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“Silly Balls” Tennis Drill

by Cosmin | Tennis Tips Blog, Uncategorized | 0 comments

Here is an exercise idea that I call Silly Balls, which is great for developing great ball tracking, quick reaction, and feel…

As a coach, I sometimes carry with me a basket containing mixed types of balls: some bouncy (new or old), some “dead” (that lost their inside air), some “spongy” (the oversized sponge ones for little kids), etc. This basket I take out on the court when I want to work with my students on the quick reaction, footwork, and feel.

I feed those mixed balls to my students and challenge them to hit all the balls over the net. The benefit of this drill is making the player get out of their comfort zone by not having to deal with the same bounce and speed of the ball all the time. They also develop a quick first-step reaction by having to adjust quickly to the bounce and depth of the different types of balls.

If you are a coach or parent of a tennis player, try doing this drill at times, but make sure they warm up very well beforehand.

Cosmin Miholca

Certified Tennis Coach

Check out my work at WebTennis24 where I share with you my best video tennis lessons, drills and tips for players, coaches and tennis parents.

Second Serve Priorities in Tennis

by Cosmin | Tennis Tips Blog, Uncategorized | 0 comments

For many, the second serve is the shot that should just go into the proper service box and begin the point. But not for my students and me…
To give an example, I would like you to consider the following:
You just missed your first serve and now getting ready for the second one. How do you feel?
If you are like most players, then your first concern would be to get the ball in to deprive your opponent of a free point. But if you are ready to push it a little further and dare to be proactive, the second serve is really about these two main aspects:

1. Get the ball in to start the point.
2. Deliver the second serve in a manner that makes it hard for your opponent to attack you.

The first aspect is quite obvious, but the second one is often overlooked.

Now how do we make the second serve hard to attack?

With spin and depth!

Don’t just push the ball in, spin it! And spin it hard!
Consider the following: a ball being hit against a wall, flat and straight on, will come back in the same direction (more or less) from where it came; whereas a ball with spin will be carried in the direction the spin dictates.

The spin you impart on your second serve will make it more difficult for the returner to control and attack your served ball. This, associated with a deep placement into the service box, will give you the perfect combination to get you on a good start for a rally.
Now, if you add to the spin and depth the placement to your opponent’s weak side then that’s what I call the ultimate second serve. But I know that would be pushing the envelope too far for most players who read this article.

So, I’ll leave you with this thought:

Should you spend more time developing a good slice or topspin second serve?

Cosmin Miholca

Certified Tennis Coach

Check out my work at WebTennis24 where I share with you my best video tennis lessons, drills and tips for players, coaches and tennis parents.

The 10 Commandments For Tennis Coaches

by Cosmin | Tennis Tips Blog, Uncategorized | 0 comments

1. You shall not wear sunglasses when talking with your students or greeting anyone.

2. You shall always have a positive attitude.

3. You shall always remember your students’ names and greet them as soon as they enter your tennis court.

4. You shall not pick up, talk, or text on your phone during tennis lessons.

5. You shall never be late to your tennis lesson otherwise it is free for your client.

6. You shall not speak poorly of your fellow tennis coaches (or any clubs or tennis organization affiliations) regardless of their teaching methods.

7. You shall show respect to your clients and make them feel welcome even after they have stopped coming to you for lessons.

8. Once in a while you shall give free lessons to those who cannot afford them, and spend extra time with your clients who need more help.

9. You shall always look clean and smell nice.

10. You shall always look for ways to improve your tennis knowledge and share it with your students and younger fellow coaches who seek guidance.

Cosmin Miholca

Certified Tennis Coach

Check out my work at WebTennis24 where I share with you my best video tennis lessons, drills and tips for players, coaches and tennis parents.

2 Reasons Why You Shoud SLICE Your Second Serve

by Cosmin | Tennis Tips Blog, Uncategorized | 0 comments

Even as an experienced player, I have had to pay for multiple serves I wouldn’t tactically place right when playing against some of my top juniors.

To not begin the point in a defensive situation, we will be looking at one very important tennis stroke that you should perfect – the second serve.

You just missed your first serve.

While preparing your second serve, you see your opponent stepping inside the baseline, ready to attack. You’re in trouble. Once you land that shot, your opponent will be all over your second serve.

What can you do so that your second serve will not put you in defensive mode?

SLICE IT.

Why slice and not topspin or kick?
For these two simple reasons:

1. Slice (side-spin on the serve) will keep the ball low.
As a result, your opponent will be forced to play the ball by hitting it up, decreasing their chances of putting it away (or attacking it) from a low contact point.

2. The spin will make it harder to control the ball when your opponent returns it.
Especially if you are a doubles player, think about serving and volleying… Would you not prefer to hit a slice so that your opponent would return the ball high and set you for a high volley?
On the other side, if you choose to go for a topspin serve as a second delivery and move up to the net, the returner will attack your high bouncing serve of yours and put it down to your feet.

In conclusion, practice your slice serve as often as you can so that you will see great results when the time comes up to hit a second serve.

Cosmin Miholca

Certified Tennis Coach

Check out my work at WebTennis24 where I share with you my best video tennis lessons, drills and tips for players, coaches and tennis parents.

How To Watch a Tennis Match

by Cosmin | Tennis Tips Blog, Uncategorized | 0 comments

“How to watch a tennis match? What do you mean by that?”
I mean: do you learn anything from watching a tennis match?

