Is it possible to have too much racket speed? (Of course not!)

Sorry about the rather long "pause" between posts...


I've been quite busy with the business of TennisSpeed including getting two more NCAA teams started with SpeedChain training (Colorado Women's Tennis (Big 12) and Syracuse Women's Tennis (Big East)) and attending a number of tennis events, including a charity event, one state high school tennis championship tournament and several instructional clinics. And somewhere mixed in all that, I also spent 10 days tuning up the game of one of my touring pro clients.


Anyway, the past two weeks have been especially interesting and I thought I would share some of the things I’ve learned about the state of American tennis from the viewpoint of a wide cross-section of American tennis community.

In particular, I want to bring to light the viewpoint expressed by the typical American tennis parent. Because based on a number of conversations I have had with junior tennis parents over the last 18 months, there are a lot of parents out there who believe that their children have more than ample racket speed to succeed in competitive tennis.

If you’ve been following this blog for a while, you would understand that this common perception is patently false based on the various stroke speed surveys I’ve done at collegiate dual matches and dozens of professional, junior and high school tennis matches (I was able to obtain stroke speed measurements from high school varsity tennis players at a recent Boys’ State Tennis Championships, and I will report those speed measurements in a future post) over the last 18 months.

So, here’s a conversation I had with a parent of a female tournament player (12 years old) whom she claimed was ranked among the Top 3 players in her home section.

Our conversation went something like this:

Parent: “Oh, my daughter has more than enough racket speed. Racket speed is not her problem whatsoever. Actually, I think that she has too much racket speed and it’s not helping her game.”

Me: (addressing the player) “So, what is your first serve speed? (Head shaking and shrugged shoulders from player)

Parent: “Her coach says that she has plenty of racket speed.”

Me: “That’s interesting, you don’t even know what her stroke speeds really are, but you and her coach are sure about her having plenty of racket speed… By the way, did you know that both Venus and Serena could serve over 100 MPH at the age of 12? When Venus played her first pro match at 14, she was serving over 115 MPH.”

(addressing player) “Do you serve over 100 MPH right now?” (Head shaking from player)

Parent: “Well, actually she’s injured right now, so maybe she’s not capable of swinging that fast…”

OK, let me add some context to this conversation…

This particular conversation occurred in front of an information booth for TennisSpeed and all of our speed training products, including the Tennis SpeedChain, at a recent, local charity event. It may well have been that the purpose of this parent was to say something to avoid the possibility of hearing my “SpeedChain pitch” as she read through the information at our booth.

However, based on this parent’s unwavering tone and choice of words, I concluded that she really believes that her daughter has more than sufficient racket speed, and won’t need to improve her racket speed now or in the future.

In fact, that her child swings her racket so fast that her incredible racket speed actually hinders her tennis progress because she understands that high racket speeds (“hitting hard”) compromise her daughter’s ability to control the ball.

And this was not the first time I have heard a tennis parent firmly and decisively assert that their child has terrific, if not incredible racket speed, and that racket speed will never become a factor that will limit their ability to succeed in tennis.

I didn't know that smoking c---k had reached epidemic proportions among junior tennis parents these days.

This point is worth mentioning over and over until the majority of conversations I have with junior tennis parents come to focus on this question:

“How can I help my son/daughter maximize their racket speed?”

As competitive tennis today has evolved into a “true sport” where speed is the single most important physical attribute required to perform at the highest possible levels, the concept of having “too much speed”, whether it be foot speed or racket speed, is simply unthinkable.

Imagine a baseball player complaining about having too much bat speed (fearing that they would hit the baseball “too far”) or throwing speed (throwing too hard where opposing hitters can't hit their pitches). Oh, the horrors of too much speed!

How about a football quarterback complaining about having too much arm speed that he throws the ball “too far that his receivers can’t catch up to his passes”, or a running back or receiver that outruns the defense “too often”? (OK, non-football fans, what happens in those situations is that most football coaches will go out and find receivers who run fast enough to catch the “too strong-armed” quarterback’s passes and find ways for his “too fast” running backs and receivers to touch the ball as much as possible during games…)

As you can see, this concept of “too much speed” in other sports sounds patently absurd, so why does this idea persist in competitive tennis?

Here are a few observations of mine over the years that might explain why this perception of racket speed being a “luxury” or a ”hinderance to development” continues to perpetuate itself in US Tennis:

1. Parents/Teaching Pros/Coaches typically only understand how to teach the sport using bygone classic tennis principles where racket speed couldn’t be readily generated (rackets too small and heavy) nor adequately controlled (not enough topspin production).

