So Your Tennis Partner Missed The Poach

How do you feel when your doubles partner misses a poach? Angry? Confused? Exasperated?

And do you communicate these feelings to your partner?

Yikes.

Poaching in doubles is no easy proposition. Even the best players can misjudge a poach and end up blowing the point by mishitting the ball. Or, worse yet, lose the point by being burned by an opponent's down the line shot.

But nothing is worse than going for the poach, missing it and then being berated by your partner for even trying. I myself have blown a poach and had my partner tell me, "I could have had that" or "You don't need to go for those." I've also been the recipient of the exasperated eye roll which I interpret to mean: "I would appreciate it if you would just stand at the net and let me try to win this point in a prolonged ground stroke rally."

The reality is that when a poach works, its a truly beautiful thing and very often will end the point in your favor. And when it doesn't work, it can still be pretty effective in rattling your opponents.

Now, if your partner misses five or six poaches in quick succession, then sure, it might be time to advise her to back off. Otherwise, encourage her to keep it up.

Bottom line - support your poaching partner, even when she misses the poach.  It might just be the attacking style of tennis you need to win your match.




© Kim Selzman 2012 All Rights Reserved

Retro Tennis Fixation: "I HATE My Partner!"

I recently played a HORRIBLE doubles match - my partner and I got creamed. Our opponents were very, very good players. But the real problem for me was my partner. Or at least that was the way I saw it and once I saw it that way, I couldn't let go. I tried to tell myself that getting mad at my partner wasn't helping anything but, after the match, I actually went to my captain to complain. Me! The queen of "support your partner" and "be a team player."

Anyway, I knew I had addressed this problem here sometime in the past so I dug up this "Retro Tennis Fixation" post, from August 2009, called I HATE My Partner! to try and remind myself what to do next time this happens.


First off, I don't HATE any of my partners. There are many, many of them and they are all lovely people with whom I enjoy playing tennis. I wouldn't play if I wasn't having fun, right?

And you probably don't hate your tennis partner either. But, sometimes, on occasion, maybe every once in awhile, you end up with a partner you're not completely compatible with. I call this the "mismatched partner."

Maybe your mismatched partner is someone new you've never played with before. Or never even met before! Maybe your mismatched partner is someone you've been invited to play with for fun. Or maybe your mismatched partner is someone you were assigned to play with by your team captain for a league match. However it happens, we’re all familiar with how difficult it can be to have to play with one of these mismatched partners.

Here are a few tips to make sure you not only get along with your mismatched partner, but that you enjoy playing and maybe win your match!

1. Control your emotions. The worst thing you can do when you're unhappy with your partner is let her know it. It won't help her play any better and it probably won't make you feel any better. So get a grip on yourself and decide that, between the two of you, YOU are going to be the strong and positive leader.
2. Be positive. It doesn't help anyone if you're negative. It makes you feel bad and it makes your partner feel even worse. If you have some helpful criticism, give it in an upbeat way. For example, if your partner won't come up to the net, telling her "I think we can really hurt them if we're both up at the net" is a lot more productive than "Why can't you just get up to the net??!!"
3. Help your partner focus on tennis. Its hard to play with someone who isn't concentrating on your match. Instead of letting them ramble on about the chances of their son getting into a really good college, help them concentrate on your match by talking about what's happening on the court. Just letting them know what you're thinking about and planning, i.e., "I'm trying to serve up the middle to set you up for the poach", may be enough to get them focused on tennis.
4. Communicate. Talking throughout the match can only help. Let your partner know what you're thinking. And if you're worried that this will bother your partner (maybe they'll think you're being hypercritical or don't know what you're talking about or are just talking too much) do what I do and claim you're mostly talking to yourself. Here's my standard disclaimer: "Don't let all of my talking get to you. I'm mostly talking to myself anyway."
5. Don't throw in the towel. Giving up is the best way to lose your match. And once you've let your partner know you've given up, she will probably give up too. So don't quit because you never know what might happen. The match you think you may lose can turn out to be the incredible comeback story you're telling your tennis pals about later!
6. Work on your own game. When all else fails, when you've finally decided the match is unwinnable because you just can't play well with this person, think about playing well for yourself. Play your game and find something you can work on - be more aggressive, hit your spin second serve, poach more, come in more, lob more. Use the match as an opportunity to improve your own game so you can walk away feeling good about tennis.

The mismatched partner - you have a hard time playing with them, but you can't back out. And you shouldn't! Because, I think this is a common tennis saying - tennis with a mismatched partner is always better than no tennis at all.

