Tennis Is Easy To Learn, How and Why You Should Play

I cannot count the number of people who have told me over the years, “I tried to play tennis, but I just wasn't any good at it.”

I politely disagree with them.

Everyone can play tennis.

However, you do have to learn the BASICS, which are not complicated, but are necessary.

The basics of tennis are counter intuitive, which is why people who don't have someone to guide them often fail at tennis after flailing away for months, sometimes.

I tried tennis when I was 12, I found a wall and hit for hours, and days, and weeks.

I just didn't seem to get any better, so I gave up.

Years later I was a Firefighter, and a rookie started recruit training with the Department who had been a professional player .

This time, before I played, I went to the library and checked out a book by Vic Braden, an instructional manual.

I went out with the rookie, Jeff Bates.

I asked him for some tips.

He said, “I'll give you two tips. Find a wall to practice against. The second tip, just get the ball back.

That's the most important tip,

Just get it back.”

The first time we played, was for me, embarrassing, although Jeff was non-committal.

By the third time, with the aid of Vic Braden's book, Jeff said, “I am impressed, Michael. I can tell you've been practicing. You have really improved. I want you to have this.”

He gave me his one of his rackets, a Head, ash and graphite racket.

I played with it for years, it became one of my most prized objects.

And I learned about just one of the benefits of tennis.

A bond is formed between players.

I began finding other Firefighters who played, and challenged them to matches.

I lost quite a few matches, but I was getting a feel for the game.

Finally, after many months, I felt that I was, “in the zone”.

I was battling a younger player, the brother and hitting partner of a local High School champion.

Richard Felix.

It's hard to explain the exhilaration of winding up, coiling your body, and hitting a perfect shot with everything you have.

The closest experience I can relate to it is some of the boxing matches I had when I was younger.

The same adrenalin rush, the same feeling of being in control, the same drama.

And it is a feeling that everyone can experience.

It is like a religion, when you come to know it.

It really is.

I proselytize Tennis.

Not because I get paid for it, but because everyone can, and should know the feeling of being an athlete.

I will get more into the spiritual benefits of tennis in a later article, but such benefits do go hand in hand with tennis.

There is a reason that billionaires, who can play any sport, and pursue any activity, choose, and stay with this incredible game.

Again, I will address that remarkable issue in a forthcoming article.

So for now, I would like to give an introductory lesson

I have taught quite a few players, including my children, and I have taught underprivileged children how to play.

I believe anyone that can walk and run can play tennis well.

They just have to learn the basics.

And practice.

We all know how to get to Carnegie Hall, yes?

I have proven that I can teach the basics to anyone, and have them playing, and hitting comfortably, in an hour.

I usually hold the racket with my palm on the flat side, put the racket on the side, and “shake hands with it” is how I have heard it described.

I do want to note that lately I have been trying to hit forehands with my palm further onto the bottom of the racket, that is, with the knuckles on the bottom of the racket.

This seems to almost force you to impart more topspin to shots.

Experiment with your grip.

When you hit a backhand, you rotate the racket forward, but that comes later, we are working on a forehand today.

When you hit the ball the racket should be held so that the strings are facing  the net.

If the shot comes towards you low, bend your knees, don't turn the racket face up or down.

The strings should be in the direction you want the ball to go.

Hit the ball slightly in front of your body,

at waist level, bend your knees to hit low shots at waist level, back up or or stretch or jump if the shot is high.

Watch the flight of the ball and try to position yourself so that you can hit it at waist level, just in front of your body.

Think of a “C”, bring the racket back in a loop, a “C”, the racket straightens out just as you hit the ball and gives it topspin.

Think of it as brushing up the back of the ball , this is not what you do, you actually hit through the ball, but the concept of brushing up the back of the ball sometimes helps visualize the desired result, I.e., topspin.

Topspin is important because it lets you hit the ball hard, and it still lands inside the court because the spin brings it down.

I think tennis instruction books are an extremely valuable tool.

By far the most helpful books I have seen are the Vic Braden books, and the one by Ivan Lendl, with Braden way ahead.

However, what I learned from Ivan Lendl was, he recommended hitting thousands of balls against a wall.

I have found this helpful as well.

I was injured in a bicycle accident a few years back and couldn't play tennis.

But I had a large driveway, and a garage. When I was recovered enough from the accident, (a fractured tib fib and humerus,) I played against the wall of the garage for three months.

My comeback match was with a neighbor who played weekly at a tennis club.

I beat him in three straight matches, and he was a decent player, so I am definitely an advocate of playing the wall.

Remember, the wall always returns your shots.

The young Pete Sampras spent hours hitting balls against the wall.

What I want you to remember from this lesson, however, is hit the ball waist high and with the racket perpendicular to the net, slightly in front of your body.

The ball will go in the direction of your hand at the moment you strike it.

I hope y'all come back.

If you have comments or criticism, click “Comments”, and I will answer if I can.