Work as a formidable team at net!

Work as a fearsome twosome at net 

Everyone knows that the game of doubles is all about rushing and crushing the net. Rushing and crushing the net is the only way to finish points quickly.  In a game of doubles, when you are either the returner or the server you want to move in as soon as possible.  In a previous post, I discussed how to move into the net. In this post, I will cover how you and your partner can work as a team to be as ferocious and effective as possible.  When you are moving into net, it is essential that your partner know you are  coming up to the net. It is important for your partner to know you are on the move  as a shot could be hit to your side of the court that you can't reach if you are too far back. If that's the case your partner may want to cross over to cover it for you.  While at the net, you need to assess and utilize each other's strengths when determining who will cover which shots. When both of you are at net and a shot goes down the middle between you, this is often referred to as the husband and wife zone. No one is sure who is going to take balls hit in that area and more often than not those shots end up as winners for your opponents. Always make a plan for who will take it. In general, whosever forehand it is should be the one who poaches and pounds that volley. In addition, once both of you are at the net, you are vulnerable and suspect to lobs. As a team, you need to determine  who is going to cover the lobs. As a rule of thumb, it should be the person who is in the best position to hit either a forehand overhead or a forehand, defensive, on the run  shot. Alternatively, the person who is further back may want to be the one who covers lobs as they don't have as far to run.  A fourth concern when both of you are at the net is what to do when your partner is pulled out wide.  I usually say that you should cover the middle but cheat towards the opposite end of the court that your partner was pulled towards. Essentially, you need to be prepared to cover three quarters of the court ( sorry about that but it is a workout, right) 

Try it these suggestions and let me know how it works out for you. Did you feel you were more effective in winning points at the net when accounting for coverage? Email me at info@elftennis.com with your thoughts. 

Cross training through rollerblading

Cross training through rollerblading

Alas, we can't always play tennis every single day . However, there are other physical activities that can partake in that will help us build up some of the skills essential for tennis.  In this post, I will discuss another sport that can help you build up tennis skills: rollerblading. I love roller blading; it's exhilarating rapid spurts of uncertainty. I love gliding and turning and such. Rollerblading does a number on the quads  When making turns on sharp hare pin curves, rollerblading forces you to really bend your knees and shift your body weight closer to the ground. This skill is transferable to tennis. Often in tennis, we are required to bend our knees and get down low for certain kinds of balls such as sliced shots. In addition, we need to always be shifting our weight lower to the ground instead of pulling up our body weight and thus making the balls sail long.

In addition, roller blading involves the turning and twisting of our bodies when we change directions and turn around sharp corners. In tennis, we utilize a similar motion when we are preparing to hit our shots. Prior to hitting a ball, we must turn our body to be able to see the incoming ball.

Furthermore, rollerblading allows you to work on your balance and weight transfer. These skills are essential  to the development of your tennis game. Balance and weight transfer our essential for the serve ( moving into) and for potent ground strokes.

By doing cross training activities, one can develop the muscle memory needed for certain skills in tennis. We can train our muscles to acclimate to certain tasks.

For more information on my tennis instruction, email info@elftennis.com.

Move more often during the day to improve your fitness

How to be mobile throughout the day 

A NY Times article postulated that one can be labeled as sedentary even if they do 5,000 steps a day  if your movement is limited to only that one hour of exercise. Essentially, if you workout for an hour but then spend the rest of the day lounging on your ass you won't feel the benefits of exercise ( rocking a hot body, getting stronger and being able to last more than half an hour without being short of breath) 

In this blog post, I will discuss different ways you can become more mobile throughout the day even if you work a job that requires you to be sedentary. 

Here are 10 ways all you sluggers you can make yourself more mobile throughout the day. Please don't laugh at my suggestions and feel free to implement your own ideas into the day. 

(1) Walk while you talk on the phone. Hmm for the gibber gabbers of the world is could add a while lot of steps into your daily output, 

(2) If cooking or doing another task while standing up, move your feet up and down and back and fourth. 

(3) While sitting hold in your stomach and your butt for intervals of 10-20 seconds for one full hour . This will help sculpt your muscles and is great for people with jobs that require them to sit for extended periods of times ( kudos t you guys, I don't know how I could manage that). 

(4) Take the stairs instead of the elevator. Should be obvious why! 

(5) Park far away from your destination, don't take the closest space available. This way you get to get some walking into your day. If your in a city with scant parking spaces this should be easy to implement. 

(6) Walk quickly to increase your hear rate and challenge yourself. 

(7) Spread out workouts throughout the day even if you can only fit in short intervals. Have that ten minutes that your waiting for your co workers to arrive at the meeting.- do some sit-ups. 

(8) Wear outfits that are too small to force yourself to suck your stomach in. Just be careful not to rip your pants! Wearing loose clothing allows us to relax our stomach muscles. 