2. The last time most coaches/parents played/watched pro tennis LIVE AND IN PERSON was back in the 1980s or 1990s when the game was measurably slower.

3. Most players/coaches/parents have no idea what their (student’s/children’s) stroke speeds really are and seem to have no interest nor motivation to find out. The typical excuse for not knowing their stroke speeds comes out sounding like “who has a radar gun lying around anyway?”

4. Most players/coaches/parents don’t know what the “speed profile” of the top pros really are. They may know their serve speeds, but what about the speeds they achieve on their other strokes like their forehands and backhands? Every coach/parent knows goal-setting is critical for competitive success, but when you don’t know exactly what the goal is… How successful can you expect to be?

5. Tennis on TV does not accurately depict the actual ball speeds, nor variation in ball speeds and spin, and can’t be used to familiarize and educate players/coaches/parents on the physical realities of today’s pro game.

6. Coaches/Parents “indoctrinate” players based solely on their perceptions and understanding of (classic) tennis that based mainly on anecdotal information, out-dated, false or outright misinformation. The typical teaching pro's understanding of tennis in US is based on the near-complete ignorance of facts and reliance on perception rather than detailed analysis.

How should we then begin to educate these speed-challenged members of the tennis community so they can understand the reality that maximizing racket speed is essential and necessary to succeeding in competitive tennis today?

Let’s begin by repeating these basic facts about racket speed in modern tennis:

1. Players must maximize racket speed and spin production to be successful in modern competitive tennis at the pro level.

2. High spin rates are the basis of maximizing stroke control and consistency at high racket speeds.

Having “too much” racket speed or foot speed in tennis is, quite frankly, as ludicrous a concept as “having too much money”. For all practical intents and purposes, having too much foot speed and racket speed is the condition that we should be striving to achieve, not avoid.

Junior tennis parents (and coaches), it’s time to get informed about the impact of speed on your child’s tennis. At least be willing and interested in taking the first step of actually measuring their stroke and foot speed(s). All you need to do this is to get your hands on a stopwatch and a radar gun.

By doing this, you will all know how fast you really are and how much you will need to improve if you want to perform at a level that’s truly comparable to today’s top professionals.

TTFN!

Message from the Top

Just a little post-US Open bonus...

Here's a quote directly from the top man himself, Roger Federer about what the keys to his best tennis really are:

"After winning the Dubai Open for the fourth time in 2007, Federer said: 'Previously I always thought it was just tactical and technique, but every match has become almost mental and physical – I try to push myself to move well. I try to push myself not to get upset and stay positive, and that's what my biggest improvement is over all these years. Under pressure I can see things very clearly.' "

(Quoted from: “From teenage tantrums to sublime success” by Thomas Stephens, April 26, 2007, online article at swissinfo.org)

What do Federer's words mean for you?

TOP PERFORMANCE BEGINS WITH OPTIMAL MOVEMENT...

Read his quote again carefully, Roger PUSHES HIMSELF TO MOVE WELL. When you move properly, the rest of your game will flow without too much conscious effort. So take the advice of one of the greatest-if not THE greatest-player in the history of the tennis to heart and immediately raise the level of your play by focusing on moving your best on court.

For more interesting facts and discussion about the Swiss tennis superstar, take a look at the Roger Federer tribute compiled by the official online information agency of the Swiss government, www.swissinfo.org.

TTFN!

Court Movement 103

In this post, we’ll continue our series on increasing the speed (and efficiency) of your court movement by having a brief discussion of how to hit efficiently while on the run.

First, let 's define what I mean by "hitting on the run"…

What I am talking about is situations during play where you have to move—sprint, that is—more than three or four steps before you can form a hitting stance to strike your shot. In general, we are talking about playing situations where you may be:

• Reacting to a shot where your opponent changes the direction of your return (e.g. your opponent hits your crosscourt return down the line or vice-versa)

• Retrieving shots that your opponent aggressively drives into the deep corners in response to your own soft or short returns

• Retrieving drop shots, drop volleys, or, if you are playing Federer, low, short slice shots that land in the service boxes when you are positioned well behind (> 5 feet) the baseline.

In these situations, you maybe forced to cover a very large distance (perhaps as much as the entire half of the court to return a drop shot, or the entire distance along the baseline from one doubles alley to the other to retrieve a well-struck forehand) in very short time in order to make any contact, much less effective contact, with the ball.