If you want to make sure YOU'RE not the mismatched partner, click on the following post and get my tips on How To Be A Great Tennis Partner!


© Kim Selzman 2011 All Rights Reserved

Quick Tennis Fix: Don't Look Back

I don't think we've had an actual tennis tip here in quite some time. So, how about a Quick Tennis Fix?

When playing doubles, many players make a common mistake - they look back to see where the ball landed and what their partner is doing. But good doubles players don't look back. Turning to focus on what your partner is doing means you're not focusing on what your opponents are doing. Have faith that your partner will do the right thing or make the right call and keep your eyes ahead - looking at your opponents. You can usually tell what is happening just by watching your opponents (where are they looking? what are they doing?).

The photo here is a great example of that. It is a pic of a doubles team from the University of California Santa Cruz. Notice that the player on the left, in the red hat, is looking ahead at the other side of the net. His partner is taking care of the ball.

So remember - in doubles, don't look back!

Also - don't forget to enter the latest Tennis Fixation giveaway. Just click here - Tennis Fixation 4all Giveaway Time! -  for details on how to enter. And do it today as all entries must be in by Saturday, October 8, 2011.




© Kim Selzman 2011 All Rights Reserved

Retro Tennis Fixation: How To Be A Great Tennis Team Member!

Slowly, ever so slowly, it's coming back to me . . . why I am not a tennis team captain anymore. I agreed to be the substitute captain for one of my teams, just for two weeks, while the real captains take well-deserved summer vacations. But, as I sit here writing this post on the night before our league matches, and as I patiently wait for people to return my calls and confirm whether or not they're playing tomorrow morning, and as I actually start feeling that little knot of desperation start to tighten in my stomach over this ("what if they don't return my calls? who can I sub in at the last minute?"), I'm remembering just how hard it is to be a tennis team captain.

And I'm also remembering this Tennis Fixation post I wrote a while ago, a Retro Tennis Fixation post as I like to call it, about what it takes to be a great tennis team member - something that all of us should strive for. Just so our tennis team captains aren't developing stomach ulcers as they sit and wait for us to return their calls. So here it is from December 2008: How To Be A Great Tennis Team Member!

After you've captained a tennis team, you realize that your best team member is not necessarily your most highly skilled player. If you want to be the team member that your captain plays again and again, follow these tips:

1. Be available. Nothing is worse for a captain than forfeiting a line because she can't find anyone to play that day. So make sure that you are always available to play. Captains love the team member who is ready and willing to play at the last minute. This means if you are on a Wednesday team, don't schedule your manicure for Wednesday morning. Keep your Wednesdays open for tennis.

2. Play at whatever line you're needed. You may think you are a Line 1 player - and maybe you are. But sometimes your captain needs a player at Line 4 so she won't have to forfeit Line 4 that day. Sometimes she needs someone to play with that team member that others find "difficult" to partner with. Sometimes she has a strategy that includes playing stronger players at lower lines. If you are always willing to play any line, your captain will not only appreciate your attitude but will play you more often.

3. Play at whatever location you're needed. Depending on where you live, this may not be an issue. But where I liveand the leagues in which I play, getting to a match can often involve a 30 minute drive. If you exclude yourself from playing those "far away" matches, you will definitely cut down on the number of times your captain can use you.

4. Be a willing partner. Nothing is harder on a captain than having one team member who no one else wants to play with. I have had team members come to me and actually say, "Don't ever play me with her . . . ever!" While you may feel that way about certain players, the reality is that a captain has some obligation to play everyone on the team at least some of the time. And eventually someone has to play with that player that no one likes. And it should not be the captain over and over. So be willing to "take one for the team" occasionally and partner up with that unwanted team member.

5. Be a good partner. If you want to avoid being the "unwanted team member" referred to in No. 4 above, be a good partner to your fellow team mates. Be positive. Make good, honest calls. Don't throw in the towel in a match even when you feel like you can't come back. Don't blame your partner for her mistakes. Don't ever say to your partner "You have to get those." Be the partner that everyone enjoys playing with and your captain will be happy to play you often.

6. Appreciate your captain. Being a tennis team captain is not easy. A captain may have to set new lines each week. She is often strategizing ways to win points just to keep your team from being moved to a lower level. She has to deal with league directors, other captains and, of course, a whole team full of players, each with their own personal agendas. If the team is losing, players may blame the captain for making bad pairings and following the wrong strategies. If the team is winning, players may feel its only due to their superior tennis skills. So, appreciate your team captain. Tell her what a great job she's doing every once in a while. Your support will not only make her happy, but may result in you playing as often as you'd like!



