by Simon Wright

Created on: May 12, 2008

All tennis players, no matter at what level, want to improve their game. For beginners, that desire might be for improved consistency in getting the ball over the net, whilst for club players it might be about tightening up an already good service action so you can break into your club's first team.

Having played tennis from a very early age, I know that tennis can be an intensively frustrating game to play. There are times when you hit a screamer that flies low over the net and whizzes past your opponent for a clean winner. You think about what you did to play the shot and it all seems fairly straightforward; you just leaned into the shot and followed through. However, the next minute you're faced with the same shot and you either net it or it flies hopelessly over the baseline! How then can the amateur tennis player improve his or her game?

The good news is that there are lots of things that you can do that should help make a noticeable difference:

1. Professional Coaching:
If you are prepared to pay for lessons, then a coach can identify all the bad things that you're doing, in terms of your racket preparation, the way your hitting the ball, and your positioning on the court. They may also be able to straighten out glitches in your service action. Of course, the younger you are when you get coaching the more benefit it will bring. It's much better to be taught all the right things from the off, rather than being allowed to develop all manner of technical faults! Even so, a few simple lessons with a trained coach should see a marked improvement in aspects of your game, no matter what age or standard you are.

2. Advice from fellow players:
Another alternative is to ask for advice from other players that are better than you, or at least maybe are better in one respect. I was lucky enough to play a few games against a player who had played on the fringes of the professional game. As well as soundly thrashing me (about 6-3, 6-0), he kindly offered some advice on what I should do with my feet when approaching the net to play a volley. He pointed out that you need to plant your feet at the last moment to give you good balance so that you could direct the volley properly. I had been focusing on what I was doing with my hands and not putting any concentration into my foot work. In general, actually, poor foot work is a major cause of poor shots.

3. Play against people who are better than you (or at least the same standard):
It's nice to win matches but you don't get better

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