Arthur Ashe on Tennis

Notes from the book:

Point your shoulder to the target for the double handed back hand. Fight th tendency to turn them paralel to the net before comppleting the stroke.

Timing on the serve - The strings should meet the ball, when the racquet head has maximum speed. Slow the swing at the start and let it accelerate naturally.

The not-so-fast serve does not have to be big disadvantge. Get control right. Get the opponent out of the court on your serve. Have him go for hard winners off your serve nad make mistakes.

Volleys -

Open racket face from start to finsh

Forward and down

Always hit with underspin

Sync breathing with hitting - Inhaling when getting ready, exhale audibly when hitting.

Squeeze racket to transfer opponent's power back into the shot

Half volley -

You are in trouble if you are having to play a half-volley.

Objective is to hit the ball deep and get into a better volleying position.

Bend the knees and have firm hands, and cover the ball and keep going forward. Use the racket as a wall not as a scoop.

The overhead

Get the racket behind you head early

Use the other hand to gauge the ball

Take skipping steps far enough so ball doesnt come behind you

Again get into hitting it at 1 o clock.

Keep your head high through the shot and follow through

The lob

If the opponent misses a lob, it is a good idea to lob again.

One tends to think too much about it and timing will be off.

This comes in streaks like the double fault.

The return of serve -

Most errors are made on the return of serve. Receivers try to do too much or are intimidated.

The first volley -

Good to put it cross court and deep - move forward into the side of the court that you hit it into and ou have a good open court to put it away on the second.

Hitting the ball on the rise

Refers to hitting the ball as it is rising, before it reaches its maximum bounce.

Short backswing.

Grip the racket tight.

Hood the racket over the ball (cover)

Follow through