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Bi-Weekly Tip 100 (08/17/08)

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And if your athlete aspires even bigger goals and wants to achieve the top of the world’s ranking, one of my recommendations is to practice 300 serves daily whether you use a cart of balls or the backboard where you can serve a lot more within the same amount of time. Lately, serves have to be powerful, but tons of topspin should be applied in order to maintain a high percentage of first serves around the 80%.

Imagine yourself hitting aces left and right and because of your accurate aim and consistency you keep winning your serving games at 40-0, 40-15 or at most 40-30. You can probably see your opponent’s desperate attempts to maintain her serves, knowing at any given time she can get broken because of the many break points she is faced with.

It is up to you how much better your serve is going to get. The more you get out there to practice it daily, considering you’re practicing the proper strokes, the better and quicker you will achieve results. On the weekends and holidays, when there is more time, try and do more serves. I’d say approximately 1,200 daily. I used to practice that many serves when I was younger even when the racquets were still wood frames. They wouldn’t go more than 120 miles an hour, and I was able to obtain a certain accuracy that allowed me to win my serving games with three or four aces frequently.

Back then I even got excited about the idea of being among the best players in the world, but I had to give up that idea since back in the days tennis was simply an amateur sport and I quickly realized I needed to pursue a career to support myself financially.

I want to bring up a few more topics about the “THE LIFE OF A CHAMPION” that I find really important.

A champion’s candidate should add as a main priority to study the sport in depth and thoroughly especially the mental and psychological element. In order to absorb the information that you think has not registered in your subconscious, my advice is to write sticky notes and spread them everywhere so you remind yourself constantly.

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Bi-Weekly Tip 99 (08/06/08)

I am going to name todays Tips THE LIFE OF A CHAMPION.

Initially, I must remember that the first trait a candidate to a champion should look for is a sport or professional activity that fits her physical and mental characteristics as a whole. Only after matching her natural abilities to these characteristics that she can excel in any field of activity.

The priority behavior of a futuristic champion to achieve her goals is directly linked to her determination. A quality coach or mentor should be able to identify right away such qualities in a future star in the sports or academic field. After he acknowledges ones promising career, then he starts investing heavily in her special abilities.

I would like to call the attention of all coaches and mentors to avoid high expectations from their pupils. Each person has a certain mental and physical limitation in her abilities and overdoing them could result in a reverse effect of what they aspire for their pupils. They could physically hurt and/or mentally wear themselves out and as a result compromise their once promising career.

I am a big believer that to work toward the development of a promising star you should adopt a lesson structure of a stairway where each step taken is aimed toward the top. In other words, persistency and patience when using the proper information to teach your athlete or student so she is able absorb it all in a realistic timely manner.

For example, in the sport of tennis, after you realize your pupil has achieved perfection or closed to perfection in her strokes, you should maintain a repetitive daily training system of about 30 minutes to cover the basics and make sure such strokes become second nature to her. Then you could move on to consistency rallies or 2-on-1 drills.

Also try and use a daily regime of tie-breakers match-play situation in order to practice your pupils serves and returns.

And if your athlete aspires even bigger goals and wants to achieve the top of the worlds ranking, one of my recommendations is ...

 (To be continued on next Tips)

Bi-Weekly Tip 98 (04/22/08)

(Continue from last Tips) ...

Id like to end todays Tips redirecting my words to local athletes (Brasília, DF  Brazil) that constantly need support to recover yourselves physically and mentally from eventual injuries. The Balancing Muscular Clinic (Clínica de Balanceamento Muscular) has helped me and my clients magnificently when we needed them. Id like to support them and update you with their new location. Setor de Rádio e TV Sul  Edifício Embassi Tower, Sala 405. Phone: (61) 3202-8368. The physicians names in charge are Luciana and Vilma.

You can also find numerous other same type clinics through the number above all over Brazil and other countries.

Now let's go back to he main content of our Tips. I wanted to speak up to the fans of our sport to make total effort toward persuading the board of directors and committees of your clubs, training facilities, and even public parks to develop projects to build as many indoor courts as possible.

Tennis is a sport that requires a ton of hours of training, not only to professional athletes but especially to potential young athletes.

I believe one of the biggest obstacles that athletes have to face is the inability to maintain their training schedule during the heavy long periods of rainfall.

I see a sport, especially tennis where I taught through my entire life, an invaluable educational tool. It is of extreme importance to focus our efforts to sustain a great deal of persistence toward the development of such projects. For example, club committees should provide their members' children with at least the tools to give them the opportunity to become, or attempt to become, a successful athlete. As I was saying the sport of tennis can teach, out of all the many lessons in life, DETERMINATION. Such trait will aid anyone to achieve several professional goals later in life.

Besides, as I have mentioned in earlier Tips, tennis will keep every children fully involved in the sport away from drugs. By looking at the big picture, we would not only be helping a better future for our sport, but also maintaining it a safe environment. Clubs and such facilities should take this responsibility and get involved in building a better world one athlete at a time. Individual sports like tennis require a great deal of individual responsibility where you cannot blame on your teammate for not making the effort. It's solely the single athlete's fault for not performing and achieving the desired results. Thus, maintain your children on the court, teach them a great deal of discipline and determination and keep them drug-free. That equals maximum achievement!

Well, the message has been given. And I hope our clubs and facilities around our nation put a conscious effort toward a better society. All in all my message is in an effort to aid Brazil reach the top spot in the world indefinitely one day.

