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Return of Serve

Posted on June 16, 2015 by in Championship Tennis

The following post is an excerpt from Championship Tennis.  Thanks for visiting, Frank Giampaolo

 

Championship Tennis Cover

Return of Serve Mind Set

 

Regardless of the type of opponent or a player’s style of play, the most important thing regarding the return of serve is to simply start the point. This may seem obvious, but unfortunately, most players are overly aggressive and try to end the point with their first strike. The psychological task on a return of serve is twofold. First, when returning first serves, the returner’s goal is to demoralize opponents by consistently getting the ball back in play. Big servers are accustomed to receiving free points. A steady return sends this message: No free or cheap points today. Also, the return of the second serve provides the opportunity to punish the server for delivering a weak ball. As mentioned previously, offensive, short-ball options may include crushing a winner, hitting a chip and charge, placing a drop shot, or using the side-door pattern.

Contact: Frank Giampaolo
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Concentration

Posted on April 28, 2015 by in Championship Tennis, The Tennis Parent's Bible

The following post is an excerpt from The Tennis Parent’s Bible.  Thanks for visiting, Frank Giampaolo

 

 

Concentration

At the center of mental toughness lies concentration.  When players fully concentrate, they can better anticipate proper execution of strokes and strategy.  The ability to maintain a consistent state of concentration often separates the seemingly great athletes from the actual champions.

Concentration is a habit that can be learned and improved. Here are some keys to improving concentration:

  • Practice in the manner in which you are expected to perform.
  • Set task-specific goals and be accountable for them each training session.
  • Train your mind to spot past, present, and future thoughts so you can perform “in the moment.”
  • In matches, focus on the task rather than your personal form.
  • Apply rituals to avoid self-doubt and a wandering mind.
  • Train your eyes to spot tendencies.
  • When appropriate, listen carefully to digest a coach’s information.
  • Concentrate on work ethic and attitude.

Concentration has two unique requirements: Depth and Length.  Hours before a match begins, a top competitor will commit his undivided attention to the upcoming match situation, organizing his tactical plans and the various functions of each component.

 

Contact: Frank Giampaolo
FGSA@earthlink.net
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Primary and Secondary Stroke Evaluations

Posted on April 25, 2015 by in Championship Tennis, Customized Organizational Plan, Primary and Secondary Strokes

 

The following post is a excerpt from Championship Tennis and The Tennis Parent’s Bible. Thanks, Frank

Let’s say that we are sitting in my hometown of Laguna Beach, California. “Meet me at Tennis West Sports and Racquet Club in El Paso, Texas,” I say as I toss you the keys to my car. You have no maps and no instructions—just a car and a full tank of gas. The ride would take longer than it should, and the process would at times be maddening, but eventually you would probably still find the club. Now if the car has a navigation system with the address already plugged in, the trip would certainly be easier. And if the navigation system also reroutes for traffic jams and construction delays, the trip would be even faster, less stressful, and a more pleasurable experience. Well, think of this book’s evaluation chapters as a customized navigation system that maximizes potential at the quickest rate. Whatever the goal, having a detailed road map is the most efficient and effective way for a player to achieve it. The evaluations that follow will uncover each player’s confidence and ability levels in performing strokes as well as in executing tactics. These components are the foundations of competitive tennis.

To make these evaluations meaningful and effective, the components should be evaluated based on how they hold up under match conditions. In other words, hitting second serves from a hopper of balls on a relaxed practice court is not a good indicator of the dependability of the player’s second serve. The true barometer is whether the player’s second serve is reliable when the score is 5-6 in a tiebreaker.

The player may also want to consult a coach, parent, or playing partner to gain another perspective on his game. This second opinion can often be eye opening. Many players aren’t completely honest with themselves or don’t recognize their shortcomings. For instance, consider the three versions of a forehand: offensive, neutral, and defensive. A player may have a terrific offensive forehand, capable of crushing any ball bouncing short in the court. He may consider this his money shot. Yet a coach may reveal that the neutral and defensive characteristics of the player’s stroke are underdeveloped and unreliable under stress. In the player’s opinion, the forehand doesn’t need improvement, but in reality, it could use a lot of work.

Let’s review The Painter’s Analogy

To this day, we can all run to the store and pick up an intermediate paint set. These pre-packaged sets come with canvas or paper, a few brushes and a strip of colored paint. These “strips” are made up of the primary colors. As we dabble and enjoy the art of painting one thing becomes evident, if only primary colors (black, brown, red, green, yellow…etc.) are used, the paintings will continue to look “amateur.”

