One of the biggest challenges I have with my game is when I create choices for my next shot…

You know, should I play this shot cross court, up the line, drop shot, approach shot, and on and on.

And the more time I have, the more choices I seem to have and the longer it takes to decide which one I’m to play.

For my game, choices = low confidence which = inconsistent shot making.

If I can trust that first thought that comes into my mind, that very first instinct of where I should play this next shot, what type of shot, etc., if I’ll allow myself to trust that initial instinct, guess what, I play much much better.

The sooner I can commit to the shot I’m going to play, I tend to be a much more confident player.

But I have to practice being aware of that initial instinct.  And I have to make sure I’m getting in at least one practice session a week of at least 30 minutes of really being consciously aware of what my instincts are and totally committing to them.

So, check out this rainy day video below, and then let me know by following the link below the video if you can think of your #1 shot or situation where you create shot placement / type choices, where you hesitate just enough, and/or where you don’t commit until the very last moment.

I Want Your Feedback: Click this link and let me know what’s that one shot or situation where your shot placement / type of shot just might be too late.

Brent
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Enjoy This Tip From Brent? If so, why not pass along a token of your love in the form of small contribution to WebTennis?  That’s right, show a little love…!

Click This Link To Show Your Love For WebTennis!

Thanks in advance for your continued interest & support.  Brent

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Man o man, how crazy is this short forehand?

You play all the right shots from your baseline and eventually produce a short ball from your opponent that lands right around the “T” and just sits up there begging you to crunch it off for a glorious winner.

That’s right, you’re about to be the man (gals, you know what I mean)…

And you’re right, you hustle on up, your salivating at this put-away chance, and you completely bury your shot into the middle of the net.

Or way deep, or wide, or somewhere other than your intended target.

Big time unforced error and you feel like an idiot.

And that feeling carries over to future points and it’s a big time downward spiral.

And after an opponent misses that short forehand, I love it when I hear them say, “Oh man, I had you…”.

Uh huh, you sure did, but that’s game thank you very much.

Look, this short forehand is NOT an easy shot.  There’s a lot that can go wrong.

You’ve got no pace (ball speed coming into your racket) that you can work with, and so if you want to add any pace to your shot you have to perform two functions that take a lot of racket skill.

That’s providing racket head speed that produces shot direction and depth control.

What’s the #1 mistake we make on this short forehand?

It’s mostly with our feet as we play this shot.  We tend to stop and stay stopped as we swing through the ball, and it’s really tough to control that shot from a stationary position.

Most of us need incoming pace to be able to hit with pace and maintain control.

So, what’s the cure for those short no nothing forehands where we think we should be able to end the point?

It’s first of all a mindset, this is never a one shot opportunity.  It may end up that way, but you’ve always got to think that this is going to be at least a two shot sequence.

As set up to play an approach shot and then see what happens.

What do we do on approach shots with our feet?  That’s right, we get set up prior to contact to be able to move through our approach shot in order to have a good court position for our opponent’s next shot.

Even if you play a good shot without moving your feet, if your opponent anticipates where your shot is going and can then get there and make a decent play on your shot, because you haven’t moved through your shot, you’re still stuck slightly behind the “T”, and that’s not a great spot to be when your opponent is now receiving your so-called big time put-away.

Check out this short video clip and see if you can relate to some or all of it.

So, obviously we need to be thinking two shots to be able to have better stroke mechanics but to also be able to be in the right place at the right time just in case our opponent guesses where we’re going to play our shot off of that short forehand.

Speaking of forehands, if you haven’t done so already, pick up your copy of my detailed DVD & instantly downloadable lesson on the forehand groundstroke you can make sure you’ve got the perfect stroke mechanics to handle not only this short ball but also those forehands when you’re back on the baseline.

You can easily add this lesson’s instructional videos to your computer, video iPod, iPhone, and other portable video player.  That’s right, you can take this lesson to the practice and match court with you.

Grab your Forehand Lesson copy now – click here, or better yet, do what Mark S. from Milwaukee did today.  Here’s what Mark wrote to me…

“Brent,  I want to get the complete lesson portfolio.  I have been talking with many people here in Milw.  Giving out your webtennis.net information.  Hopefully some will sign up.

How could I pay and have the initial lesson fee go toward the complete lesson plan fee.  Any other discounts, possible would work for me, up to you, though.

The people I am playing with, see a dramatic difference in my play with just the serve & volley and 1/2 volley lesson work I have done.

Thanks,   Mark.”

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So, I’m happy to make the same offer to you that I did to Mark today.  If you’ve recently bought one of my lessons, I’ll be happy to refund that lesson if you want to pick up an All Lessons Package at a 4o% discount.

Once you purchase your All Lessons Package at the 40% discount, just send me an email to remind me to refund your recently purchased single lesson.

Recent VonCramm Cup teammate Brian Cheney spent some time with me on the phone this morning discussing our most recent topic on how we go from Plan A to Plan B if things aren’t working for us during a match.

Brain Cheney - Far Right

As you may know, Brian is one of the really wonderful ambassadors for tennis around the world. Born into arguably one of the great tennis families of all time, Brian has won over 50 national singles and doubles titles, has been nationally ranked #1 in his age group many many times, and has won world titles and has also held the #1 world ranking before.

This guy continues to teach on court a ton of hours every week and is just relentless with his teaching schedule, his tournament schedule, and his deep love for the game of tennis. If any of us had 10% of his skill and achievement levels in any of these areas, we’d be world class!

Alright, enough love fest here, let’s get into what Brian had to say about this topic of changing playing styles during the course of a match, specifically when whatever you’re doing out there is not translating into winning games.

Here’s what Brian had to say…

One of the points Brian brought up that I think is so valuable is we don’t have to make enormous changes to our strategy to affect big changes in how we present shots to our opponents.

For example, with your groundstrokes, think of playing different heights over the net, different shot shapes (flat, topspin, slice), different depths, different shot speeds, you get the picture, subtle differences in how your shots appear to your opponents can sometimes be enough to change from a losing pattern to a winning one.
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What’s The Biggest Challenge In Your Game Right Now?
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