There are so many millions of people who play tennis every day all over the world. They play in public parks, country clubs, private tennis courts, and anywhere in between (ie against a wall).
Tennis is the only sport I know that begins with love and is a sport for life. I remember the great Sugar Daddy, Bobby Riggs, who said at one of the many tennis clinics he taught, “Tennis is a sport you can play from the cradle to the grave.”
Why do people enjoy playing tennis? I believe because it is a sport with class. It is a sport that you can play for as little as 15 minutes or 3-5 hours, it all depends on your skill level and motivation. I was lucky to play professional tennis. I had a world ranking in ATP Tennis of 662 in singles and 457 in doubles. I had wins over top 200 ranked players in the world in singles and wins over top 50 ranked players in doubles.
In this article, I want to give you the three secrets to playing your best tennis. Of course, there are more than three secrets, but three secrets are enough to help you play better tennis.
First, there is no substitute for practicing, practicing, over and over and over again. Practice is the seed to build confidence! When you practice in addition to playing tennis regularly, you will feel a sense of accomplishment, you will feel like you deserve to win because you know for yourself that you have been investing the time to improve your game. So practice at least two to three extra hours a week if you are a club tennis player. If you’re a tournament player, you should practice at least 15 hours a week, which works out to 3 hours a day, 5 days a week.
Second, visualize yourself hitting the tennis ball perfectly. Imagine on the movie screen of your mind that you are moving from side to side, racing back and forth, hitting each ball with perfect precision. Visualize your forehand and backhand groundstrokes over the net with 3-5 feet of clearance. Imagine every shot you hit with perfect ball control. See every one of your tennis shots, feel every tennis shot, and experience each and every tennis shot you hit with confidence. Repeat this every time before and after the tennis game or match. By doing so, you are training your mind or inner game to manifest in your outer game or physical game. Tennis is a mental game once you have learned all the fundamentals of each tennis shot.
Third, watch the great players or your favorite tennis pro on the ATP or WTA tour and copy their style of tennis. Watch YouTube videos or TV footage of your favorite player over and over again until you emulate his moves. One of my favorite players to watch when playing competitive tennis was John McEnroe (USA) and Guillermo Villas (Argentina). I used to watch McEnroe’s serve and literally copy McEnroe’s serve. I watched Villas hit his groundstroke over and over again until it mirrored Guillermo Villas’ groundstrokes. Usually, after seeing these tennis greats at a Grand Slam event, it reflected their manners. After all, why make the wheel? Copy what the great players do and do the same. Of course, as your tennis game matures, you will begin to develop your own style and preferences.
Here are the three secrets you want to know to play your best tennis! Remember, there is no substitute for practicing every day in addition to regularly playing tennis matches. Get started today if you haven’t already; visualize hitting the tennis ball with each and every stroke perfectly until you are sure in your mind and heart that you can execute it with ease and confidence. And finally, don’t reinvent the wheel, copy the tennis players on the tennis tour by watching their tennis until someone says on the sideline, “Hey, that person hits the ball like Roger Federer or Maria Sharapova.” Before you know it, you’ll be winning your club tournaments and filling your shelves with trophies.