Mental Coaching For Tennis - Yes, I'm Doing It!

I am going to admit something to you that I believe will convince you what a nut I am about tennis. Here goes:

I am working with a mental sports coach to improve my tennis game.

That's right. Me. The person who is not a serious athlete. Me. The player who is more concerned with how cute her skirt looks than with how deep her volley goes. Me. The person who does not believe in "affirmations" or "visualizations" or taking deep breathes on a regular basis. Yes, I am getting mental coaching from someone who helps professional athletes gain the psychological edge they need to not only improve in their sport, but to excel. Even I can't believe it. And here's the weirdest part - I think it's working!

So how did this happen?

Well, I am a member of Team 4all, a group of women athlete bloggers put together by fitness apparel company 4all by jofit. The big golfer in the group is Kirsten Lewis who blogs about her experience at Kirsten's Awesome Quest. Since I have somewhat promised that I will get on this golf thing to please my husband, I have kept up with Kirsten and her blog and - guess what? - golfers are just as obsessive about their game as tennis players.

The other thing Kirsten does is provide mental coaching to athletes. She has a web site dedicated to this - Accessing The Awesomeness of You. And, lucky for me, she recently put together a group of several athletes to show just what mental coaching can do for athletes from all sports and at all levels of proficiency. When she approached me about working with her because she wanted to include a tennis player, I said yes, thinking I was just being nice to my fellow Team 4all member but honestly, I probably wouldn't get much out of it.

Of course, I was wrong.

Why? Because tennis is such a mental game! You know that and I know that (I just checked - I have 29 posts tagged "psychology"). So naturally, anything I can do to strengthen the mental aspect of my play is bound to help my game as a whole.

Here is what my mental coaching experience has been like so far: I have had two phone conversations with Kirsten. Each lasted about an hour. And I can honestly say, after each one, I really had a new view of what is possible for me as a tennis player. Kirsten was able to draw out from me what I see as my current limitations in my game - things I hadn't articulated for myself but knew were true as soon as I said them to her.

She gave me several affirmative questions to think about. Not to answer. Just to think about. One of them is: "What have I decided is not possible that truly is possible? And what is possible after that?" Sounds hokey, right? But by thinking on this (and a few other questions) for a week, I was able to come up with some new goals for myself that I would never have previously even considered (singles anyone?).

Without boring you with my personal details, I can tell you that, in just the few hours I have spent being "coached" by Kirsten, I have come to appreciate how sports psychology and mental coaching can help any athlete of any skill level. And I have another session coming in about a week and I am actually looking forward to it!

Are you ready for a mental coach? Well, maybe you're not quite ready to go out and hire someone to help you with this aspect of your tennis game. But don't pass up this opportunity for quick improvement. Check out these resources that I've used for some quick, easy, no-cost mental help:

• Accessing the Awesomeness of You: Extraordinary Results in Athletics and Life - Found at www.awesomenessofyou.com, this is Kirsten's mental coaching site. She also has a blog here and you can sign up to get her free newsletter.
• Sports Psychology For Tennis- Found at www.sportspsychologytennis.com, this web site is run by sports psychologist Dr. Patrick Cohn and is focused on mental coaching for tennis players. He also has a fabulous podcast called "Tennis Psychology Podcast" that you can download from iTunes or from his web site.

© Kim Selzman 2011 All Rights Reserved

How To Fire Your Tennis Coach

"What do you mean I'm fired?!"

This is part 6 of a series on getting the most from your tennis lessons.

Is it time to fire your tennis coach? Here are a few clues that it might be time to let him or her go:

• Your tennis lessons have become stale, boring and unenjoyable.
• Your lessons consist of you going through the same drills, over and over.
• You can't recall anything new or challenging you've learned lately.
• Your coach isn't interested in talking about your matches or your on-court problems.
• Your coach is often late or cancels lessons at the last minute.
• You are often late or cancel lessons at the last minute.
• You dread going to your tennis lesson.

If you've experienced any of these scenarios, its time to take a good, hard look at your tennis lessons and your coach and think about moving on.

Firing your coach can be a very touchy issue for many players, especially women. Although we love confrontation on the court, in our personal life, we tend to avoid it. And "firing" someone has confrontation written all over it. Plus, our tennis coach is our buddy and pal, right? We can't just fire someone who we're such good friends with, can we?

