How to Get Better: Beginner to Intermediate Players

– Great job trying to learn what for many of you is a new stroke! The approach shot is not an easy stroke and everybody displayed great openness and tenacity.
– Like any new shot, technique improvement requires a lot of dedicated time spent.
Some helpful hints towards that end:

1). Consider taking a lesson or two to really find a solid technique.
2). Once you feel you have the technique solid, spend at least 1 hour per week on ball machine (or have friend hit balls to you) working on dedicated technique. Consider using gradual approach, only incorporating footwork once stroke mechanics are sound.
3). Consider using phone and/or instructor (preferably the latter) to properly assess whether your technique is sound enough to move toward more frequent hitting.
4). Increase reps on ball machine, incorporating hitting partner with dedicated effort to specific stroke development.
5). Incorporate into competition-based play and drill (you will experience errors here, go back to Step 3).
6). Incorporate into matches.
7). Add in stroke to your arsenal and proceed to dominate.

Good luck!

Dr. John den Boer

Dr. John den Boer specializes in providing mental performance training to athletes (with particular specialization in ball sport athletes like tennis and baseball). He received his internship training at VA Boston Healthcare System (Boston University School of Medicine/Harvard University) and received his postdoctoral training at Barrow Neurological Institute. He has published extensively in the area of Clinical Neuropsychology and Sports Neuropsychology and has been an expert speaker at many local, national, and international conferences. He has consulted with many elite-level sports organizations, including the USOC, ATP/WTA tours, NCAA, MLB, NBA, and NFL. He is a USPTA-Elite and PTR Teaching Professional. He specializes in developing junior elite tennis players and helping them realize their dreams at playing college tennis.

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