Our home at present has been The Willston School Courts as we wait for Rob to convince Suzanne that a tennis club would fit perfectly in their backyard! We are committed to the idea that great tennis should not require great expense, we welcome everyone and believe that we all can help one another improve. The best way to improve is hit more and more balls. This is how Nick Bolleteri answered when
someone asked him how to hit like Monica Seles:
NICK'S ANSWER: Let me tell you how Seles learned to hit like Seles. At the academy she went out and hit ball, after ball, after ball. She would hit 500 to 1,000 balls all working on just one shot until she had it perfected. To hit like her, I would suggest you do the same. Keep in mind if you play doubles one or two times a week you hit probably 10,000 to 20,000 balls a year. If you play more or play some singles you reach the 20,000 to 40,000 range a year. By the way pros do this in about a month or less! Unfortunately these numbers are for all different strokes, not just one particular stroke! And there in lies the problem. You play for a year but you have probably hit only 1,500 hundred of one stroke or another. If you are like most players you have been running around your backhand to hit forehands so you probably only hit 800 to 1000 backhands a year. And you wonder why your backhand suffers! Most players hit two to three times more forehands than backhands year after year after year. I realize many of you do not have time to practice daily and hit that many balls to improve. If you just add some simple week to week ball machine practice or practice with a partner focusing on hitting just 100 balls for one stroke (that would take you about ten to fifteen minutes) you would add close to 5000 hits a year for that shot! Instead of hitting only 800 to 1000 backhands a year you could get close to 6000! What a difference that would make. If you are patient and stay with the process here is an example of what changes you will begin to feel. Let's say you are working on a backhand. At the 1000 mark you will begin feeling some strength that you did not expect. At the 2000 to 4000 range you will begin judging the ball a little better and show signs of taking some small quick steps to adjust your body position. At this point you still believe the ball you are hitting has to be in a certain spot for you to make a good shot. At the 5000 to 8000 range you begin developing better balance. Where you were clumsily falling off balance you will now feel a more controlled recovery. And you will feel like the high follow through is more automatic. At the 8000 to 10,000 mark you will begin realizing the ball does NOT have to be contacted in a perfect spot for you to make a good shot. Some times the ball may be to close to you, but all the repetition has developed some instincts you did not even know existed. You automatically adjust to the close ball and begin making shots you can not believe! Many balls are still flying out, but you are beginning to control the direction of the ball better than ever. At the 10,000 to 15,000 range the percentage of shots landing in the court increases dramatically...and you are on your way! You're excited about your results and you possess a backhand the likes of which few club players have ever seen. You now understand the power of repetition and promptly send me a box of Hershey's almond chocolate bars (my weak spot :)
In conclusion, whether you are aspiring to become a pro or just a good club player you must put in the time to achieve your goals. Everyone must go through these different phases of repetition to improve their game. THERE IS NO OTHER WAY! PLAY PLAY PLAY TENNIS!
