Doc's Tip of the Evening -- Strategy

A Strategy that is quite important for match play and not adapted by enough players and can be used at all levels is called SHOT TOLERANCE.
It is simply designating a number that you decide upon yourself in which you will hit that many balls into the court every single point played. Now, obviously the higher the number the better.
So lets say you decide to hit 6 balls into play every single point. That's a great strategy. You have a shot tolerance of 6. Keep in mind that tennis is a game of unknown factors. Control ONLY what you can control. If your opponent hits a winner, then accept that and go to the next point. If you have an easy ball on the second shot, put it away, that's that. Shot Tolerance is only a basis for you to have an overall strategy when you play. Your opponents will likely miss within a rally of 4 balls in most matches you play.
what do you think nadankey's shot tolerance is? dd

DOC'S COMMENTS ON FEDERER'S 6TH WORLD TITLE

I am not surprised that Federer has won his 6th end of season world title, and maybe neither are you. I believe it is because of these three main reasons:
1. The other top 3 players are physically worn out and hurt due to the longevity of the ATP season and their styles of play and emotions. (Murray, Nadal, and Djokavic.)
2. Federer is the best player on indoor hard courts.
3. Federer's style of play, technique, movement, and emotional acuity all help him continue to win and stay healthy like the EVERYREADY battery bunny.
Federer can hit more total winners with all his shots than the others, his emotions and expressions are less taxing than the others, his movement is more efficient I believe especially indoors, and physically he hits the ball with a minimal of energy which allows him to conserve energy over a longer season.
Note that Djokavic had a historic season and was completely tapped out mentally and physically after the U.S.Open. fdd

DOC'S TIP OF THE DAY -- ONE HANDED BH

If you have a difficult time hitting through your one handed backhand you must make sure you are throwing, extending or reaching back with your non-dominant arm when you contact the ball. Hitting through the ball basically means are you able to hit the ball deep into the court.
Try to straighten your non dominant arm behind you as you hit the ball. Throw it back quickly when contacting the ball. dd

Doc's Tip of the Evening -- Ball Movement at Surface Contact

Did you know that a tennis ball will slide across the surface of the court at impact when it is hit with a lot of underspin?
As the incoming rate of underspin decreases, a point will be reached where the ball begins to roll across the surface at the END of impact.
With an increasing rate of incoming topspin the ball will impact with a mixture of sliding and rolling.
At higher rates of topspin the ball will tend to roll more than slide.
Note that the ball will never fully roll upon impacting the surface of the court as today's players are not capable of generating fast enough spin rates. dd

DOC'S TIP OF THE EVENING -- PRACTICING

If you are in the learning stages of maturing into a good tennis player you must practice and play with many different levels and ages of players.
This simply means that it does not matter what level or how old or what gender you practice with.
You must understand that every time you walk out onto the court to practice you have something you can improve whether you play against someone a lot better than you or someone considerably weaker than you. In fact, it is often more productive to practice with weaker opponents as it is easier to control game situations where you can practice shots you need to improve. However, this implies that when you practice you have a purpose or a goal or goals you want to accomplish.
I do know this is true because when I was a youngster at the tennis club where I learned, I would go up to the club every day after school and on weekends and play with anybody that wanted to play. I did not care who I played with and neither should you. I became the best player in my state as a junior, one of top two juniors in the country, one of the top college players in the country and achieved a pro ranking of 125 in the world in men's singles.

DOC'S TIP OF THE DAY -- STRING TENSION

Remember these key adages that relate to strings in a tennis racquet:

a. tighter strings give you less power and more control.
b. looser strings give you more power and less control
c. string gauge does not affect power. (15g,16g,17g)
d. string tension has little effect on ball spin. dd

DOC'S TIP OF THE DAY -- WIDE FOREHAND

Remember these points when playing a wide forehand safely back into the court.

1. run at an angle behind the bounce of the ball. this will give you time to take a fuller swing at the ball.
2. try to contact around the outside of the ball.
3. try to aim back down the middle of the court and higher over the net IF your opponent is NOT approaching the net. (If your opponent is approaching you have two choices, one is to go for the heroic winner and really buggy whip it or hit a HIGH LOB.)
4. recover quickly. dd