What Tennis Strategy Can Roger Federer Use Against Nadal On Clay?

It's spring 2007 and things don't look any better for Roger Federer when he steps onto a clay court and looks at the imposing figure of his nemesis Rafa Nadal.

In fact, things look worse.

Yesterday, in the finals of the 2007 Monte Carlo tournament, Federer got smoked like a pig on a fourth of July roast.

Fed just can't handle the Nadal topsoin forehand to his backhand. He's tried of course. He's tried a stragey of slicing his backhand. Didn't work. He's tried trading topspin backhands with Nadal -- doesn't work.

If I were to receive a telephone call late one night from somewhere in Switzerland and a certain R.F were to ask what Roger Federer could do on clay agsainst Nadal -- I might offer the following advice. And, if this Monsieur R.F. said he was a close personal friend of Rog and asked me to tape a little message for the Great One, this is what I might say:

Rog,

Dude, as much as I admire your greatness, you just don't match up well with Nadal. If you both play percentage tennis, he smokes you everytime. His forehand just beats you up brutally on your backhand side and you can't afford to play percentage tennis against him.

And, I know for someone as great as you are, it's hard to accept that there's another player out there who has your number. But, it's true and the sooner you accept it, the better your chances of beating Nadal.

Right now you're playing to keep matches close. You've got to accept that to beat Nadal you're going to have play riskier tennis and escape your comfort zone.

You might get smoked 0 and 1, but this is the risk you're going to have to take if you ever want to beat him on clay.

The first thing you're going to have to do is position yourself more in your backhand corner. You have to run around every backhand you can. Get it through your head -- Rog -- you can't beat Nadal on clay if you have to hit a lot of backhands.

Now, of course, you're going to say, but wait --he'll kill me with his inside out forehand. He might, but this is the risk you have to take. Anyway, every time he hits an inside out forehand, he's hitting to your forehand and this is exactly what you want. In fact, it's your only chance. You must force him to hit to your forehand and then you must go for every forehand. Win or lose the point -- and keep the points short.

Rog, I'm getting tired but I'll have nore to say to you in the next few weeks. After all, the French Open is a month away and you've got to get out to the court right away to start practicing running around every backhand.

Glenn Sheiner M.D. - author of Insider Tennis Strategies A Tennis Ebook All About Tennis Strategy guaranteed to make you a smarter tennis player and take your tennis to the next level.

Plus, I've added a new page to my web site about tennis strategy Tennis Singles And Doubles Strategies Also, check out the world's top tennis humor screensaver
Tennis Cartoon Screensaver. You can download a trial version for FREE.

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Some Practical Doubles Tennis Strategies

I'm still waiting for my computer techs to sort out the problem with the tennis video software and hardware on my computer. So, for now, I have to put our foray into tennis video learning on hold.

In the meantime, I thought I'd talk about doubles tennis strategy.

I play in a good Sunday night men's doubles league. The guys playing one are usually 4.5 and up.

My favourite partner is a great returner with big groundstrokes. However, his serve is weak and he doesn't volley well for this level.

When we're both playing well we can beat anybody. But, too often his serve and volley dip at critical times. But to be fair, my game can go off too.

This last Sunday we started off slowly and lost the first set. Got bageled actually. Things weren't looking good and it looked to be a short night. As one of our opponents joked as we enjoyed a beer after the match, " After the first set I thought I'd be home in time for the Sopranos."

We were on serve at 3-3 in the second set when my partner got broken. They held, I held and they were serving for the match. We finally broke back to even the second set at 5-5.

We were playing on clay and my partner's second serve was getting hammered. I couldn't help much with poaching because of how hard the other guys were ripping the returns.

So, we decided that my partner would not serve and volley. He would serve and stay back. I would agressively hug the net looking to pick off easy shots and if they got by me, my partner would rip heavy low topspin shots and dare the other team to hit volley winners.

This change in tennis strategy seemed to calm my partner down. Now, instead of having to worry about his weakest shot - the volley- he could forget about that and just do what he does best, which is rip incredibly big groundies that are really tough to volley.

His serving improved, we held at 5-5, and broke to win the second set 7-5.

We were on fire in the third set and won easily 6-2.

We both felt great afterwards because it was a win that was really due to good tennis strategy and tactics.

Anyway, this was just another match that was won by understanding the patterns and dynamics that are going on in a tennis match. To learn more about understanding tennis strategies and tactics check out my Ebook INSIDER TENNIS STRATEGIES

Glenn Sheiner M.D. - author of Insider Tennis Strategies A Tennis Ebook All About Tennis Strategy guaranteed to make you a smarter tennis player and take your tennis to the next level. Also, check out the world's top tennis humor screensaver
Tennis Cartoon Screensaver. You can download a trial version for FREE.

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More About Tennis Video

As I wrote about last week, I'll be blogging about using video to help your tennis game.

So, I did some online research to see what type of camcorder I was going to need in order to get some good quality, frame by frame, video that I could use to compare my tennis strokes with the top players in the world.

Last year I played around with video analysis, but I was using an old Panasonic camcorder that did not have an adjustable shutter speed. The video was helpful for gross body type observations, but not for frame by frame analysis, because the racket was blurred due to the low shutter speed.

My research led me to conclude that I needed a camcorder that I could set to have a shutter speed of at least 1ooo.

I went down to the video store, filmed a few service swings, and went back home to see what kind of detail I would get with the higher shutter speed.

But when I got home, I couldn't get the system to work. Man, I was annoyed!