© Kim Selzman 2011 All Rights Reserved

How Not To Lose In Tennis

I played doubles yesterday and my partner and I won 6-0, 6-2. So, guess which of these excuses my opponents gave to us after the match to explain their poor level of play:

1. I'm sick.
2. I've been sick for a while and need to be on bed rest and antibiotics.
3. I haven't played much this season.
4. Actually, I haven't played in a really long time.
5. I don't play much tennis. I mostly play golf.
6. I don't play Champ level tennis.
7. We've never played together before.
8. In fact, we've never met before.

If you guessed that they gave ALL of these excuses within the space of about 5 minutes, you would be correct! I think they were suffering from what I believe is known as "Serena Williams Syndrome." They seemed to have plenty of excuses to explain why they lost but they never once said anything nice about why we won. I mean we did have to do a little bit of work on the court even if the score makes it look like it was a cake walk.

All I'm saying is don't just be a graceful winner. Let's all be graceful losers too. Don't detract from my win by telling me all of your excuses for why you played so badly when there is some remote shred of possibility that my partner and I just happened to play well. Or, if you must give me an excuse, go ahead. Just don't give me 8 of them.




© Kim Selzman 2011 All Rights Reserved

How To Make Me Quit Your Tennis Team

I am a quitter. I admit it. I'm a quitter and I'm leaving one of my tennis teams at the end of this season because I just can't take it anymore.

Now, I am the first person to tell you that a good team player doesn't quit just because she's "unhappy" with the team. A good team player puts the team's success above her individual success. A good team player plays when and where her captain sticks her, no questions asked. That may mean playing with the player no one else wants to play with. That may mean playing the "sacrifice" line. That may mean playing a much lower line than you believe you deserve to be playing. That may mean playing with sub after sub after sub. That may mean playing the late match EVERY SINGLE WEEK. But does it mean playing in the face of ALL of those things?


I think not.

But that's what I've been putting up with on one of my teams and, this past week, I reached my breaking point.  And what was it that finally gave me the last push I needed to come to this decision?

This past week, I was once again playing with a sub I had never met before we stepped on court to be partners.  She was very sweet but somewhere during the 3rd or 4th game of the match she told me, "I am having a really hard time when I'm up at the net and you come up to the net. I don't know how to play when we're both at the net. It's confusing to me."

Did I mention we were playing doubles?  And she was having problems with both us of being at the net?

We won that match but to say it was a struggle would be a huge understatement. I worked really hard as did my partner (no surprise there). But I just can't keep playing every week with different partners and trying to figure out how my partner plays on top of trying to figure out how my opponents play.

So I'm quitting this team.

And this has not been an easy decision for me to come to. I have really questioned myself - do I have the wrong attitude about all of this? Am I really justified in thinking I should be playing a higher line? Does my captain actually believe I'm so strong that I can win with any old sub she can dig up to stick with me? Is there some secret over-arching strategy in place here to win lines that I am unaware of? Or is there some subtle message I'm being given that I'm not wanted on this team? Am I possibly over-thinking this and veering into some kind of tennis team paranoia?

Guess what? I don't care anymore.

Just to make clear - I know its hard to be a team captain because I've captained several teams. You are constantly balancing winning against keeping your team cohesive and happy. But as far as I can tell, my captain is not the least bit concerned about my happiness. Maybe she cares if I win my line or not but she is making it way too hard for me to do that.

So, to my captain I say - Congratulations! If you hoped to come up with some way to get me to quit because you didn't have the guts to tell me to leave, you have succeeded.  Good luck finding another player who shows up every week and plays with subs who apparently are oblivious to the basic strategies of doubles.

Because I quit!


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

Top Excuses For Losing In Tennis

I just suffered a devastating (in my mind anyway) loss this past week. I was on a 7 match winning streak when I was blown off the court 6-1, 6-0 in a doubles match. I have a good excuse - it was my partner's fault.

And that brings me to the subject of today's post - a list of the top excuses for losing in tennis.  Let me preface all of this by saying - I get it.  Making excuses as to why I lost a match says a lot more about my psychological issues than my partner's lack of game.  But, right now, I don't care.  It is going to take a while for me to just let go of this particular defeat.  So, here is a handy list of excuses, ones we've all heard that can work for almost any loss you ever experience.  Keep this list handy for when you lose that difficult match and you just can't let go. 

1. "I've hurt my (fill in the name of body part) and it's killing me. I'm going to see an orthopedic doctor next week and hopefully getting an MRI." Maybe it's the shoulder. Maybe it's the knee. Or the back. Or the wrist. Just fill in the blank. Everyone else always seems to have an injury so why shouldn't you?

