Unfortunately, with all that is going on with COVID-19 and the announcement that the high school campus will be closed this summer due to construction we will NOT be able to hold our regularly scheduled 2020 tennis camps.
As disappointing and unfortunate as that is I do have some good news. I will still be available for private lessons this summer. If this is something that would interest you please get in contact with me via email info@alexslezak.com or phone for the details.
Teaching all outdoor private lessons this summer will allow for the safest, most productive and flexible way to continue playing tennis.
I appreciate all the support over the years, stay safe and please keep in touch!
If you follow the stats or Craig O’Shannessy you know that somewhere around 65% of the points played in tennis are 3 shots or less. That is a serve, return and one shot after. And no that is not a made up statistic and it is true for Men, Women and Junior players.
The serve is by far the most important shot in tennis. And I am going to venture out and say the ability to turn backhands into forehands is the second most important shot. By doing so as a server you are often able to hit an outright winner, force an error, or put your opponent in a defensive position on the 3rd shot of a point. If you are a returner it allows you to be offensive on second serve opportunities by turning those weaker serves often aimed at your backhand and make it a powerful forehand. Here is a video showing the footwork patterns of the cross-behind and cross-front needed to turn backhands into forehands.
If you were wondering what makes up the other 35% of points played here it is. About 30% of the points played are 4 total shots and just around 5% are 5 or more shots. Listen to Craig O’Shannessy and practice like the game is played. Work on the serve, return and turning backhands into forehands.
Let me introduce you to Craig O’Shannessy. He specializes in tennis strategy. I am being modest he doesn’t just specialize in it, he is the best in the world at it. He is on Novak Djkovic’s team! He is an analyst for Wimbledon, Australian Open, ATP, and the WTA. He is a data guy, he analyzed the game, and the numbers don’t lie.
He has a website called BrainGameTennis.com. I do not know Craig personally but I do know him professionally. I have learned a great deal about strategy from him and have taken almost every online course I am about to offer you access to.
Over the years Craig has created 10 courses that bring his life’s work to aspiring tennis players like you. His professional consulting was previously only available to the upper echelon of players in the professional game. I have personally taken almost every one of his courses over the years. This information I have learned as a coach has helped me tremendously. It has helped high school players win team, singles and doubles state titles. The strategies work when practiced and are applicable to all levels of the game.
Craig is putting all 10of his courses on sale for 20% off through June 15th. Right now is probably the best time to dive into this stuff because when we can get back on the court nobody is going to want to be behind a computer anymore. Finally, Craig is a solid guy and if you do purchase by clicking the link below he will give me a 50% commission on the course just for sharing it with you. And for that I am very appreciative to both you and him.
The serve is probably the hardest thing to work on at home but the trophy or power position is one thing that you can improve upon. Below is a video of some exercises I have been doing at home with an aerobic step and bands.
Also look back at the series I did on serve technique:
If you have an aerobic step at home here are some great exercises you can use to work on the ability to load and explode with the legs. And don’t forget to do your shadow swings and cover some ground laterally. This quick accelerations and decelerations are easy to practice at home and something that gets missed without playing points and sets.
This post is applies to everyone but it is aimed at those working with young kids especially. The ability to create rotational power is a natural movement pattern for the human body. In the video below I use an 8 Board (developed by fellow tennis coach Jack Broudy) to demonstrate how the hips are the engine for rotational power. Developing good tennis strokes is directly related to being efficient at this movement pattern. I am not even sure if the 8 board is still in production. I have had mine for a while but it has been a fantastic teaching tool because it allows you to feel the movement.
Now for those of you working with little ones this is my son using a full size racket hitting off an air tee in my driveway. If you put relatively heavy things in kids hands and allow them to experiment with swinging it you will be amazed at how quickly they get the rotational power movement. This is why I steer people away from light aluminum rackets and to heavier 25, 26 and sometimes even 27 inch rackets. Small light ones can be easily swung with just the arm but with something heavy the body is forced to use the hips and that is what you want for the foundation of a tennis stroke in the long term.
With beginners I often start by teaching these actions and then work my way backwards down the body into a full service motion. It is important to have power but it is even more important to have accuracy. Mastering the different types of spin on the serve is the same as learning topspin on your groundstrokes. Master spin and the percentages of balls you keep inside the lines goes way up.
The volley is an offensive shot because it takes a significant amount of time away from your opponent to reload for another groundstroke. When you volley the court distance is cut nearly in half and that means you also have to deal with less time to prepare and execute. The volley really is about deflecting the oncoming ball and in this video I explain the most advantageous and stable positioning of the wrist and shoulder to do so.
The footwork patterns in the previous post are designed to simply get you to the ball and have solid wrist and shoulder positioning. And truth be told if you understand the wrist and shoulder positioning you are after your body will naturally move in a way to allow you to get into that stable positioning quickly. Volley enough and it becomes more like a reflex.
One of the easiest ways to practice at home right now is to volley off a wall or piece of plywood. The wall never misses and you get a ton of contacts in a very short amount of time. Even Federer is doing it!
Here is a video explaining the basic footwork patterns for volleys and overheads. Another great way to practice is to shadow them exactly like I am doing here in the video. In a future video I’ll explain the upper body technique for volleys but with most of you not being able to get on the court right now shadowing the footwork can really be beneficial and a good workout.
