Now, when you have your opponent on the ropes and you see an opening (… a good amount of open court space), you don’t want to baby the shot over the net and let your opponent back in the point after you’ve done all that “hard” (…or should I say smart haha) work.

You’ll want to increase the pace some and close the point out.  Right? Of course, you want to put your opponent out of their misery and win that point, set, game, or match.

But here’s the issue that many players struggle with, and probably you yourself at times as well. Can you CONTROL it? Can you still get the ball to land in the court, when the pace picks up? Or does it sail to the back fence?

I mean, yea we all “know” how important it is to control your shot.  But “knowing” and actually  “doing” are two totally different animals.  I mean nobody says, “Watch me hit this one 5 feet out and into the stands.” It just happens. And as a result, the point is lost and your frustration  starts to build.

The unfortunate truth is, a large number of players are able to hit pretty well and obtain a good level of control when applying a low to moderate level of pace.

But when they attempt to pick it up and add some extra fire to their shots, the balls go everywhere EXCEPT to their specified target. Then, of course, they try using good old topspin per their coaches instructions. And sure, at times, that will work.

Or should I say, it SHOULD work haha. Other times, players can possibly see no difference at all or complain about the ball losing its “bite” in the process. Does this sound like you too?

If so, then the “tennis gods” may have just answered your prayers. Yes, now there is a way you can finally be able to enjoy the same beautiful blend of power and safety as the big-time pros without having to change a thing about your mechanics.

And no,  it’s not some completely new concept you have to learn to  add to your game.  It’s much simpler than that. The answer lies in your equipment - more specifically your string.

What string? Luxilon is the name, and helping players control their explosive strokes is their game.  That’s right, this new stuff by Luxilon has been specifically engineered to combat the “control” problem that so many tennis players are suffering from head on.

At first, it was only known among the inner circles and the elite players, but now the secret is no longer a hush-hush thing.   Now, it’s the string that players of all levels can’t wait to get their hands on.  And for that reason, it’s really taking the game by storm.

I mean, it’s turning around the games of so many players.  You know what, you don’t have to take my word for it.  The numbers speak for themselves.  Just last year, Luxilon distributed more than 3,000,000 (…3 M-I-L-L-I-O-N) feet of this stuff just to the Miami area alone!

Yikes, I know! And the reason why so many players are so hungry for this stuff isn’t  because they like the color. And it’s certainly not because of the high-power spokesman or tons of commercials and promotional ads. You barely see this stuff mentioned in the mainstream media. It’s because IT WORKS! 

It’s actually doing what it’s supposed to. It gives players more control. It’s helping players like you quickly erase a horrible problem in their game and unlock the shackles that have been keeping them from so many potential wins in the past.

How does it work? Well, the #1 factor lies in its polyester base. Yea, the polyester is what allows the big boys who use it like Marin Cilic, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, and Leyton Hewitt etc…

(…and the big girls who also use it) like Maria Sharapova, Ana Ivanovic, and Dinara Safina  etc. to literally plaster the ball with  pace and power without the fear of it sailing onto the next court or into the 3rd row of the stands.

So yea, if it can handle the pace applied  by those players, I’m sure you shouldn’t have anything to worry about either.  Oh, and the best part is, your shot won’t lose much of its velocity or impact. In other words, you won’t have to give up something to get something in return, which is great!

Now you might be saying, “Hey, this ‘poly’ stuff is nothing new.”  True, the polyester string isn’t a brand new invention or concept. But, in order to formulate this one-of-a-kind material, they’ve taken it a giant step further by combining it with their own special ingredients and revolutionary polymer fibers to create some pretty insane results.

What are they? What are the mysterious elements that they mix the “poly” with? Who knows? I certainly don’t haha.

That stuff is top secret! Yea, if that information we’re to get out, too many copycats could emerge. And the owner/founder would sound like the queen from Johnny Depp’s Alice in Wonder Land, screaming “Off with their heads!” haha.