2. "Gosh, I'm can't believe I'm so bad today! I never play like this!" This one's great if you're the passive-aggressive type.  You focus attention on your own unexplainably poor play rather than your opponent's terrific play.  This one is used again and again by Serena Williams so I don't see why you and I can't throw it around too.

3. "I'm really terrible today because I haven't played in (fill in some amount of time)." It could be years, months, weeks, days or even hours. Because we all know that if you don't play tennis every single day, you're not up to par.  In my case, I have been known to put it this way: "If I don't play on a daily basis, I can't even get to mediocre."

4. "There's just too much noise in here." Oh my goodness, do I love playing indoors!  Because there is a never ending stream of excuses to justify your losses on an indoor court.  Noise levels are just one of the many, many excuses you can use.  The converse of this excuse can also work: "It's just too quiet in here!"

5. "The lighting in here is too dark (or too bright or just too weird)." Another fabulous excuse for losing an indoor match.  Although, don't underestimate the value of this excuse for outdoor matches on a sunny day, an overcast day or even in the evening. 

6. "It was my partner's fault." In a doubles match, this has absolutely got to be the Number 1 most called-upon excuse to justify a loss. It's the one I'm going with to explain the snap of my winning streak. I mean, as long as there weren't too many witnesses around, it's just my word against my partner's, right?



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

Communicating In Doubles

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

A big part of playing doubles is communicating. Often, especially at the club level, you will play with multiple partners with varying styles of play. Lack of communication can cause teams to lose on a regular basis, while miscommunication can cause a team to implode.

To help with the communication barrier, I suggest determining what your strengths and weakness are as individuals and as a team. Then come up with a game plan and communicate it well with each other.

Don't be vague in your suggestions to your partner. You should make sure that your partner understands why you are suggesting a particular strategy or a change in their play and your play as a team.

For most players, results are important. No one likes to go out every week and put up an "L" for themselves or their team. So come up with a way to work and communicate with each of your partners. Remember: It's not personal. Listen to what your partner has to say to you and communicate your ideas with them. DON'T GET DEFENSIVE AND FRUSTRATED!

Your game plan may not always work. You may have to continue to make changes. But do so until you and your partner figure out how to win. It may not always be pretty, but get it done and move onto the next match!



© Kim Selzman 2010 All Rights Reserved

Quick Tennis Fix: My Tennis Team Problems Are Solved!

Tell me, just tell me, you have not had this problem. You're at the court, ready to play your doubles match. Both of your opponents have arrived. The minutes are ticking by, bringing you closer and closer to a forfeit, because your partner has yet to show up.  You assure your opponents that "she's on the way!" as you rummage through your tennis bag, desperately seeking her cell phone number to find out just where the *$#!%!- she is. You come up with two rosters from other teams that you're no longer playing for and a copy of the league tennis rules from two seasons ago. But no phone number.

Wouldn't it be nice if all of the phone numbers for all of your teammates were in one, easily accessible place - somewhere you could always find them for those times when you absolutely, positively need to know what the heck is going on?

Well, today I saw the solution. The team I played against had large laminated luggage-tag-like rosters attached to each of their bags. I snapped a photo to show my Tennis Fixation Fans. What an incredible idea! It's way too simple and obvious of a concept to patent. I would love to have one of these for each of my teams so I can make that phone call telling my partner she needs to get it in gear!



© Kim Selzman 2010 All Rights Reserved

Choosing Sides In Doubles

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

Most doubles players think its best to let their partner return from their stronger side. But this isn't always true. As a team, you should decide the advantages and disadvantages of each player on each side and see what makes the most sense for your team. For example, if you have a better inside out backhand than your partner, but a weaker forehand, you would be better off playing the deuce court and having your partner play the ad side. Talk to your partner and try to figure out what is best for your team. Your results will improve if you do!


© Kim Selzman 2010 All Rights Reserved

Yours and Mine

When you play doubles, do you:

A. Observe the line dividing the court down the middle, cover the shots that land on your side, and leave the balls landing on the other side for your partner; or

B. Go for every shot you think you can get to, no matter where it lands, constantly communicating with your partner about where you're going and what you're doing?

Well, obviously I think the right answer is B. And I think YOU should think the right answer is B too.

Why? Let's look at just one example. In doubles, you already know that the high percentage, easiest shot is usually the shot right down the middle. When you're aiming there, you have a lot of court you can hit, unlike the angle shot out towards the alleys where you better be pretty darn accurate. Also, you know that when you hit the down-the-middle shot, there is at least some likelihood that your opponents will have communication issues, meaning that shot will often pass right between them as they stare at each other in confusion.

