Doubles Tournament March 11-13

Hey we're having another tournament: straight doubles with a tennis social on Saturday. So, that's twice on the court minimum. We have again, some special entertainment coming you way as part of the tennis social. Try to make it. It will be good for you to get out of the house and go to the club. This time we'll try a pot luck for the players and friends. I'll call people who sign up asking what they would like to bring. I'm sure we can find a singer with an acoustic. Spring is almost here.

Remember when warming up to rally a little, volley a little (service line and up close), overhead some; your opponent does the same and then take a few serves. Catch your opponent serves and only return them if you are finished taking yours. This should take 10 to fifteen minutes maximum. Practice moving your feet while waiting for the ball and split stepping with a knee bend when your opponent hits the ball. Try to stay loose and relaxed; feel the ball. Talk to your partner regarding which side of the court you are both going to take, then go over one or two things you want to avoid with your opponents and how you intend to play them. Adjust your strategy as the match goes on because good opponents will be doing the same thing. In the end it mostly comes down to execution, so try to remember a couple of things you did well and what you need to work on. Mostly, enjoy the game!

Playing Mixed Doubles

Playing the percentages:

1) If you are the woman server it is best to serve the middle and keep your partner in front of the ball; it's more difficult to hit the ball away from the net player (you want to create opportunities for your partner to make put-aways).

2) The woman's job is to return the serves from the man to get into the point; lobs can be effective.

3) The man's job is to play solid shots but not overplay his side of the court. He should not take balls that he cannot put away as this leaves the court open for winning shots from the other team.
He still has to be be aggressive in the right measure and not let the sitting ducks go by.

4) The woman should play solid positional tennis and not make a lot of unforced errors; that is-- not go out of her way to make shots that are not clearly hers. Again, this will create openings for the other team..

5) The man has to hold serve and if the woman holds that is a bonus. Try very hard to break the woman's serve. If you break the guy you are doing very well and it's really hard to recover from that break.

6) Position yourself to play your best shots cross court, i.e. if you like your forehand then stand closer to the center on the deuce side of the court if you are righty and closer to the ally on the ad side. Always show more strength to avoid the net player in your cross courts.

7) The man should play the ad court as more points are decided there; unless the woman is the stronger player (hey it happens).

8) Play the ball first and your opponent second. Every ball should be played like it belongs to you.
That way you won't be caught with that deer in the headlights look on your face, saying--whoops.

9) Don't forget the lob; read that three more times.

10) No you don't have to crash the net together. Let the game evolve. You don't have to bull rush the net; one up one back is fine unless you are drawn in by a short ball. Serve and volley is best if you can win more points by doing it otherwise it is "pointless."

11) Always be supportive no matter what..........because it's people first, then the winning comes......not the other way around.*********Read that four more times because this will help your team more than any other tip except possibly get your first serve in ;)


  The most difficult part about playing mixed is that the man must adjust his game if it is for social tennis. What fun is it if he just blasts the ball right at the woman. If you are getting a paycheck for for your play then that is a different story. Be nice and remember it's fun first then winning. If it's a tournament then you can be more aggressive but still be respective of the levels on the court and try to have fun. It can be very frustrating for the better player on the court (woman or male). The key is to play your best without hurting anyone physically or emotionally. I always try to create shots that make it better for my partner and fun for the other team. By fun I mean challenging. It's not a good idea to blast easy shots right at people. That should not make you feel proud of yourself. Be supportive between points: winning shots or errors. Point out patterns or shots that your opponents do that can be managed but avoid telling so much that it hinders the flow of the game. Always shake hands with your partner first and then your opponents and thanks them for playing. Without opponents there can be no event. Try to share the match with them rather then isolating yourself or your team. Perhaps you might play again together if you match up well.

Volleys

I was practicing a couple of weeks ago with my doubles partner (Sean) and was up at the net hitting volleys. My forehand volley was a shot I tended to think about a little too much when playing because unforced errors and lack luster put-aways were cropping up too much during match play: when I received an up ball on a poach I would pop it up too much or hit the net (that's the worst). The solution was easy--I was putting too much slice on the shot (too much "work" on the ball); better to hit through the ball clean and finish through the ball. Remember this tip: when the ball is above the net-- stick it and step "as" you hit the ball; if the ball is below the net step "first" then put a little slice for control. Both of these volleys start with the same wrist position the only difference is the "follow-through:" slice is down slightly with a firm wrist postion and flat is foward with an extension of the forearm straight ahead--also with a firm wrist.

First weekend in February will be our Mixed Doubles Tournament. You will get your tournament play, a mixed tennis social, with a player reception all just for $35.00. Hell I spend that just on Bagels and coffee each week. There's a lot of energy at the club right now riding on the coat tails of the singles tournament. Don't miss this one.