Now with Luxilon, there are two primary ways to lace your racket:

1. Luxilon in the mains as well as the crosses.

2. A mixture of Luxilon and pure gut (…used for just a little bit more punch and power).

You can try both, and see what works for you the best.  Now, of the many options Luxilon provides, the one that is the most popular goes by the name of Big Banger Alu. So, if you’re not sure which one to try first, that might not be a bad pick.

Now, this all sounds great, right? It sure does! But… Yea, there’s always a but, isn’t there? Some players have experienced some stiffness feeling in their arms and some soreness in their wrists when using this string.

But per a statement by the company, a new version, known as (… Luxilon M2) will be offered shortly. The Luxilon M2 will have a more gentle feel, and there shouldn’t be as much pressure  on your arm. Problem solved.

So yea, a few months ago, we briefly talked about how important equipment can be to a tennis player’s success, and that idea has only intensified here.  So, try some out and see if they work for ya. This could mean the difference between a big win and a “I’ll get ‘em next time.”  For more info on Luxlion string, click here.

Have a great week guys, and an even BETTER game!

Brian, TennisMindCamp

P.S. I recommend that you also take a look at other “polys” like: Babolat Pro Hurricane, Tecnifibre Pro Red Code, or Isospeed Hybrid spin.  Those are all great alternatives that can give your level of control a sizable boost without taking much from the bite on your shots.

P.P.S: Just a couple more weeks until TMC Strategy Secrets 101 will be released. Promise! Again, thanks for all your emails and concerns .

Ivan Lendl playing tennis again — and just for fun.

Is he serious?

“You can be competitive,” the eight-time Grand Slam singles champion was saying the other day from his winter home at the Windsor Club, “and still have fun.”

Yes, I can.

Maybe you can, too.

But can he?

We’ll find out today at The Boulevard Village and Tennis Club, where Lendl will participate in the Fourth Annual Stan Smith Pro-Am to benefit Big Brothers/Big Sisters and the Boys and Girls Club of Indian River County.

“I’m not sure how competitive this will be,” Lendl said of the fund-raising doubles event in which amateurs have paid $500 apiece to play alongside and against him, Smith, Roscoe Tanner, Dick Stockton and several local teaching pros. “You’re playing, too, aren’t you?”

Very funny.

But, yes, I am playing — as a guest of the organizer.

So he’s got a point.

In April, however, the level of competition moves up a few thousand notches.

That’s when Lendl will go to Atlantic City, N.J., to play a one-set exhibition against former rival Mats Wilander in the inaugural Caesars Tennis Classic, where the two Hall of Famers will be part of a three-match card with at least two other past U.S. Open champions, Andy Roddick and Marat Safin.

The exhibition, scheduled for April 10 at Boardwalk Hall, will be Lendl’s first publicized singles match since he retired from the ATP Tour in December 1994 amid chronic back pain that kept him off the courts until just over a year ago.

“I feel good about it,” Lendl said. “I feel I’m ready.”

Finally.

After all these years.

After a nagging bout with arthritis in his back, which hampered his play throughout the latter part of his career … and tearing a “piece of disc” and a ligament, an injury that occurred when he fell on some stairs after he retired … and, ultimately, finding a local doctor who came up with a way to ease his pain.

Lendl, who turns 50 next month, is back on the tennis court.

With his back feeling better, he picked up a racket just over a year ago and began hitting and training again. He has practiced with several local pros at Windsor, Grand Harbor and The Boulevard, as well as at his junior golf academy in Sarasota and while at his summer home in Connecticut.

Recently, he has been seen practicing with Mikael Pernfors, a former top-10 player who lives at The Boulevard.

“I enjoy it,” said Lendl, who, during his tennis-playing prime, was known for his workmanlike approach and all-business, no-nonsense demeanor on the court. “I didn’t play for 14 years because my back was terrible. The arthritis, the torn disc, the torn ligament — it was all in the same area. Walking was difficult. Even standing was difficult. But it’s getting better.

“It’s not 100 percent, but it’s a lot better than it was. I play three to four times a week, 60 to 90 minutes at a time. And I can train now and not get sore. So I’m getting in better shape, too, and that helps.”