If you put yourself in the position of the opponents in this example, it is clear that you not only have to communicate with your partner, you have to take the initiative to go for those down-the-middle shots.   If you hesitate, trying to figure out "Is that mine or her's?" you'll lose the point.  Sure, you may hit your partner's racquet. Heck, you might even occasionally hit your partner. And while I'm not advocating hitting your partner on a regular basis, you can't let those shots go by. So you have to call them ("Mine!") and go for them and not worry a whole lot about whether your partner is also going for them.

Having said that, if you find yourself with a partner who believes the tennis court is divided down the middle and balls that land on her side belong to her and balls that land on your side are yours and yours alone, no matter where you are positioned on the court . . . well, you may have problems.

So, communicate with your partner both before and throughout the match that you are going for everthing you can get to, whether its on "your side" or not, and you pretty much expect the same out of her. That conversation can very pleasantly go something like this: "Hey, I'm going to be aggressive today and go for everything I think I can get to. I'll keep an eye on you and be sure that I know what you're going for too. So don't worry about getting in my way.  I'll watch you.  Just go for everything you think you can get."

If your partner seems committed to the idea that she has a side and you have a side and never the twain shall meet, it may be time to get a new partner.






© Kim Selzman 2010
All Rights Reserved

"Your Calls Are So Bad - You Need Glasses!"

Sometimes people ask me, "Aren't you afraid you'll run out of things to say about tennis?" And then I play a match where one of my opponents says, "Your calls are so bad that you need glasses!" and I think I'm never going to run out of things to say about tennis.

Yesterday I played on my Champ level team (me at Champ level is a whole other story) with Susan who could not be sweeter, nicer and funner to play with. Somewhere in about the third game of the first set, I swear it was that early, after Susan had called one of our opponent's shots out for maybe the third time, our opponent lost it. I mean completely LOST it. Her exact words were, "That's at least the seventh bad call you've made! Seriously! Your calls are so bad - you need glasses!" Susan responded, the opponent responded, this went on for just a little while. And then we went back to playing.

To say the match suddenly got unfriendly would be putting it mildly. And the trash talk did not end there. On one of the changeovers, our opponent's partner somehow found the opportunity to tell Susan, "Well, I'm not going to make bad calls just because someone else is making bad calls. I'm totally supportive of my partner."

Geez Louise!

The good news for me and MY partner is this ridiculous exchange really fired us up. Susan was NOT going to lose this match. And she wasn't going to let me lose it either. We ultimately won in a third-set super tiebreaker so, in my opinion, it could have gone either way. But my partner not only did NOT lose her cool, she kept me going. She kept me calm and on track.

And we won! Without telling anyone they needed glasses! What a fun match!

AND, by the way, the trash talker HIT me in the leg on an overhead AND she apologized profusely. Her mistake.





© Kim Selzman 2009
All Rights Reserved

Tennis Lets - Update On The "Loose Balls" Issue

Just a few days ago, we talked about what happens when you drop a ball during a point: Tennis Lets - Get It Right! The precise issue was - if a ball falls out of your skirt or shorts during a point and you thereby cause a let, can you call a let? And the answer is, of course, no. You can't call a let when you've caused it. Your opponent can call it but you can't.

So what if you're playing doubles, your partner is serving, you're at the net, and your partner drops a ball that is now rolling around at your feet, unbeknownst to you? Can your partner who dropped the ball call a let when you're the one in danger of stepping on the ball?

The answer is, sadly, no. In doubles, you live and die as a team and the actions of your partner are imputed to you as a team. So if your partner's having a great day, playing out of her head, good for you! You get the benefit of her great play too. If your partner's having a bad day and can't seem to hit a winner to save her life, well, you go down with her. AND, if your partner is back there dropping balls, she can't call a let for your team. Your only hope is that (1) you'll see the ball and not step on it, (2) the other team will be concerned enough to call a let, or (3) your partner likes you enough and is concerned enough about your safety to stop play and give up the point.

This actually just happened to me a few days ago. My partner's shorts were loose and she dropped a ball behind me. Fortunately for me, she followed scenario 3 above, stopped play and we gave our opponents the point. After that, I held the balls for her to avoid a repeat of that situation.





© Kim Selzman 2009
All Rights Reserved

It's Just Common Tennis Etiquette!

Playing tennis is a lot of fun. But if one player in your group won't follow the most basic tennis etiquette, a fun experience can quickly become unpleasant. So what are the rules of "tennis etiquette"? Well, we here at Tennis Fixation have considered the most common rules and posted them just for you. Just click on any of the post titles below to find out how to play tennis in a fun and well-mannered way.

