Well today, I have another “HEAVY HITTER” on board, USPTA/PTR Tennis Professional, David Brouwer.  In this episode, the 5-time state state pro of the year and director of THREE tennis facilities discusses how to stay in the mysterious “Zone” not only as a tennis player, but as an athlete and as a person. There are also a couple of great questions as well from a couple of our listeners.

I am personally interested in our conversation with David, because applying mental toughness strategies to my own game is what really turned me around as a player.

If you are not familiar with the term “The Zone,” it is the mental state that you are in when you are playing some of your best tennis otherwise known as “Treeing” in tennis slang terms.

While in the zone, we tend to stay relaxed, confident and are aware of the things that are going on around us with little effort, so it seems. Things seem to be happening in slow motion

So what can we learn from our conversation on the podcast? 

Think about the pros. How does Federer look when he is down set point or even match point?  He goes through the same rituals, and the look he has on his face is the same as it was at the start of the match. He doesn’t hold back, he plays the game he knows that he owns and that has done so well with over the last 10 years.  Sure he is going to miss, but he does not let that stop him.

You can do this with you game as well.  No matter your level.  Do what you know you can do and throw everything else away and you will be fine.

Listener Questions

The first question comes from Luke who sounds like he does not like it when players come to the net.

 Luke asks what drills can I do that will help me against those aggressive net players

Now remember, when we play tennis we want to think about setting ourselves up for the next shot and not trying to “WIN THE POINT” with each and every shot like we discussed in episode 002 of the podcast.

Well, the first thing, with my father in-laws rational thinking cap on is to………. Keep them away from the net ( what they like) as much as you can for starters so you don’t have to worry about them being there in the first place. This means:

1. HIT BALLS DEEPER and there are two main ways to keep the ball deeper

1. Hit the harder (not a good idea)


2. Hit them higher (a great idea)

Not only will a high ball land deeper, but it will bounce up more.  A harder ball will stay in your opponents strike zone.

Now I want to throw this in, just because I get this answer a lot from players when I ask them “How do we keep the ball deeper” and I get “Hit with topspin” quite often.

Remember that topspin makes the ball dive down quicker, this makes it land shorter, but by hitting your topspin higher, that will make it land deeper and get out of there faster with “KICK” and that is a great thing.

2.   Hit to their weak side more often

1. 1. Players tend to be less aggressive when you hit to their weaker side and will most likely retreat and not attack AS MUCH ANYWAY, and if they do, you   should have an easier time with your next move, THE PASSING SHOT. This means hitting to the weak side on your second serve as well.

3.   Get to the net first

1. 1. By getting to the net first, not only will you keep them where they may be a bit more uncomfortable, you will force them to have to step up to the plate and hit an accurate passing shot.

1. Lob them. Try not to hit a winning lob either, just get them behind the service line and you should be OK (most of the time)

1. Might want to lob over their backhand side


2. Topspin on your lobs makes it more difficult for them to hit an overhead because the ball is dipping a lot quicker


3. And remember WE ARE NOT TRYING TO HIT A LOB WINNER, we just want to set ourselves up for a better “NEXT SHOT”

1. Hit your first passing shot crosscourt, and preferably low, but either way, this will:


2. Force them to hit “down the line” to the open court which will be easier for you to chase down


3. Force them, if going down the line, to hit over a higher part of the net, which will make them have to “hit up” on the ball and give you more time


4. Pull them away from the direction of the net and hopefully force them to hit a weaker volley

If practicing with a partner, just go FH to FH only or BH to BH only with them standing at the service line and you at the baseline and try to rally, but keeping all of your shots to him/her below the level of the net

3.   Keep your passing shots low.

1. 
   
   
   
   1. This will force them to have to hit up
   
   
   2. This forces them to hit more of a neutral or even a defensive volley
   
   
   
   

And remember, you can keep the ball low by:

1. Hitting with topspin (underspin tends to float more, but may work if you have a lot of touch)


2. Hitting it slower.  This makes the ball drop quicker too, but be careful of the net, you will usually have to hit the ball a bit lower so they don’t “tee off” on your passing shot

Here is something to go try.  Stand just in front of the service line and have someone “Blast” a couple of balls at your feet.  You may find out that it isn’t really a tough ball to volley, because they are supplying you with PACE which makes it easier for you to get it back

Now try having them hit a LOW, SLOW ball to your feet and see what happens…………

A lot tougher isn’t it?  Yes, because YOU have to supply power to the ball and that takes away from touch and control.

“ LOW and SLOW” is the key phrase here and remember that SPIN takes pace OFF the ball, so now you really have a great chance to get to the next shot.

AND REMEMBER, if your goal is to set yourself up for your next shot and you successfully hit it low at their feet when they are at the net, what should your next move be “BEFORE THEY EVEN HIT THE BALL?” 

Move in! – Correct!

 Why – They will tend to hit short or pop it up and this will make you look like the fastest gun in the west! And set your self up for an offensive shot, or at least not be struggling to reach their shot.

Well Luke, I hope that gives you some things to things about the next time you face somebody who like to volley.

Our next question comes from Kristy and she asks how she can gain control of a ball toss that seems to be out of control?

Ball tosses can be tough, but there are a few analogies that you can think about and this even inspired me to do two videos on this topic. these tips in the video really seem to help out a lot of students, but I will give you more than two. I will attach them to the show notes this week.

First of all, a friend of mine said that he liked to use the word “Place” instead of toss.  Works for him and it mentally may work for y