We not only can, sometimes we should.

So how do you handle this delicate situation? Well, I've parted ways with at least three coaches, one of whom I've returned to several times. So, I'm speaking from experience when I tell you there's a way to do it that will leave you and your soon-to-be ex-coach on good terms. Here's how I've parted ways with my tennis coaches:

1. Address the issue head-on. This might be the hardest part - just broaching the whole topic. But you're the one paying for these lessons so you need to get a handle on what's happening and address your perceived lack of progress with your lessons. This means having a direct discussion, face to face or by phone, with your coach about your decision to quit your lessons. This means NOT avoiding the situation by failing to show up to lessons and refusing to return calls. Evading the issue will only make it worse and more uncomfortable for you and turns you into the bad guy.

2. Be honest. Communicate why you've decided its time for you and your coach to split. By letting him or her know your reasons for ending your lessons, you provide a chance for your coach to correct the situation, maybe even resulting in your deciding to keep up your lessons. You also help your coach improve his or her teaching style or methods for other students, which doesn't help you much but is a great benefit to your coach and the tennis community out there.

3. Don't burn bridges! I promise you - the coach you fire today is the coach you return to in six months. So end your coaching relationship on a positive note. Don't be a jerk to him or her (even if he or she is a jerk to you). Why? Perhaps you're really just taking a break from private lessons for a while and may return at a later date when you have more time. Or more money. Or more interest in private lessons. And any of those reasons would be great reasons to quit your lessons and communicate to your coach.

Follow these simple steps and I promise you, you'll feel good about how you fired your now ex-coach. And - bonus - when you bump into him or her around your tennis club, you won't feel like running in the opposite direction.


Want to read other posts in this series? Just click on these titles and find out how to get the most from your tennis lessons:

Part 1 - Federer Hired A Tennis Coach - Should You?
Part 2 - Where, Oh Where, Can I Find A Great Tennis Coach?
Part 3 - Eenie, Meenie, Miney - Tennis Coach!
Part 4 - Get A Goal And Get More From Your Tennis Lessons
Part 5 - Make Every Lesson Your Best Tennis Lesson Ever!



This post originally appeared on Tennis Fixation's blog page on the Tennis Now website. Click here to read this and other great Tennis Fixation posts on Tennis Now!



© Kim Selzman 2011 All Rights Reserved

Make Every Lesson Your Best Tennis Lesson Ever!

This is Part 5 of a series on getting the most from your tennis lessons.

Let's face it - when you have a tennis lesson, you're being bossed around. Your tennis coach tells you to run over here, serve over there, hit this shot, aim for that target. And you do most of this, or at least you attempt to do most of this, no questions asked.

But don't forget who the boss really is out on the court. Don't forget who is paying for that lesson. Not your coach, right? It's you! And you need to make sure that you are getting your money's worth out of each and every lesson you have. You need to make sure that every tennis lesson you have is a great tennis lesson. Here's how to do that:

1. Communicate your goals to your coach. In the last post in this series (click here for that - Get A Goal And Get More From Your Tennis Lessons),  we discussed the importance of having a goal for your lessons. Make sure your coach knows what your goal is and that he is designing drills to help you get to that goal.  So if you want to work on your serve, some time should be spent with you hitting serves. Obviously. But those serve drills should be not only you standing at the baseline, hitting serves while your coach stands there and critiques you, but should also include some live ball drills where you serve and then play out points against your coach.

2. Ask questions during your lesson. While you want most of your lesson to consist of you hitting balls, you need to spend some time talking to your coach and asking questions. Now, I ask a lot of questions during my lessons, probably way more than is necessary. But I know my coach has played since he was a kid, I know he plays singles and doubles, and I know he's pretty smart about tennis (although I would never admit that to him). So I want to know what he thinks about some of the situations I come up against in match play. I want to know when to hit my backhand with top spin and when to slice. I want to know how much to pronate on my serve and what does that mean anyway. Talking with him and asking lots of questions is a good way to get expert advice on the specific situations that I come up against again and again.