• "I Hate My Tennis Partner!" - Learn how to solve the problem of stepping on the court with a partner that you just can't stand.
• "But I Love My Opponents! - What do you do when you're playing against your good friends? Find out here!
• When To Forfeit - Avoid gamesmanship and learn how to properly forfeit a match.
• Don't Win The Warm-Up - You have to warm up before every match. Why not do it properly, without pissing off your opponents?
• Retrieving & Returning Balls - Yes, there is even some common tennis etiquette involved here.
• When It's "Time" To Play - If you want your friends and teammates to call you to play tennis, learn the ins and outs of tennis "timing."
• When In Doubt, Call It . . . In - What's the rule on making line calls when you're not 100% sure? Read this post to find out.
• How To Be A Great Tennis Partner - Do you want to be the partner people always ask to be paired with? Here are some tips to make sure you're a great tennis partner.
• Are You The Partner No One Wants To Play With? - On the other hand, have you noticed no one wants to play with you? Read this post to find out why.
• How To Be A Great Tennis Team Member - Once you're on a team, make sure you get to play A ALOT by following these tips.

"I HATE My Tennis Partner!"

First off, I don't HATE any of my partners. There are many, many of them and they are all lovely people with whom I enjoy playing tennis. I wouldn't play if I wasn't having fun, right?

And you probably don't hate your tennis partner either. But, sometimes, on occasion, maybe every once in awhile, you end up with a partner you're not completely compatible with. I call this the "mismatched partner."

Maybe your mismatched partner is someone new you've never played with before. Or never even met before! Maybe your mismatched partner is someone you've been invited to play with for fun. Or maybe your mismatched partner is someone you were assigned to play with by your team captain for a league match. However it happens, we’re all familiar with how difficult it can be to have to play with one of these mismatched partners.

Here are a few tips to make sure you not only get along with your mismatched partner, but that you enjoy playing and maybe win your match!

1. Control your emotions. The worst thing you can do when you're unhappy with your partner is let her know it. It won't help her play any better and it probably won't make you feel any better. So get a grip on yourself and decide that, between the two of you, YOU are going to be the strong and positive leader.
2. Be positive. It doesn't help anyone if you're negative. It makes you feel bad and it makes your partner feel even worse. If you have some helpful criticism, give it in an upbeat way. For example, if your partner won't come up to the net, telling her "I think we can really hurt them if we're both up at the net" is a lot more productive than "Why can't you just get up to the net??!!"
3. Help your partner focus on tennis. Its hard to play with someone who isn't concentrating on your match. Instead of letting them ramble on about the chances of their son getting into a really good college, help them concentrate on your match by talking about what's happening on the court. Just letting them know what you're thinking about and planning, i.e., "I'm trying to serve up the middle to set you up for the poach", may be enough to get them focused on tennis.
4. Communicate. Talking throughout the match can only help. Let your partner know what you're thinking. And if you're worried that this will bother your partner (maybe they'll think you're being hypercritical or don't know what you're talking about or are just talking too much) do what I do and claim you're mostly talking to yourself. Here's my standard disclaimer: "Don't let all of my talking get to you. I'm mostly talking to myself anyway."
5. Don't throw in the towel. Giving up is the best way to lose your match. And once you've let your partner know you've given up, she will probably give up too. So don't quit because you never know what might happen. The match you think you may lose can turn out to be the incredible comeback story you're telling your tennis pals about later!
6. Work on your own game. When all else fails, when you've finally decided the match is unwinnable because you just can't play well with this person, think about playing well for yourself. Play your game and find something you can work on - be more aggressive, hit your spin second serve, poach more, come in more, lob more. Use the match as an opportunity to improve your own game so you can walk away feeling good about tennis.

The mismatched partner - you have a hard time playing with them, but you can't back out. And you shouldn't! Because, I think this is a common tennis saying - tennis with a mismatched partner is always better than no tennis at all.

If you want to make sure YOU'RE not the mismatched partner, click on the following post and get my tips on How To Be A Great Tennis Partner!





© Kim Selzman 2009
All Rights Reserved

100 Great Tennis Fixation Blog Posts!

Dear Tennis Fixation Readers:

Grab your tennis party outfit and celebrate the big event! This is the 100th post on the Tennis Fixation blog! Hooray!!!

Its good news for me because, honestly, when I started this, I wasn't sure I'd be able to think of 100 things to say about ordinary, fun tennis played by people like me. And good news for you because - guess what? I now realize I have 100s and 100s of things still left to say!

