The Lesson Lounge - Tennis Warrior

Your Link to Professional Thinking!

Winners equal power?

On this lesson let’s go over a major misconception in tennis and what the solution is to that misconception. Most players incorrectly pair winners with power! This is a misconception that gets a lot of players into trouble...winners do not mean power! It simply means hitting a shot that is not returnable! You could hit 10 miles an hour or 100 miles an hour, if the ball is hit for an angle and no one returns it, it’s a winner!

Why is this important to understand? Because most players overplay their winners! That ’s one of the main reason players lose control of their put-a-ways! For some reason when they finally have the right opportunity to win the point they abandon control and go with power! This is a key, so let me repeat it again. They abandon control and go with power! This makes them tighten up their muscles, lose their visual focus, and yes, sometimes even hold their breath!!! Somehow from holding their breath they think they’re going to gain control of the situation! They don’t, and the ball usually goes anywhere, but where they’re aiming! By the way, power is achieved by timing and rhythm, not by tightening up your muscles and trying to hit hard! Every player has done this and probably does not know the main reason why. The main reason is you’re confusing winners with power!

Now, it's all right to hit a winner with power, but you must maintain control when you do. When most players hit with power they inevitable go out side of their control range! Therefore, the solution to this problem is to tone it down a notch. The next opportunity you have to hit a winner, take your time and slow it down a little! Think about placing it for a winner, not pulverizing it for a winner!!! The interesting thing is when you think like this, you relax your body and as a result wind up hitting the ball pretty hard anyway! But, the power will come correctly from timing and rhythm!

In this situation, just like many other situations in life...... less is more!!! The next time you’re playing, give it a try. It may take you a while to acquire a feel for this technique, but you’ll be one up on your competition! Remember, they’ll still be thinking winners means power!

Tom Veneziano