Playing Tennis: Practice Makes Perfect!

As any coach will tell you when playing tennis, "Practice, Practice... Practice Makes Perfect."

The easiest way to learn different strokes in playing tennis is to practice. Take a dozen or so balls on the court to start and just practice hitting the balls over the net.

Many beginners don't practice when they first start playing tennis and miss out on learning their strokes well. They immediately jump into playing the game and the goal becomes to just get the ball across the net "any ole way". This creates many problems and bad habits that once learned are hard to break.

Your goal should always be to learn your strokes well first through practice. Keep in mind that there is plenty of time for playing tennis matches once you have learned the basics. Not only will you be a better competitor when you are ready to play with others, you will gain self confidence very quickly as you become more experienced.

Bad Habits to Avoid
Bad habits that beginners tend to display by playing tennis before putting in the needed practice:

• Doesn't learn to anticipate where the ball will drop, thus the timing of the return hit will be off.
  
  
• Hurrying the shots which will cause you to over run the ball. 
  
  
• Not taking the proper swing and position.
  
  
• Plays using the easiest strokes necessary to return the ball instead of gaining experience and practice on weak strokes.
  
  

Playing Tennis - Practice Rewards
By practicing more from the start, you will learn:

• To make your strokes more correctly.
  
  
• To judge the ball, at the right time and distance.
  
  
• Gain self confidence in correctly made strokes, thus dispelling the anxiety or need to hurry.
  
  
• Learns angles of the court and better control over the ball.
  

In playing tennis one must anticipate where the ball will land and judge what position and stroke is best for hitting the ball.

For the beginner I recommend dropping the ball and hitting it over the net instead of practicing against a wall. The reason being that you learn to get the right height needed on each shot, along with practice on getting the ball over the net. You are in a much better position of learning the different angles of the court, not so when hitting against the wall.

Once you've had a little practice on the court you may want to determine your tennis goals. Create a journal for your goals, track and document your strengths and weaknesses, find your mental toughness level, and start regular drill strength training exercises. There are a variety of aerobic and strength training exercises you can do in the comfort of your home, on the court, or at the gym.

Good luck on the court!

Lissy Donovan

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