I trust that this, my initial dissertation on the fundamentals of tennis, will be found useful by both novices and experts alike in the tennis world. I am striving to arouse interest in the student of the game of tennis by a somewhat lengthy discussion of match play, which I hope will cast a new light on the sport of tennis.
I will turn to the novice in my opening and write of certain matters which are second nature to the skilled player. The best tennis equipment is not much good to the beginner even if he really is trying to succeed. However, one has to buy good quality; it is a saving in the end, as good quality material far outlasts poor quality gear.
It is important to always dress in tennis attire when playing tennis. The question of choosing a tennis racquet is a much more serious matter. I do not advocate forcing a certain make of racquet upon any player, since all the standard makes are excellent. However, it is on the weight, balance, and size of handle that the real value of a racquet frame depends, while good stringing is essential to get the best results.
After having selected your racquet, make a firm decision to use only quality tennis balls, as a regular bounce is a great aid to advancement, while a “dead” ball is of no use at all. If you really desire to advance at tennis and progress rapidly, I strongly recommend you to see all the good tennis you can. Study the play of the top players and try to copy their strokes. Read all the tennis instruction manuals you can find. They are a great help.
It is surprising to many people that more tennis can be picked up off the tennis court in the study of theory and in watching the top players in action, than can ever be learned in one’s own actual play. I do not advise that you should miss opportunities to play tennis, far from it. Play tennis whenever possible, but strive when playing to put into practice the theories you have read about or the strokes you have seen.
Never become discouraged by slow progress. The trick of playing some stroke you have worked at for weeks unsuccessfully, will suddenly come to you when least expected. Good tennis players are the product of hard work. Very few players are born geniuses at the game. Tennis is a game that pays you interest all your life. A tennis racquet is a letter of introduction in any town.
The brotherhood of tennis is universal, since none but a fit sportsman can succeed in the game for any long period of time. Tennis provides relaxation, excitement, exercise, and pure enjoyment to the player who is bound fast to his job until late afternoon.
The following is the order of development that produces the quickest and most lasting results: i. Concentration on the game. ii. Keep the eye on the ball. iii. Foot-work and weight-control. iv. Strokes. v. Court position. vi. Court generalship or match play. vii. Tennis psychology.
Concentration. Tennis is played first with the mind. The best racquet technique invented will not suffice if the directing mind is wandering. There are many causes of a distracted mind in a tennis match. The main one is lack of interest in the game. No one should play tennis with any hope of real success unless he cares enough about the game to be willing to do the spadework necessary to learn the game correctly.
Give it up at once unless you are willing to work hard. Conditions of play or the noises in the gallery often confuse and bewilder experienced match-players playing in new surroundings. Complete concentration on the matter in hand is the only cure for an erring mind, and the sooner the lesson is learned the more rapid the improvement of the player.
The best way to keep a match in mind is to play for every set, every game in the set, every point in the game and, finally, every shot in the point. A set is merely a collection of made and missed shots, and the man who misses the least is the ultimate victor.
If you are a beginner tennis player or are interested in tennis apparel, just go to our site entitled Tennis Tips for Beginners Also published at Tennis Fundamentals.
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Tennis psychology is the same as understanding the make-up of your opponent’s mind and assessing the effect of your own strategy on his/her head and also understanding the psychological effects resulting from the various external causes on your own mind.
However, it is also true that you no one can be a successful psychologist of others without first understanding his own mental processes. Therefore, you must study the effect on yourself of the same thing occurring under various circumstances. This is because you react differently in different moods and under different circumstances.
You must realize the effect on your game of the resulting irritation, joy, confusion, or whatever other form your reaction is. Does it increase your prowess? If so, strive for it, but never offer it to your opponent. Does it rob you of concentration? If so, either remove the cause, or if that is not possible, strive to ignore it.
After you have properly judged your own reaction to conditions, study your opponents to decide their characters. Similar characters react in a like manner, and you may judge people of your own sort by yourself. Opposite characters you must try to liken with those people, whose reactions you are already familiar with.
Someone who can control his/her own mental processes has an excellent chance of reading those of someone else for the minds works along certain lines of thought and can be studied. One can only control one’s own mental processes after studying them very carefully .
The steady, unemotional baseline player is seldom a quick thinker. If he was, he would not adhere to the baseline. The physical appearance of a player is often a fairly clear indicator of his/her sort of mind. The stolid, easy-going player, who normally displays the baseline strategy, does it because he does not want to stir up his/her torpid mind to work out a reliably safe strategy of getting to the net.
However, then there is the other type of baseline player, who would prefer to stay on the rear of the court while supervising an attack intended to break up your game. He is a much more dangerous player and a deep, keen thinking antagonist. He obtains his/her results by mixing up his/her length and direction and worrying you with the variety of his/her game. This player is a very good psychologist.
The first kind of tennis player mentioned above just strikes the ball without much idea of what he is really doing, while the latter always has a solid, thought-out plan and sticks to it.
If you are a novice tennis player or are interested in the general psychology of tennis, please go to our website called Tennis Tips for Beginners This article, Basic Tennis Psychology (Part 1) is released under a creative commons attribution licence.
Filed under Uncategorized by on Sep 8th, 2010. Comment.
If you already take part in tennis, then I imagine that you already know what tennis players wear, so this article is aimed at those individuals who would like to buy tennis kit for a loved one for a special occasion. After all, it is not as straightforward as it seems to obtain sports wear for the participant of a sport you understand nothing about.
There is a certain image we tend to associate with a tennis player: white Polo top with shorts or skirt and matching shoes. They are fashionable and elegant, comfortable and characteristic at the same time. Items of tennis attire often signify a great deal to people who are not just sports fans. If the person you shop for is a tennis lover, tennis kit becomes a fantastic gift that could also be quite reasonably priced in spite of the rumors that it costs a great deal.
In case tennis attire is something unfamiliar to you, Google it over the Internet and you will be amazed to see how much information there is on hand. Very many forums will tactfully let you know you about prices and deals going on at an assortment of retail shops and online dealers.
They will also provide you with information as to which marques are considered the best, which are considered the least hard-wearing and reliable, which are affordable and which more than usually dear .
What many tennis clothes users suggest is that you procure the sort of top or shirt that would make you feel most comfortable and that will permit the very wide angled movements that are peculiar to the performance of this sport. For instance, the shorter the sleeves of your tennis kit, the freer the swing during the game. Some purchase tennis attire also according to the season in which they intend to play. Still others go for the materials that can be worn in both warm and cold seasons.
They firmly believe that the tennis kit ought to keep them both warm and cool at the same time. As far as the t-shirts for men are concerned, you must know that most players speak of Polo shirts in very high terms, as the collar offers you some neck protection from the sun’s rays.
Advice about tennis attire like that above are to be had on very many web sites. If you are not quite sure what to go for when purchasing your friend a gift, then you can always inveigle him or her to have a discussion about his or her favourite sport. Using a little guile, you will surely be able to direct the discussion to a related topic that interests you, that is tennis clothes. Making it all look like casual chit-chat would not make him or her guess what you have in mind for the special occasion.
If you are a beginner tennis player or want to know more about the general psychology of tennis, please go to our site entitled Tennis Tips for Beginners
Filed under Uncategorized by on Sep 6th, 2010. Comment.