Quantcast
nodot nodot
Tennis Warrior
November 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

 
Are Elite Tennis Techniques for You?

Tom Veneziano Photo
Tom Veneziano

The Wall Street Journal published a tennis article entitled, "Don't Try This at Home" (by Tom Perrotta). According to this article, tennis pros are tennis pros and you are not! Therefore you should not be emulating certain techniques used by the likes of Federer, Roddick, Sharapova, and so forth. You shouldn't hit with an open stance, attempt a swinging volley, jump off the ground, or use the buggy-whip forehand (which requires following through on the opposite side) like Nadal does.
 
Many people have asked me what I thought of this article. My answer: Hogwash!
 
Players at all levels are automatically performing many of these techniques. If players let their game develop naturally, they will begin performing many of these mechanics through the natural molding process. Recently at a junior tournament I watched one of my 12-year-old juniors execute a beautiful, instinctive, topspin volley that I had never taught him. To him it just seemed to be the right stroke for the moment!
 
In other situations, my students have hit the buggy-whip forehand. I do not teach this stroke, but I do allow the stroke to happen naturally if that player is so inclined. Your tennis game is based on your own style, your own mechanics and your own individual play. The top pros have developed their game this way too. This is why there is such an array of styles and techniques on the pro circuit. "One technique fits all" does not hold true for the pros. Why should it be any different for all other players? Once upon a time, the pros were "all other players!"
 
Let me show you what the author misses in the article. This is something that is much misunderstood in the tennis industry. Something that causes many coaches and players to teach and play with a rigid, mechanical, overly precise, cookie cutter, perfect model. Something that sends a false signal to players by squashing them into this perfect model and forcing them to live up to unrealistic expectations. Let me explain.
 
There are world class pros and there are junior tennis players. The misunderstanding develops when the tennis industry divides these players into two separate groups that do not connect. In other words, there is the world class pro species of tennis player and the junior species of tennis player. The world class species plays one way and the junior species plays with another style.
 
The world class species plays with techniques that can only be executed by this elite type player and not by the junior species or any other players. It is thought that the world class pros have painstakingly and meticulously learned each individual, precise mechanic during hours and hours of practice, working on these unusual mechanics until one day they perform them effortlessly. But these techniques are not for the junior species or any others. Hence the conclusion: Do Not Try This At Home.
 
Here is the problem. The pros do not meticulously work on each intricate piece of a mechanical skill in the way that people think. Their strokes actually developed as a natural result of their training as a junior and by doing what comes naturally and easiest for them. Yes, your best pros were once normal juniors with their own unique strokes and individual style. Because of the mental division between these two levels of play this concept has been lost. Juniors have the same strokes when and if they become top pros. But once juniors pass into the rarified world of pro status they are now a new species that should not be emulated. Ridiculous!
 
In his book, "Borg by Borg," Bjorn Borg was asked if he had a coach when he began tennis. Below is his answer:
 
"Not for the first three years. That's probably why I have such unconventional strokes - a two-handed backhand and so on. They say you mustn't play like I do, but I just felt right when I played like that. What is important is not the way you hit the ball, but whether or not it gets over the net. And when it does, it's marvelous to watch. If you have a stroke of your own, one that really works, and you feel right playing it, keep it, even if it isn't 'classical.' Don't try to change it."
 
Rafael Nadal was once quoted as saying, "People ask, 'Who did you model your game after?' I never thought like that. I just played the way I was comfortable playing."
 
There is no separation between pros and juniors. They are connected. The game is relative to the level of each player. The pros just look a heck of a lot better performing these funny looking strokes than most players. But pros were performing the same strokes as normal, mortal juniors.
 
What does this mean for you? Well, think about this. The tennis industry constantly attempts to fit you into this unrealistic model that is so difficult to accomplish that the top pros have abandoned it. Do you know why? Because to play according to the traditional model of staying on the ground, no swinging volleys, no open stances, no whipping forehands, no this, no that, etc. is too difficult and totally inefficient. It is like playing in a straitjacket! To not have any natural flow to a player's game compatible with that player's style and form is to condemn that person to mediocrity. Which is apparently what the tennis pundits want!
 
So my recommendation is to ignore any type of article or teaching that attempts to stuff you into some mediocre model that places limits on your individuality, your motivation and your freedom of creative expression. Great play does not develop from mediocre models and low expectations. This is not the signature of a pro. Great play develops from the freedom to express your own individual style and high expectations! This is the signature of a pro. This is the signature of a Tennis Warrior. Now hit the courts and swing away!
 

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