I know that there are a lot of tennis how to videos out there. I think it might be good for our club to share some of our methods that have been proven to work. In this beginner series we will be working on the number one best tennis activity for beginners, which quite frankly doesn't get much attention from the videos i've seen.
The best activity for beginners and even intermediates is to work on is control. In my personal opinion control will beat power 100% of the time. Yes, it's good and fun to hit the ball hard. But if you're only making 3-4 out of 10 shots in a match you're on the losing side of the ratios. If you can learn to control the ball you can hit the ball anywhere you want. It won't matter how hard your opponent can hit the ball, if you can redirect the ball using, you guessed it.... CONTROL, you can dictate the points.
This activity may seem a little un-tennis like. However, it is the best activity to build your control and feel over the ball. It is also a very basic activity, but don't let that fool you. It can be very tricky at first.
For this activity you will need a racquet, a ball, and a small (solid ground) space. Stand in a nice comfortable position, hold the racquet like a hammer. Now bounce the ball on the ground, tap the ball up to yourself, let it bounce on the ground and repeat.
Sounds pretty basic right!?... There's a catch. YOU CAN'T MOVE! Not even a little shuffle.
See how many in a row you can do before you either lose control of the ball or move your feel.
I can hear there are a few people saying what has this activity got to do with tennis? You never tap the ball up to yourself in tennis, why should we practice this. Firstly you're absolutely right, you never do this in tennis. However the skills needed for tennis are taught through this very simple activity. One thing I say to my beginner students, "If you can't control the ball to yourself, how do you expect to control the ball to your partner over the net".
I understand this is a very basic activity with no real relation to a tennis swing. However, if you can learn to build control through this activity. You will be very grateful when it comes time to learn the swing.
Check out the vid below to see how it's done!
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