Scoring for Tennis for Life

Scoring was first invented in France when a court tennis ruled the game of Kings and serfs would come to serve for their masters on ther first indoor castle courts that used windows in the scheme. Hey, we all could use a professional server in our bull pen. The clock was used a means of keeping score.

Quarter past is 15
Half past is 30
Three Quarter past is 40 (I guess they knew people would say 40-5 for short and mean 40-15 so the score 
                                       of 45 for three points was not right)-ha.
Game is back where you started

Zero is Luv  0 which is the goose egg

Deuce is 40 all  and  one must win two points in a row to take the game
if you win the first point after deuce and you are the server then you have Addvantage In (Ad-In); if your the server and you lose the deuce point then the Advantage is out (Ad-Out). This can go back and forth for quite a while. This is called ad scoring which is the traditional scoring.

First player to win six games by a margin of two wins the set. If the set gets to six games all a twelver point tie-break is played. That is the subject of the next post.

First player to win two sets wins the match (best two out of three). That is the method that is used for most of the tour matches. The exception is the majors (Wimbledon, French, US Open, Australian) for men they play best out of five sets (first to win three) and at Wimbledon they play out the fifth set (win by two games with no tie-break; that's the way they used to do it). This past year John Isner and Mahut played the longest ever tour match at Wimbledon......It took days.


When you start to serve: go right to left to right for the first point keeping both feet from touching inside or on the baseline until after the ball is struck (you can be over the line in the air), then serve left to right for the next point, and just keep going till someone wins the game. You get two chances to get the ball in the service box. If you miss both you lose the point. If you hit the net and it goes in then you play a let and you get another serve fo that let. If the ball hits the net a goes in during play it counts. If it hit the net and lands out then you lose the point. Make all calls immediately. If it's in you don't say a thing, just play it. If it's out call it right away. If it's on the line it's good. If your not sure it is good. You can ask your opponent if they see it. They have to help. If they don't see it then you lose the point. IF you touch a ball before it lands you lose the point. Let it go. Even if it is heading for Landsdown Street outside Fenway Park.

Wow, that's a lot and there's more, but; at least it's a start.

Kevin Pease
Pro in the Trenches

Tennis Social on October 29th 7-9pm w/ party after

There will be a Halloween Tennis Social on Friday October 29th from 7-9pm with a party after.
The playing level is 3.0 plus. Kevin and Sean will be your host pros. Call 774-392-3666 to sign up.
This is a dress-up event. Leave a message as to what wish wish to bring: salad, fruit, vitimin water, punch, cookies, veggie platter, etc.

How to test your ball speed!

Hey it's been a while,

Well, the Fall is fast approaching but there's still some Summer left. I guess the best part for us locals.

Hopefully the hurricane misses us.

The other day I brought out the speed gun with my son Matt; sure a lot of fun.

It can be used to measure the best possible effect you can impart on a given shot,i.e. a forehand, serve, and backhand. It can also show how different spins produce different ball speeds. You know can test your best shot on the radar and see how to improve you performance. Speed and direction are the two most important attributes when measuring the quality of a shot; spin also causes balls to react differently on the court. 

Example:

Hey lets try lifting the elbow a little higher on the next serve; "wow, that equals ten miles on the serve" or here, this is my impression on Andy Roddick; "wow that was 103 mph"; now for a Pete Sampras serve, still 103 mph,

now my own: that's 103mph. I guess it doesn't matter what I do I still get 103mph, but: I still can hit an 85mph slice wide which is my best pitch; Matt can serve at 60mph; tomorrow may be he can do 65mph.

So:

Come on in and take a lesson with the radar. It's fun and easy to set up. Even for a half an hour.

Have a great end of Summer! Start running, skip some rope, do some strengthening and hit balls.

It's a great way of life. Tennis for Life.

P.S.

 Next week; Wednesday 6:30pm Womens free tennis (all levels) at the Sports Center and Thursday 6:30 will be the mens free tennis (all levels). A great way to gain exposure to other players and league captains and the tennis staff.

Your pro in the trenches, Kevin Pease

Racquet Speed

Racquet speed creates the amount of spin and pace on the ball. To hit a shot with power you have to have racquet speed. Your mechanics--set-up, loading, timing, etc. all effect racquet speed. It's great to have one or two shots that really force your opponent to make errors. Try to get the serve and one groundstroke to fire big. It helps to have a weapon. You have to trust your racquet and yourself, stay lose, grip it and rip it. It's a lot like life.

All the best.

Kevin

Sean and me are here in Watefrville Valley on the red clay for a $ tourney. It's war up here in the mountains.