3. Learn something in each lesson AND write it down! I try to take away at least one thing from each of my lessons. It may be something major - apply spin when hitting an overhead (that was major for me anyway). It may be something very minor - wear a better hat on sunny days. I then jot down these lesson points on a notepad I keep in my tennis bag just for this purpose. I do this because, even though I think I'm really smart and will remember everything I learn in my tennis lesson, the truth is - I won't. But if you do this - learn something AND write it down - you will soon have a great list of tips specific to your game that you can pull out and review before your matches. And maybe one day, like me, you'll type it up into your own personal cheat sheet (read this post - Keeping A Personal Cheat Sheet - for info on that great idea)!

4. Apply what you learn outside your lesson. This is really the hardest part of taking tennis lessons. When you are learning something new, it very likely will mean changing your old way of doing things. I've actually witnessed someone else taking a lesson, arguing with their pro why their way of hitting a backhand was better than the way the pro was trying to teach them. Ladies - if this is you, you're wasting your money taking lessons. Face it - want to get a better backhand? You might have to change your grip. And that new grip is going to feel awkward and uncomfortable for quite some time. But if you don't put it into play and you keep using your same old backhand grip, well, your backhand is never going to improve. So accept the awkwardness. Ignore the fact that you are going to have some trouble with that backhand for a little while (or whatever it is you're working on). Apply what you're learning in your tennis lesson to your tennis game and have faith that you will soon see the improvement.



Want to read other posts in this series? Just click on these titles and find out how to get the most from your tennis lessons:

Part 1 - Federer Hired A Tennis Coach - Should You?
Part 2 - Where, Oh Where, Can I Find A Great Tennis Coach?
Part 3 - Eenie, Meenie, Miney - Tennis Coach!
Part 4 - Get A Goal And Get More From Your Tennis Lessons



© Kim Selzman 2011 All Rights Reserved

Get A Goal And Get More From Your Tennis Lessons

This is Part 4 of a series on finding and getting the most from your tennis lessons.

In case you missed the first 3 parts of this series (links at the end of this post) and are wondering what's going on here - the purpose of this series is for me, someone who has been taking private lessons for several years (Yikes) to help you get your money's worth out of your own private lessons. I've made every mistake in this regard that can be made - so do as I say, not as I do.

Private lessons from a good tennis coach aren't cheap. Probably. Unless you've somehow found the one great coach who is independently wealthy and believes in teaching lessons for the good of the sport. But I'm guessing that, like me, you haven't found that guy and you spend a good chunk of change on your private lessons. So how do you make sure you're getting the most value possible out of those lessons?

Have a goal for your lessons.

Sounds obvious, right? But how many of us are taking lessons that are really nothing more than paying to mindlessly hit tennis balls with a pro? I've done this plenty of times and I bet you have too.

So put an end to that today! Get your money's worth out of your lessons! Get a goal! Here's how:

1. Think about it.

Whether you are new to tennis or have been playing for years, you should not be paying for lessons unless you know what it is you hope to achieve in those lessons. This means you have to honestly, perhaps painfully, evaluate your game and decide what you might actually achieve in lessons.

Your goal may be very simple - learn to play tennis! It may be a little more complex - move up from a 3.5 to a 4.5 player. It can be a short-term goal that requires a few lessons - learn to hit a one-handed backhand slice on the run. Or it can be a long-term goal that requires regular lessons for the rest of your life (this seems to be the plan that I am on).

The point is - think about why you're taking lessons and what you want to achieve. Write some notes, review them after a few days and come up with your goal.

2. Discuss and evaluate that goal with your tennis coach.

If you took the time to create a goal, you're going to tell your coach what it is, aren't you? Well, even I ignore this important step. It's so much easier to just go out there, hit balls and assume that, whatever it is you're doing is going to improve your game. But, to get to your goal, you need to spend some time talking to your coach about what you hope to achieve so that he or she can come up with the appropriate lesson plan that will get you there. (Or perhaps tell you what a laughable goal you've set your heart on - "You? 4.5? That's a good one!") (No, of course not, I would never take lessons with someone like that.)
Warning - If you are working with a coach who makes you feel uncomfortable about this, someone who thinks he knows what you need to work on and doesn't want to hear much if anything from you, that is a sign that you may not be working with the right coach.

3. Revisit your goal periodically.

Yes - still with the goal! over time, as you work with a coach, you may forget you had some purpose for your lessons. So, if you're on the short-term goal plan, figure out if you've achieved what you wanted at the end of your termy. If you didn't, decide whether you try again with the same coach (maybe you didn't give yourself enough time), reset your goal (maybe you were trying for too much) or move on (maybe this wasn't the coach for you). If you're on the longer term plan, revisiting your goal periodically is very important. Again, it is easy to fall into the trap of mindlessly hitting balls with your coach just because its fun and easy. Review your goal and your progress towards getting there every 3 to 4 months and decide what needs to change, if anything, to get you achieving that goal.