Bi-Weekly Tip 97 (03/19/08)

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Adding to the list of useful drills, you and your drill partner should serve-and-volley on first and second serves. Use the same method you’d use for the chip-and-charge drills by alternating sides, and then players. These types of match-play situation (serve-and-volley and chip-and-charge) don’t just happen very often, but when they do, you’ll be sure to be ready for them.

And finally, one last drill that should be commonly trained to add to your list would be hitting winners from the middle of the court. I see many tour players making these mistakes and throwing away crucial points in a match.

In some occasions you might not be able to set your feet up and hit these short-ball winners. This shouldn’t be a problem, and all you do is place the shot as opposed to try and hit a winner. Avoid a big backswing and take advantage of your momentum moving forward to add the weight to the shot.

In other occasions you’ll still be forced to run, but you might be able to find your balance in the last minute or so. In this case, you will have four options of shots. The first two include both right and left corners of the court. The third one involves a shot in the center normally to where your opponent stands. Usually, when players see themselves in a disadvantageous situation, they tend choose a side and run to it. In this case, you are likely to hit a winner due to their shifting. And even if they don’t take an expected guess to one side or the other, they will find themselves in a situation where they’ll need to create a lot of angle from the center of the court, which it’d be very difficult. And the last one includes a fake forehand or backhand drive. You’d prepare the same exact way you normally do it to drive the shot, but in fact you’d execute a drop shot in the last minute. This should work to your advantage even if you don’t perfectly execute it, considering the surprise factor.

I’d like to end today’s Tips redirecting my words to local athletes (Brasília, DF – Brazil) that constantly need support to recover yourselves physically and mentally from eventual injuries. The Balancing Muscular Clinic (Clínica de Balanceamento Muscular) has helped me and my clients magnificently when we needed them. I’d like to support them and update you with their new location. Setor de Rádio e TV Sul – Edifício Embassi Tower, Sala 405. Phone: (61) 3202-8368. The physicians’ names in charge are Luciana and Vilma.

Bi-Weekly Tip 96 (02/15/08)

I continue to insist that half-volleys should be practiced regularly. They are not a common shot in the tennis community and we even see the world’s top players making the same mistakes of jumping and hitting half-volleys with spin.

My advice to succeed in the execution of a half-volley is to start the stroke when your opponent’s shot is still in the air halfway through to your side of the court. Make sure your racquet’s head is pointing down directly to the ground, but maintain your wrist firm and cocked using a continental or eastern grip, whichever you’re most comfortable with. The idea is to keep your backswing to a minimum and to intercept the ball almost immediately after it bounces, executing a flat shot (no spin whatsoever).

Then all you do is push the racquet through the ball to finish up the stroke as if you’re executing a regular forehand or backhand groundstroke follow-through. Half-volleys should be practiced repetitively with someone helping to feed the balls at a fast pace, deep and close to your feet to both your strokes, each side at least 30 times.

On the same note, you should never lose your balance backwards. It seems like your racquet position does not suffer the consequences of a little balance lost backwards, however, it will affect tremendously as you may witness your shot falling short or going out.

Another useful shot that top players, or players of any level, should put into practice is the chip-and-charge return of the second serve. By coming in, you’re not only pressuring your opponent, but also forcing him to execute a passing shot, which under pressure is a tough shot to make. You could use it on a 30-30 or 30-40 score. I bet he’ll prefer keeping the ball in play rather than risking the passing shot, hoping you’ll make the mistake. Your chances to win the point just increased for being closer to the net.

A complete training session for both under pressure serving player and chip-and-charge returning player follows. Let’s say your practice partner hits second serves from the deuce side and you chip-and-charge every single return as if you were playing doubles by only using the cross-court side including the double’s alleys. Play out the points to 21 or more. Then switch to the ad side and do the same. Following, the serving player returns and the returning player serves. While one practices return-and-volley strategies, the other works on a reliable second serve and passing shots under pressure.

Adding to the list of useful shots, here is another one that should be practiced … (Continue on next Tips)

Bi-Weekly Tip 95 (01/13/08)

Bjorn Borg was the founder of the high and deep topspin shots. Such shots got him out of a lot of trouble. He’d use it to turn the momentum around. In other words, he’d go from defensive to offensive playing with one or two topspin shots. Andre Agassi and many other famous players adopted this intelligent shot and have succeeded as we all have witnessed.

There is something that needs to be considered before using these topspin shots or any shots that require aggressive, fast shifting to return an opponent’s powerful shot. Never jump or bend your knees thinking they will help you return it. Considering they are powerful shots, a small oscillation of your knees would prevent a perfect execution of racquet-ball contact.

In a next opportunity you have to watch Federer, the number one in the world does not oscillate his body up or down with the help of his knees on a running shot.

On the same note, you should never lose your balance backwards. It seems like your racquet position does not suffer the consequences of a little balance lost backwards, however, it will affect tremendously as you may witness your shot falling short or going out.

In order to avoid the balance issue, there are two ways to conduct a solution. If there is time to stop and execute the shot, give total priority to take that last step forward toward the ball. Thus you’ll be leading your body and racquet the same direction. However, if you are not able to stop, your alternative is to lower your front shoulder and try and maintain it lower than the opposite shoulder. Get 4 players together and line them up one behind the other and have someone feed them balls so they can practice such shots.

I continue to insist that half-volleys should be practiced regularly. They are not a common shot in the tennis community and we even see the world’s top players making the same mistakes of jumping and hitting half-volleys with spin.

