Tennis Tips: Discovered By Barbara Wyatt
n pursuit of a better backhand/serve/return-ofserve/anything-to-do-with-tennis, I refuse to fall down the rabbit hole of YouTube tennis videos. During drills and lessons, I asked my pro for specific steps to better warm-ups, strategies, strokes, equipment and more. She led me to a wealth of materials that I think can help everyone, and I have outlined them below.
I
Dynamic Warm-Up and Mini-Tennis l The USTA provides a list of seventeen exercises with video instruction for the pre-match warmup. Can’t remember them all? USTA also offers a free bag tag featuring these exercises. l RacquetFit showcases tests to demonstrate how your body functions in relation to tennis moves. Can you stretch your shoulders behind your ears with your arms extended? If not, does that help or impede your serve? http://www.racquetfit.com/articles Court Movement and Strokes l International Tennis Performance Association, https://itpatennis.org/index.html, offers a 53-page eBook on tennis movements and footwork. Did you know there are four major footwork movements for the volley? Answer: jab, pivot, split step, recovery. l Watch some of the excellent online 58
instructional tennis videos. Some favorites are Gigi Fernandez, John Yandell, Will Hamilton, Serena Williams on MasterClass, Ian Westermann, Craig O’Shannessy, Jeff Greenwald, Florian Meier, and Jeff Salzenstein, Enjoy the freebies and subscribe to the in-depth training. Take notes then practise with your local pro and hitting buddy. l Steve Smith, www.greatbasetennis.com, includes podcasts and blogs to his instruction courses. Using comedian Jeff Foxworthy’s format in a blog, he writes “You know you’re a tennis player if….you go to the net for reasons other than picking up balls and shaking hands. You know you’re a tennis player if….you know that “Billie Jean” is much more than just the name of Andy Roddick’s dog.” Strategies l I have a copy of the classic tennis book, Winning Ugly by Brad Gilbert, on my bookshelf, and I recommend picking one up yourself. There is also a free mobile version online. Equipment l The USRSA, United States Racquet Stringers Association, offers a onemonth access to their members-only portal. Read an article about the ten reasons why strings break— and how to prevent it. Gain access
New York Tennis Magazine • March/April 2022 • NYTennisMag.com
to the “Racquet Selector” that makes finding the perfect new racquet effortless. You enter a wish list in eight racquet attributes (from power to head size) and weight the importance of each. The algorithm spits out racquet recommendations based on your vision of the perfect racquet. Rules l During a key match point, an opponent will cry “Hindrance!” when there is no interference. Take the free Hindrance quiz at www.iKnowTennis.com. Recovery l The ITF, International Tennis Federation, provides a library of information for treating common tennis injuries. Update your knowledge about various injuries and treatments by visiting ITFTennis.com. These are only a sampling of resources to answer the questions: “What can I do to improve my tennis game today? Got any tips, Coach?”
Barbara Wyatt is a Writer, Photographer, USTA Official, and Mobile App Developer of iKnowTennis!, the tennis rules app. Her poem, Ode to Tennis, an amusing poem on the joys and frustrations when learning tennis, is available at Amazon. She can be reached by e-mail at BarbaraW@iKnowTennis.com