Advanced artists and surely professionals have learned that to make a painting jump off the canvas, to become “life like” they need to use secondary colors as well. Now, instead of applying one shade of green, they have 12 versions of green! Advanced painters use both primary and secondary colors.

As parents, we have to encourage, educate and develop secondary stroke principles. The following are the primary and secondary strokes in a Champion tennis player’s tool belt:

The Four Different Types of Forehands and Backhands:

  1. Primary Drive
  2. High, Topspin Arch
  3. Short Angle or Side Door
  4. Slice or Drop Shot

 

The Three Types of Serves:

  1. Flat
  2. Kick
  3. Slice

 

The Four Types of Volleys:

  1. Traditional Punch Volley
  2. Drop Volley
  3. Swing Volley
  4. Half Volley

 

The Three Types of Lobs are:

  1. Topspin Lobs
  2. Slice Lob
  3. Re-Lob (lobbing and over-head smash)

 

The Two Types of Overheads to Develop are:

  1. The stationary “freeze” overhead
  2. The turn & run/scissor overhead

 

The 6 Types of Approach Shots are:

  1. Serve and Volley
  2. Chip and Charge
  3. Drive Approach
  4. Slice Approach
  5. Drop Shot Approach
  6. Moonball Approach

A goal is just a dream without a plan.  Build your full tool belt of primary and secondary strokes and you’ll have a room full of trophies!

Thanks for visiting, Frank

 

Contact: Frank Giampaolo
FGSA@earthlink.net
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Tennis Parent Post Match Etiquette

Posted on April 24, 2015 by in Championship Tennis, The Tennis Parent's Bible

The conversations (and body language) a parent/coach has with their player after a match should be constructive and positive- regardless of the performance. There is plenty of time to learn from the performance failures or successes.   The following post is an excerpt from CHAMPIONSHIP TENNIS.  Enjoy, FrankChampionship Tennis Cover

 

 

Post-Match Entourage Communication

After a match finishes, coaches and parents should always consider the player’s frustration tolerance and maturity level and should wait an appropriate amount of time before discussing the match.  A few minutes after a player suffers a heartbreaking loss is no time for performance analysis. That wound is too fresh and needs time to heal. Once a player is ready for constructive conversation—regardless of the score line—the coach should consistently replace “Did you win?” with “Did you hit your performance goals?” or “Did you execute the correct shots at the right times?”

If coaches or parents are solely fixated on the outcome, they will not be able to convince a player to be performance oriented. Remember, kids pick up every negative word, condescending tone of voice, upset facial expression, and defensive body posture. Therefore, a coach or parent should make a special effort to offer five positive critiques for every one negative criticism.

After each match, the coach or parent should also remind the player to complete a match log and an entry in the daily focus journal.

Thanks Frank

 

 

Contact: Frank Giampaolo
FGSA@earthlink.net
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Flexible skills training

Posted on April 21, 2015 by in Championship Tennis

The following post is an excerpt from The Tennis Parent’s Bible.  Thanks for visiting, Frank GiampaoloChampionship Tennis Cover

 

Tennis: Flexible Skills Training

Static skills training, also called consistent skills training, are an elementary training method that is essential in the early development of motor programs. This is most commonly referred to as stroke development through repetition. A player is continually fed balls in his preferred strike zone in order to build proper stroke mechanics.

A sample half-hour lesson using consistent skills training may go something like this: “OK Arthur, let’s hit 50 forehands. . . . Nice job! Now 50 backhands. . . . OK, now come over and hit 50 serves. . . . Terrific! See you next week!”

However, after these skills are ingrained, in order for players to enhance their movement, they must practice in the manner in which they are expected to perform. Players who want to improve their anticipation, foot speed, and general court coverage should trade in their static skills training for flexible skills training.

A sample half-hour lesson using flexible skills training may sound like this: “OK Arthur, today we’re going to run service patterns for about 50 points. Hit your second serve into the backhand corner of the deuce box, and then I’ll quickly feed in two random groundstrokes; hit those to the opposing corner. Then we’ll shift to the advantage side.”