The point is - don't walk into your lessons and answer the question, "What do you want to work on?" with "I don't know." Get a goal!



Want to read other posts in this series? Just click on these titles and find out how to get the most from your tennis lessons:

Part 1 - Federer Hired A Tennis Coach - Should You?
Part 2 - Where, Oh Where, Can I Find A Great Tennis Coach?
Part 3 - Eenie, Meenie, Miney - Tennis Coach!

This post originally appeared on Tennis Fixation's blog page on the Tennis Now website. Click here to read this and other great Tennis Fixation posts on Tennis Now!


© Kim Selzman 2010 All Rights Reserved

Tip From The Pro: Improve Your Toss, Improve Your Serve

This is a guest post from Brian Montez, tennis pro and owner of K Factor Sports. Brian is a teaching pro working with players of all levels and abilities, from kids to adults, beginners to open-level, and everything in between. Here, Brian gives a great tip for improving your serve.


Without a good toss, your serve will be inconsistent. To improve your toss, first, place your toss correctly. To do this, imagine yourself in the middle of a clock and noon is directly perpendicular to the net from where you line up for your serve. If you are a righty, your toss should be at 1 p.m. If you're a lefty, your toss should be at 11 a.m. (since you will be facing in the opposite direction from a righty).

Next, adjust how far in front of you that you place your toss. There is a difference here between the first and second serve. Since you usually want a more aggressive first serve, your toss should be farther in front, but still located at the correct "time" for either a righty or lefty. Your second serve needs to be more consistent, so your toss should be a little closer in. And add some spin for more net clearance.

Developing a good first serve and a super reliable second serve is key. Just getting the second serve in is not good enough. You must develop confidence in the spin, depth, and placement of your serve, so that your opponent does not eat up the second serve every time!




© Kim Selzman 2011 All Rights Reserved

Eenie, Meenie, Miney - Tennis Coach!

This is Part 3 of a series on finding and getting the most from your tennis lessons.

So, you've decided to spend the time and money on private lessons. You're looking for a great tennis coach. You've even come up with a list of potential coaches. But how do you find the one that's right for you?

1. Give all of your potential coaches a call. While this seems obvious, I know plenty of people taking lessons from coaches they never spoke to prior to their first paid-for lesson. People like, ummm . . .  me! But you can learn quite a bit by just making this phone call and you most likely will weed out one or two potential candidates just based on your phone conversation.

2. Ask for AND talk to references. Before you commit to a coach, ask him to give you some references who you can call. Don't be embarrassed about this. A good coach should have several names to give you, people he teaches who won't mind spending some time talking to you. If your potential coach avoids giving you references, avoid that coach.

3. Talk to other students. So you get some references. Give them a call! Don't  avoid the hassle. You're potentially entering into a long term relationship with this coach. Do your homework and make the calls asking - How long has the student taken with this coach? What are her work habits like? Is she always on time? Does she cancel at the last minute? What are her strengths? Weaknesses? What to they really like about her? What do they hate?

4. Watch some lessons. This is such an easy and cheap way to find out what a coach is like. You may feel weird about it, you might think you're disrupting the lesson, but most people won't have any problem with this. And I'm not talking about sitting there staring at a one hour lesson. Just drop by for 15 to 20 minutes in the middle of a lesson to see what's happening and see if this lesson represents the kind of lesson you want to take.

5. Take a lesson. After doing all (or even some) of the above, just go ahead and take a lesson. And pay for it. No coach is obligated to give you some kind of free try-it-out lesson and you shouldn't expect that. It's their business after all!. But you also don't have to get into a long-term relationship right off the bat. So take the test drive, see if you click with the coach you've honed in on. Do you understand what's happening during the lesson? Do the instructions make sense? Are you getting too much talking and not enough hitting? Are your questions being answered? The actual lesson experience should tell you whether this is the coach for you.

Want to read other posts in this series? Just click on these titles and find out how to get the most from your tennis lessons:

Part 1 - Federer Hired A Tennis Coach - Should You?
Part 2 - Where, Oh Where, Can I Find A Great Tennis Coach?