It’s helps his back. It helps his tennis. It even helps his golf.

For those who don’t know: Lendl is quite the golfer.

He has played in numerous celebrity golf tournaments, and Golf Digest put him and his 2-handicap at No. 22 on its list of “Top 150 Athlete-Golfers,” which was released in the magazine’s November 2009 issue.

Now, though, he’s dividing his time between the course and the courts — which was his plan all along.

Lendl said he’s close to announcing the Florida site of Ivan Lendl’s Champions Academy, which currently is based in Sarasota as a school for promising junior golfers but will soon add a tennis wing. And it sounds as if he plans to be an active instructor.

“When you’re working with promising juniors,” he said, “I’ve found that it’s better to show them, not just tell them.”

On the tennis courts, at least, Lendl can show them the form that made him one of the game’s greatest champions. He reached 19 Grand Slam finals, including a record eight in a row at the U.S. Open, which he won three times. He won 94 singles titles in all and held the No. 1 ranking for a then-record 270 weeks.

And most longtime tennis observers consider Lendl, whose fitness and power separated him from his peers, the father of the modern game.

Of course, even Lendl has embraced the future: He no longer plays with the heavy, small-headed Adidas racket with which he dominated his era.

“I’m playing with a bigger frame and using the new strings,” Lendl said. “It’s easier to hit a lot of different shots.”

Those shots will be on display today at The Boulevard and — to a much greater extent, I’m sure — in April in Atlantic City. And Lendl said he’s looking forward to having fun in both events.

Even against Wilander.

“I don’t take it as seriously as I used to,” Lendl said. “But with Mats, I can assure you, nobody will want to lose.”

- Latest Tennis News -

Hey guys,

…Got that image locked in? Perfect for tennis? I agree.

OK. Now, imagine something else. Visualize that the sun is nowhere to be found. The temperature is a skin cracking 47 degrees. Your muscles are tight. And you can barely feel your hands (…or your feet for that matter).

Perfect day for tennis? No, not perfect. But a day for tennis nonetheless. The ugly truth of the matter is that you can’t control the weather. You may be a great player, but not that great :wink:.

That being said, it doesn’t matter if it’s pleasantly warm, or blisteringly cold. You have to be prepared for both extremes.   Because hey, neither will delay your date with your tennis destiny. If you have a match tomorrow, the only way it’ll be canceled or postponed is if buckets of water are falling from the sky.

So that being the case (…and since we’ve already covered how to handle the heat in another post), here are 6 strategies to help you see success on the court when your surroundings are a little more frigid than you might like.

1. Stretch For Success: With cooler conditions, it wouldn’t be wise to start hitting as soon as you take your racket out of the bag.  The low temperatures will cause your muscles to be much tighter to start. This means your movements will be slower. And your body just won’t be ready.

But by stretching before you begin play and during your pre-game warmup, you’ll remove some of the tension and tightness and help your muscles relax. This is extremely important.Why?

Because when playing in any condition, you’re going to have to be able to sprint, stop on a dime, cut, and change direction (…almost non-stop).

Warming up your muscles and relaxing them, as a result, will help them to fire and explode while greatly minimizing the risk of a potential tear, pull, or other muscle related injury.

If your muscles are tight and tense, coupled with those sudden jerks and abrupt body movements, you may not see the end of the match and (…heaven forbid) might be in for a stretch of uncomfortable rehab sessions that could last anywhere between a few weeks to even a few MONTHS.

NOTE: The colder the weather, the longer your muscles may take to loosen up and unravel. So, be on the safe side and tack on an extra 7 to 10 minutes to your normal warm-up routine on these types of days.

2. Drink For Success: When the temperature  of your surroundings is low, your body’s temperature will soon follow.  And when your body does begin to take notice, your focus may begin to drift.

In other words, you may begin to pay more attention to the level of discomfort that the weather is producing rather than your actual game plan.

You can combat this simply by having a warm drink about 15 minutes before you take the court.  A great example to try would be tea that is caffeine free.

