Welcome to the tennis lesson hotline, sponsored by Tom's Tennis Tapes, "educating players one mind at a time."  I'm Tom Veneziano.   This lesson lasts approximately 2 minutes and changes on the first of every month. 

You're having trouble in a match. You just can't seem to get a feel of the match and your rhythm and timing are off. What should you do?  Well, to make this simple let's reduce it to one shot.  How about the serve.  You're getting serves in, but you're missing a lot of 1st serves and feel like something is just not right. 

First, let's approach this from the standpoint of the negative. What should you not do. You should not try to hit the ball harder.  It's amazing how many times players who are having trouble begin hitting the ball harder to get out of their little slump.  Somehow this is supposed to get them back on track.  I guess a legitimate question to ask would be, if you were not playing well at your normal speed why would you play any better blasting the ball around the court. Avoid this pitfall of hitting the ball harder when you're in trouble.

On the positive side here's what you should do. You should slow it down and try to re-establish your timing and rhythm. This in turn will improve your consistency.  Now, there is a subtle pitfall you must avoid when you are attempting to slow down.  You're trying to set your timing and rhythm, not win the point.  There is a difference.  Let's go back to the serve. You decide to slow it down and re-establish your timing on the serve.  When you do this you're not hitting your best serves, so your opponent may have an opportunity to win a few more points.  You must learn to handle these lost points for the sake of re-establishing your rhythm.  Once your timing and rhythm improve you can begin placing the ball better and even speed it up. 

Can you see the problem?  Most players after losing a few points forget about their timing and rhythm and go right back to their original erratic play.  Don't be guilty of this infraction. The next time you're having trouble in your match, do not hit the ball harder.  Instead, slow it down and re-establish your timing and rhythm.  Remember, you're not trying to win the point so learn to handle the loses until your timing kicks in.  I know losing these points can be very difficult to deal with, but there are two words we use to describe this situation in sports... Mental Toughness! 

If you would like more information on my audio cassettes, leave your name and address at the sound of the tone. This message changes on the 1st of every month. Thank You. 

Copyright © 2000 Tom Veneziano.  All rights  reserved. 

"Tom deals with the thinking end of tennis like no one else. It's almost too difficult to explain, you have to experience it. He has an uncanny knack for getting right to the heart of the matter. You come away thinking, that's right: it makes sense!"

Colleen Cremer, Houston, TX.

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