© Kim Selzman 2010 All Rights Reserved

How I Get Coached By The Bryan Brothers

If only you had a tennis coach you could call upon anytime, day or night. Someone who would always be there for a last-minute stroke tune-up right before a match. A coach who could show you step-by-step exactly how to hit that two-handed backhand return, even if you want to know how to do that in the middle of the night. If only you could get coached by the Bryan Brothers. Well, your wish is granted! Simply download The Tennis App for your iPhone, iTouch or iPad and your own personal tennis coach is just a touch or two away.

I've searched and looked at every tennis app available for my iTouch and this is, hands down, the best thing out there. It's completely interactive. It shows you how to hit every, single important stroke in tennis. And, in many videos, it features the very cute and very Slam-winning doubles team of Bob and Mike Bryan.

The Tennis App provides you with what seems like a gazillion videos from the Bryans and several other top-level touring players showing you how to hit incredible tennis shots. You want to see how to hit a really great topspin forehand? Well, download that stroke and you can see Bob Bryan doing just that in three different videos - from the front, the back and the side. And you can slow each of those videos WAY down to see him hit the shot frame by frame by frame. Comments and tips are included with the videos so even us less-than-stellar players can figure out exactly what Bob is doing.

But maybe you like Mike better and want to see his topspin forehand. Guess what? The same series of videos is available with Mike. Other featured players include Jelenda Jankovic and Anna Chakvetadze so you know you're getting high quality stuff.

Sounds good but what if you're a lefty and you don't think all of these prejudiced-towards-the-right-handed-player videos will work for you? Just scroll down to the Preferences and select "Left Handed" to see all of this stuff from a lefty's perspective. How cool is that? I'm impressed and I'm right-handed.

And there's more! There's a "News & Info" section, giving you up-to-date tennis news, player tweets, ATP and WTA rankings and live scores when matches are happening.

What is my absolute favorite part of the Tennis App? Believe it or not, it's free! All of this stuff costs you nothing! I actually paid good money for my Bejeweled 2 app so I'm amazed that I'm getting everything the Tennis App offers for free.

My recommendation? Download this app NOW. These guys are going to figure out what a valuable little item this is and I'm sure it won't be free for long!


This Tennis Fixation post originally appeared on one of my favorite tennis web sites: Strawberries & Scream.


Photo: www.thetennisapp.com





© Kim Selzman 2010 All Rights Reserved

Where, Oh Where, Can I Find A Great Tennis Coach?

This is Part 2 of a series on getting the most from your tennis lessons.

So you've read the first post in this series, Federer Hired A Private Coach - Should You?, and made the decision to put your time and money into private tennis lessons. How will you find the perfect coach to make it all worthwhile? You need to start by coming up with a list of possible pros. Don't just start taking lessons with the first coach you come across. He may be the right coach for your best friend but may be totally wrong for you. Here are some great sources to help you find a tennis coach:

1. Talk to your friends and teammates. This might be the best way to find a good tennis coach. Or it might not. But its definitely the place to start. If any of your friends and teammates are taking lessons, talk to them about the tennis coach they use and what it is they like about him or her. Try to drop in on a few lessons with these pros to see what their teaching style is.

2. Look at the pros at your club or tennis facility. If you're playing on a team or in a league, chances are very good that you belong to a club or other tennis facility that has tennis pros on staff. Take a look at these pros, watch their lessons and see if you can work with them.

3. Use the USPTA's "Find-A-Pro" system. The United States Professional Tennis Association is the world's largest association of tennis-teaching professionals. Among other things, it provides a certification program for recreational tennis coaches. Chances are that a USPTA certfied coach will be a pretty good teacher. You can search for USPTA coaches in your area through the group's on-line "Find-A-Pro" database. Just click here to try it out.

4. Search through the PTR's database. The Professional Tennis Registry is another organization of tennis coaches and teachers. The PTR has four levels of certification, ranging from Associate Instructor to Master Professional. Like the USPTA, the PTR has an on-line database you can access to find a coach in your area. Click here to look for a PTR tennis coach.