My advice to succeed in the execution of a half-volley is start the stroke when … (Continue on next Tips)

Bi-Weekly Tip 94 (12/05/07)

On last week’s Tips, I touched a subject that encouraged two-handed backhand players to start practicing a topspin one-handed backhand (aiming to gain flexibility as to have another option, not as a permanent change) in order to reach for the short cross-court shots in question. The topspin applied to these shots would raise the percentage of their execution, considering the ball should clear well over the net and dip faster onto the court. Keep in mind slice shots would do exactly the opposite.

Practicing against a wall is a great option for these two-handed players to become familiar with a one-handed shot. Stand about 13 feet away from the wall and hit slowly. Obviously use one hand and do not execute any backswing or drop the head racquet level. Start the racquet at about your thighs’ level and just about a foot below the contact level. From there you should be able to execute a short topspin swing.

The backhand slice from the service line (or about 3/4 of the court) is, I consider, a last resort shot. Let’s say they are late and cannot use both hands, they should then use it as no other option is available. In the future you’ll see more of these players making adjustments to their game and trying to add the one-handed topspin backhand to their menu of options.

In a different note, I want to use today’s Tips to also talk about defensive playing using slice rather than topspin. I insist that top professional players should play defensively using topspin shots, almost in a lob kind of way, when pressured with strong cross-court baseline shots.

Defending yourself with a slice is a weak option. There are no excuses to executing such shot when you have to make a decision to change the grip in any circumstances. In this case, if they made a decision to hit a topspin shot, a simple change of the grip would do the trick.

Bjorn Borg was the founder of the high and deep topspin shots, which would give him … (Continue on next Tips)

Bi-Weekly Tip 93 (11/17/07)

Today I'm going to talk about a subject that I continue to witness in major tournaments: the various technical and strategic mistakes the top players in the world have been making.

The first and foremost strategic mistake I want to point out is what commonly happens when a player faces a situation where it is “30 all in the game, and the serving player risks a drop shot.”

“Never execute drop shots when you’re in difficult, unfavorable circumstances whether in a point or a game. You only have 20% of chance working on your side. I like to call it a low percentage shot.”

Let’s say you tried that drop shot and had no success in making it. You’re now faced with a break point. That means, you just put yourself strategically under pressure to play the next point, a break point. Do avoid making these decisions and play your percentages when you can!

That was the tactical mistake. Another common one is the technical mistake, when a player approaches the ball on a lower shot, closer to the net, and executes a full swing as if she was executing a stroke from the baseline.

When a player one is closer to the net, she does not need to execute a strong shot. Her opponent’s recovery and/or reaction time have been drastically reduced because of how close player one got to the net.

Experiment throwing a ball to another person about six to eight feet away from you. Her reaction time is very short when she’s that close, thus making it more difficult for her to catch the ball. The same happens when playing a live ball. You are close to the net hitting a groundstroke, and your opponent is at the net trying to cover it to avoid a passing shot. Try then to simply place the ball executing a short swing to one of the corners of the court, considering you have the running pushing the ball forward. Therefore, you’ll realize there is no need to execute a hard shot.

And my last but not least technical observation has to do with the two-handed grip backhand-stroke players. They need to perfect these strokes in a way that they stop slicing when their opponents execute a short cross-court shot. Such shots are what it makes them be late and choose to hit with a single hand.

When they happen to make the slice shot, the ball most likely crosses pretty close to the net. Therefore, most of the times, they end up making a mistake into the net or out considering the slice makes the ball fluctuates.

I insist that players using a two-handed grip start practicing, to add to their fan of options, a one-handed backhand with a lot of topspin. This would be a great help in maintaining your percentage level of shots in, considering the topspin will certainly clear enough over and dive faster on the other side of the net.

Bi-Weekly Tip 92 (10/31/07)

This, ladies and gentleman, is the realistic portrait of our National tennis scenario! And it is one of the reasons why we have only been able to witness, from the beginning of tennis era as a sport until today, two outstanding performances among the endless list of Brazilian talents in the international scenario. Maria Ester Bueno was the only Brazilian player in 1959 to reach the highest post in the world. And many, many years later, not until 1997, we had the honor to witness the phenomenon Guga, Gustavo Kuerten, holding the number one spot in the ATP ranking.

Cost is the first obstacle the sport of tennis offers. In a third-world country, the managing system must be well-structured and organized in an effort to invest in a high number of athletes, so the resulting balance is a reasonable number of top quality players capable of reaching the top ten spots in the world.

Working with a high number of athletes to make it possible for them to excel is feasible in sports that don’t require high investments. For example, in Brazil, we have soccer, which is low-cost, low-maintenance, and most popular sport, volleyball, and other group sports.

Unfortunately, there are no examples of sports that work with a small group of athletes and end up with them all maintaining their ranking positions among the top players on the tour. Therefore, it’s vital to concentrate a good number of athletes in order to pick out the best quality of stars.

And here in Brazil, unfortunately we own neither quantity nor quality athletes among the top 100 even though there are so much talent. Recently, we had to witness our Davis Cup Team drop to Groups I of the four groups of the Regional Zones after Austria defeated us 4-1.

For all the reasons aforementioned I WANT TO YELL OUT LOUD to alert the sports investors that our end here only needs your help to implement AN ORGANIZATION OF ENTREPRENEURIAL INVESTMENT OF PERFORMANCE ATHLETES. In fact, we would only be implementing what has long been done on your side of the world. One idea to attract such investors is the athletes would give a minimum of 30% of all winning prizes. Such practice has brought some investors more profit than their own companies.