By doing this,  your body temperature will get a much needed kick and begin to rise. This will give your body a valuable head-start.  Then when you come in contact with the cool temperatures, you won’t be as susceptible  to its affects or  feel it as much - and thus be less distracted.

“Well, what do I do when the drink wears off?” Don’t worry. By that time,   you’d already have played a few games (… and revved up your engine so to speak). So, your body will naturally be able to keep it up for you.

3.  Dress For Success: Wear several thin layers of clothing, and periodically remove a piece (…one by one) as you progress in your warm-up. If you have on something incredibly heavy and thick, and then remove it, you’ll just shock your body and its senses.

Why? It’ll be to vast of a difference for your body to handle and/or smoothly adjust too. It’ll be going from one end of the temp. spectrum to the other too quickly. By wearing thin layers, you’ll be able to ease your body into it and feel a lot more balanced.


4. Grip For Success: The colder your hands are, the harder it’s going to be for you to maintain a good tight grip on your racket.

So, wearing a pair of thin gloves can really help you here. Gloves will definitely increase the warmth in your hands and provide you will a stronger grip. Oh yea, and you’ll be able to feel your fingers too. But…

Ahhh, yea there’s a catch. I only recommend doing this when you’re involved in training breaks or change overs. Why? When you’re engaged in ground strokes as well as your serve (…while wearing gloves), it’s very difficult to find your way around the handle.

It’s almost impossible for you to actually feel the small indentations where the handle changes - thereby preventing you from adequately obtaining the proper feel for a variety of shots. It just feels like one big stick all the way around.

Not only that, but it’s much harder to slide your hand across the handle as well. So, even if you could feel the indentations for formulate the proper grip for, you might not even be able to get it there in time. Yea, BUMMER!

So, this is definitely an “on again, off again strategy.” When you head to the bench to get a drink and refocus, slip the gloves on. Then, simply remove them when you storm back on to the court for your next game. Problem solved :).

5. Hit for success: Not only can the cold affect your focus and how you feel, but it can also alter your shots as well.  …More specifically, the way it bounces. The lower the outside temperature, the lower the bounce your balls are going to take. 

This is a direct result of  a major dip in air pressure inside the ball - much like when a basket ball loses its air. It naturally doesn’t bounce as high.   And because of that, you want to make it a point to hit shots that have a tendency to stay low.

Why? Because, since  the bounces they take are already low to start with, when the weather is cold, they will be twice as low and twice as difficult for your opponent to reach, without you having to do anything extra.

Two great examples of those would be the slice and the drop shot. When you hit them, they’re already engineered to stay low. So under these conditions, these shots will practically die when they arrive on your opponent’s side.

REMEMBER: This can also happen to you. That being said, you want to make sure you’re on your toes and have the mindset of going TO the ball, rather than letting the ball COME to you. If you wait, you’ll be “wiffing” twice of the amount of balls you’ll be hitting (…because the ball just won’t get there).


6. Attack For Success: If one of your reasons that you don’t come in to the net is because you fear your opponent’s passing shot, you’re definitely in luck. Since the balls will be staying much closer to the ground, they’ll be well below your opponent’s desired contact point.

As a result, creating a powerful drive will be very difficult. Instead, your opponent will be forced into popping the ball up - thus generating more high volleys that will be much easier for you to capitalize on and put away.

Try these 6 strategies out next time you feel a little nippy on there on the court. They should help a great deal.

Have a great day, and an even BETTER game!

Brian

TennisMindCamp

Well, what if I told you that you could actually practice less and get even better results, would you believe me? Well it’s true.

Now, let’s get one thing straight right away. Yes, practice is one of the most (…if not the most) important aspect of your game. It’s one of the  main catalysts for your ability to improve and get better.

No one can argue with that.  But that said, don’t get confused.  Though you want to work and practice hard (…rather than be lazy) in the time used to prepare for match day, you don’t have to be out there from sun up to sun down to see progress. It’s all about MAXMIZING.