And, many times the total reaction time you have to make contact in those “emergency” situations won’t allow you to set up completely to make your shot… You might only have enough time to set one, rather than both feet in an improvised hitting stance from which to accelerate to ball contact.

Of course, the ideal way to “hit on the move” is to move fast enough to “win that race” with your opponent’s return and set up completely—i.e. set both feet firmly on the court—for a clean, controlled strike.

But, what if you can only move fast enough to achieve a “tie” in that race to the ball, where you will arrive only at the last possible moment to make an effective stroke? What then?

In that case, there are three critical moves you must make to hit effectively while on the dead run:

1) Make your initial steps to the ball as explosive as possible.

· First, lower your center of gravity using your split-step.

· Second, turn your hips and shoulders in the direction of the ball, and start moving toward the ball using the leg that’s closest to the ball (if you need to move to your right, “step out” with your right leg and vice-versa), and pump your arms powerfully in your initial move to the ball.

2) After you’re about halfway there, stop pumping your arms and immediately finish your backswing such that the only move you’ll make with your hands and upper body is to accelerate the racket forward to contact.

3) Swing forward very aggressively to contact a split second after you make your last step with your back foot.

You need to be very aggressive with your forward swing because you are fighting somewhat all of the momentum you’ve generated by moving explosively toward the ball. Effectively, your feet are propelling you in one direction, and you are trying to swing with your hands and arms against the direction of the momentum of your lower body by swinging to make (solid) contact with the ball. So you need to aggressively accelerate towards contact.

These are the three core moves you must make to hit effectively while on the run.

Now, you might ask the question: what do I do after finishing my stroke?

On what foot should I land after making contact? What’s the quickest way to begin my recovery for my opponent’s next return?

The answer to the former question is, quite frankly, “it depends”. There isn’t a single, optimal foot to finish on. The foot which you land on depends mainly on the type of shot you chose to execute on the run (i.e. a deep, hard drive, or a high and heavy looping return, or a sharp crosscourt angle return). You could land on either foot really… It's really a matter of personal "style".

Although I will point out to you that players who can consistently generate a sharp (fast) crosscourt angle return on the run tend to land on their front foot (see Federer, Roger and Sampras, Pete), while players who are adept at hitting high, heavy and deep topspin returns while on the run often land on their back foot first, with their front leg held in the air (see Nadal, Rafael).

Likewise, if you want to produce a return with a lower, “driving” trajectory (rather than a higher, more looping trajectory), landing on your front foot after contact has been the preferred method of accomplished tennis millionaires throughout the history of the sport.

(Hmmm… “Accomplished Tennis Millionaires” or “ATMs”… That acronym is a keeper. See the connection? “ATMs”, as in, receive tons of cash money in return by playing tennis in a certain way. :) )

The answer to the latter question is simply, “sit down” or “step out” on your back leg, and immediate push back toward the center of the court with the same leg. So, if you landed on your front foot, immediately after the front foot makes contact with the ground, use your back leg to stop and push hard back toward the center of the court. Likewise, if you landed on your back leg, immediately begin moving toward the center of the court using the same leg.

Notice that I am not trying to explain in any fine-grain detail about how to perform the exact movements required to make the initial moves toward the ball or how to recover. Other than telling you which leg (right or left) to use to initiate an efficient movement sequence, the fine details of how to execute an effective running shot (total number of steps, how big are the steps, how fast to pump the arms, the final speed needed to reach the ball to make contact, etc.), and how well you can execute your running shots may vary infinitely from situation to situation and from player to player because all of this is solely dependent on your own innate athletic ability.

AND, as athletic ability ranges so widely even among elite tennis players (i.e. the difference between Federer’s apparent ability to “glide” from shot to shot versus Roddick’s sometimes heavy-footed, “stomping” action), it’s virtually impossible to give a very detailed description, much less an “exact” description of the movement themselves beyond describing the optimal way to initiate the movement itself.

All that’s really possible is to describe the principles involved, and leave it to each player to execute the necessary movements in their own unique way. There is indeed a “science” to all athletic skills, but in the end, the execution of those skills ultimately represents the “artistry” of the player him/herself.

And that “artistry” is yet another element that explains why so many of us are so fascinated by this great sport.

So, to review the key principles of hitting effectively on the (full) run:

1) Make your initial steps to the ball as explosive as possible.

2) After you’re about halfway there, stop pumping your arms and immediately finish your backswing such that the only move you’ll make with your hands and upper body is to accelerate the racket forward to contact.

and,

3) Swing forward to contact a split second after you make your last step with your back foot.

TTFN!

