With over 40 years of tennis coaching experience, Steve Annacone, a long-time seasonal tennis pro at the Tucson J and founder of the Smoky Mountain Tennis Academy (SMTA) in Knoxville, TN, has incredible knowledge and wisdom of the sport. In this series, we are sharing some of Steve’s top tips for improving all aspects of your game!
As every athlete knows, sports are as much about mental strategy as they are about physical ability — especially tennis. Keep reading to explore some of Steve’s best tips for framing your mindset the next time you are on the court.
Hang in and Fight Through the Difficult Matches
All of the best tennis players realize that they will play at their optimum level only a couple (maybe) times a year. This means that a player must be able to come up with things that are working well on that given day to have a chance to win matches when everything is not going as planned.
Players can actually win matches when they are playing poorly if they don’t give up and let the frustration take over rather than playing every point the best they can. Focus on the very basics: watch the ball, get ready after each shot and try to put two or three shots together on each point.
These simple things can keep you in the match and allow you some success even on your most difficult days.
Be Specific
Although it is extremely difficult these days to get the tennis ball to go exactly where you want, it is important that you aim for a specific target for your shot.
If you tell yourself to just try to get the ball to land in, your focus and concentration is not likely to be as good as when you tell yourself to get the ball to land halfway between the baseline and the service line and on the deuce side of the court. Since the serve and return of serve are the first shots you hit, before the point starts, look at the target; exactly where you want the ball to land, and make sure you have in your mind that your swing will be traveling in that direction.
Even though there will be many times that the ball does not go where you want it to, this will improve the quality of your shot because you are being decisive. If you choose an area with a good margin for error (not right on the baseline, sideline or any line!) your shot is likely to go in the general direction and be pretty successful.
Make your target specific and you will help your focus and concentration as well as keeping your swing more free and relaxed.
You Can Always Get Better
Tennis is an incredible sport. As you are learning the game, you can work on so many different areas to improve on.
Most of us initially focus on the actual hitting of the ball-strokes, footwork, placement, etc. As you improve, it becomes pretty obvious that winning a tennis match is not always directly related to how well you hit the ball. Sometimes it is selecting the right shot at the right time.
Other times it is the effect that your strategy has on your opponent over the course of the match. Even as you get older and cannot run as fast or hit the ball as hard, you can improve by being a student of your own game and using what has worked well for you in the past. Arthur Ashe came up with one of my favorite quotes for approaching both tennis and life:
“Start where you are, use what you have, do what you can.”
Take a few minutes and try to grasp exactly what this means. It will give you a great chance of continuing to get better at tennis, as well as providing you an awesome model to deal with all of the things that our thrown at us in our day to day lives.
Use an Image and a Thought to Play the Ideal Point
Keep a mental note of the point you would like to play in your head.
Picture what that point is like-good serve, good crosscourt first shot and a ball hit early from inside the baseline to get the opponent in trouble or win the point.
Remind yourself before the point starts what you want the point to be like, how many hits you would like it to be, and how you would like to finish the point. A good way to do this is to recall a point that you have already played.
Remember where you hit the serve or return, what type of shot came back, and what response you had on the next ball. Things will often repeat themselves but remember that each point is slightly different.
Try to give yourself more of a chance of repeating a good point by reminding yourself just prior to the start of the point, what you have done well!
About Steve Annacone
Steve has been a tennis professional and coach for the last 40 years. His experience includes seven years of ATP Tour experience as coach for Paul Annacone (highest world rankings, #12 in singles, #2 in doubles).
In 1996, Steve founded Smoky Mountain Tennis Academy (SMTA) in Knoxville, TN. For 19 years, he was Facility Director, Head Coach, and Camp Director at SMTA. More than 75 SMTA students went on to compete in college, including one All American and many at the Division 1 level. A large number of these players started playing at SMTA and trained there throughout their college careers. Steve was named USTA/Tennessee Pro of the Year in 1998 and has served as Tennis Director or Head Tennis Professional at numerous facilities and clubs in New York, Florida, and Tennessee. An Elite USTA Tennis Professional, Coach Steve is available for private lessons.