It’s quality over quantity.  Oh yea, I know you’ve heard it about 1,000 times since you we’re writing an essay for your 5th grade english class (…because you we’re trying to reach that required page length). But, it’s 100% true for your tennis practice sessions.

The sad truth is that there are tons of players who don’t know this. They’re out there putting in tons of time, but still don’t see results.  Why is that?  Well, one of the main reasons why players are not seeing the “fruits of their labor” and often putting down their rackets because of it, is because their central approach to the actual practice itself  is very much flawed.

How so?  In many of those cases, players and coaches, are *PRACTICING COLD*.  No, they’re not conducting drills in the Siberian Arctic :).

What I mean is, they come to the court without a clue as to what is going to be worked on. Yea, they just set up the agenda on the fly.  You ever done that - just live in the moment out there on the court and do sort of whatever comes to mind? That sound familiar?

If it does, let me tell you, that kind of approach and thinking is great for a vacation or a weekend sail on the pacific. But it will absolutely kill your hopes of maximizing your practice.

If your practice has no structure, you’re wasting a ton of time - time you could actually be learning and grooving in your strokes. But instead, you’re out there mentally lost and greatly slowing down your rate of progress.

See, you don’t have time to sit there, think about what you’re going to do - bouncing ideas off of your hitting buddy until you both can agree on what should come next. It’s kind of like if you’re in the gym working out, and you’re just randomly walking from machine to machine with no real purpose.

You don’t know if you should work on your biceps, triceps, back, chest, abs, or shoulders.  And as a result, you’ll slow yourself down tremendously.  And you’ll be there from 5pm - 10PM, when you  could have done it in 50% of the time.

THIS is the same reason why you see some players practicing for 7 and 8 hours, and still not seeing those results they want. They’re *wondering* out there - from drill to drill and from concept to concept. They have no direction.

So, to get better results with less time and effort, you NEED to have a Pre-Practice Agenda:

Follow these 4 easy steps, and you’ll see results in no time.

*WARNING*: Don’t think you can store all this information in your head:

Things come up. With everything that goes on in everyday life, you can (…and most likely) will get distracted. And your whole pre-practice itinerary can be lost, rearranged or even forgotten about in less than 5 seconds. You don’t want to get to the court and say, “What we’re we going to work on again?”

That just takes you back to “square 1.” And… you just wasted the time used to set this up before hand. When you talk about it, it’s a thought. But when you schedule it and write it down, it’s real!

No, don’t put it on your napkin you saved from lunch or a scratch piece of paper you have laying around the house.

If you’re serious about getting better, drop by the your local drug store (…mine is the 99 cent store), and pick up a durable binder you can store them in, along with some lined paper. Your game is worth 2 bucks, right?   That way, you’ll keep everything organized.

This way, you can make sure that your sessions are balanced, and you’re not overloading too much in one area and unknowingly ignoring another. So, no you don’t have to spend 24hrs a day on the court to get results. It’s about being smart and preparing yourself.

Having this type of simple schedule ahead of time will maximize your efforts, allow you to enjoy other things you like to do (… going to beach, playing video games, spending time with the family, or catching a late night movie) and still kick your opponent’s butt next time out.

Hope you enjoyed this tip. Let me know what you think by add your thoughts down below.

Have a great week and an even BETTER game!

- Brian

TennisMindCamp

Mental Mistake #1

Mental Tension & Wasted Winning Opportunities: Murray was nervous from the get go -  so internally rattled, it really affected his court movement and his ability to capitalize on short balls as well as defensive positions produced by Roger. And because of that, there we’re many times during the first set where Andy failed to take advantage of his hard work.

What ended up happening was, he would start to close the door on a point, get Roger on the defense with a great shot to his backhand, and then just sit back there 2 to 3 steps behind the baseline and wait for Roger to get back in position again.

Then he’d just hit another stroke from virtually the same spot as the one prior. He seemingly would do everything imaginable except come in and attack Federer when the opportunities presented themselves. It looked like to me that he wanted to sit back and let Roger beat himself.

