Live Tennis

As a young girl there was nothing that gave me a greater thrill than seeing a live tennis match.  It gave me an even greater appreciation and excitement for the game of tennis that I loved and still love!!!!

I loved hearing the sound of the ball being hit with from that sweet spot on the racket (not that easy with an old wooden tennis racket).  I loved seeing the accuracy and amazing skill level of the players who made it look so easy. I also loved the shapely, muscular legs of the players and their accompanying speed and agility.

As an 11 year old, I always remember my tennis coach at the time telling me to watch one player.  He told me that this way I could really see how they moved around the court, how they prepared for each shot, and get a sense of how they approached their own game.

And so all you budding players out there, beginner or advanced, I invite you now to give yourself the chance to watch some live tennis and learn in a whole new way.

5 ideas of what to watch for in a tennis match

1)  Footwork.   Simply keep your eyes on one player and watch the type of patterns they create with their feet.  You really could do this for an entire match. eg watch the recovery steps after the serve, their footwork after a wide forehand, or the way they get rebalanced after approaching the net.  It really is fascinating once you get into it. You will then understand why they have such shapely, muscular legs

2)  Technical Point: the follow through.  Watch how your chosen player stays with the shot until its full completion.  Their eyes will stay on the ball and even on the spot where the ball was for a split second while the whole follow through is completed.  This is essential for a good recovery and to be ready to play the next shot.

In this tennis is very similar to golf. The technical point is also important in golf. This point is the key to the perfect golf swing, which allows you to make the most technical shots. This is especially important for cold weather golf, since the surface of the field is less stable. In addition, equipment is very important, and you need to use the best cold weather golf balls.

3) Technical Point, the backswing.  Begin to observe the length of the player’s backswing, depending on where they are in the court or the speed of the ball that is coming at them.   Some things you may notice are that the type of backswing a player uses in receiving a first and second serve varies significantly. You will generally find that the backswing on receiving a fast serve is very short and on a second serve it is much longer as they are often playing more aggressively.

4) Intensity.  Simply watch the intensity with which a player moves around the court.  I often see a beginner level tennis player watching the shot they’ve just hit, the goal is to recover as quickly as you can and be prepared for the next shot.  Also watch the energy and intensity with which each individual shot is hit. Rafael Nadal has certainly got this down to a fine art.

5) Patterns.  Notice where the player likes to hit their shots.  Do they favour serving to a particular location or do they mix it up?  Are they using their groundstrokes and trying to play to their opponents weaknesses?  Are they playing shots using angles that are higher percentage (generally more cross-court) or are they playing more risky shots (often down the line).  Note that percentage play depends on where you are on the court, and this is definitely another whole blog topic.

So, enjoy your live tennis, watching that one player and get out and test what you’ve learned when you hit the courts.