Improving Tennis

Practically everyone that has talked to me knows that I like to play tennis. I started because my best friend played, but my interest has grown into something much greater. I'm definitely not the best player you have or will ever see, nor will I ever become an amazing player. But regardless, I'll continue playing tennis until the day I become crippled and can't.

Improving my tennis game has always been a major concern of mine. When I first started, I took lessons with a well known pro (AKA a coach), and I improved quickly. After a few months of taking lessons, I decided to just play with my friends to improve, and this did not fare well. Of course I did play with my friends while I took lessons, but playing with my friends exclusively did not go hand in hand with becoming a better player. For many months, I stayed at a plateau mostly because I couldn't improve at a linear rate, or at all. It killed me after playing when I realized I was the same as before. I studied pros, and did whatever else I could, but either way, I didn't realize at this time that my plateau was due to a lack of instruction.

Skipping a year or so, I sat down and studied the actual mechanics of the tennis stroke, as well as strategy instead of just looking at the aesthetics of a stroke. I emulated as much as I could, and I exploded off of my plateau and took my game to the next level.

Changing my general strategy (or in my case, actually employing a strategy), was key in improving. My past playing style was to smash the ball, and hope it would go in. In the gaming world, this would be called the 'spray and pray.' I now try to just keep balls in, although I never dink anything over the net since that would be taken advantage of by a player of my level. I try to control my pace well, and also try to control topspin so I can flatten out balls when necessary or brush up on the ball as if my life depended on it.

My serve still sucks though.