10 Ways to Improve Your Tennis Game While Watching Pro Tennis

Watching great tennis IS good for your game.

As the summer tournament season heats-up take advantage of the numerous opportunities to watch professional tennis live, on television, online or in the stands.

Watching the pros is a good way to behavior model your own game. Here are 10 things to watch for:

1.) Patrick McEnroe was recently quoted in the May/June issue of USTA Magazine as suggesting that you watch for tactics when watching the pros. “You may not be able to hit the same shots but you absolutely can employ the same tactics.”

2.)Look for pre serve ritual. What do the players do every time before they serve? Maria Sharapova has a very deliberate routine for example.

3.)Feet – How do the pros move through each point? What are they doing with their feet as they wait for a ball?

4.)Follow-through. Watch how the pros prepare and follow through on each shot.

5.)Knees. We’re all told to bend our knees when we hit. Watch the pros do it to perfection.

6.)In doubles, watch how partners communicate and cover the court.

7.)Does someone have weakness? See how the pros take advantage of an opponent’s weakness.

8.)Watch volleys and how clean and compact they are.

9.)Take note of when and why a player comes to net. What kind of shot set them up to move forward?

10.) Learn from the strength and mental capacity of a player that comes back to win from being down games or even a set.

Your game won’t change through osmosis but you will have a better understanding of what, for example, “Move Your Feet” really means.

Karin Burgess is editor of Tennisidentity.com a site devoted to what’s new in tennis, tennis fashion, gear, essentials and more.