The following post is an excerpt from the Second Edition of The Tennis Parent’s Bible
Available through most online retailers!
PRE-MATCH WARM-UP RITUALS
Before each PGA tournament round, Tiger Woods warms up every club in his golf bag, just in case he needs it. In the high performance tennis world, players who routinely warm up both their primary and secondary strokes have a major advantage in tightly contested matches. Grooving fundamentals before a match is important, but let’s go deeper.
A first-set tiebreak can often come down to a player executing a winning secondary stroke such as a swing volley or topspin lob. Confidently perform secondary shots at crunch time, without hesitation, stems from properly warming them up before the match. Players who neglect their secondary strokes have a very different mind-set when faced with the same exact situation. Instead of instinctively moving forward to hit the swing volley to take the tiebreaker, they hesitate and are caught thinking, “I don’t remember the last time I hit one of these? Can I make it? Should I go for it?” Now guess who misses the easy shot, gets upset and blows another breaker?
Obviously, any stroke has to be developed on the practice court long before tournament competition begins. Once developed properly, it should be placed into your match day tool belt and warmed up before competition.
“A smart tennis player has developed and then systematically warms up every secondary stroke before competition.”
If your athlete is still holding on to the “old school” fundamental stroke warm up routine, I highly suggest keeping it for comfort sake but also begin to warm up in the manner that they are expected to perform. This includes, whenever possible, taking extra time to warm up the below list.
6 Different Forehands and Backhands:
- Primary Drive Ground Strokes
- High and Heavy Ground Strokes
- Short Angle Ground Strokes
- Defensive Slice
- Drop Shots
- Defensive Lobs
3 Different Serves:
- Flat Serve
- Slice Serve
- Kick Serve
3 Different Volleys:
- The Swing Volley
- The Drop Volley
- The Transition Mid Court Volley
2 Different Overheads:
- Stationary, Service Box Overheads
- The Turn and Run, Overhead with Movement
The 2 Different Approach Shots:
- Traditional Approach to Volley
- Spot a Vulnerable Opponent and Steal the Volley
NOTE: Customize the warm up whenever possible. For example: If your athlete’s next opponent is a Moonball/Retriever, it might be wise to warm up their swing volleys, side doors and drop shots.
“Often, what separates two talented players is the time and energy put into properly preparing for battle.”
