Are You Willing to Put in the Miles?

The road to success in tennis is paved by your skill set. 

If you are a singles player, fitness and movement are the foundational elements to success. However, without solid baseline skills, your fitness and foot speed have little value. 

Make sure you can execute a clean, well-balanced, simple, cross-court drive with no injection of ambition or ego and you have begun building the toolbox to be a solid singles player.  

Develop a serve that can be hit deep to the T, or short and wide to get your opponent's balance degraded just a little at the start of the point, and that point will usually develop in your favor. 

Work on your return of serve until you NEVER MISS a return,and over time develop the ability to hit it down the center of the court with depth (at least halfway between the opponent's service line and base line) 

The drop shot is a devastating tool in singles if well disguised and skillfully executed. 

When you are presented with a shallow ball from your opponent,can you play an approach shot firmly and with a bit of venom?  

 Once you hit your approach shot are your volleying skills up to the task? What about your overhead? 

It takes a full toolbox to compete and succeed at tennis. Spend some time working on each skill every time you practice.  

Build that toolbox so that whichever tactical situation presents itself, you have the equipment in your kit to calmly and confidently dispatch the shot needed at that moment. 

It's all about skills! Learn the correct technique then put in the practice repetitions until your stroke production is thoughtless and egoless and you are then on that road to success.