I don’t have too much time available in my hands to go out telling the world about this project, but sometimes, desperate times call for desperate measures. I could make myself available to speak in conferences around the world similar to the one I recently did, indicating THE PATH TO FOLLOW SO WE INDEFINITELY MAINTAIN OUR NATIONAL TENNIS WITHIN THE VERY SELECTED GROUP OF TOP TEN IN THE WORLD.

Bi-Weekly Tip 91 (10/12/07)

I begin today’s Tips emphasizing the subject on an article published in a magazine available in Brazil’s territory called Tennis View (#84). In this article they discuss the current ATP’s president, Etienne de Villiers, intentions to assemble the sport as attractive to the media, sponsors and fans as other sports are to them.

Unfortunately, tennis in this country (Brazil) is many decades behind from applying principles to make his intentions happen.

The true portrait of the Brazilian tennis profile can be interpreted through the following story I intend to tell.

There I was as a commentator of this final match of a Future tournament hosted in Brasília, Brazil. At the end of the match I had the opportunity to give out the trophy to the champion, who had just beat another Brazilian player that happened to be ahead of his opponent in the ATP ranking.

I also had a chance to speak in private with the champion just after the trophy ceremony. I spoke openly to him and criticized him for not being able to maintain his presence more constantly in Future and Challenger tournaments in the country or abroad as I saw him as a top-100 player sooner than he probably thought.

I was very disappointed as I heard his answer. He admitted that he showed up to play that tournament in Brasília for two reasons: cheap ride and housing. His friends were playing in the tournament and he obviously rode with them and he also had free housing through some other friends. And the prize money, as I figured, was going to be used to help his family through difficult times. And even if he didn’t have that constant family cost, the prize was just not enough to cover costs for tournaments abroad.

This, ladies and gentleman, is the realistic portrait of our National tennis scenario! And it is one of the reasons why we have only been able to witness, from the beginning of tennis era as a sport until today, two outstanding performances among the endless list of Brazilian talents in the international scenario. Maria Ester Bueno was the only Brazilian player in 1959 to reach the highest post in the world. And many, many years later, not until 1997, we had the honor to witness the phenomenon Guga, Gustavo Kuerten, holding the number one spot in the ATP ranking…

(To be continued on next Tip.)

Bi-Weekly Tip 90 (09/23/07)

Continuing the excitement from the 2007 US Open Championships, today I’m going to talk about the final match of the tournament between Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic, the 20 year-old Serbian boy who’s put himself among the top 3 players in the world just this past summer. Federer, as we all know, won the match in 3 straight sets by 7-6 (4), 7-6 (2), and 6-4.

But before I start, on behalf of the worldwide tennis community, I want to congratulate Mr. Roger Federer for an impeccable performance at the Open and for a revolutionary player who has broken many records in the Open Era, including the only player to win four consecutive US Open Championships. And I have a good feeling he is not stopping here! Besides, Federer has tied with the great Roy Emerson on 12 Grand Slams, and on top of that he’s become the first player to win Wimbledon and the US Open together four consecutive times. Federer is now only two Grand Slams away to tie Pete Sampras, who holds the current all-time record.

Even though a match involving the best player in the world, or even the best of all-time, the expression “RECORD BREAKING” leaves some room for critics of the sport to make their observations in a few details to better even more the performance of great players.

I’d like to start with the first set at 3-3, when Federer was serving at 15-0. Djokovic made a decision to hit a drop shot when he shouldn’t have. I explain that in my book (“When to execute a drop shot”). Your chances to make such shot are very low and I tend to give them a 20% chance to be in when executed. And even if he had made it, the score would’ve only been 15-15, which it still wasn’t enough to take the risk at that moment. To reinforce my opinion, Federer ended up winning the game with no points won by Djokovic.

At 5-5 Federer served and Djokovic returned with a short ball and it happened to be higher than the net when Federer got to it. The Swiss could’ve easily won the point if he changed his mind by fake driving his shot and actually hitting a drop shot in the last minute. However, he went full force with a drive as if he was hitting from the baseline, causing the score to be 0-15. A psychological pressure kicked in and he ended up with a double fault on the next point and shortly after losing his serving game. Score is now 6-5 Djokovic.

I’m fully aware that Federer has played in many situations against an opponent responsibility free, players who risk anything at any shot, and when things are going their way, they are considered very dangerous opponents. Roger knew that the moment Novak realized he was able to defeat him, the Serbian would fall back into reality and would basically go back to a normal state of mind. And that was exactly what happened when Djokovic was serving at 6-5, 40-0 in the game. The Serbian served like a number one in the world to get up to 40-0, but lost it. He made a few easy unforced errors and let Federer tie his at 6-6 with a double fault. And this picture was stuck in Djokovic’s mind during the tiebreaker. He knew he had a few rare chances to finish up the set, but never did and that was hard for him to overcome. Not only he lost the game, but finished it up with another double fault.

It’s not the first time that I noticed Federer dropping the ball and breaking the momentum after closing the first set. On past Tips I emphasized that you should try not to let the momentum shift over to the other side of the net, which means you need to maintain your authority and control over your opponent until the end of the match. It wasn’t until Djokovic got up to 4-1 on the second set that Federer brought himself back to earth and realized he should start playing. He held his serve for 4-2. But Djokovic once again felt the pressure against the best in the world and lost that seventh game scoring no points. Federer took advantage of the mentally weak Serbian at that moment and brought the match to a tie at 4-4. This set was also decided on a tiebreaker, which it went Federer’s way once again at 7-2. Such result was expected considering the statistics showed at that point in the match Federer had a 68% of first serves in while Djokovic had only 46%, an important aspect considered in a tiebreaker.