5. Try the Internet. This is a source I recommend with some caution. I mean - it's the Internet. Anyone can claim to be a pro at anything. When I looked for pros in my area, I honestly didn't see the name of anyone I recognized. But, depending on where you live, this might be the way to go. Just be sure to ask for references and to visit some lessons before getting involved with a pro you come up with from the Internet.
Want to read other posts in this series? Just click on these titles and find out how to get the most from your tennis lessons:

Part 1 - Federer Hired A Tennis Coach - Should You?
Part 2 - That's this post!
Part 3 - Eenie, Meenie, Miney - Tennis Coach!
Part 4 - Get A Goal And Get More From Your Tennis Lessons
Part 5 - Make Every Lesson Your Best Tennis Lesson Ever!


This post originally appeared on Tennis Fixation's blog page on the Tennis Now website. Click here to read this and other great Tennis Fixation posts on Tennis Now!



© Kim Selzman 2010 All Rights Reserved

Federer Hired A Tennis Coach - Should You?

This is Part 1 of a series on getting the most from your tennis lessons.

Remember right before the U.S. Open when all of the pros were making coaching changes? Andy Murray split with his long-time coach as did Marcos Baghdatis and Bernard Tomic. Murray tried to get Darren Cahill to come on board while Roger Federer actually hired Paul Annacone.

So, let's talk about tennis coaches. Do you have one? Are you ready to bring on your own tennis coach? How do you know if its worth putting in the time and expense involved with taking private lessons?

Just to be clear - I'm not talking about how to find the right coach - that is definitely a huge topic unto itself (and don't be surprised if you see that topic in a future post!). No, what I'm talking about is whether you should take that initial step of committing yourself to regular, probably weekly, private lessons on your own or whether you can use some other less costly, and possibly more convenient way, to improve your game.

And if you're already taking private lessons, take a few minutes to read on and consider whether you're getting the most for your money.

I think the best way to decide whether to hire a tennis coach is to think about the pros and cons.

Pros to Taking Private Lessons:

• The focus is completely and 100% on you. The great thing about one-on-one lessons is that you don't waste any time listening to or working on someone else's problems. Your problems and issues are the only ones that your coach will work on during your lesson. So, you can quickly improve the strokes and techniques that are most important for you. And, if you don't have a backhand technique that may lead to tennis elbow, you don't have to hear how someone else can change their backhand to avoid tennis elbow.
• You can learn new things! No matter how long you've been playing tennis, there is always something new to add to your "arsenal" of shots. Did you know you can add spin to your overhead to help keep it in the court? I didn't know that until about two weeks ago. What a revelation! (Please don't laugh if this is something so obvious that everyone else already knows it but no one ever mentions it.) And I learned it, without asking to, from my tennis coach!
• You will work on things you may otherwise neglect or ignore. Footwork. Does anyone really want to work on footwork? Probably not. But in a private lesson, your coach will put you through some drills that work on things you know you should be better at but don't usually feel like fooling with. Things like footwork, proper lob technique, placement of shots, court position, etc.
• You can practice strategies in live ball drills and games. It is one thing to come up with a great strategy during a match. It is quite another to actually execute that strategy. A private tennis lesson gives you an opportunity to learn various strategies and then try them out over and over until you can make them happen. Hopefully during a match.
• You can get a good work-out! You can burn A LOT of calories chasing down balls all by yourself. Way more than you will in a doubles match. So consider your private lesson your work-out for the day.
• You have a tennis professional with lots of experience to take your questions to. Again and again, things happen during my matches that I'm not sure how to handle. If I want to play aggressively at the net but my partner doesn't, do we play one up, one back? Both back? Do I spend a lot of time trying to convince her to come up with me? Or do I just accept that we're going to lose that match and never play with that partner again? These are the kinds of burning questions you can discuss with your coach so that you're ready when the situation arise again (when you get partnered with that same person again!).

