The Real Tennis Pros give one piece of advice to aspiring players
Featuring:
Rob Fahey
Nick Howell
Steve Virgona
Ben Taylor-Matthews
Bryn Sayers
Leon Smart
Robert Shenkman
Lewis Williams
Levi Gale
Josh Smith
Louis Gordon
Zak Eadle
Claire Fahey
Lea van der Zwalmen
Tara Lumley
Saskia Bollerman
obviously I coach at a club so you know I see a lot of Club level players and the main thing that I think about when watching and marking matches and coaching is is people need to keep it more simple just simplify everything um I know real tennis can seem crazy complicated um but when you’re just starting out and and you’re you’re relatively new just try and get the ball over the net you know people watch some of the top guys in the world so you go out there and watch Camden and John and Rob are people hitting these amazing shots and targets and loads of cut be as simple as you can prent present the racket face as Square as you can to the ball um and just not try to hit the ball too hard but I think most Club level players if they just keep it simple and just keep control of the ball and keep their swing short they’d be a better player so I think that’s the main thing for me so just everything that I don’t do do that um just yeah be simple just don’t do too much there’s there’s you can always do less you know the swing doesn’t need to be big you can I mean don’t watch me play less is more I’d say I think there’s a tendency to try too hard when and then it all goes wrong by the way keep getting the ball over and eventually your opponent will make that mistake for you record back step in and block uh get your record back way earlier than you think that’s what Mark eedle taught me when I was very very small and and I always remember when I’m first on court I was like oh just put that record back step in and block that’s the only thing you need to do on a real tennis court stay low let the ball drop in front of you you have way more time than you think and uh honestly have fun like a golden ticket I’ll give you a golden ticket if you’re always aware of where your racket is it will never be anywhere bad keep the ball in play most points are probably kind of ended on an era rather than a winner um and it’s a game of it’s a game of who makes the least amount of Errors at Club level not the amount of winners so stop trying to win points and concentrate on not losing them so just just keep keep the ball in play and kind of embrace the the weirdness and Chaos of the the rallies this is kind of going against what I said earlier but learning to hit the galleries when there’s a chase you don’t need to do a lot of the ball you just need to get it back I know I said get rid of the galleries but when there’s a chase the amount of times you see people like get an easy ball to go Cross Court to the hazard Galleries and they just stick it down line to the town because they’re so used to that then you know unfortunately the galleries are there so they you know should think about that a little bit more I think there’s no quick fix so if you’re looking to change something in your game or looking to improve it’s not going to happen overnight or very very doesn’t happen overnight and you just need to put the work in Solo practice that will that will that will make you improve the quickest get fit get fit most of the hard work is done in the gym nowadays not on the tennis cour and and enjoy it don’t be afraid ask your pro what practices you can do on your own it’s brilliant even after 30 minutes even just half an hour you’ll improve fast watch yourself find what of is you need to work on and spend decent amount of time on it I think you should treat uh you know every match the same whether it’s a practice match or the biggest tournament in your Club um and try and treat winning and losing the same way as well get too high don’t get too low determination and perseverance the game is tough just keep at it you know just make sure you love the game um I think you’re going to win more matches than you lose if you go into it look thinking you know what I love this this is what I want to do oh don’t take it too seriously it’s you know even I’m sure even watching you know the best uh the best people in the world you know everyone makes mistakes in this game it’s it’s a tricky game so don’t take it too seriously just enjoy it if you go out there and you’re having a bad day and you’re hating real tennis it’s just going to go wrong for you I think if you go out there with a smile on your face try and take positives and just think you know what I love everything about this game I’m here to enjoy it you’ll probably do all right I feel like real T is such a beautiful metaphor for life because you’re going to have so many ups and downs so many ups and downs in this game so this life but the most important thing is to carry on