After the first two sets played in the tiebreaker, a comment was made by an old friend of mine, Maria Ester Bueno, a quote that registers a pure and undeniable truth: “PLAY WELL AND LUCK WILL ONLY BE ON YOUR SIDE!”

Supporting Maria’s words, the world’s best players practice to be safe and within a foot inside of the line, so when made a mistake chances are that the shot will still land inside whether closer to the line or right on it. The same happens when the ball hits the net and crosses over. The top players create a bigger target and aim their shots way above the net, almost if there was another net above the original one. And when they make a mistake, that margin gives them a cushion, which sometimes causes the ball to barely cross over the net.

And finally the third and last set occurred as predicted within the normal pattern. Only one observation left to be made about Djokovic’s attempt to execute a drop shot in a completely inadequate moment, the match point, when the Serbian was serving at 4-5. That just gave Federer the glorious moment to live upon. Allez Federer!

Bi-Weekly Tip 89 (09/16/07)

I’m going to make a few remarks about the 2007 U.S. Open semi-final match between Roger Federer and Nikolay Davydenko. Even though the score favoring Federer was 3 sets to 0 (7-5 / 6-1 / 7-5), the man himself made a technical mistake to let go of the so-called MOMENTUM of the match.

Federer was winning the first set 3-0 when it was clear that he dropped the pressure level over Davydenko. Nikolay was serving 30-0 and easily got the next point after Federer’s attempt to hit a drop shot in an inappropriate, not favorable moment. In a tight match, during your opponent’s service game, a drop shot is better fitted if you have a break point. Federer was as usual able to bring the game score back to deuce (40-40). However, he would’ve had a higher chance to win this game more easily if he didn’t risk the drop shot.

In the same matter, I note here the need of an extremely important practice. You need to train your subconscious to execute only pre-determined shots in certain circumstances. In other words, dedicate 30 minutes of your daily practice to your mental game where you picture yourself using the same technical and/or strategic behavior so such behaviors are automated and stored in your subconscious for real life situations. As an example, you may memorize when to execute a drop shot at your opponent’s service game.

Also, memorize what I have written in my book about how to maintain yourself focused, one of the psychological techniques I talk about in it. These observations should help you get a grip of the Momentum and maintain it throughout the match.

On the third set Federer made another mistake to try and serve-and-volley when he led 30-0 in the game. The technological advancement in racquets and the speed of the game of tennis have turned the serve-and-volley strategy not so favorable anymore. I believe one adequate moment to adopt such strategy would be on a 40-0 or 40-15 score where your goal is to surprise your opponent.

Davydenko found himself in a situation where he had nothing to lose anymore and took advantage of the opportunity and ended up breaking Federer’s serve. At that moment the power of Momentum was split between the two players. It didn’t last very long. Davydenko realized he was about to take a set (6-4) from the number one in the world and he felt the pressure bck on his shoulders, giving Federer the chance to get ahead in the match again.

Continuing the excitement from the 2007 US Open Championships, next week I’m going to talk about the final match of the tournament between Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic, the 20 year-old Serbian boy who’s put himself among the top 3 players in the world just this past summer. Federer, as we all know, won the match in 3 straight sets by 7-6 (4), 7-6 (2), and 6-4. ... (To be continued next week.)

Bi-Weekly Tip 88 (07/31/07)

... (Continue from last week.)

I have tallked about, many times in past Tips, subjects such as "Strategies", "Breaths control", "Momentum", "Emotional control", "Analysis of reasons why you're losing or winning", "Be aggressive - be a winner", and many more.

All these subjects should be well researched and studied in order for each one to become part of the subconcious of the athlete candidate seeking professionalism.

I also want to add to the topics above "Optmism/Creed", which I consider a crucial mental behavior to help the athlete in his "emotional control." A "cocky" player is optmistic. That is a positive trait and should be used by anyone. However, such trait can turn against its practicioneer when he decides to tell everyone, for example, how good of a player he is, how he can beat everyone, and so on.

The excess of optimism is a fundamental item to reach success. This "creed" to be a winner is the factor to the athlete's motivation. He'll be able to overcome many obstacles and losses in his career, which will teach him the steps through a rough and arduous path to success.

To ultimately help in the development of this optmism characteristic, try and focus your attention, as a coach, in reasons why your athlete has been losing points and games. More specifically, look for reasons whether your athlete has lost a point for the opponent's brilliant play or for the extra lump of already stepped on clay, that extra wind that kicked in, or such.

When you learn to focus on gathering all the different situations in each match, you'll notice the similarity between the sport of tennis and the game of chess. The major difference is the "check-mate." In tennis there is no such a thing once a thought-to-be unbeatable shot could turn into a winner return.

I recall here I posted in past Tips a summary I have written about the book by Anthony Robbins, that tells you the path to success through the Neurolinguistic Program (PNL). The word "creed" is key in this field as it is to the discipules of any religion. And this "creed", this determination of reaching a desired goal, drives the most successful international achievements being that in sports, technology, agriculture, etc.

Bi-Weekly Tip 87 (07/12/07)

... (Continue from last week.)

In this process, my thoughts would be for you to sign up for local competition tournaments aiming to get used to the competition system. As the long and complex process of developing your strokes end, you could start picking up on learning the strategies of the game.