Cons to Taking Private Lessons:

• They're expensive! This is probably the biggest drawback to private lessons - you're going to have to spend some money on them. In my area, a one-hour lesson with a certified tennis coach or someone teaching at a club can cost anywhere from $50 to $75 an hour. Cheaper lessons can probably be found but this is a situation of you get what you pay for.
• They can be time-consuming. If you're going down the private lesson road, you'll probably have to make a weekly commitment. And if you're not willing to really make this commitment and show up week after week, private lessons may not be for you.
• They can be boring. As I said above, in a private lesson the focus is on you. There's no one else to provide any relief, comic or otherwise. You have to keep your attention up all by yourself for a whole hour. For many people, myself included, this can be psychologically draining, especially if you're learning something new or practicing something that you're really bad at.
• The strategies you practice may not apply in the real world. This is not to say that you won't learn great strategies. In fact, you'll probably learns all kinds of wonderful strategies and tactics that would blow your opponents away in a perfect tennis world. But, in doubles for example, if your partner isn't on the same page with these wonderful strategies, they may not do you much good. Just to give an example: I'm totally down with both doubles partners playing aggressively up at the net. My last three partners have NOT been into this. The last one flat out told me, "As soon as I see you come up to the net, I'll go back." This one up, one back strategy is NOT what I've worked on in my private lessons.
• You have to have the right coach. It can be hard to find a tennis coach that can help you take your strengths and weaknesses and come up with a winning game. You have to make sure you do not waste your time and money on someone who is not teaching you well (and, again, that's a great topic for a future post!).
• It's difficult (but not impossible) to work on doubles. A one-on-one lesson is not the best place to work on your doubles game. I know because I do a private lesson every week and I play doubles almost exclusively. There are doubles drills that you can do as an individual but working with two to three other people is probably the best way to improve your doubles game.

So, are you in or out with the private lessons? Personally, I'm in. And apparently so is Roger Federer. All I'm saying is if it's good enough for me and Roger, maybe it's good enough for you!

This post originally appeared on Tennis Fixation's blog page on the Tennis Now website. Click here to read this and other great Tennis Fixation posts on Tennis Now!



© Kim Selzman 2010 All Rights Reserved

Get Your Tennis Fix With Podcasts

If, like me, you're looking for anything and everything that might improve your tennis game, you need to check out the wonderful world of tennis podcasts.

As you probably know, podcasts are digital media files, audio or video, that you can download to your computer, iPod or MP3 player to listen to or watch at your leisure.

And there are plenty of podcasts that focus on tennis.  I get my tennis podcasts on iTunes but you can do a Google search to find all kinds of podcasts outside the iTunes world.

What I love about podcasts are that I can listen to them on the go, in my car or when I'm working out.  And I often listen to tennis podcasts on my way to matches just to get myself in the right frame of mind.  You know - the "I'm about to start playing tennis so I need to forget about what to make for dinner for a little while" frame of mind.

So here's a list of my favorites.  These are specifically podcasts aimed at improving your game - if you want to listen to podcasts about what the pros are doing, there are plenty of those too.  But these give you tips that will help take your game to the next level.  And - bonus! - they're all free on iTunes and can easily be found by doing a search for the podcast name or just for "tennis podcasts."  I've linked to each of these and if you click on the podcast name, you will be taken to the podcaster's site and can actually start listening right now!     

Essential Tennis Podcast - These episodes are usually 30 to 40 minutes long and often feature interviews with tennis instructors, psychologists or other professionals.  If you go to the Essential Tennis Podcast site you'll find the entire Essential Tennis website which is packed with all kinds of great instructional material for recreational players.  I love this website!

Gotta Play Tennis - These are a little bit shorter episodes, maybe 10 to 15 minutes, focusing on tips and concepts that will quickly improve your game.

Tennis Psychology Podcast - These episodes are even shorter but are great for helping build your mental strength out on the court.  If you're interested in going into more depth about tennis psychology, check out the website associated with this podcast:  Sports Psychology for Tennis.




© Kim Selzman 2010 All Rights Reserved

Target Your Tennis Serve

This is a guest post from Brian Montez, tennis pro and owner of K Factor Sports.

Placing your serve is critical in doubles. If you are hitting short weak serves or serves to your opponent's strong side, you leave your partner vulnerable to attack at the net or you allow your opponent to control the points off the return.

You can remedy this by choosing a target and working on keeping your serve deep in the service box (except for the wide serve which should be placed shorter in the box). You will begin to control and win more points if you have good placement of your serve. Make no mistake, no one, and I mean no one, always hits their target. But if you consistently have a plan and see your targets, your execution will improve over time.

The best way to work on your serve placement is to set up visible targets. You can use cones, balls, or whatever is handy. You must also understand where your racquet should make contact with the ball and how much spin you should generate. Work with your pro if you are not sure how to control the direction and placement of your serve and then hit as many baskets of balls as possible on your own. The results will speak for themselves!




