Four Steps to Improving Your Tennis Game By Carl Nielsen At Isnare.com Ezine Articles

The origins of the modern game of Tennis (known as Lawn Tennis) trace back to the late 19th century in England. After its initial rise in popularity with the French nobility, tennis spread throughout Europe, becoming particularly popular in England. As in France the game became recognised as the sport of kings. Henry VIII was a very keen player and built a court at his palace in Hampton Court, still used today by Real Tennis enthusiasts.

In those days Tennis was generally played on a natural grass court using wooden racquets strung with cow’s gut. Whilst court surfaces and racquet string technology have changed throughout the years, the fundamentals of the game have remained unchanged.

Developing your own game to the best of your ability requires attention to four main areas of the game.

The first area is technique. Technique is simply the method by which one hits the ball, and is the most fundamental aspect of the game. If a player does not possess the skill to be able to hit the ball and have it reach the other side of the net, then there is no possibility to progress to the other areas of the game.

A coach will normally teach a particular technique be applied to the various strokes that can be used in the game, such as the Serve, Volley, forehand and backhand strokes. Technique can also be somewhat individual to the player, depending on their physical stature and natural playing tendencies. Although a coach may teach all of his students the same technique, a player has their own individual style which will eventually shine through. The John McEnroe serve is an example of this.

The next fundamental area of the game of Tennis is playing the ball. Put simply, for every ball that is hit over the net, there is an appropriate shot to be played back. A coach will teach a return shot designed to achieve the best advantage for the player making the shot, and to put the receiving player at the most disadvantage.

The third area is playing the opponent. This area is the observance of the opponent’s style and ascertaining strengths and weaknesses in their game. Some left handed players inevitably have a stronger style of play on that side than a right handed player does, whilst others may have a stronger backhand side. Equally some players are stronger on hitting the ball well from the back of the court, but may not be confident approaching the net. Others may have a weak serve accompanied by strong volleying skills, whilst some players may have a well rounded game, without any particular strengths or weaknesses.

The fourth area is where the ball is playing you. This is the most advanced stage of tennis where there is simply focus on the ball and allowing all other three stages to flow naturally. One could say that a tennis player is one who has developed themselves through these four stages of the game and arrived at their natural ability.

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