P.S. For those of you that still have trouble grasping this idea of how speed is the defining element of tennis success, just look at the singles players who made the Final 4 at Flushing Meadow.

Final 4 Men: Federer, Djokovic, Davydenko, and Ferrer

Final 4 Women: Henin, Kuznetsova, Williams, and Chakvetadze

All 8 players possess the necessary foot and racket speed to either out-run their opponents or out-hit them.

What’s interesting among the group is that both the Men’s (Federer and Djokovic) and Women’s finalists (Henin and Kuznetsova) hit with the most spin from among the original group of 8…

What does this mean? The take-home message is that the 4 finalists not only generated the fastest strokes (from serves to groundstrokes), but they also maximized their control over their strokes through their higher spin production.

These 4 players achieved both maximum power (ball speed) and control of their strokes.

In other words, they get to "have their cake and eat it too"... Which , BTW, for those who may be keeping track , the "cake" that Roger gets to enjoy is worth, in real terms:

• 500 ATP ranking points (the maximum possible for winning a single tournament--compare that massive points windfall to the winner of an entry level pro singles tournament, who is typicially overjoyed to earn an astronomical 12 ranking points ), and

• $1.4 MILLION in prize money as the US Open singles champion (compare this amount to the $1,200 earned by the singles winner of a $10,000--that means 10K in total prize money, people--Futures tournament.)

As you can see, there's a lot of valuable "cake" out there for players to enjoy...

Court Movement 101

Sorry about the somewhat long delay since my last post. A bunch of business trips stacked very close together, a short family road trip around the various State and National Parks around Utah and Colorado, and a lot of catching up on the business end of things for me have cut into my blogging time in recent weeks, but I’ll be posting more regularly as the summer progresses (I hope).

The next few posts will delve into the “how-to” side of the various forms of speed in tennis. And, to begin this “how-to” series, I think that the obvious place to start is to begin with a discussion of how to move effectively, efficiently and explosively on the court. For those of you out there who haven’t gotten this memo (or for those who are new to this blog): competitive tennis success is really based on your ability to move explosively and efficiently on the court.

Remember, you can’t hit a ball that’s not there, so you need to realize and accept that the consistency, precision, and power of your ball-striking is primarily based on your ability to get into a consistent hitting position for every shot you intend to hit. So, no matter how you look at it, the single most important physical skill that impacts your entire game is your movement.

Usually, the first thing I try to assess in new clients of mine and then carefully monitor on a continuous basis from that point forward is whether or not they are moving properly during competitive play.

Efficient court movement is a very simple process. The fundamental principle of efficient, effective court movement is to always start with an explosive first move toward your opponent’s return, accelerate to top speed within the first two to three steps, and then decelerating so you can establish a solid, balanced hitting stance at the optimal hitting position to make solid, controlled ball contact.

Then, immediately after finishing your follow-through, you repeat the sequence to recover your court position by making an explosive first and second step and then immediately finding the classic “ready position” in anticipation of your opponent’s next return.

This overall pattern of alternating acceleration and deceleration is then performed as needed to secure each and every possible point. Fast then slow… Say it together, now… “Fast then slow”. If you are moving efficiently and effectively, you should be constantly accelerating and decelerating in order to achieve both maximum court coverage and maximum control over your ball-striking. At no time should you be moving at a constant speed on the court during play.

So, to sum it up, you need to first understand that the overall goal of court movement is to enable you to consistently move into a solid hitting position for every one of your opponent’s returns. Then, you need to understand that the most effective way to accomplish this goal is to use the “fast then slow“ movement pattern. Even if your absolute foot speed is average, or below average, you will get to many more shots during play if you move with the correct “fast then slow” pattern.

Say it again now… Fast then Slow, Fast then Slow….

Armed with this understanding, I think that you might begin to notice as you start watching other players move on court that only a small fraction of tennis players at every level (from recreational players at the nearby public park, to the pros on TV) execute the proper “fast then slow” movement pattern on the court. The majority of players either move at a constant speed during play, or execute the opposite movement pattern where their first move toward the ball is slow, then they try to accelerate as they approach contact to “catch up” to their opponent’s return.

While “catch-up” speed is coveted in certain sports (prime examples are the late burst of speed used by defensive backs in American Football to close the distance between them and pass receivers just before the arrival of a forward pass, or the sudden burst used by basketball defenders to “take away the baseline” from an offensive player driving toward the basket), in tennis, having a lot of speed just before the point where you need to achieve a solid, balanced hitting stance makes finding such a quality hitting stance very difficult (trying to come to a complete, balanced stop while moving at full speed is a stark challenge--try it and see for yourself) and severely compromises your ability to maximize both control and power of your strokes.

