by Todd Hicks

Created on: September 11, 2008   Last Updated: September 05, 2011

Have you thought about becoming a better tennis player? You will learn the techniques you must use to improve your tennis game.

Playing at the net

Stand a few feet away from the net when your doubles partner serves. While you wait for the ball to come from your opponent's side, you must use the "continental grip" this means you must hold your tennis racket by the handle with your elbow bent to the side away from your body while your racket head is up. If the ball comes toward your head or higher, come straight down on the ball as hard as you can or dump the ball inside the inner line of the doubles alley. If the ball comes toward your waist, lower your racket head sideways to block the ball back over the net. To avoid losing a point, never touch the net during a play.

Charging the net

You must leave the baseline and charge the net when you make your opponent run toward a corner. The reason why you should do this is your opponent will likely hit the ball softly and you need to be at the net to cut the ball off and put it away. Once you decide to charge the net, keep coming and do not go back.

Preparation and footwork

Always stand with your knees bent and hold your racket up with both hands as you wait for the ball to come. As soon as the ball leaves your opponent's racket, turn to the side with one foot out in front with both knees bent. If you are right-handed and the ball comes to your right side, or forehand side, turn toward the right with your left foot out in front. If you are right-handed and the ball comes to your left side, or backhand side, turn to the left with your right foot out in front.

Swinging

When I started playing, I hit a lot of balls long or over the fence because I hit them with my racket pointing to the sky. As I started to hit the ball with my racket head angled toward the top of the net, I could keep the ball on the court but had nothing on it because I was still not using the proper fundamentals and hardly anyone would hit with me. When you take a swing to hit the ball on your forehand side or backhand side, you must raise your racket over your head, then bring the racket head toward the ground and then bring your racket head toward your shoulder. You can hit a great backhand shot by coming over the side of the ball with an upside-down rainbow motion while keeping your racket head straight. This will help you keep the ball down and avoid hitting the ball out of the court.

Making Contact

You must guess the speed of the ball and meet

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