So, to celebrate this 100th blog post, here's a list of Tennis Fixation's Top 10 Posts, especially for you readers who may have missed a few of these. What qualifies as a Top 10 Post? Its one that either received plenty of comments (which I love) or its one that I really liked and think you would too. Enjoy and keep reading to support your Tennis Fixation! (To read one of these great posts, just click on the title.)

TOP 10 TENNIS FIXATION POSTS:

1. What Our Tennis Team Needs Is . . . A Cool Name! - This is absolutely the most popular post on Tennis Fixation. People from as far away as Russia and Italy have clicked on this post to figure out what to call their tennis team. See? Its a world-wide problem!

2. Why I Love Mini Court - I didn't think anyone would get this one since most of my friends will tell me they HATE mini-court. But a few people told me they became convinced of the benefits of mini-court by reading this post. Its as if I'm actually doing good in the tennis world!

3. Are You The Tennis Partner No One Wants To Play With? - I have played tennis with each and every one of these people and was just hoping that, if one of them read this, they might see themselves and change for the better. Unrealistically optimistic, I know.

4. It's A Tennis Party! - Another very popular post that is constantly clicked on. Which just proves - here at Tennis Fixation, we're addressing the issues that other tennis blogs are too scared to deal with - cool team names and tennis party favors.

5. "What Are They Talking About?" - This is another one of those issues that no other tennis blog is addressing - the crazy stuff we start thinking about when we're playing a match.

6. How To Be A Great Tennis Partner - This post came up when I started calculating how many different partners I might potentially play with each month. And the answer was - 16 different partners! So this post explains all of the things I do, and hopefully my partners do, to maximize the winning potential in those 16 partnerships.

7. 4 Reasons To Keep Playing Tennis - Your tennis pro isn't going to remind you why you need to keep playing tennis when you lose 6-0, 6-0. But this post will.

8. Sizing Up Opponents - I love improving my tennis game without actually doing any hard work. Here's a great post about how to play better tennis just by paying attention to who you're playing against.

9. Why Are You Losing To Weaker Opponents? - Another popular post that addressed a problem all of has have had - losing to someone we know we should beat!

10. Australian Open "Fashion"? - And here is exactly the type of post that typifies what Tennis Fixation is all about - tennis fashion! You won't win any matches because of it but, some days, looking cute may be all you've got!





© Kim Selzman 2009
All Rights Reserved

One Minute To Better Tennis

What can you do in one minute to improve your tennis game? Depending on what's happening on your court, here are a few things that might turn things around for you during a match that take less than a minute to do.

1. Are you losing? Take a minute to get more aggressive. It never pays off to get less aggressive. If you're losing, you've probably already tightened up and have been playing tentatively for awhile. So decide to play aggressively on everything and, if you're going down, go down fighting.
2. Is your serve giving you fits? Calm down. When its your serve just remember that everyone is playing to your pace. Take your time, think about proper form, go for placement and hit some nice serves.
3. Are you mishitting lots of shots? Keep your eye on the ball. Don't look to see where the ball is going until well after you've made contact. Once you hit the ball, its going there whether you watch it or not, right?
4. Are you having communication problems with your partner? Have a quick conference with your partner, take the blame for whatever is happening (no matter whose fault you think it is), and say something positive.
5. Are you tired? Eat something or drink something or tie your shoes. Just give yourself some kind of mini-break to catch your breath. And do that as often as you need.
6. Are you having a really bad day? That will happen. Sometimes you play doubles and you are on the court with three players who are far and away better than you and nothing is going your way. So take a minute to remind yourself - it's tennis and it's fun and you'll probably laugh about this match later.







© Kim Selzman 2009
All Rights Reserved

When In Doubt, Call It . . . In

Yesterday, I played a 3 HOUR match, and ultimately, unfortunately, ended up losing. But it was a lot of fun and one thing that made it fun was that my opponents were very nice and made only one call, in the entire 3 hours, that I thought was questionable. It was on a deep lob I hit that looked like it might have caught the back line. At that point, my partner said to me, "Do you want me to say 'Are you sure?'" But I told her to let it go - we had been playing for so long and up to that point, I had had no problems with any of their calls.

"The Code: The Players' Guide for Unofficiated Matches" addresses the "when in doubt" situation as follows:

6. Opponent gets benefit of doubt. When a match is played without officials, the players are responsible for making decisions, particularly for line calls. . . . [A] player is guided by the unwritten law that any doubt must be resolved in favor of the opponent. A player in attempting to be scrupulously honest on the line calls frequently will find himself keeping a ball in play that might have been out or that the players discovers too late was out. Even so, the game is much better played this way.