So, in other words, he was basically swinging the door wide open again for Roger to get back in the point time and time again. And as he continued to do  this, the deficit kept getting wider and wider in Federer’s favor. And Federer would come back around and repeatedly make the best of that second chance with a winner of his own.

And with that, came extra pressure on Andy and further blocked him from being able to play care-free tennis. So instead, he became even more tight, and even more reluctant to leave the baseline.  At that point, he *REALLY* didn’t want to make a mistake.  He even looked frozen at times. He wasn’t moving (…floating) effortlessly or freely at all.

How did I come to the strong conclusion that it was nerve related? Well, Andy love coming in and attacking.  In fact, that’s what he’s been doing it all tournament.  In fact, he’s won 80.2% of the points when he’s made an advance to net.

So, why would he stop now when it could mean the biggest win of his career? Nerves. He was playing NOT to lose the match instead of playing TO WIN match.

It must have been driving his coach and supporter’s box insane. Roger even said that he noticed Andy was a bit passive in the match, and that gave him some great opportunities to take capitalize on.

CORRECTION: Learn from Andy’s mistake and take the initiative when you have your opponent on the run. Play TO WIN. Once you see that your opponent is on the ropes, you’ve got to turn on the attack switch. Get your butt off that baseline.

Unless you’re a “pusher,” you don’t have to wait for your opponent to miss. You’re in control of things out there. Don’t just give it all up and give them tons of second chances.  Without going  overboard, take the reins and make them pay.

If you don’t feel comfortable going to net, at least come forward some to cut off more of your opponent’s angles and apply some added pressure. This will hopefully force them into making more errors.

Mental Mistake #2:

Murray Rode The Emotional Roller-Coaster: Oh, this one really hurt him. He was “wearing his heart on his sleeve” throughout a great piece of that match. You could see it in his face, in his body language, and of course when he slammed his racket during that third set.

That shows us, and more importantly his opponent, that he was riding an emotional wave and could be crashing against the rocks at any given moment.

Oh yea, and Roger did notice. After the match he sited this, and that was a cue for him to get more aggressive with Andy to make him break that much faster.

CORRECTION: You never want to show your emotions out there during a match. Why? Because you’re never going to be working on an emotionally level playing field.  You’re going to be on cloud 9 when you win a point , then down in the dumps when you lose one.

You’ll be in mental limbo throughout the match and have no stability.  You’ll be playing under different circumstances almost every time you swing.  You don’t want that.

If you stay even and don’t let yourself get too attached to any one point, you’ll have much more of a mental balance throughout. And the likelihood of you getting rattled will be very low.

Oh, and by keeping it inside, you don’t want to give your opponent’s confidence a boost and add fuel to your opponent’s competitive fire. You want to put it out :).

Mental Mistake #3:

Double Fault Drama: His ability to get his serve in was a major problem in this AO final.  Throughout all Andy’s matches, leading up to the final, his serve was pretty “ON.”  In 19 sets against the world’s best, he only double faulted 9 times.

That’s pretty remarkable. But against the great R-FED, it took a turn for the worse. Murray had already accumulated 3 “Doubles” by the time  the second set rolled around. And this is the only match that he lost. See a pattern?

The truth of the matter is that your serve is your flagship, one of your MOST important weapons.  It’s the steering wheel for your game plan.  It helps everything else in your game plan  flow for you.  And if that starts to go south, everything else will be taking the plunge as well.

CORRECTION: You don’t want to only focus on having great ground strokes or say, “I’ll get to my serve later” or “I can win it with my forehand.”  That alone won’t get you the win.

So, you want to make sure you dedicate just as much time (…or even more time) to strengthening your serve - and most importantly, the consistency of it.

Having a strong serving game, will allow you to dictate the tempo and control the point from the start.  That said, you don’t want to be able to get it going just “once in a while.”

Do that, and it’s not going to do you any good.  You don’t want to only win every now and then.  The more often you hold serve, the more likely the win will follow.

Oh yea, during your practice sessions and exhibition match play, you want to make sure you serve during pressure situations (…i.e simulated sets).

