Chisago Lakes Tennis

Tennis Training Steps:

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The 4 main strokes in tennis are: groundstrokes, volleys, half-volleys, and serves.  It is important to progress through these shots carefully, establishing good habits as we go.

 

The progression for our training through intermediate level is as follows:

1) Develop good form for students groundstrokes using continental (or hammer) grip (static position).

2) Teach them to rotate their grips slightly to an eastern grip while hitting forehand and backhand groundstrokes and at the same time making sure they maintain the good habits from step 1.

3) Start to introduce the students to volleys while they are in a static position at the net.

4) Start to move the students while they are drilling on their groundstrokes; drills will include side to side movement as well as front to back movement.

5) Continue work on their volleys by now feeding them harder shots for both their forehand and backhand volleys.

6) Introduce them to rallying with a partner using their groundstrokes; all the while making sure they move properly and do NOT lose any of the good habits they are developing for those groundstrokes.

7) Start to introduce them to half-volleys (only if they totally understand the mechanics of a good volley).

8) Introduce them to serves.

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Groundstrokes First:

Here is an explanation to parents about the approach for beginners:

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I'll start by explaining what we're looking for in these first stages:

1) Muscle memory and bad habits.  One of the reasons we stress good form so much is that it's harder to break bad habits than to start with a clean slate.  We also 100% agree with another coach who stated "we're always practicing something."  In other words if students are not practicing proper form, they will undoubtedly be practicing bad form.  This bad form then becomes the bad muscle memory they will have to break in time if they ever want to become great tennis players.

2) We are first of all primarily working on our groundstrokes.  These are the primary strokes taken at the baseline.  These baseline shots establish the first building blocks for students.  Later we will work on volleys, half-volleys, and serves.  But we need to start somewhere and groundstrokes are the place to start.  

3) When we talk about grips, there are several different grips we can use.  They have been labeled throughout the years by terms: continental, eastern, western, etc.  So as not to complicate things for new students just starting out, I tend to have them all start with the continental grip.  The continental grip is also the only grip to be used for volleys and serves, so getting comfortable with it helps for those strokes.  We also want our students to grip their rackets at the end of the handle and not choke up.

4) OK, now for the main 3 things we are looking for in the GROUNDSTROKES: turn, have the racket back with the butt end pointing forward, and swing low-to-high.

            a) We want the students to turn and commit to the shot.  If you watch pros play, you will see them turn if they have time and not so if they don’t have time.  Either way, they commit their core to the shot.  Since we are feeding our students by hand at a slow pace, they have plenty of time to turn and commit.  By learning this now, they will start to develop the habit of turning their core.  This habit will go with them when they are advancing and are more rushed in a shot.

            b) Sooner or later they need to get their racket back before coming forward to hit the ball.  We tell the students to pretend the butt end of their racket is a flashlight and they want to have their flashlight shining forward towards the opponent before hitting.  When they go to hit the ball, the racket will go from being back to snapping forward to the contact position, but they must get the racket back to begin with.

            c) Their primary swing path for groundstrokes needs to be low-to-high.  This means that they load up for the shot with the racket behind them in a low position, and butt end forward, and then stroke through the contact point and finish high.  We tell them to make their neck the target for the completion location of their swing path.

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Another helpful practice they can do to facilitate the proper swing path for forehands is to pretend there is a desk in front of them right before hitting the ball.  They will want to place their hand on top of that pretend desk as they turn and get their racket back.  Then as they go to hit the ball and stroke low-to-high, that front hand will naturally follow around as the body turns through the shot.  They can end by catching their racket at their neck.

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We are teaching them to use both hands for their backhands so in this case we tell them to turn and show the back of their leading shoulder to their opponent.  In doing this the racket is forced back and ready to swing.  Their swing path is still low to high and up to their neck.

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For a great look at how both the forehand and backhands should be constructed, take a look at the following videos of Federer and Djokovic.  Watch how both players turn when they have time.  Then watch how much they turn their rackets so the butt end of it is pointing forward.  And then watch when the racket comes in contact with the ball.  The face of the racket is slanted so that it imparts tremendous top spin on the ball.  And then note how they carefully watch the ball. 

My advice: imitate these guys!  They will both go down as being a couple of the best players of all time.  Here's the links: