Have you ever considered watching the pro’s play to pick up tips, the best of the best can offer some incredible insight on how to play the game which you can pick up by just observing.
Watching Pete Sampras for instance either live or replay on DVD can demonstrate exactly how some shots should be played. Perhaps replay a game of Sampras and analyse it with your tennis coach, see which tips you can pick up and bring into your own game.
Forehand
Coached by Robert Lansdorp as would be expected Pete Sampras has a strong groundstroke game. Sampras plays his forehand rather flat with a fairly average grip, this enables him to get to the net often and fast.
His forehand is a major weapon, to the extent he will run around his backhand to use it. Incredibly opponents find it hard to attack his backhand as he is so adroit at playing this shot.
If you look at Sampras’s swing you will notice that the racket moves forward still long after contact and he does not waver with his racket.
He also gets a very high position on most of his forehand shots which gives him great depth.
Backhand
This is something that Sampras has struggled with a lot over his career, but surprisingly Pete is able to deliver some outstanding backhand shots when needed.
His backhand does have a good swing but there are some issues with the shot. Sampras tends to lead with his elbow of his right arm and his hitting arm is thus not quite straight at contact.
This then leads to a swing too much left to right, which in turn leads to the body rotating early in the swing. This is unusual in a one-hander. Sampras also suffers from too much head movement at times playing the ball.
Slice
Pete Sampras plays the slice shot well, it tends to go through the court really fast after it bounces which makes it very dangerous. He also uses the slice shot as a weapon to attack the net.
When playing the shot, Sampras keeps the racket head fairly closed throughout the contact with the ball, normally it should be slightly open. This tends to make him move the racket fairly straight instead of chopping down on it.
Volleys
Pete Sampras is a great net player, and his volleying was respected throughout the game. This combined with his overall fitness and speed made it really difficult for opponents to beat him at the net.
His overhead volley or smash was particularly good, he was incredibly quick moving backwards and thus overheads gave him the ability to move into the net.
Serve
The serve was the ultimate big gun in his locker, and one of the finest serves ever in the game. He used to dominate games with this massive and effective shot. His serving motion was quite unique but he was able to deliver the ultimate shot because of his athleticism. Other pro players have tried to copy Pete but never succeeded.
Watching Pete Sampras play will definitely improve your game, both technically and also how he controls his temperament.
