Quantcast
nodot nodot
Tennis Warrior
July 2015 Article

Tennis Warrior Archive

Send a message to Tom

Get Tom Veneziano's book The Truth about Winning! at Amazon.com

Tennis Server
HOME PAGE

Do You Want To Be A Better Tennis Player?

Then Sign Up For A Free Subscription to the Tennis Server INTERACTIVE
E-mail Newsletter!

Tom Veneziano You will join 13,000 other subscribers in receiving news of updates to the Tennis Server along with monthly tennis tips from tennis pro Tom Veneziano.
 
Best of all, it is free!

Tennis Features Icon TENNIS FEATURES:

TENNIS ANYONE? - USPTA Pro John Mills' quick player tip.
 
TENNIS WARRIOR - Tom Veneziano's Tennis Warrior archive.
 
TURBO TENNIS - Ron Waite turbocharges your tennis game with tennis tips, strategic considerations, training and practice regimens, and mental mindsets and exercises.
 
WILD CARDS - Each month a guest column by a new writer.
 
BETWEEN THE LINES - Ray Bowers takes an analytical and sometimes controversial look at the ATP/WTA professional tour.
 
PRO TENNIS SHOWCASE - Tennis match reports and photography from around the world.
 
TENNIS SET - Jani Macari Pallis, Ph.D. looks at tennis science, engineering and technology.
 
MORTAL TENNIS - Greg Moran's tennis archive on how regular humans can play better tennis.
 
HARDSCRABBLE SCRAMBLE - USPTA pro Mike Whittington's player tip archive.
 
TENNIS EQUIPMENT TIPS.

Tennis Community Icon TENNIS COMMUNITY:


Tennis Book, DVD, and Video Index
 
Tennis Server Match Reports
 
Editor's Letter
 
Become a Tennis Server Sponsor

Explore The Tennis Net Icon EXPLORE THE TENNIS NET:

Tennis News and Live Tennis Scores
 
Tennis Links on the Web
 
nodot
Tennis Warrior Banner


 
Green Dot
 
Tennis Warehouse Logo
 
Green Dot

 
nodot

 
Does Sensationalism Trump Reality in Tennis?

Tom Veneziano Photo
Tom Veneziano

Many inconsistencies are taught in tennis that lead to much confusion. The problem stems from the way we watch and analyze top pros. We are tempted to let the sensationalism of their play trump the reality of their methods.
 
Recently there was a professional tennis tournament here in town, and a player that I coach attended some of the matches. I've been working with this player for many years, so as she watched these outstanding matches with her trained eye, she was stunned. She came to her next lesson and said, "I can't believe it. The pros jump off the ground all the time!" Yes, that's right! Tennis pros also do many other things that are traditionally incorrect. They are jumping, slashing, diving, swinging, flicking all over the place. Whatever it takes!
 
Does anyone see the reality of all of this swashbuckling style when watching the pros? No. Why? Because the results are so sensational, so magnificent, so spectacular, it appears whatever the pros are doing is right. Even though conventional methods would say it is wrong, the sensational trumps that 'reality.'
 
The criteria for determining 'good mechanics' are predicated on successful or unsuccessful results. What better successful results can you find on the planet than with your sensational playing pros! The pros create results that are astounding, fantastic, even at times surreal. Therefore, their stroke production must be as traditional methods teach. Or is it? Most players do not recognize that the top pros do many things that are incorrect according to conventional techniques. Everyone simply assumes the pros are mechanically sound.
 
However, if YOU were to do what the pros do but you miss the shot, according to tennis pundits you would be wrong and your technique would need correcting. I believe we have a double standard here! Thus all the confusion.
 
How does this apply to you? Let's say you are taking a lesson and you are working on your forehand stroke. The "sensationalism trumps reality" concept is more subtle, but alive and well. The process goes like this. A coach tells you to hit a forehand, to stay on the ground and stop jumping. You hit the forehand, jump up a little and miss. You then hear, "Stay on the ground. Don't jump up!!" The next time, you hit a forehand and nail a beautiful crosscourt shot. The coach exclaims, "Yes, excellent shot!" But you still left the ground to make the shot! The result dictated whether the mechanics of your shot were right or wrong.
 
To the coach, if the result of a shot is bad, you are doing something wrong. But if the result of a shot is good, you are doing something right. This is the concept of the sensational trumping reality.
 