Because yea, you may be able to do it 49 out of 50 times when your mind is free and clear, but (…in a real match) when you have high stakes and a fire breathing opponent staring at you from the other side, it’s going to be a whole different world.

This will help you gain experience serving with a lead as well as serving while behind.  The MORE you serve during pressure situations, the BETTER you’ll serve in pressure situations.

Mental Mistake #4:

Tentative 2nd Serve: Because Andy’s nerves we’re getting the best of him in many cases, it also effected the speed of his second serve. He couldn’t defend well with it.  Being down to the #1 player in the world on one of the biggest stages in the world can do that to you…wink.

See, since he wasn’t able to blow us away with his first serve percentage, he was forced into a lot of second serve situations.

And when he was attempting to execute them, the outcome wasn’t very pleasant. He tightened up in my opinion.  And as a result, he failed to get much pace on the second serves he did get in. And he put himself in very defensive positions that Roger was able to take full advantage of. BANG BANG BANG!

So, even though your main goal is to get the ball in play on your 2nd, you don’t want to put the point on a silver platter for your opponent to devour. You, at least, need to have something on it. If you don’t, it’s only going to give your opponent tons of free points and give him a royal boost in the confidence department. Two BIG negatives!

CORRECTION: Play with this in practice and find a good  mid-point between your first and your second. You want it strong enough so it doesn’t get crushed, and you want it to have enough spin to keep it controlled and to bring it down into the box.


Mental Mistake #5:

Stuck In A Broken Game Plan: Murray started out the match playing very tentative and very passive on his shots. It looked as if he was just waiting for Roger to make the error (…which he rarely does). Ok.   It was like the inner part of the court was a pit of wild pythons.

He was standing way behind the baseline and would never cross the line.  And it wasn’t working. All it did was produce a 3-6 first set loss.  Ok. Now, you might say, “He made a mistake, all players make mistakes.” Fair enough…  But when he saw it wasn’t working, he didn’t change his main match strategy.

He stuck with the same plan that got him playing catch-up until right before the beginning of the third set. Yea, he waited almost 2 hours before he realized something had to change.

That’s when he finally started to be more aggressive. He started coming inside the court and getting to the net more.  And by that time, he had already dug himself in a hole few rarely come back from, down 2 sets against the world’s #1.

Now granted, when he started to do it consistently, it got him all the way to a 5-2 lead. But then, Federer came back to life, and ruined the young #5 player’s championship hopes. He waited TOO LONG.

Federer was already very relaxed and in a tremendous groove by that time. I mean, he had won the two sets and was cruising.  So, though the strategy change helped, it just wasn’t enough once Federer got going. If he’d have done it earlier, who knows, maybe the tempo of the match would have changed, and we would have had a different outcome. But he didn’t give himself a chance.

CORRECTION: As I learned from one of my coaches, Kirk Wilson, many years ago, you don’t want to stick with a strategy that’s not effective. No, you don’t want to wait until you’ve played 60% of your match and your opponent is already “feeling it” before you start to analyze what’s working and what’s not.

Whether it’s your ground strokes, your serve, baseline strategy, or what angles you’re using, you want to start doing that immediately - as soon as the first couple games of the match.

That way, you can correct it and decrease your chances of being faced with an uphill battle.

Hope you guys enjoyed the 2010 Aussie Open. I wish Andy the best of luck in his next tourney :).  Let me know how you liked these tips by commenting in the box below. I’d love to hear from you.

Have a great day and an even BETTER game!

Brian
TennisMindCamp

Welcome to the Australian Open “Spread The Word” Challenge contest page.  I’m glad to see you made it. Just by showing up, that shows me that you’re serious about your tennis and excited to win a great prize, courtesy of TennisMindCamp.

That being said, let’s  cut to the chase and get into the main reason why you’re here, the prize!

You’ll WIN a BRAND NEW  copy of Open: An Autobiography by Andre Agassi:

Since this is the first major tennis tournament on the pro level this year (…and frankly the hottest topic on many of the online sport networks), I wanted to giveaway a prize that was just as hot, just as controversial, and just as entertaining.

