Tennis Tips: Keys to Returning – Mar. 14

Q: I am a 14-year-old, and I just started competing last year. I am now ranked in the top 10 in my district, but recently I have been going through a “slump.” I haven’t been playing as well as I normally do, and I haven’t been winning as many matches. When you go through these slumps, what can you do to get out of them and improve your game?
Lauren – Ohio
Do something different. Find a “slump buster.” Alter your practice regimen. Go back to the basics. Listen to Johnny Cash’s “Live from Folsom Prison” while going on a five-mile run (that used to help me!). Experiment with a different string tension for your racquet. Find… the Love.
Awwwwright, if those dopey, New Age clichés are not helping, then try this:
1. Take a sheet of paper and draw a line down the middle, from top to bottom.
2. On the left side of the paper, write all the things you do well, including your best shots and favorite tactics.
3. On the right side of the paper, jot down some of the shots you have not mastered or the strategies that you lack confidence in executing.
4. Take your time with both of these lists, and make sure that both columns are pretty full.
5. When you play, use everything that is on the “good” (left) side of this sheet of paper and avoid everything from the “bad” (right) side.
The moral of this message is that winning tennis is all about maximizing your strengths and minimizing your weaknesses. Stick with that, and your slump will disappear quickly.
– Bill
Q: Bill, I can’t say how disappointed I am that you are moving on to new turf. I have enjoyed reading your column during work breaks. My pent up questions have to do with visualizing strokes. Do you have or recommend any one “feel” for each shot immediately before trying to make it, and if so, what? For example, do you try to imagine the underside of your hand hitting the ball on a volley? What are you trying to train your brain to do to stay in the moment? Thanks.
Steve – Leola, PA
First off, a big Thank You to all the fellow tennis enthusiasts who have written such nice notes to me – like this one – over these last few weeks. Work breaks?!? Well, on behalf of USTA.com, I am pleased to have had some effect on the declining effectiveness of the American work force. Just kidding.
Do you recall the movie “City Slickers,” in which the character played by Jack Palance is about to explain to the Billy Crystal character the One Thing that is the ultimate secret to happiness? And then he abruptly dies before he shares the secret? Later, Billy Crystal figures out that the One Thing is different for everyone, and that you need to find it for yourself.
How does that relate to your question? Well, I formulated One Thing that worked for me for each of the main shots (get the toss up high for the serve, keep my back foot down on forehand, extend left arm back when hitting backhand… to share three examples). However, what worked for me might not work for you. In the end, through lots of trial and error – and some awareness – you need to find the One Thing that helps you for each shot.
I would avoid multiple cues for each shot, as this can get too complicated. You should also write down what that One Thing is for each shot (or area of your game) so that you can refer to this short list before important matches to help settle your nerves.
– Bill
Q: When is the best time to use the Australian formation during a doubles match?
Roge – Poughkeepsie, NY
The Australian formation in doubles that you are referring to is when one player serves from near the center service mark and his partner sets up at the net in the approximate middle. By using this formation, it essentially takes away the cross-court return of serve and forces your opponent(s) to play a riskier down-the-line shot.
I would not advocate doing this all the time. Instead, wait until the opponent(s) has proven capable of hurting your team with effective cross-court returns. To disrupt rhythm, try the Australian formation. If you use this alignment all the time, your opponent(s) will likely become equally accustomed to the new target. Having the flexibility to mix things up is highly beneficial to success in doubles.
– Bill
Q: What is the key to being a good returner?
Dierek – Rogers, AR
The biggest marker of success is the number of return points that you win. How to win varies from player to player, though.
The two most basic keys are aligned with which service you are returning:
1. When returning first serves, make every effort to get the ball back into play. In singles, this equates to aiming more balls down the middle-third of the court to offer more margin for error. Against a powerful server, you might also need to simply block the returns (much like the great Federer does against the world’s best servers). By eliminating “free points,” it can – over the course of a match – prove frustrating to a strong server.
2. When returning second serves, you ought to be willing to take more aggressive risks because usually these serves are hit more conservatively (or carefully). A few ideas include:

a. Move around and hit an aggressive forehand close to one of the sidelines.
b. Take the return early to rob your opponent of time.
c. Hit a penetrating return, or low chip, and then rush the net.
d. Play the shot from further behind the baseline (especially against kick serves), and hit a heavy, driving return deep into the court with plenty of topspin.
e. Or mix in any or all of these tactics as the situation dictates.

