|
August 4, 2004 This edition of the WebTennis.net
Newsletter is the complimentary, The WebTennis.net Premium Members' version
is complete with audio, video, and photos which dramatically enhances the learning experience. It's only $7 / month. Check it out here Hi and welcome to the August 4, 2004 issue of the WebTennis.net Newsletter...! Hope you're well and getting ready to enjoy the upcoming U.S. Open. I really think the women's draw is wide open at this point. On the men's side, Federer just seems to play the game with such a calm demeanor. We can learn from how he handles himself on the court. I've got some thoughts later in this newsletter issue... First Volley - The first volley in singles (and often in doubles) is really so much more about what you do with your feet as your playing this shot and less about the need to hit a great volley... Your initial goal with your first volley is to challenge your opponent by forcing them to hit an outright winner simply because you have such good court position after that first volley... Here's a clip of Stefan Edberg taken from Jim McLennan's outstanding video "The Secrets of World Class Footwork"... Watch how he moves through the shot, yep, doesn't ever truly come to a stop, and moves through the volley in an effort that clearly shows Stefan putting a premium on where he'll be after he plays his first volley. You need the free QuickTime player to view this clip. Go here to pick up or upgrade your free player...
You can do this stuff... Put zero pressure on yourself to have to hit a winner off of your first volley and put much more emphasis on how are you going to align yourself to the incoming ball so you can smoothly move through the shot to your next court position... Yes, you'll get passed from time to time, but that's the nature of being an all-court player, and you'll have to not consider it a failure if and when you get passed... Stay focused on the big picture of the entire match and measure your results as an aggregate of good court positioning, not just one point at a time... Again, this video clip is from my good friend Jim McLennan's outstanding footwork video product, "The Secrets of World Class Footwork". This is a must for any player wanting to move quicker, more efficiently, and developing movements that improve your ability to maintain better visual contact with the incoming ball... Click here to pick up your
copy of Jim's video.
The 85% - 15% theory...! As I mentioned in this issue's intro, Roger Federer handles himself so well between points that he seems to really appear calm throughout the actual playing of the points... I listened to a radio sports talk show recently and heard a guy from Cal State Fullerton talking about their NCAA winning baseball team and how he helped them with their mental and emotional skills... And what he talked about is real, not some pie in the sky "getting in the zone" type of crud that we've all heard we have to do to be able to consistently compete well... I wish I could remember the guy's name, because I'd like to give him credit, but his message was simple and practical, yep, something we can grasp (understand...!) and implement. The basics of what he talked about is this... The reality is this, when you play well, you know at the top of your skill level, you're really playing at that level only about 15% of the time during that match. The remaining 85% is an exercise in simply maintaining your average skill level and not forcing yourself to play better... Too often we try to make ourselves play better and that effort to manufacture better play actually has a negative affect on our overall skill level. And it's a test of patience of looking at the big picture of the match which is can you be satisfied with that 15%...? If you're over anxious or too concerned about playing well 100% of the time, well, then you'll kill that golden 15%. Be patient and practice allowing yourself to play well, not forcing it... Another good friend and tennis colleague, Jeff Greenwald, one of the world's leading experts in the mental skills needed for maximizing your potential on the tennis court, has produced a great two set audio CD. I love Jeff's work and you may have already heard him on one of my past Webinars. Jeff "talks the talk" as they say and a recent #1 world ranking in the 35s attests to his ability to raise his skill level by using among other skills this 15% - 85% theory that we're discussing right now. Pick up a copy of Jeff's 2 set audio CD package, "Fearless Tennis", and you'll agree with me that he's articulated a tricky subject into practical advice that any skill level player can use now...
Buy Now
Ok, that'll do it for me today. Off to the Giants game this Friday night against the Cubs. Bonds hit two more last night... Is the guy clean? Sorry for the digression, but if you're a baseball fan, you gotta hope he is... Be sure to let me know if you have any questions... Brent Current DVD / CD / Online This edition of the WebTennis.net
Newsletter is the complimentary, The WebTennis.net Premium Members'
It's only $7 / month. Check it out here The Fundamentals of the One-Handed
Backhand Groundstroke Drive
I've produced my own instructional product for this shot, the one-handed backhand groundstroke. It's a CD and DVD of 60 minutes of video lessons and audio clips. The video lessons play on both your computer's CD and any DVD player. The audio reminders play from the CD from either your computer or car CD players. The CD and DVD set will be shipped within 24 hours of your purchase and generally take no more than a couple of days to arrive to you if you live within the continental U.S. Here's what you get...
NEW Doubles Instructional Product - Online and CD...! "Your Top Ten Biggest
Challenges in Doubles" by Brent Abel and Pat Blaskower After reading the latest issue of Tennis magazine, maybe it should be the top eleven challenges which would include one about having to deal with all of the mis-information you have to put up with out there...! (OK, I'm calming down, hang in there with me...!) Doubles coaching guru Pat Blaskower and I have partnered up to give you the answers to ten of your most often asked questions about how to deal with specific situations in doubles...
Pat and I took your ten most asked questions and discussed exactly how to solve those problems. This instructional product is a one hour discussion segmented into 11 parts (intro and the answers to the ten questions).
Here's what you get... - Immediate access to the one hour online presentation of this lesson. You can listen to each of the ten answers directly from the webpage. - Each answer is a discussion between me and Pat which gives you our combined teaching and playing wisdom of nearly 100 years (yikes...!). - Each answer is a MP3 file that you can also download to your computer where you can listen "off-line" and/or burn your own CD. - The lesson CD will be immediately shipped to you. - PLUS, unlimited email and telephone support from Brent! Yep, I'm available to help you. Just let me know. - And with all of my instructional products, you get my 100% fully refundable lifetime player satisfaction guarantee.
Buy Now
$39 Feedback and Contact... As you know, I'm always interested in your opinion of my newsletters, products, and your overall tennis learning experience with me. Please feel free to drop me a line if you have any suggestions, criticism, ideas for topics, whatever... I want to hear from you...! Thanks. |
"What's your single most
important question on how to immediately improve
your
own
tennis?"
|