If you are a player who has difficulty controlling running shots during play (basically 30 to 50 percent of players at any level are plagued by this particular problem—lack of control on running shots), the root cause of your control issues is this inverted “slow then fast” movement pattern. The solution to your control issues for running shots is as simple as understanding that you need to move in the exact opposite pattern where you make your initial move to the ball faster and then slow down as you approach the optimal hitting position behind the path of your opponent’s return.

(In fact, I’ve noticed that for many players in a great many cases, improvement is often largely a matter of doing the opposite of what they are currently doing or trying to do. I am strongly considering writing a tennis instructional book called “180 Degree Tennis” because the vast majority of people’s issues with playing this sport well would be corrected by doing the exact opposite of what they’re actually doing, or what they think they should be doing.)

In my next post, we’ll get into more detail about effective court movement and talk about some simple drills to help you get to more of your opponent’s returns and increase the power and control of your own shots at the same time (Yes, the ability to hit powerfully during competitive play is directly related to court movement!)

TTFN!

Tennismetrics 101

In my last post I mentioned that I have been working on a tennis equivalent of Sabermetrics (the objective, quantitative analysis of baseball performance using statistical data) to help me objectively evaluate tennis performance potential in players who I have coached or am interested in coaching.

In modern tennis, the physical attributes that are most coveted are foot speed and arm speed (aka racket speed). It’s really that simple. But does that mean that the fastest runners make good tennis players? Of course not, you have to have sufficient motor skills—read: hand-eye coordination—to succeed in a game based on ball-striking. But in many parts of the tennis world (especially here in the US), the pendulum swings the other extreme as well where “experts” think that success in tennis is primarily based on ball-striking capability and mental discipline, which is also clearly untrue.

So, what I am looking for in a true pro prospect? Aside from the usual mental and emotional intangibles… Whether the player is male or female, I am mainly interested in seeing players have a very quick, explosive first step toward each shot and having a very fast first serve. Developing the other physical and technical attributes required for pro tennis success is a frankly, a relatively simple process.

Among the players that I have personally coached, the highest rankings achieved by these players conform almost EXACTLY according to how they performed on two standard tests used to evaluate explosiveness and lateral agility.

Meaning, the player who performed the best on both tests is now steadily climbing the ATP rankings list, while the player who was among the slowest on both tests (but is a very good ball-striker) is competing at the NCAA D3 level.

Want to know which two tests I am referring to?...

Well, when you send me a check for a minimum of $45,000 (which is a typical amount spent annually in the US to develop a high-performance tennis player), I will reveal the answer to you. I have a family to feed, after all…

Again, it bears repeating… Tennis has evolved into a true athletic event. Athleticism is what separates the true pro contenders from the pretenders, and even at the highest reaches of the game, athleticism is the single factor that imposes limits on tennis performance, much more so than any other factor that influences a tennis player’s ability to perform in matches—ball striking ability, mental discipline issues, tactical expertise, etc. The potential for improvement in these areas is much, much greater than improving a player’s level of athletic ability. A relatively well-trained athlete that currently runs the 40-yard dash in 6.0 seconds is very unlikely to improve their performance to the 4.5 second level, for example.

Today’s reality is that if you, as a budding professional tennis player do not have the athletic ability that at least somewhat approaches the level of other professional athletes from other sports (the NBA, NFL, Premiership, Bundesliga, etc.) with respect to speed, explosiveness and agility—or, you at least maximize whatever your capacity in these areas are—your dreams of pro success are unlikely to be realized.

TTFN!

What is Leg Speed?

Speed is the essence of pro tennis today and in my first entry, I began our conversation of tennis speed by trying to describe and define the three fundamental components of tennis speed: mind speed, leg speed, and racket speed.

Since I briefly delved into what "mind speed" is and why it's so crucial and fundamental to being a high-performance competitor, let's now get into why leg speed is so fundamental to competitive success.

Leg speed is crucial because, as I wrote in the last entry:

IF YOU CAN'T GET TO THE BALL, YOU CAN'T HIT IT.

If you can't move fast enough into a position where you can make solid, controlled contact with your opponent's shots, tennis will become a very, very difficult sport, especially if you want to be competitive at a world-class level.

Leg speed translates into rapid court movement, and moving as fast as possible on the court is fundamental to tennis success. Leg speed is crucial mainly because of the fact that in competitive tennis you have to get where the ball is first, before you can hit it.