In both sample lessons, Arthur hit 50 forehands, 50 backhands, and 50 serves. Which session improves cognitive processing speed as well as foot speed? Which lesson also incorporates the additional benefit of presetting second-serve patterns? Advancing beyond static drills is a prime example of smarter training, which accelerates the learning curve.

For more information see: Championship Tennis on Amazon.

Thanks! Frank

Contact: Frank Giampaolo
FGSA@earthlink.net
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Winning Tennis Strategy

Posted on April 20, 2015 by in Championship Tennis, The Tennis Parent's Bible

The following post is an excerpt from Championship Tennis. For more information: The Tennis Parents’ Bible. Thanks for visiting, Frank

Strategics 

The first step in strategizing is being able to identify the four  styles of play, aggressive base-liner, retriever, net-rusher or finesse player.   A player can practice spotting these styles by visiting the courts and taking the time to observe every player there. While observing, the player should mentally categorize those players into their preferred approach to the game.

When performing this exercise, I often ask students questions, such as, “OK Kelly, what did you notice about Zoe over on court 6?” This training exercise helps players begin to learn the process of opponent classification.

Opponent match-ups are fascinating. How can Michael easily beat Steve, but Steve handles Mark, yet Mark whip Michael? Like the childhood game of rock-paper-scissors, a particular style of play in tennis often matches up more favorably against a specific opposing style.

  • Just as rock is beaten by paper, an aggressive baseliner’s nemesis is the steady retriever.
  • Just as paper is destroyed by scissors, a steady retriever is overwhelmed by a solid net-rusher.
  • Just as scissors is defeated by rock, a net-rusher is often conquered by the aggressive base-liner.

A player who wins the first set handily should be on the lookout for a probable shift in the opponent’s style of play. If the opponent is well schooled, she will likely go to plan B. The best players are comfortable with the strategies and tactics needed to dismantle any of the four common opponents. Establishing a basic protocol for each style of play will deprive opponents of their favorite weapons, while strengthening your physical, mental, and emotional weapons.

Thanks! Frank

 

Contact: Frank Giampaolo
FGSA@earthlink.net
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Tennis Myths

Posted on April 19, 2015 by in Championship Tennis, The Tennis Parent's Bible

Thanks for visiting, Frank GiampaoloChampionship Tennis Cover

 

Unfortunately, tennis is full of “stock teaching methodologies” that should be banished. Well-intentioned catchy phrases that have become dated or worse yet, were never even correct to begin with. Here are a few of the bigger culprits concerning ground-strokes.

Roll over the ball for topspin

Teaching pros are still using this phrase, too. Players try to time the racket roll at contact, resulting in shots that spray all over the court.

Here are the facts: Depending on the type of shot, the ball is on the strings for about 2 to 4 milliseconds. It takes another 150 to 200 milliseconds for an electrical signal to travel from a player’s hand back to the brain. The brain then sends a new motor program back to the muscle group to begin the wrist roll. This takes an additional 150 to 200 milliseconds, by which time the ball is now 8 to 10 feet off the racket face toward the opponent’s side of the court. In other words, it’s impossible to roll over the ball for topspin. The spin comes from the brushing motion of a low-to-high swing path.

Watch the ball hit the strings

As mentioned earlier, the human eye cannot register a two-millisecond event. No one has ever seen a ball hit the strings. It’s simply a blur. Keeping the head down and still through contact is the best recipe for a steady racket path through the strike zone. Watch film of the best base-liners, and it’s easy to see how quiet they keep their head during their ground-strokes.

Skim the net

On television, it appears that professionals barely clear the net on their ground-strokes. This is rarely the case. The deception occurs because the television cameras at pro tour events are often placed high in the stadium. This angle offers a clear view of match play, but it distorts the trajectory of the ball flight.

In actuality, players use a variety of heights, generally dictated by their court positioning. This is often the result of managing the time between hits. When players are on the defensive, they generally hit higher to buy more time for recovery. Conversely, they move forward and hit harder and lower to take time away from a vulnerable opponent. At the club level, a ball that barely clears the net lands midcourt and bounces perfectly into an opponent’s primary strike zone; this is not recommended unless losing is the main objective. The net skimmer only becomes a smart choice when the opponent is transitioning to or established at the net and a passing shot is in order, or when an opponent is well behind the baseline and the player wants to bring her in, specifically if the opponent is weak at the net.

