Want to get better at tennis? Try these tips! They will only work if you put in the work.
Practice Practice Practice
It is fairly obvious that to become a professional at anything you have to practice.
You can practice through two main avenues: 1. Training with your coach and 2. Training with people who are motivated and eager to become better.
Let us first look at training with a coach.
Train with your Coach
For this to be most effective you have to have a good coach. Although the cost for a good coach can be expensive, it is the 2nd biggest investment behind investing in yourself to become a professional.
Here are some guidelines to choose a good coach:
- You should assess their teaching ability
Look at who they have trained and how well those athletes have performed. For example, the upcoming star from Canada, Leylah Fernandez, has the same fitness coach as world number 6 Dominic Thiem.
- Choose someone that you will be able to trust
A good fitness coach will seek to build personal relationships with their athletes. This allows them to help you improve your mental, social and physical abilities.
- Express your goals immediately
It is important as an athlete to have a clear idea of what you want to achieve. By expressing these thoughts to your fitness coach they should be able to give you a plan on how to get to where you want to go. The plan should include: fitness training, mental training and lifestyle coaching.
Workout a timeline with your coach, ensure its reasonableness and then work towards it.
Train with other people better than you
Another aspect of training is playing practice matches. Your coach should be able to set up a training schedule for you. It should include both individual practice time as well as practice matches with other experienced players.
By playing practice matches, you will discover areas where you can tighten your technique as well as work on strengthening your defensive and offensive game tactics.
Increase your fitness level
To reach world number 1, you must be extremely fit. Novak Djokovic’s physical and mental fitness is unmatched.
Winning 3 Grand Slam titles already this year and poised to even take the US Open, Novak is currently running a 20 game Grand Slam streak. To maintain this level of fitness takes dedication and consistent practice.
Leg fitness is critical for tennis. Matches can be as short as an hour or as long as 3 hours, but to whichever time degree the match sways you must be prepared.
Eat healthy
Each players diet will be different and will depend solely on what your coaching team advises.
According to Fox Sports, Djokovic maintains a strict diet of vegetables, water, fruits, nuts and healthy oils. Adhering to this strict diet is what Djokovic credits for his consistent domination in the sport.
Mental strength
Any athlete you speak to will tell you that the mental aspect of the sport is just as important as your physical strength.
- A tennis match is like a rollercoaster
Whenever you lose a point in a match, you must get over it quickly. If you don’t, it is likely you will lose plenty more as a consequence.
To get over a lost point, you have to maintain a positive attitude and think about what gets you fired up to win.
Clearly, you may have your own strategies, but what ever it is, just ensure it is available whenever you need to use it.
- Problem Solve
You should aim to develop your ability to critically think while playing matches.
Do your homework about your competitor and if by chance you fall behind on a point you should be able to tell why you lost the point and adjust your game play so that it doesn’t happen again.
To grow you must leave your comfort zone. If you want to get better at tennis, try these tips!
