St. Johns Racquet Center

Tennis Tip Tuesday: Switch to Softer Strings During the Winter!

The lower the temperature, the stiffer racquet strings become. High-tension stings are prone to break in the cold. Softer string compositions, like multifilament or natural gut, perform better in the winter. Talk to your local tennis shop about the best solution for this change during the winter months; they will have the best solution for you!

Tennis Tip Tuesday: Shots That Work in Cold Weather!

With cooler temperatures you may be able to play longer and stay in the longer rallies! However, it's important to keep in mind that the cold weather does have an impact on your play—and the ball. The colder the weather, the less bounce the ball will have.

Effective shots in cold weather include drop shots, slice, flat serves and slice serves. Other shots, like your topspin, won't be as effective. If you have a big kick or topspin serve, beware: the cold weather will take some of the kick/bounce out of the ball. Flat serves and slice serves will be more effective for you in the cold and force your opponent to have to get down low for a ton of balls.

This also means that the ball will bounce low for you too. Bring your racquet back early for good preparation to adjust to the low bounce, and start your backswing lower than you typically would. If you have a topspin approach shot and a slice approach shot, you may want to try to lean more towards some slice approaches on any ball that does not bounce much higher than the net. This keeps the ball extra low and really forces your opponent to get under the ball and hit a passing shot.

You also need to move to the ball more than you would in warmer weather. Since the ball is flatter it will not get as deep in the court as it would if it were warm. Be sure to move well into the court for shorter balls. With the ball a little flatter, be sure to aim deeper and hit harder to keep the ball from landing too short and allowing your opponent to step into the court to hit every ball.

Tennis Tip Tuesday: You Are Only as Good as Your Second Serve!

The average game time that Roger Federer has on his serve is just over a minute – and he has been able to maintain that for almost 15 years. His first and second serves are extremely consistent.

If you have a good consistent second serve that goes in 99% of the time, you get so much freedom on your first serve that you can hit it with as much power and direction as you like. This will not only make your first serve stronger, but also frustrate the opponent on the other side of the exchange.

Work on your second serves as much as you can. No matter what skill level you are, a good second serve is going to benefit you more than any other shot in tennis.

Vaccination clinic tomorrow for children ages five and older and their families!

Wednesday, December 8th
at Portland Tennis & Education at St. Johns Racquet Center
7519 N Burlington Ave, Portland, OR 97203

Thank you for your support this year!

Tennis Tip Tuesday: Short court practice is valuable!

When warming up or coming back to the game after a break, some may find the first bit of hitting to be frustrating. The game may feel a little too fast, which is understandable.

A way to combat this is to focus on hitting short-court and keeping the ball in the service boxes while rallying at a slower pace. This way, you can focus on things like keeping your eye on the ball, getting yourself in the correct body position and making small adjustments to your stroke at a slower pace.

By focusing on adjustments and getting into a rhythm, you give yourself a better chance to succeed and have more fun on the court.

Tennis Tip Tuesday: Keep Your Eye on the Ball!

It may seem simple, but the next time you get onto the court, try to focus hard on looking at the ball until it makes contact with your racquet.

Many recreational players tend to let their eyes wander in the few milliseconds before making contact with the ball, causing shanks and other mistakes!

By focusing hard on the ball, you can find yourself more "in the moment" as you are playing, with potential distractions melting away.

Tennis Tip Tuesday: Play people with a lower ranking!

A Catch-22 of tennis players is that many of us always want to play against people who are better than us, so we can get better - and not being willing to play with players with a lower ranking.

There is nothing wrong with practicing with a 3.5 if you are a 4.0, or a 2.5 if you're a 3.5. These rankings reflect results in league matches and are not sole indicators of somebody's skills on the court! Playing with players who aren't at the same level means you can work on things that may be more difficult than with a higher level player, like your groundstroke control, place, and consistency. Maybe you could work on only hitting second serves, or running around your forehand to hit more backhands.

Tennis is a game where you can create practice at any moment. Take advantage of that while getting to know somebody you may not have played with otherwise!

Tennis Tip Tuesday: Cross-training for the court!

The best tennis players in the world don't only play tennis as their only form of exercise, so neither should you!

Great activities to supplement your fitness on the court: High rep, low weight weightlifting. Plyometric training. Cardio circuit training of running, cycling, stairclimber, or rowing. Yoga. These activities focus on different aspects of physical fitness, and there are countless other ways of improving your health off the tennis court!

Tennis Tip Tuesday: Stringing

The standard rule of thumb for getting your racquet restrung: The number of times that you play tennis in a week should equal the number of times you should get your racquet strung per year.

If you break strings with consistency, you will need to do this more often, but the point is for you to play with strings that do not require overexertion to hit the ball the way you want. If you notice you have to swing harder than usual to get the ball deeper in the court, it might be time to get your racquet restrung!

Tennis Tip Tuesday: Get Outside Your Comfort Zone!

An excellent way to improve your game is to get outside your comfort zone and play with people you may not have otherwise met or found yourself playing. That may mean signing up for a mixed doubles league, signing up for a clinic, registering with a tennis community like Play Your Court, or just putting your contact information on a bulletin board at your club. It can never hurt to play with new people!

You never know if you'll find a great doubles partner, a human backboard, or a great friend from putting yourself out there and asking folks if they would like to play tennis with you.