Should you jump off the ground? Yes, if it happens naturally. If the movement of the shot makes you leave the ground, that's fine. The reason pros come off the ground when hitting many of their shots is because the momentum of the shot naturally pulls them off the ground. It is much easier for them to jump in order to maintain and recover their balance. The pros always do what is easier and more natural. That's right! Oddly enough, it is much more difficult, if not impossible, to run to a ball and then come to a screeching halt to hit the shot. Yet that technique is still taught by many traditional coaches.
 
Why make everything so difficult? Why not play the easy way, like the pros? The next time you watch the top pros play, really observe them. Not their results, but their physical movements. See if they always stay on the ground, bend their knees, keep a firm wrist, follow through toward their target, take the racket back before they run or hit with their weight forward. This is not what you will see.
 
What you will see are pros with a variety of mechanics and individual styles adapting to the situation. Not because they have painstakingly and meticulously worked on every little detail of every stroke and every situation, but because they have hit so many tennis balls that their body has naturally adapted to what is easier and more efficient. Meanwhile, beginning, intermediate and advanced players are attempting to learn the game the hard way by micro-managing every little mechanic and every situation.
 
The pros learn the easy way and everyone else learns the hard way? This does not make sense! As a Tennis Warrior, do not fall prey to this misconception of sensationalism trumping reality. In the Tennis Warrior world, reality trumps sensationalism. The pros are not playing according to the book, and neither should you.
 

Green DotGreen DotGreen Dot

Tennis Warrior Archive

If you have not already signed up to receive our free e-mail newsletter Tennis Server INTERACTIVE, you can sign up here. You will receive notification each month of changes at the Tennis Server and news of new columns posted on our site.

This column is copyrighted by Tom Veneziano, all rights reserved.

Tom is a tennis pro teaching at the Piney Point Racquet Club in Houston, Texas. Tom has taught thousands of players to think like a pro with his Tennis Warrior System.

     

In Tom Veneziano's book "The Truth about Winning!", tennis players learn in a step-by-step fashion the thinking the pros have mastered to win! Tom takes you Step-by-step from basic mental toughness to advanced mental toughness. All skill levels can learn from this unique book from beginner to professional. No need to change your strokes just your thinking.

Audio CDs by Tom Veneziano:



 

nodot
nodot
Google
Web tennisserver.com
nodot nodot
The Tennis Server
Ticket Exchange

Your Source for tickets to professional tennis & golf events.
 
SAI Team Tennis Tournament Tickets
 
Dallas Open Tickets
 
Delray Beach Open Tickets
 
ATX Open Tickets
 
BNP Paribas Open Tickets
 
Miami Open Tickets
 
Credit One Charleston Open Tickets
 
US Men's Clay Court Championships Tickets
 
Wimbledon Tickets
 
Infosys Hall of Fame Open Tickets
 
Atlanta Open Tickets
 
Mubadala Citi Open Tennis Tournament Tickets
 
National Bank Open Women's Tennis Canada Tickets
 
National Bank Open Men's Tennis Canada Tickets
 
Western & Southern Open Tickets
 
Winston-Salem Open Tickets
 
US Open Tennis Championship Tickets
 

 

Popular Tennis books:
 
Winning Ugly: Mental Warfare in Tennis-Lessons from a Master by Brad Gilbert, Steve Jamison
 
The Best Tennis of Your Life: 50 Mental Strategies for Fearless Performance by Jeff Greenwald
 
The Inner Game of Tennis by W. Timothy Gallwey
 
Most Recent Articles:
 
October 2022 Tennis Anyone: Patterns in Doubles by John Mills.
 
September 2022 Tennis Anyone: Short Court by John Mills.
 

 

 

 

"Tennis Server" is a registered trademark and "Tennis Server INTERACTIVE" is a trademark of Tennis Server. All original material and graphics on the Tennis Server are copyrighted 1994 - by Tennis Server and its sponsors and contributors. Please do not reproduce without permission.

The Tennis Server receives a commission on all items sold through links to Amazon.com.

 

Tennis Server
Cliff Kurtzman
Editor-in-chief
791 Price Street #144
Pismo Beach, CA 93449
Phone: (281) 480-6300
Online Contact Form
How to support Tennis Server as a Sponsor/Advertiser
Tennis Server Privacy Policy