Stay down on ground strokes

A player’s center of gravity plays an important role in generating power and depth on groundstrokes. Three critical elements lift up on world-class strokes: the knees, the backside, and the racket face. Even on slice backhands, all three critical elements rise at completion of the stroke. If not, the resulting shot will lack pace and penetration. Players who prematurely lift their head before contact do indeed need to “keep their head down” through the shot. But it’s a fallacy to apply the principle to the entire body.

Keep your eye on the ball

This is correct . . . half the time. Vision control plays various functions over the course of a point that is critical for consistent ball striking and court coverage. Narrow vision is applied on an incoming ball: watching it leave the opponent’s racket, cross the net, and bounce up and into the strike zone. In this regard, a player should absolutely be keeping an eye on the ball.

Broad vision, on the other hand, is used to spot the dozens of visual clues after the ball leaves the racket toward the opponent’s side of the court. Such clues include an opponent’s court position, body language, strike zones, swing speed, and swing length. Broad vision is a crucial component of anticipatory speed. The best movers know how to assimilate the information from their broad vision and instinctively adjust their positioning accordingly.

Thanks! Frank

Contact: Frank Giampaolo
FGSA@earthlink.net
MaximizingTennisPotential.com
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Selecting a Coach

Posted on April 18, 2015 by in Championship Tennis, The Tennis Parent's Bible

The following post is an excerpt from The Tennis Parent’s Bible   and  CHAMPIONSHIP TENNIS.  Thanks for visiting, Frank GiampaoloChampionship Tennis Cover

The right coach can save you thousands of wasted dollars, hours and tears as well as emotional, mental and physical conflict.

Here are some tips to consider when selecting a coach:

  • Realize that only a handful of coaches actually teach the top players. What should be of interest is not whom the coach says he has coached, but whom the coach has trained under.
  • Look for coaches who love what they do. This kind of attitude is contagious. Players can’t help but be further drawn into the sport when they train with coaches who are passionate.
  • Seek out pros that are so busy that they don’t need more business. As the old saying goes, there’s safety in numbers. These coaches must be doing something right if their court time is continually booked.
  • Remember that being a master coach is a learned experience. Just as it takes thousands of hours of practice for athletes to hone their skills, the same is true for teachers.
  • Seek out a pro who understands genetic predisposition. One-size-fits all approach should be unacceptable. A coach has to embrace the unique brain and body type of each individual in order to customize the lessons.
  • Contact tournament directors in your area. These people know which coaches are producing champions. Contacting these people is an important step for players who have the goal of winning tournaments and achieving a high ranking.
  • Observe the coach. Ask coaches if you can see them in action. This provides a much better way to understand their style. A player could also pay coaches to watch and chart one of his matches and then devise a game plan for improvement. This helps the player evaluate how much knowledge the coaches have and their eye for the game, as well as determine if the player’s and coaches’ developmental plans match.
  • Realize that being a great player doesn’t always translate into being a great coach. Just because someone enjoyed success as a player at a top college, in the challenger circuit, or even on the pro tours doesn’t mean that the person knows how to coach. Some of the game’s most accomplished coaches were marginal players.
  • Avoid coaches who discourage working with other coaches, hitters, or trainers. This shows a lack of confidence and a lack of interest in the growth of their students. Coaches should encourage independent, not dependent, thinking from their students.

Contact: Frank Giampaolo
FGSA@earthlink.net
MaximizingTennisPotential.com
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Tennis Myths

Posted on March 20, 2015 by in Championship Tennis

 

The following is an excerpt from book Championship Tennis.  Thanks for visiting, FrankChampionship Tennis by Frank Giampaolo

 

TENNIS MYTH Number 1: If you’re laughing, you’re not working hard enough…

When you laugh, dance, smile or even hug someone you get biochemical surges of positive energy. Neuroscience studies clearly show that when you smile and laugh you stay in the correct (right) side of your brain. This is where muscles flow effortlessly and great decisions are made quickly. When you’re mad, judgmental or over analytical the right side of your brain shuts down and you are toast!

TENNIS MYTH Number 2: To be great, I have to play at my peak everyday…

Peak level and peak efforts are two different elements.  It is too taxing to be physically, mentally, spiritually and emotionally ready to battle everyday of their lives. Training in intervals is called periodization. After a tournament you should “unplug”. That’s right, recharge the batteries. In the practice phase strive for peak effort and let go of peak performance.

Contact: Frank Giampaolo
FGSA@earthlink.net
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