© Kim Selzman 2010 All Rights Reserved

Don't Practice With Your Tennis Coach

Huh?  Don't practice with my tennis coach?  If I'm don't practice during my lesson with my coach, what am I supposed to do?

Well, think about this. There is a big difference between learning to do something and practicing something. Your tennis lesson is your time to learn - stroke technique, form, footwork, court position, strategy and tactics. You need to take advantage of all of the knowledge and coaching your coach can give you - get every last cent of your money's worth out of that lesson.

Once you've learned some things, you need to get out and practice them, preferably at least twice a week.  Of course that means you may need to find some people to practice with you.  But tennis is a social game - you must know somebody to hit with!  And check out your club or area courts for drills and clinics that may be low or even no cost and will give you a chance to just hit lots of balls.

Also, think of how many things you can do on your own.  You can work on strokes with a ball machine.  You can hit up against a wall and get a lot of footwork in.  You can practice your serve out on a court all by yourself.  Heck, you can practice your toss standing in front of the TV with a rolled up ball of socks!

All of these are things your coach would not only encourage you to do but would be happy, maybe even excited, for you to do.  They will not only improve your game but will help you move forward in your lesson so you are ready for your coach to take you to the next level.





© Kim Selzman 2010
All Rights Reserved

Tip From The Pro: Poaching

Here is a guest post from my favorite tennis pro, Brian Montez. Brian is a teaching pro working with players of all levels and abilities, from kids to adults, beginners to open-level, and everything in between. Here, Brian gives a great poaching tip.

There are two kinds of poaches. The first type you communicate with your partner and let them know you are moving across in an attempt to cut the ball off and put it away. The second you improvise and decide that it's a ball that you can get before it reaches your partner, so you move across and finish strong!

Either way you should move in at an angle towards the net strap insuring that you are moving forward to the ball and not sideways. The highest percentage is through the middle, so try to aim your poach there until you become more comfortable hitting angles. You must attempt to poach during your lesson, drills, or recreation play in order to become comfortable doing so in a match that counts. You must also be able to poach off the forehand and backhand sides!

If you want to contact Brian for lessons, call him at 713.417.6780.






© Kim Selzman 2009
All Rights Reserved

How to Join a Tennis Team

It's the end of the fall tennis season and all three of my teams are wrapping up. Thinking about the next season, I find myself talking with my team mates about where these teams are going - strengths of various players, weaknesses, who plays well together, who doesn't, who is staying on the team, who is leaving. But while all of this talk is interesting (at least I think it is), the truth is once you're on a team, it's almost impossible to get kicked off!

If only you could get on those really great teams . . .

So how do you join a tennis team in the first place? And how do you move up to a better team when you're ready?

Here are my tips for finding and joining a tennis team:

1. Talk to your friends - If you're interested in tennis, you must have friends who are playing tennis. And most likely, at least some of them are playing on teams. If you're already on teams, you know who is playing on the higher level teams. So find out if your friends are on teams looking for new players or if they know other captains who might need players. And, when you get those names, don't be afraid to "cold call" captains to find out if they have spots open - captains are always looking for players to join their teams.

2. Talk to your tennis coach or pro - Any good tennis pro not only teaches, he is also talking to his students to find out how their games are going. Are they winning or losing? And just how are their teams doing? Your tennis pro should know the teams that his students play on and he probably knows if they have openings. The great thing about talking to your pro about joining a team is that he knows what level you play at and can help you find a team that is appropriate for you.

3. Talk to the Tennis Director at your club - This is their job! If you're paying dues to belong to a club that has a Tennis Director, she better know what teams are playing out of her club, who is captaining each team, and hopefully, who is looking for new players. Have your Tennis Director give you names and phone numbers for these captains and, again, don't be afraid to cold call.

4. Play in mixers, tournaments, drills and clinics - In other words, play a lot of tennis! These events are always fun and attract people who are "in to" tennis, like you and me. Chat them up and you are sure to come across a team captain or someone who knows of a team looking for a player just like you.

5. Become a sub - This is absolutely the best way to get on a team. So offer to be a sub and don't consider it to be beneath you. Because today you're a sub, tomorrow you're the player filling in for the team member who got injured and the next day, you're the reliable player that the team needs. And if you're looking to move to a higher level team, becoming a sub ensures that you'll get the challenging match play you need to make that leap up.