I want to take advantage of this opportunity to alert parents with greedy visions to see their kids become champions. Please, do not force them to behave as adults when they are just at their child or teen stages of their lives!

Ninety percent of these cases kids lose their interest for the sport. In a lot of cases, I believe, these kids think their parents are pushing them into being someone they never had a chance to be or never were.

Well, after reaching perfection with the strokes development process, the first, and most important strategy to be implemented into an athlete's mind is to play just like they train. With that said, you can guess how crucial that initial phase where your athlete participated in some competition. I guarantee you, if you look at the statistics of your athletes' results, you'll be able to convince him, he had been losing to his own self anytime he went on the court under pressure. On the other hand, he'd play a great match when he faced no obligations of winning for not being the favorite. The "play like you train" period is long and overwhelming, but necessary so the athletes learn from losses and wins what's the best way to carry themselves on the court: loose or tight.

I have tallked about, many times in past Tips, subjects such as "Strategies", "Breaths control", "Momentum", "Emotional control", "Analysis of reasons why you're losing or winning", "Be aggressive - be a winner", and many more.

All these subjects should be well researched and studied in order for each one to become part of the subconcious of the athlete candidate seeking professionalism.

I'll also add to the topics above, ... (To be continued next week.)

Bi-Weekly Tip 86 (06/20/07)

... (Continue from last week.)

In order to pass on such a complex set of instructions to a non-pilot, a doctor for example, or a nanny, or you, to make sure they land the plane at least on its belly, the pilot needs to narrow down and prioritize these instructions for the safety of all involved. Considering the amount of time left for a tragedy to happen, if I were the pilot, I'd show where the auto-pilot lever was, obviously obeying the towers orders. Then, I'd show where they are and how to use the headphones and the radio buttons to prevent loss of communication with the towers and authorities.

Considering our new possibility, after hours wasting gas away and giving you all the information necessary to encourage you to land the aircraft, the control tower should have already given you enough instructions to accomplish it. Hopefully, you'll by then have already grasped enough of it to be able to control the most important buttons to aid you on the emergency landing.

This last example illustrates that a lot of patience is required to teach the first few and most importants steps in the learning process. Slowly you should introduce and keep adding details that will ultimately allow you to be comfortable enough to operate the aircraft commands.

Applying that into tennis, thus, it is of extreme help to prioritize the development of each strokes. It is also highly necessary to watch out for the development of bad habits, considering such habits could get stored into your subconcious and you will certainly have a tough time getting rid of them to replace them with the proper strokes.

In this process, my thoughts would be for you to sign up for local competition tournaments aiming to get used to the competition system. As the long and complex process of developing your strokes end, you could start picking up on learning the strategies of the game.

I want to take advantage of this opportunity to alert parents with greedy visions ... (To be continued next week.)

Bi-Weekly Tip 85 (06/04/07)

... (Continue from last week)

I created an analogy myself to try and explain that it is necessary to slowly introduce all that an athlete needs to know, being that discussing technical terms or mental terms.

Imagine, for example, that a co-pilot of a Boeing airplane dies in an air accident. The airplane's pilot was also seriously injured and could die in any minute. No other qualified person was there to replace him, as a result the situation has been handed to you who's the nearest person to the man no longer able to keep the situation under control.

Naturally, the dying pilot grabs your attention and attempts to show you what procedures to take to land the plane while indicating various different buttons and set of instructions. You, in the last minute, has sadly been faced with what I like to call "waterfall effect" of information that rather takes a candidate of pilot 5 or 6 years to learn. Your natural reaction is panicking! Ears shut down, mind doesn't process anything, adrenaline is pumping in your blood vessels, and you're out of it! As a result of this effect, the death of the pilot will also cause the plane to crash.

Observe in this next more adequate example what I think the pilot could adopt under such circumstances.

In order to pass on such a complex set of instructions to a non-pilot, a doctor for example, or a nanny, or you, to make sure they land the plane at least on its belly, the pilot needs to narrow down and prioritize these instructions for the safety of all involved. Considering the amount of time left for a tragedy to happen, if I were the pilot, I'd show where the auto-pilot lever was, obviously obeying the towers orders. Then, I'd show where they are and how to use the headphones and the radio buttons to prevent loss of communication with the towers and authorities.

Continuing the new possibility ... (To be continued next week.)

Bi-Weekly Tip 84 (05/19/07)

... (Continue from last week.)

In other words, whether it is a volley or a baseline groundstroke, make sure your player moves with his body facing the opponent's court half way forward. Think of a crab moving and try and immitate it. Basically, his hips should almost completely be facing forward while his shoulders turn. From the shoulders turn and the minimum hips turn, your players should be able to drive his shots by rotating his shoulders back through the shots. In case it is a groundstroke, shoulders should rotate 180 degrees, otherwise a volley, approximately 90.

Also to make it easier to adopt the new grip, you should try and teach your student to keep the head of the racquet above or around his shoulders' level while waiting for the volley. This will allow him to execute cross-court shots and maintain his racquet strings in the vertical direction while hitting shots from inside of the service box, close to the net. Naturally, when he is in a situation where he needs to hit shots deeper on the court (i.e. 3/4 court volleys, I like to call these), he should drop the head of the racquet and execute a shot from under the ball, racquet face-up to compensate the drop of the ball at the contact point.

By adopting the system with the "repetitiveness of the strokes / strategies" and the "directed or guarded cometition", the old muscle memory and mindset once stored in your athlete's subconcious will slowly be replaced by the new style. This realization happens due to your athlete's perception of the advantages of using the single way of gripping for both forehand and backhand's volleys.