It is mentally exhausting to play for 3 hours. And making calls on close balls adds to the challenge. Had my partner and I felt that we were being hooked or cheated, I'm sure we would have walked away from that match in disgust. But when you are playing against opponents that you feel are trying their best to make good calls, even a 3 hour match that you lose can be enjoyable. Well, maybe not enjoyable. But it was a lot of fun.





© Kim Selzman 2009
All Rights Reserved

How to be a Great Tennis Partner!

I play for four different tennis teams right now. That means, with shuffling line-ups and subs, I may have four different partners each week. In the course of a month, I can theoretically be partnered with sixteen different people!

So, each month, I may be learning how to partner and achieve success with sixteen different people. And, sixteen different people may be sizing me up, considering my tennis game, deciding if I am the kind of partner they ever want to play with again.

Consequently, I try to not only play my own game well (hit good shots, apply logical strategy), I also try to be a great tennis partner. I try to be the person that anyone would be happy to find out they are partnered with.

What makes a great tennis partner? Here is what I think it takes:

1. A great partner communicates. Sometimes a great partner has something really helpful to say, an insight into the other team or an observation about your strokes. Sometimes she has something encouraging to say, about not getting down when you're behind or continuing to play aggressively when you're ahead. Sometimes she is just talking to assure you that she is still hanging in there, playing the match point by point, and hasn't checked out on you or thrown in the towel. I can't think of a time I had a partner who I didn't like because she talked to me too much.

2. A great partner focuses on the match. Of course, that does not mean that we haven't all played with partners who talked too much. I've played with people who seem to be talking constantly. And as long as they are talking to me about the match, I'm good. But the focus has to remain on what is happening on the court. So, until the match is finished, I'm sorry but I don't want to talk about how sick your dog is or what you might make for dinner tonight. Save that for later. Right now, focus on what you can do to help win the match.

3. A great partner is always upbeat and optimistic. Guess what? Sometimes you lose. Sometimes NOTHING goes your way and no matter how well you play, the other team creams you. But a great partner will never let this destroy her attitude or ruin the match. Because, even when you're losing, you hit some good shots, ace some serves, run down balls that appeared to be sure-fire winners and get them back just one more time. A great partner sees this, appreciates it, pumps you up and just keeps plugging away with you. A great partner does not believe the match is over until its truly over.

4. A great partner is flexible and willing to change. You may not know what you are going to face in a match. What you see in the warm-up and the early part of the match, may not be what is happening later in the match after your opponents have truly warmed-up and gotten into a groove. A great partner is not tied to just one way of playing. She doesn't think anything you say is ridiculous and is open to trying your suggestions for how to turn a match around.

5. A great partner doesn't take it personally. It's only tennis after all. Nothing I say about your game is meant as an insult. And I don't take anything you say as an insult to me. So if I yell at you to switch and get the ball or I urge you to come in to the net because you're getting pinned down in baseline rallies, I only mean it as a helpful observation and not as a negative comment on your tennis skills. And I won't be upset about anything you say to me during a match. Because, just like you, I want to be a great tennis partner!




© Kim Selzman 2009
All Rights Reserved

When It's "Time" to Play

So you're scheduled to play tennis. Sounds simple enough. Well, just remember - you can't play tennis all by yourself. A few other people are planning to be there too. And if you want those people to invite you to play tennis again in the future, follow these simple rules of tennis scheduling etiquette:

1. Show up to play. Is this really a rule? Unfortunately, yes. I've been at more than a few doubles matches where one of the players simply didn't show up. No phone call. No message at the club desk. No notice at all. While it doesn't seem like this needs to be said, when you sign on to play a match, other people are expecting you to play. So if you say you're going to play tennis, show up! And if you can't make it, try to find a sub or notify the other players. Nothing is worse than three ladies standing around on a court, wondering where their fourth is. And nothing will make you less desirable as a player than getting a reputation as being unreliable.

2. Don't be late. It's not enough to follow Rule 1 and just show up. Please be on time. Other people have arranged their schedule to accommodate playing with you in this match. So be courteous by being punctual. And if you just can't avoid being late, call and let someone know.

3. Don't leave early. This is a rule for fun matches as opposed to league matches. (I assume you're not going to leave your league match early. If so, that is a whole other topic.) If you've agreed to play for an hour and a half, don't show up and announce that you can only play for 30 minutes. Again, other people have blocked out time to play with you and when you leave a match ridiculously early, that pretty much ruins the match for them.