this video…

Download Video or MP3

So, this week, I want you to get out there on the court, and no matter what arena you’re playing, whether it’s practice, a lesson, a match, ball machine, even the backboard, take the first 10 minutes and be deliberate in being smooth with your visual contact (ever tell & eventually fight yourself to really watch the ball? I do from time to time and I can barely see it.), being smooth with your grip changes, being smooth & light with your feet, and most importantly, be artificially smooth with your swing tempo…

A smooth swing tempo to me is allowing the racket speed to start, pass through the ball, and finish with a tempo.

Not herky jerky, but allowing the tempo of the swing to have its own time.

Do you ever get the sense that Federer is scared to stay in the moment, in the tempo of whatever shot he’s playing?

I think most of us would agree that Fed looks pretty darn calm prior to, during, and at the finish of his swing.

We can practice this and we have to if we’re ever going to develop swing freedom.

Here are some things you can practice:

Feel your eyes and your facial muscles being soft, not tight or tense just prior to your opponent making contact with their shot.
Feel your hands being soft on your racket at the precise moment your opponent makes contact with their shot.
Feel your head staying still on top of your shoulders as you react to your opponent’s shot and start your initial move over to the ball.
Feel your height staying the same as you move your feet where you’re not bobbing up and down.
Feel your swing tempo being smooth and not rushed or sped up at the last second.
Begin to be aware of what things you do that make you not smooth. Practice what should be smooth…
You get the idea, carve out specific practice time for developing better smoothness, calmness, etc.

Brent

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Questions & Feedback – What’s on your mind? Let me & your fellow WebTennis players know by giving me/them your feedback below. Thanks in advance.

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Filed Under: Tennis Drills, Tennis Footwork, Tennis Mental - Competing, Tennis Mental Skills, Tennis Tip