Raising Athletic Royalty: Insights to Inspire for a Lifetime- Provides essential insights, motivational quotes and perfect phrases to assist parents and coaches to inspire greatness in their athletes.
The following is an excerpt from The Tennis Parent’s Bible. Thank you for visiting, Frank Giampaolo
Are you saying fundamental tennis strokes are NOT important?
In a word, NO. Building a solid stroke foundation is vital to your child’s success. You can find thousands of YouTube instruction videos on the subject. But winning tournaments involves much more than fundamental stroke production. Here are few new insights to share on this topic.
A flawed stroke causes unforced errors, produce short vulnerable balls, cause injuries and inhibit your child’s growth into the next level of competition.
FUN FACT: Strokes are a prerequisite to playing in the highest levels. Just as being tall is a prerequisite to playing in the highest levels of basketball. If just being tall earned you the right to play in the NBA, my cousin Big Vinnie wouldn’t be driving a limo at Kennedy airport.
Yes, strokes are important. For some of your youngsters, it may be time to look into developing the hidden side of stroke production. The insight I want to reiterate with you is the development of secondary strokes.
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 (red, green and blue) 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 numerous 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:
- Primary drive
- High, topspin arch
- Short angle or side door
- Slice or drop shot
The Three Types of Serves to Develop:
- Flat
- Kick
- Slice
The Four Types of Volleys to Develop:
- Traditional punch volley
- Drop volley
- Swing volley
- Half volley
The Three Types of Lobs:
- Topspin lobs
- Slice lob
- Re-lob (lobbing and over-head smash)
The Two Types of Overheads to Develop:
- The stationary “freeze” overhead
- The turn & run/scissor overhead
The 6 Types of Approach Shots:
- Serve and volley
- Chip and charge
- Drive approach
- Slice approach
- Drop shot approach
- Moonball approach
Intermediate players simply hit their primary strokes and react to whatever the opponent throws at them. Advanced players are proactive. They often run patterns used to control both sides of the net. In essence, they control both players’ actions.
It takes an average of two years to develop these tools into reliable weapons. To assist your youngster in controlling the court and the match, shift focus and have some fun developing all these skills.
Before each tournament match, remind them to warm up every stroke in their bag. Winning a close tie breaker is often decided on a few points. Making that crucial swing volley versus missing it is often a matter of confidence.
FUN FACT: I got to know Tiger Woods a bit when I was the tennis director at Sherwood Country Club. We hosted his multimillion dollar charity event at Sherwood annually. Before each round of golf, Tiger practiced every club in his bag. He often, secretly, flew to the site a week or so before the actual event to rehearsing the courses uneven fairways, the speed of the greens, the feel of the sand traps and elements such as the wind. Winning is persistent preparation.
Thanks for visiting, Frank Giampaolo
Contact: Frank Giampaolo
(949)933-8163
www.MaximizingTennisPotential.com
www.RaisingAthleticRoyalty.com