Another observation I have to make and I rate it as very importante refers to the good guidance to the first steps onto learning hte mental equipment.

I created an analogy myself to try and explain that it is necessary to slowly introduce all that an athlete needs to know, being that discussing technical terms or mental terms.

Imagine, for example, that a co-pilot of a Boeing airplane dies in an air accident. The airplane's pilot also injured himself and realizes he is also dying almost immediately. Nobody present could replace the pilot of the airplane, and for that he himself decides ... (To be continued next week.)

Bi-Weekly Tip 83 (04/05/07)

... (Continue from last week.)

As a coach, you could adopt what I like to call "directed or guarded competition". In the case of the student that needs to fix his grips, or more specifically his volley grips, have him play a full set adopting a serve-and-volley, obviously when serving, and a chip-and-charge game plans, when returning serves. In the process, you need to focus your attention on the student's grip at all times. Important to note that you need to make your student aware of the new location of the contact racquet-ball. The point of contact will now be farther behind that previously adopted with the old eastern grip.

Especially because it is a new grip to him and he is naturally used to the old eastern. You will see your student trying to compensate by completely turning his body facing the side fence. To easily convince him of such mistake, ask him if he would push a gigantic instrument such as a piano standing behind it or next o it.

Ask him to keep his racquet in front and make contact out in front too. And make him bring his arms in front as a boxer does when executing a jab. At contact on both sides, he needs to cock his wrist back so the palm of his hand faces the ball on the forehand side and the opposite, the back of his hand, on the backhand side.

Watch your student's footwork and observe it instinctively moving his body to either sides. Your job is to make sure the last step needs to be taken forward so his body weight also moves towards the ball.

In other words, whether it is a volley or a baseline groundstroke, make sure your player moves with his body facing the opponent's court half way forward. Think of a crab moving and try and immitate it. Basically, his hips should almost completely be facing forward while his shoulders turn. From the shoulders turn and the minimum hips turn, your players should be able to drive his shots by rotating his shoulders back through the shots. In case it is a groundstroke, shoulders should rotate 180 degrees, otherwise a volley, approximately 90.

Also to facilitate the new muscle memory that would have to be taught, ... (To be continued next week.)

Bi-Weekly Tip 82 (03/17/07)

Today, let's talk about some aspects of the mental game, or what I like to call mental equipment.

In order to correct a student's stroke, it is necessary to initially convince him that it won't be an easy task to accomplish. For example, assuming such student already has developed a habit of executing his volleys using his groundstrokes' grips, a simple explanation of the correct strokes will not be enough to make a permanent change to a new style.

If you have coached enough in your life, you've probably heard a million times, "I can't do it!", when attempting to correct one's strokes. Such behavior results from the previously developed habit that has been stored in his subconscious, resulting in an effortless and instinctive execution.

I strongly believe in stroke production repetition and long-term patience from both parties. They must both focus their priorities in overcoming this obstacle regardless of the length of such journey.

As a coach, you could adopt what I like to call "directed or guarded competition". In the case of the student that needs to fix his grips, or more specifically his volley grips, have him play a full set adopting a serve-and-volley, obviously when serving, and a chip-and-charge game plans, when returning serves. In the process, you need to focus your attention on the student's grip at all times. Important to note that you need to make your student aware of the new location of the contact racquet-ball. The point of contact will now be farther behind that previously adopted with the old eastern grip.

More specifially, in the case of the new backhand volley grip, the student's old eastern grip... (To be continued next week.)

Bi-Weekly Tip 81 (02/12/07)

... (Continue from last week)

Ask Andy Roddick what happened to his game that morning (or night in Australia) and he won't know the answer except to say, Roger played an untouchable game. Agree, but not a reason for him to, first, give Roger too much respect, and second, check out of the match as early as he did.

There are steps that can be taken if you think thoroughly before giving in. You may pick up a notch in your game and figure it out right away whether you can fit in that level. Obviously if it works, try another notch. Truth is you can only go so far. Or you may accept the fact he's just playing better and all you can do is give your best, within your level, and hope for an opportunity for the change of momentum. Look back a couple of years and try remembering Agassi coming back from two sets down to beat Medvedev in a 5-set marathon on a sunny, humid day at Roland Garros. It might've been 2001, maybe '02. Great balance of respect!

On the other hand, when there is too little respect, your comfort level raises and a change of momentum may happen with the blink of an eye. If you think, and you know, you are a better player than your opponent, it's never a good idea to show it to anybody or even think of it for yourself. Get out there and finish him off. That was my senior year when these boys from, if I'm not mistaken, Wofford Tennis, a school from somewhere up in South Carolina, came down to play us. Coach Gray told us to get out there and get the job done. Well, it wasn't as easy as I thought it was going to be. This is when the balance of respect kicks in. In my mind, I was so confused, "Why can't I just beat this guy? I'm much better than he is. We as a team are better. This guy thinks he can beat me. I'm going to show him what I can do." Not very smart at all! Got myself out of it, but had to dig deep, very deep. Another lesson learned about respect.

>So whether you are facing Federer on the semifinals of a Slam, or your level is way above your opponent, or even if you think you don't have a chance over the number one in the world or you can't accept the chance of losing to a uncoordinated player, hope for the best and prepare for the worst. Your usual is good enough! Never check out either way, whether you are too good or too weak. Play the role you were assigned to no matter what stage and crowd you are performing for. "Fear no one, but respect everyone..."

