How To Play Tennis

A Step-By-Step Guide for the Tennis Beginner

Tomaz Mercinger, a teaching pro for the last 12 years, has developed a series of videos to make learning to play tennis a snap for the tennis beginner.

Enjoy the game without the expensive tennis coaching lessons that produce robotic strokes. The techniques in the videos show “how to speed the motor learning process, so that you improve much faster than beginners normally do.”

Tomaz’ How to Play Tennis guide consists of 3 main packages:

1. How to Play Tennis on The Baseline

2. How to Serve and Return

3. How to Play Tennis at The Net

The whole guide of tennis instructions includes 37 videos plus additional videos. You can get each instruction package separately. If your main area of concern is baseline tennis or the tennis return of serve, it’s possible to select the package of tennis basics for those areas.

To check out the total of 49 learning videos and have a look at How to Play Tennis: A Step-by-Step Guide for The Tennis Beginner click here.

A Touchy Subject - Learning The Lob

Beginners and experienced players, for that matter, can have problems with executing the lob. The lob requires touch along with precision. A lob is a high launch of the ball landing, hopefully, between the service-line and the baseline. An excellent lob should be within 6 feet of the baseline.

Tennis lob shots are mostly defensive. The strategy involved in lobs are: (1) to give yourself time to recover position when pulled out of court by your opponent's shot; (2) to drive back the net man and break up his attack; (3) to make your opponent run and tire him/her; (4) on occasion to win cleanly by placement. This is ordinarily a lob volley from a close net rally, and is a slightly different stroke

It takes a lot of split second calculating, judgment and executing to pull off a well placed lob. Practicing the lob for the beginner or intermediate player will help hone their skill.

A chop lob is a shot with heavily under-cut spin that hangs in the air. It is a defensive lob, as it goes high and gives plenty of time to recover position. The flat lob is hit with a slight top spin. This is the point-winning lob since it gives no time to, the player to run around it, as it is lower and faster than the chop. In making this lob, start your swing like a drive, but allow the racquet to slow up and the face to tilt upward just as you meet the ball. This, shot should seldom go above 10 feet in the air, since it tends to go out with the float of the ball.

In practicing a defensive lob, one should strive to hit balls that should rise from 20 to 30 feet or more and land deep. In a match it is better to lob out and run your opponent back, thus tiring him, than to lob short and give him confidence by an easy kill. The value of a lob is mainly one of upsetting your opponent, and its effects are very apparent if you unexpectedly bring off one at the crucial period of a match.

Tennis Lesson Plans

There’s one thing that is a given, to develop or improve a tennis game practice is a priority. Ground strokes, volleys, serves, and court positioning will all benefit from lessons and drills. And we must not forget tennis is a mental battle as well as physical, being a battle of wills. It is also a test of stamina which means conditioning should be incorporated in any routines.

Tennis lesson plans can fit specific age groups, the level of play of individuals and specific drills. Routines for all aspects of tennis are suggested to develop an overall and complete game. Some lessons can Include:

Tennis Lesson Plans

Cross-court and Down the Line

Forehand Crosscourts

Hit to one corner-baseline

Hit to one corner-net

Passing Shot

Two on one with one person on the baseline

Up and back overhead drill

Serve and Volley Cross-Court

Serving to Cones

Volley on backboard

Footwork

Lobs

Conditioning

It's been said many times - plan your work, then work your plan. Tennis certainly can benefit from such a course of action. The foundation for a successful tennis game lies in excellent and fun practice routines with a little diligence thrown in for good measure.

It's natural that each individual will have strength and weaknesses. If a player has an obvious weakness, don't be shy about creating time to improve upon it. Opposing players will take advantage and pounce on the weak point in a heartbeat.

Working on the strategies, getting mentally tough, and keeping confidence at a high level are very important for performance. In fact, these are regarded by many as pivotal and necessary before physical execution can reach there full potential.

All the lessons, in the end, will aid in developing consistency. Winning is usually a product of more points won on your opponent’s mistakes than your outright winners. Striking a balance between risk taking and avoiding unforced errors is always part of the game. Consistency, though, is a very important part of the formula for successful tennis.