After doing some more reading, I figured out that the problem could either be in the camcorder, in the firewire that connects my camcorder to my laptop, or in the laptop.

I loaded up all three ( camcorder, firewire, and laptop) and off to the local electronics store I went. We hooked up my camcorder and firewire to one of the computers in the store -and -lo and behold - it worked. This eliminated my camcorder and firewire as causes, and led me to conclude that the problem was with my laptop.

Since my laptop is under warranty, I got on the phone with tech support and we tried to figure out if the problem was a hardware or sofware problem. After a number of diagnostic tests, it appears that the problem is a hardware problem .

Tomorrow, I'm bringing in my laptop to the service center to see what can be done.

Now, I know that this blog post hasn't talked too much about tennis but , if we're going to get into hi-tech tennis learning, we have to learn something about technology.

Until the next time,

Glenn


Glenn Sheiner M.D. - author of Insider Tennis Strategies A Tennis Ebook Guaranteed To Improve Your Tennis Results guaranteed to make you a smarter tennis player and take your tennis to the next level. Also, check out the world's top tennis humor screensaver
Tennis Cartoon Screensaver. You can download a trial version for FREE.

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Can You Improve Your Tennis By Using Video?

Let's say you're a typical adult at the club playing a 3.5 to 4.5 game.

You didn't play tennis as a kid, love the game, have picked up a lot of savvy, and have a lot of good shots.

But, your game doesn't allow you to take it up a notch. You have too many technical limitations. Too many holes in your strokes which will take a lot of work to fix.

What are your choices?

The conventional approach is to take tennis lessons with your tennis pro. Not a bad option if you have a good tennis pro but it could cost you plenty at $40-60 per lesson.

Can you teach yourself by availing yourself of the newest technologies and studying the greatest pro tennis players in the world in frame by frame slow motion? What if you can compare yourself with them side by side? Is this an efficient way to learn?

Join me on this journey as we combine a love of tennis with the latest technologies. We'll explore the tennis video revolution.

It's going to be fun.

Glenn Sheiner M.D. - author of Insider Tennis Strategies A Tennis Ebook Guaranteed To Improve Your Tennis Results guaranteed to make you a smarter tennis player and take your tennis to the next level. Also, check out the world's top tennis humor screensaver
Tennis Cartoon Screensaver. You can download a trial version for FREE.


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You've Got To Give Serena Wiliams A Lot Of Credit

Say what you want about Serena Williams. Tennis fans tend to either love her or hate her.

Personally, I've always admired her talent but she's not my favourite player. But, I am in awe of her competitive desire and mental toughness.

She should have lost to Peer in the quarters but I knew that there was no way that Peer was going to hold her serve and win the match in the third set.

And, when Serena was done 15-40 late in the third ,she promptly banged consecutive service winners. The woman produces her best stuff when the going is the toughest.

The only other woman who I can say shows that same 'fight till I die' attitude is Maria Sharapova. And, that ladies and gentlemen, should provide a very entertaining final.

Glenn Sheiner M.D. - author of Insider Tennis Strategies A Tennis Ebook Guaranteed To Improve Your Tennis Results guaranteed to make you a smarter tennis player and take your tennis to the next level. Also, check out the world's top tennis humor screensaver
Tennis Cartoon Screensaver. You can download a trial version for FREE.


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I Love When Pro Tennis Coaches Commentate On ESPN

The typical image that one has of a pro tennis coach is a quiet type who sits stoically for hours at a time while his or her player goes through the emotional ups and downs of a match.

So, it was quite interesting for me when ESPN invited Darren Cahill into the booth to provide commentary on the Andy Murray /Verdasco match.

Cahill was a breath of fresh air and had plenty to say. He essentially said that Verdasco was a stupid player and implied that he probably wasn't the sharpest guy either.

Of course, if you watch the extremly talented Verdasco play, you can see right away that he's a very dumb player. He has tremendous weapons that he doesn't know how to use very well at all.

Cahill went where ex-pros tend not to go. He was brutally honest but it was refreshing to hear some insightful analysis.

Of course, my all-time favourite is Brad Gilbert who knows more about tennis and has more opinions than anyone.

So, I say let's hear from more of the coaches and less from the players who basically give you the standard answers anyway.

Glenn Sheiner M.D. - author of Insider Tennis Strategies A Tennis Ebook With Great Tennis Coaching Tips guaranteed to make you a smarter tennis player and take your tennis to the next level. Also, check out the world's top tennis humor screensaver
Tennis Cartoon Screensaver. You can download a trial version for FREE.


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Watch Federer's Footwork --It's Amazing

Like everybody else, I watch Roger Federer play tennis and try and figure out what makes him so great.

Last night in his match with Youzny, I decided to just watch Federer's feet during the points. And, it was incredible.

Federer is insanely cat-like with his movements. He moves almost like a squash player with extraordinary first step quickness after his split step. Plus, Federer will use small, super quick steps in order to optimize his positioning before striking the ball.

I think that's why his game looks effortless. We are all watching his beautiful flowing strokes but the work is being done by the lower body. It's a great lesson for all club players who play with one or two big steps. It's also highlights what a spectacular athlete Federer is.


So, next time you watch Federer play just spend a little time watching only his feet. You'll be blown away.

Comments?

Glenn Sheiner M.D. - author of Insider Tennis Strategies An Ebook of Online Tennis Coaching Tips guaranteed to make you a smarter tennis player and take your tennis to the next level. Also, check out the world's top tennis humor screensaver
Tennis Cartoon Screensaver. You can download a trial version for FREE.


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