(9) Volunteer for any chores like bringing in the mail, taking out the garbage, or walking the dogs. Extend your walks. 

(10) Don't go to the nearest bathroom and walk to a colleague's office to talk to them instead of texting or emailing them. 

Stay tuned for my next blog post on cross training workouts for tennis. 

Communication in doubles

Here is a dosage of tennis instruction from the funky tennis chic (aka me). Communication is essential in the tennis game of doubles. And yes, communication is more than just telling your partner cliched phrases like ,"stay with it" or "next point".  Solid communication amongst two members of a doubles team leads to a synergistic pair of players; each one knows the other one's exact game plan and is able to adjust their actions accordingly. Communication occurs between points, on changeovers, and sometimes during points. This blog post addresses what topics needed to be discussed so that synchronization can occur. Poor communication will result in poor court coverage and thus points unnecessarily lost. So, listen carefully.

The intention of switching sides is an absolute essential that needs to always be conveyed. If, during a point you are moving sides ( I.e. you are returning on the deuce court but move over to the ad court or are the net player on the ad court and poach over to the deuce side) you must tell your partner to switch. If, the command of switch is not called out then both players will be positioned on one side of the court and leave the other side of the court completely open. A shot that otherwise may have been returnable could zoom past both players, leaving both of you stunned. So, an easy switch is beneficial. Of course, the command to switch and the switch itself must occur as soon as the player knows that they are going to move sides.

Mine or yours.  Sometimes, a shot comes your way that is retrievable by both players. In this instance, it is vital to call out "mine" or "yours". Yes, someone must claim the shot quickly, the shot is not like the last piece of cake. As a general rule, the player who is in the position to hit a forehand should take the shot. If the shot in question is both people's forehands,then the player who is feeling more confident and has been playing better should step up to the plate. 

Leave it (it's going out). Sometimes players can anticipate that a ball is going to sail out. If this is the case, it's important to yell out "leave it" or "let it go". Why extend the point if you don't need to do so? 

These are basic ideas and tenets to convey to your partner. Here are some more complex strategic moves that also need to be communicated in order for your partner to adjust their positioning. 

Where you may place serves.  Obviously, we aren't pros and can't always accurately predict our serve placement. However we can try. Serve placement has a large impact on where your partner will position themselves at the net. In general your partner should align themselves with your serve as the serve is likely to be returned on a straight path. If your partner serves down the tee, then you as the volleyer should position yourself closer to the middle. Knowing your partner's service target makes the difference between being able to put away that oh so easy sitter and getting passed and forcing your partner to scramble at the baseline. 

In addition, it is crucial,as the volleyer, to let your partner know if you plan on poaching over to the side of the net. If you unsuccessfully poach, your partner then will be able to anticipate that and cover the court accordingly. 

Where you plan on moving after you serve.  Sometimes, players vary their positioning in order to give the opponents a different look and force the opponents to change their tactics, return differently and thus break up their rhythm. The most common variation of formations is when the server stands close to the middle of the baseline and the net player squats  close to the tee. After the serve is in play, each of the players moves accordingly. The returner and net player may reverse sides ( so the server who has been in the deuce court may now be in the ad court and vice versa). Obviously, you need to communicate with your partner which side you are going to move or you will leave an obvious hole and target for your opponents. 

Do you plan on putting up a lob on the return of serve? Sometimes players decide to lob over the net man on a return. This is a counter intuitive yet potent move. Lobbing over the net player forces the returner to move to the opposite end of the court and hit their weaker shot. It also pushes the returner backs and prevents the returner from rushing the net. However, you must let your partner know of your intention. There is the possibility that the net player may make the overhead and your partner must be prepared for this possibility ( who wants a bruise after the match from a crushing overhead). 

When you plan on targeting a net player. This is an underutilized but sometimes effective tactic. Often, the net player may be the weaker player. In addition, lengthy baseline rallies may be prevalent and the net player may not be fully alert and more likely to make an error that the baseline. However, the baseline must tell his partner partner of his intention to do this so that the net player can be prepared for a crushing volley to blasted at him. The net player can then prepare to retreat backwards if needed. 

Your intention to serve and volley. Yes, I know this sounds intimidating for some. If you plan on rushing the net, it is essential to alert your partner. If both of you are going to be at the net, it is essential to be positioned slightly further back in order to cover lobs. 

Encouragement, encouragement, encouragement. This is a delicate matter. It is very difficult to tap into someone's emotional aura. Unless you know your partner well, it is risky to tell them to "calm down" or "focus" or "we can do this" as you don't rally know how these statements will be received. Instead, if you see your partner struggling or rattled ask them, "how can I help you" or " what can we do better" to alter the focus away from their emotional troubles and back to the game without making a judgement. 

Hope this post will help you in your next doubles game . Good luck. Stay tuned for my next blog post on cross training workouts. For more information on my tennis instruction email info@elftennis.com or check out www.elftennis.com.