Your opponent is generally trying his best to place the ball as far away from you as fast as possible, so if you want to make decent contact with a ball that's intentionally being placed away from you, you'll have to first get to a position where you CAN make contact.

That's how tennis really works: first you move, then you hit. Then you move again, and then you hit again. And you need to be able to repeat this sequence for as long as possible.

Therefore, because you have to move BEFORE you can hit, those players who have superior leg speed have a distinct advantage over everyone who lacks leg speed because their leg speed translates into superior movement skills to get into a solid ball-striking position more consistently.

You see, the whole key to succeeding in modern tennis is to be able to move fast enough--to outrun the oncoming ball--to a point behind the path of the bounce of your opponent's return so you can hit it as loud as possible while maintaining maximum control at the same time. How fast you can move to your optimal ball-striking position essentially dictates how much control (and power) you have over your own shot.

In competitive tennis, you are first and foremost "racing" with the ball, using every ounce of energy and effort not only to get to every ball to make contact, but to reach your optimal strike position ahead of the bounce. When you win that race with the ball, you will have almost unlimited options and maximum control over your own shot: strike it on the rise, strike it at the top of the bounce, vary the spin/direction/speed, disguise the placement of your shot, etc., etc., etc.

Want some examples of pros who win this “race with the ball” the majority of the time? How about Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Lleyton Hewitt (all of whom are multiple Grand Slam singles titlists), for starters.

On the flip side, the slower you get to your optimal ball-striking position, the fewer options you'll have returning the shot because you simply won't have enough time to execute certain kinds of shots with the necessary precision to control them.

If that's not bad enough, the slower you move around the court, the more likely you'll feel hurried to create a shot when you finally get to the ball and whenever you feel rushed, you are more likely to lose control of your shots and your game. (FYI, this hurried feeling during play is what the old-schoolers really mean when they tell you to apply "pressure" to your opponent.)

In practice, how fast (or slow) you get to that optimal ball-striking position leads to one of three situations:

1) Best Case Scenario: If you are fast enough (and disciplined enough!) to get to your optimal ball-striking position ahead of the bounce of the ball, you will achieve maximum shot control, consistency and power just like the successful touring pros.

The main reason why the pros are so consistent with their ball-striking is because they are trying really hard to be in the proper ball-striking position for each and every shot. They all understand (or pay someone to constantly remind them) that they need to meet this standard of court movement to have any chance at being truly competitive in a pro tennis match.

2) Worst Case Scenario: If you are slow and arrive late at the optimal ball-striking position behind the arrival of the ball, you will have little or no control over your return, if you make contact at all.

and,

3) The Most Common Scenario (what I refer to as "JIT" or "Just in Time" tennis): What I'm about to describe is pretty much how the vast majority of players--EXCEPT those who are already successful touring pros, or who are on their way to becoming successful touring pros--actually move on the tennis court.

When you move only fast enough to arrive at the optimal contact position at the same time as the ball--i.e. you arrive just in time (or "JIT", for short) to make ball contact, you typically end up making a very hurried swat at the ball because you have far less time to actually make contact with the ball compared to arriving ahead of the ball.

When you play JIT tennis, you usually feel like the "ball is always rushing on top of you", and then you end up rushing to make your shot. Because JIT players have less time to execute their shot, they end up hurrying their strokes to make up for the "lost time". And when you hurry, you are way more prone to making even the simplest errors.

I can usually spot a JIT player from the large number of unforced errors they tend to make during the course of a competitive tennis match. On top of reducing their own reaction time, JIT players feel extra "pressure" from always feeling hurried to make their shots, and they end up making far more unforced errors compared to players who make every effort to arrive at their strike position early.

So, if you are willing to move away from JIT tennis by consciously moving faster and focusing on winning that ongoing race with the ball, it is almost a lock that you will improve your tennis very quickly. What will happen is that you will really reduce your own unforced errors, and as a result, greatly improve your chances of winning more matches more often without adjusting your strokes.

To repeat, if you want to maximize your chances to perform at a professional standard in tennis, you need to maximize your leg speed so you can move on the court like a pro does and consistently arrive at your optimal ball-striking position well ahead of the bounce of the ball.

I hope that you are now on your way to understanding WHY leg speed is fundamental to (pro) tennis success. In future entries, I will elaborate on HOW to achieve maximal leg speed, but for now, take some time to reflect on what we've covered here and try to apply these principles to your own game. Remember, you will always be rewarded for moving as fast as possible on the court.

See you next time!