Bi-Weekly Tip 80 (01/29/07)

This week I asked my father to write about a topic of my own interest. I was very fortunate he agreed. Hope you enjoy it!

"I fear no one, but I respect everyone..." - Roger Federer.

ESPN was airing his match against Andy Roddick for the semifinal of the Australian Open the morning of the 26th on Friday around 3:30. Between games and commercial breaks, this quote came up. That made me think of what I call balance of respect, a psychological aspect of the tennis game. I learned about this topic on my junior year in college, playing for Florida Southern College. I was on the quarterfinal match of this fall tournament hosted at Rollins College and I happen to be playing the number of seed, Carlos Custódio. As an unseeded player, I stepped on the court with no responsibility and pressure whatsoever. At least, I shouldn't have. It was not all that easy.

Coaching was, and I think still is, allowed in individual college tournaments. Coach Tim Gray - who by the way taught me a great deal of this sport - a few games into the first set, got on the court and said, "You're respecting him way too much!" And I obviously didn't know exactly what he was talking about. "Yeah, your usual stuff is good enough. Get out there and play your game and pretend you don't know who's on the other end!" I have to tell you it was not enough for me to make a come back, but certainly taught me a great deal of dealing with respect.

Coach Gray explained to me the details of how to balance respect. Respecting an opponent has to be divided and maintained 50/50. When there is too much respect, you tend to overexecute your strokes and strategies, and also overestimate your opponent's ability. In other words, you tend to play above your level to try and raise up to your opponent's.

Ask Andy Roddick what happened to his game that morning (or night in Australia) and he won't know the answer except to say, Roger played an untouchable game. Agree, but not a reason for him to, first, give Roger too much respect, and second, check out of the match as early as he did.

There are steps that can be taken if you think thoroughly before giving in. You may pick up a notch in your game... (To be continued next week)

Bi-Weekly Tip 79 (01/17/07)

As I'm devoted to the development of tennis and am concerned in helping to improve on any player's game, I decided to pledge today's Tip to the russian girl, Elena Dementieva. As it seems obvious enough, her serve is her only weakness and I'm confident that the following information should contribute and possibly unravel this issue for good.

I would risk stating that if Dementieva commits to make a change on her serve, she will absolutely become another phenomenon and will make history at the top of the WTA rankings.

In my opinion, Dementieva's serve is weak because she refrains from using her abdominal muscles, which are responsible for 60% of one's body's effort to create acceleration on the swing.

For instance, when she tosses the ball her body position is almost completely straight up. This makes it almost impossible to generate any power or spin because she's only using her arm and very little of her legs.

By observing a few players on the tour, you can clearly notice that their body, after the ball toss, sketch a picture of an arc.

Another issue that Dementieva faces is her limited ability to vary such stroke. She can only slice serve. What happens is her toss ends up out in front, at the one o'clock position, because of her straight up position. As a result, she can't apply any topspin on a given shot. She would need to toss the ball at the twelve o'clock position in order to do that.

The amount of double faults she makes is directly related to her slice serves. There is not enough net clearance and that's exactly what a kick serve supposedly does. This should minimize her mistakes at the net and, because of the spin applied, it should avoid mistakes outside of the service box.

I'd like to conclude today's Tips wishing the best of luck to this remarkable player, Elena Dementieva.

... (Continue from last week)

To maintain the control of the Momentum in a situation like this, you must learn and memorize the following thoughts. " - My opponent will play his/her best to keep me from closing this set out! I'm going to give the best out of me in this game!"

And now let's talk about the adequate strategy for the best performance during this game. Play practically every point trying to maintain a powerful serve, yet adding tons of spin. You also want to avoid placing your shots too close to the lines. Your main focus consists of keeping a percentage of first serves above 80%. This way, your second serve will be used occasionally as a spare, avoiding the pressure factor during moments like this, and as a result, making a double fault.

During baseline rallies, hit only cross-court shots! This will tempt your opponent to use the down-the-line shots, which are riskier ones. Cross-court shots are safer for two reasons: crossing the net at its lower section and the ball traveling a longer path than the down-the-line path.

As I previously talked about in past Tips, using more spin than power on a serve, many times will work to your advantage. Add the spin and your serve's speed should reduce from let's say 130 mph to 100 mph, a 20% decrease. However, an effective spin can be much more damaging to the returner of your serve. Powerful serves are usually effective only when an ace occurs, which doesn't happen very often. You cannot be performing most of your serves at 130 mph and not be erratic. A least, if you are trying to maintain yourself among the top players in the world. What ends up happening is one day you serve like a champ, and the next five days you will not keep up with that, or it won't last too long. In the latter case, you have to play under more pressure and your second serve average speed drops even more, I'd say to 80 mph. You are now more vulnerable to getting your serve broken because you are bound to be making more double faults.

... (Continue from last week)

In order to fix that problem of Momentum shifting, learn to create a habit of being aware of how and why you're winning (not about how you're hitting your strokes, but what strategy or game plan you are using). Stay alert to analyze what is bothering your opponent, focusing on the same goal and using the same game plan unless she adapts to your plan and starts to come back.

Another common mistake in psychological behavior found in athletes, even with the top Professional players, happens when after winning the first set you mentally relax, losing the Momentum during the beginning of the second set.

While on the other side of the court there is an opponent definitely worried about changing the score, you assume a very relaxing posture in the beginning of the second set, thus easily giving away the Momentum to your opponent.

Despite of having the Momentum, you – and your opponent – may still face situations in which decisions of higher psychological pressure will occur.