Yes, watching a tennis match can be a great lesson if you actively analyze what happens on the court and, above all, ask yourself questions… Do we take something out of this experience or are we simply spectators going through the emotions of winning or losing a tennis match?
Is watching tennis a learning experience for you?
If the answer is NO, then I would like to suggest that you keep the following list next to you while watching the next tennis match…

It is important, for your improvement, to ask yourself questions. Questions will provide you with valuable answers. These answers will help you understand tennis and where you want to get as a player.

So pick your favorite player and follow them while asking yourself these following questions:
– Where are they aiming their first serve: the opponent’s forehand, backhand, or middle?
– Where are they hitting the second serve to? What spin are they using?
– Where are they aiming their returns of serve to?
– Where are most of their groundstrokes aimed at? Are they going mostly to a certain side (opponent’s weakness, cross-court)?
– How early are they preparing for the ball?
– Where are they standing to receive the first serve? What about the second serve?
– Where are they placing/aiming their approach shot?
– During the rally, how is their court coverage (covering cross-court quickly from the baseline)?
– At key points (15-30, 30-15, 40-30, 30-40, AD in, Ad out), where are they serving to? And what kind of spin are they using?
– How do they play key (pressure) points?
– Where are they aiming the defensive shots?
– At change-over – what do they eat and drink? How much?
– How is their body language after a point they just lost? What about after a winner?
– How far back are they taking the racquet when returning the serve (notice the short back-swing)?
The list can go on. Feel free to add your own questions…

If you have not watched a tennis match asking questions, then do it now. You will be amazed at how exciting the experience can be and what valuable information you will get from it.

Cosmin Miholca

Certified Tennis Coach

Check out my work at WebTennis24 where I share with you my best video tennis lessons, drills and tips for players, coaches and tennis parents.

Can Your Child Work Through Their Frustrations Without You?

by Cosmin | Tennis Tips Blog, Uncategorized | 0 comments

As a parent, have you ever wondered why some coaches don’t allow parents to assist in the tennis lessons their children take?

Parents can be protective of their kids… If the child gets injured or falls or something doesn’t go their way, the kid looks for comfort and understanding in the arms of their parents.

We, the parents, want to help our children… However, as a tennis coach (and parent), I have witnessed many young players misbehaving on the tennis court. Oftentimes, it is just a simple error that triggers the frustration or meltdown.

Consistently, the children tend to be more “dramatic” when parents are present; the parents’ good intentions ultimately create future setbacks.

Sometimes it is easy to forget that the mistake (or problem) can actually teach our children a whole lot more in the long run. If they miss a shot or lose a point, they tend to seek comfort and understanding from their parents by looking at them. Or, on occasion, pretend that they are sick or perhaps injured…
When parents are not present, kids learn to understand that when problems occur, the only way to deal with them is by handling these problems by themselves!

So what is my point?

Parents, whether in a tennis practice or a match, allow your children to make mistakes and errors… Let them fall and learn how to get back up by themselves! Let them get frustrated and learn that being “down” is their chance to find solutions and overcome problems.

Allow your kids to succeed on their own.

Cosmin Miholca

Certified Tennis Coach

Check out my work at WebTennis24 where I share with you my best video tennis lessons, drills and tips for players, coaches and tennis parents.

How to Become a “Smarter” Tennis Player

by Cosmin | Tennis Tips Blog, Uncategorized | 0 comments

When I was 12, my father told me that I should be able to beat him at tennis by the age of 14. I only managed to win against him by the age of 18…
Now, don’t get me wrong – it is not because I was not trying or because he was that good. In fact, he would have health-related problems (sore knees, etc.) and STILL manage to beat me. And that frustrated me badly! I didn’t understand how an older man, who was barely able to move to the ball, could still beat me!

Nowadays, as a tennis coach and “older” player, I find myself looking back on those moments and can understand why I couldn’t beat my father…

Tennis is like life – the smarter the decisions you make, the better your life is going to be. My father was better at winning matches against me because he would outsmart me on the court (and off). He knew that he could not run with me on the court and chase every ball that I would throw at him so he had to make smarter decisions in order to win.
Every ball he hit was a calculated move. Every serve was thought out as far as placement and spin. Before starting the point, he knew ahead of time what he was going to do to win it… sometimes adjusting to find the right tactic in certain situations.

How do I know that? Because now, I am the “older” player. I am playing with students and they are as young as I used to be when I was playing with my father.

For me, to win against my students, I have to outsmart them. Otherwise, I would be running all over the court having to deal with strokes that are at times more powerful than mine.
I want my students to see tennis the way I see it now: like an “older” player. I want them to combine their flexibility, speed, and stamina with the power of seeing winning tactics through an “older” player’s eyes.
Some players are natural at that. Very rarely. Those are the true champions that often end up being seen on TV or at high-level competitions. But most of them still get frustrated by the lack of understanding of what it takes to be a winner.

OK, by now you should be asking: “So how can a young player think like an “older” one?” The answer lies in the power and quality of QUESTIONS!
I encourage my students to consistently ask themselves good, quality questions: “How can I beat my opponent?” “What is my opponent’s weakness?” “What can I do to be more consistent?” “How can I hit more first serves in?” and so on…

Good questions give us good answers. If we ask positive questions, we will find positive answers. Positive answers will translate into positive actions. Positive actions will produce positive results…

So you see, it all comes down to what we want! Do you miss a ball and dwell on how bad your stroke was and what a terrible mistake you made? Then that is what your brain will be preoccupied with.
On the other hand, if after missing a shot, you ask yourself how can you make it better next time, you will get answers on how to perform better. That kind of thinking is what winners/champions have.

I guarantee you that changing the way you think will immensely affect your life and everything you want to be successful at.
Ask positive questions and you will get positive results.