Again, your success must be measured by how many points you are winning. If you are simply blocking the ball back and not making much of an impact on your opponent or you are playing aggressive second-serve returns and missing too frequently, then an adjustment is necessary.

– Bill
Q: Hi Bill. We recently returned from a trip to the Aussie Open in Melbourne, and we had a blast there. The few days that we attended day sessions, it was rainy. But our tickets to Rod Laver Arena were honored, regardless, because they have a roof on both of their main stadiums (Rod Laver and the Vodaphone Arena).
I know that the USTA BJK NTC is constructing a new indoor building. I don’t think that it is for US Open competition. Is there a plan to build a center court (show court) that has a roof that opens/closes? Obviously Rod Laver and Vodaphone are smaller than Ashe Stadium, but it sure saves a lot of logistical nightmares of rescheduling matches and exchanging tickets, etc.
What do you think?
Eric – Forest Hills, NY
P.S. As I write this email, I thought perhaps the USTA does not have MLB/NFL type of money.
Of the four majors, the Australian Open is in a class by itself, in terms of being able to maintain the show court schedule come rain or shine. Roland Garros is less affected because you can play through a drizzle on the clay courts, but this is not possible on the hard (US Open) or grass (Wimbledon) courts.
You are correct in assessing that it is considerably more convenient to have a portable roof option. Television rights holders, and millions of world-wide viewers, would agree because with the slightest sprinkle, play is suspended at two of the biggest tournaments of the year. The show, literally, stops. (Wimbledon will be modernizing its centre court by the 2009 edition of The Championships with a retractable roof).
The USTA made a financial decision to not incur the significant additional costs for a retractable roof in the mid-1990s, when Arthur Ashe Stadium was being constructed. (The court was dedicated in 1997, by the way.) There have been many studies, but the costs associated with constructing a roof over the current structure are incredibly prohibitive.
The new indoor building at the USTA BJK NTC is due to be completed around the time of the 2008 US Open. It is not designed for US Open match play, but indoor practice courts will be available to players during rain delays.
– Bill
Q: I am very interested in teaching tennis, especially to children. Recently, I started my own tennis program. Now, the local parks and recreation department is interested in having me teach for them this summer. I am very serious about starting my own tennis business, but it would be helpful to have support of parks and recreation in securing the facility (since I don’t have my own courts) and helping to promote the program. I was wondering what you would suggest is my best approach for starting my career in tennis. Could you offer any advice?
Julie – Georgetown, KY
Find a USTA Recreation Coaches Workshop in your area and make plans to attend. This is a one-day, seven-hour workshop that will give you many of the basics needed to learn how to teach new players, how to manage large groups, how to conduct team practices, etc.
If you are interested in pursuing a full-time career as a tennis-teaching professional, then there are two primary certification options in this country. Contact the Professional Tennis Registry about enrolling in a “Teaching Essentials Workshop” or the United States Professional Tennis Association about their “Certification Review Course.” Both of these trade association options are two-day affairs. You will be tested in several areas, including on-court teaching/coaching capabilities, your ability to play, error detection and correction, and a written test. Upon completion of the testing, you will be given a certification rating. Both organizations offer a wide range of excellent and useful benefits.
Good luck!
– Bill

Additional thoughts for this week…

• That’s all folks. You have just completed the last edition of the Ask Bill column. I am moving “across the pond” and will be working for Great Britain’s Lawn Tennis Association as Head of Coach Relations and Competition.
• I owe a debt of gratitude to the wonderful Advanced Media team for allowing me the opportunity to contribute these weekly columns for the past six years.
• In particular, I need to acknowledge the tireless Paul Slater, who was my private editor (“Ahhh, Bill, we might want to clean that answer up a little. There are children who read this column!”), the prognosticating wiz Sally Milano, and Cool Hand Lucas Swineford (who also recently left the USTA).
• Dear readers… If you have enjoyed reading this weekly column as much as I have enjoyed writing it, then I am satisfied. To all those who have contributed questions, opinions, compliments, and criticisms… Thank you!
• Enjoy our great sport.