This book is very *VERY* interesting. I mean, when I picked up my copy. I couldn’t put it down.  I kept saying,  “Wow, I didn’t know that!” or “So that’s why he really did it?” Or “I thought they we’re best friends, I didn’t know they hated each other off the court.”

And those thoughts kept happening at least once per page - I’m not kidding you. So, I thought it’d be perfect.

This is what a couple people had to say about it.

HOW DO YOU WIN?

Well, since the title of this contest is the Australian Open “Spread The Word Challenge,” that’s all you have to  do. Just spread the word. My main goal with this camp is always to help as many as many players as I can make their goals of winning more matches a reality.

Because to be honest, trying hard without seeing results can really put a dent in your drive and your competitive spirit. And I want to stop that before it starts. And you can be a BIG help!

And with social media networks being so huge and so impacting, you could make a difference AND WIN a great PRIZE in less than 5 seconds :).

CONTEST RULES:

1. Simply share your favorite posts (…tips and live tours) that we have on the blog so far with your friends.

Just post the link(s) on either your online profile page in places like (Facebook, Twitter, Myspace, Bebo, Friendster, Tagged etc.) or topic related forums like (tennisforum.com and womenstennisforum.com).

*Easily Click The Share Button Beside The Title The Post You’d Like To Share*

2. Send me the links where you’ve help spread the word webmaster@tennismindcamp.com.

3. I’ll total them  all up. And the player who has shared the most will be the winner of the brand new copy of the new Andre Agassi autobiography! Easy enough :-D?

*NOTE* I recommend that you get started immediately, because I know that members like Tara, Jesus, Christi, Marcelo, Buck, Loobo, Richard, Danielle, Shaquelle, Kathy and Jerry (…out of breathe haha) have already started.

The winner will be notified within 24 hours of the trophy presentation, and the prize will be shipped off the next morning. It’s only fitting that two champions be honored on the same day 8-).

Email me personally at webmaster@tennismindcamp.com if you have any questions.

Good luck guys!

Brian Hall,
Head Coach

P.S. Remember to text HAITI to 90999 on your cell phone  to donate just $10 to the people of Haiti in this time  of tremendous need. Every little bit helps a great deal.

Let me ask you something. Have you ever been in a tournament or exhibition situation where you played a very long, hard-fought match and gave it everything you had…

…Then, you won. But afterward, you felt like you had absolutely nothing left in the tank for the next round or for the next opponent?

I mean your muscles we’re sore you could barely lift the Gatorade bottle, your mind was completely exhausted, and your legs we’re telling you, “NO GO BUDDY.”

Been There?

Yea, you do all that hard work then, BOOM… You’re like “This is how I’m rewarded for my hard work?” What a bummer, right?

Well, yea it sucks.  But the answer to reversing this feeling may lie in what you drink in between your matches.

Now, when I say that, you  probably would think Gatorade or Powerade, or something like that since those are good to help replenish your electrolyte levels, right?

Well, while good for you, it seems  those may not be your BEST answer, new studies show that your best answer to having the endless energy as you did when you we’re 10 is to (…where you could go all day and all night… and all day again without a rest) is to drink like one.

Researchers at the American College Of Sports medicine are now reporting that low fat chocolate milk can help get your “groove” back even faster than the highly marketed sports drink you see endorsed by million dollar athletes.

How did they figure this out?

They recently conducted a test with a group of advanced level soccer players to see how they performed while downing this cocoa wonder.

What they found was that the ones who drank chocolate milk while involved in very demanding and intense work outs has far less muscle damage than the ones who drank your average sports drink.

Why should milk help?

According to Natalie Digate Muth, MD, MPH, RD, registered dietitian and a recent graduate of the UNC School of Medicine, it will help in 3 very important areas.

All that being said, try switching it up in your next match.  Break out the Ovaltine and blend it with the Cow’s wonder tonic for your next after-match beverage and see how you feel. You just might be “gitty” with excitement about your next win!

- Have a good one.

Brian