Tennis is a super fun game that has been dominating our televisions all summer long, as with many sports, after watching so much of it on TV many people cannot wait to go out and play it for themselves. I started playing tennis a few years ago for this exact reason and shortly after Andy Murray won Wimbledon, I couldn’t wait to get out on the court to see what all the fun was about, naturally, I was not very good.
I enlisted the help of Chase Rubin tennis coach and all round good guy to help me improve my tennis and I wanted to share with you a few of the tips and tricks which he taught me that helped me to improve so much.
Wall Games
You don’t need a court to improve your tennis skills and one of the best ways of practicing and making sure that your hand-eye co-ordination is on point, is to practice against a wall. The beauty of playing against a wall is that the ball will always come back to you and it will do so at a variety of speeds and angles. This helps you greatly with reaction speeds as well as dexterity and understanding how the ball moves when it comes at you.
Play Better
If you are a member of a tennis club, I would urge you to play with people who are better than you, providing that they let you of course. When you play with someone who is considerably better than you, it forces you to up your game, if nothing else than out of embarrassment. Most strong tennis players will try their best to help those who are looking to improve and not only will you be tested and pushed into strange positions, you will also learn a great deal from the people that you play with.
Take Coaching
If you are able to take some coaching then I would recommend that you do so as it will drastically help your game. Tennis coaches train people of all ages and all abilities and they will be more than ready to take your game to the next level. Ensure that you are practicing hard in between coaching sessions and that you are listening and trying to do what the coach says. After just a few weeks with a professional coach, your game will change dramatically.
Work On Weakness
There is a tendency in tennis to play around your weaknesses so that you do not need to exhibit them, instead, you should be intentionally working on these weaknesses. For example, I struggled greatly with my backhand and I would run around it to play a forehand shot wherever possible. I suddenly realised however that my backhand would never improve if I didn’t use it and so I instead decided to take every opportunity toppled a backhand shot, as you can imagine, after much embarrassment, it improved greatly.
Whatever your ability may be, get out there and play some tennis!