7 Tips for Beginner Tennis Players
Tennis can feel intimidating when you are starting out. When you watch the pros make it look so effortless and fun on TV, it can feel demoralizing not being able to play at that level. Rest assured, if you build the right habits and technique, tennis can be a sport that grows with you. The difference between tennis beginners that end up playing their whole lives and those that eventually have racquets buried in their garage, is investing in the sport.
This doesn’t mean spending excessive amounts of money–it means developing a solid foundation, and keeping yourself motivated. In order to avoid getting frustrated, try to learn ways to improve your tennis. This includes everything from really small tweaks to focusing on things that improve your tennis without a racquet. Take these tips as an opportunity to get more excited about playing, leading you to enjoy the game even more.
1. Perform A Mini Tennis Warm-Up
When beginners start playing, it can be tempting to immediately start rallying from the baseline. Starting with a mini tennis warm-up can improve your hand-eye coordination, technique, confidence, and control.
What does a mini tennis warm-up consist of? You and your partner can start out from the service line and choose one box, ad or deuce side. Keep a small rally going for as long you can, really working on top spin. By doing mini ground strokes, you can zero in on technique and “brushing up on the ball”. It also with the part of the stroke that is the most complicated–taking your racquet back to following thru. Doing this warm-up will help you get your rhythm down before hitting from the baseline.
Want to make your warm-up even longer? From the service line, play “volley-volley” with your partner. This version of mini tennis lets you practice more control and work on your volley. Feed the ball, and volley back-and-forth for as long as you can. This version of mini tennis zeroes in on the complexity of the volley in a fun, fast-paced way. You can even turn this into a game and play first to 11. Once you groundstroke mini-tennis and then volley-volley, take it back to the baseline! Your strokes will feel less shaky and more solid.
2. Improve the way you hold your tennis racquet
How to hold a tennis racquet can be a complicated step for beginners. Is it different for different strokes? What do you do if it does not feel comfortable? What about holding the racquet for serving? Volleying? All of these questions can lead to confusion in your game. Especially when you have to make decisions on the spot. Instead of stressing about how you should hold the racquet, learn these little tips to make you more confident on the court.
Eastern Grip
Even though this title might sound complicated, eastern forehand grip is probably the most natural way to grab a racquet. Imagine somebody asked you to pick up a drink. How would you grab it? This can be a useful way to think about this grip.
In terms of advantages of using this grip, it will let you hit more aggressive groundstrokes. If you struggle with power or strength from the baseline, this grip can help you achieve it! If you have never played a racquet sport before, this might be the way you naturally grab the racquet.
Continental Grip
The most popular grip for volleys and serves, this grip might take more time getting used to. This grip lets you hit forehand and backhand volleys without changing. To try and grab the racquet here, let’s imagine the racquet perpendicular to the ground with the frame facing upwards. Think of the butt cup of the racquet as a clock, you want your hand to come over the racquet at about 11 and 1 o’ clock.
If this is not clear, try this approach instead. Envision the racquet frame facing perpendicular, like in the photo above, grab the racquet at an angle. Your index finger, and all your fingers besides your thumb, will come over the outer ridge of the racquet. Imagine holding the racquet like a hammer, to give another visual. Worried about getting started with this grip? A lot of people tend to say that it feels slightly awkward and uncomfortable to start. Try to embrace repetition here and get used to it.
3. Use proper tennis gear
Unfortunately, when playing tennis you need more than just a ball and a place to play. This gear requirement can be intimidating for beginners, especially because of cost worries. What is the best racquet to get? How many balls do you need? All of these questions can be tough to answer when you are starting out, because players and coaches alike, all have their own opinion. There are some things that you have to have starting out. Without those items, it will be hard to continue your tennis journey.
Racquet
This one is very obvious, but it’s important to understand the function of a tennis racquet. Not all racquets are the same, so if you are going to buy your first racquet be aware of the racquet care and longevity as well as the differences. Not sure what size, height, or weight to begin with? If you go to a tennis or sporting goods store, they can usually help you decide. For example, if you’re a young junior girl starting out, the weight of your racquet might be very different from that of a bigger, taller individual.
If you have started taking lessons, your coach should be able to help you and offer recommendations as well. If you belong to a country or tennis club, typically they have racquets that you can “demo”. This way, you can get some experience playing with different kinds of racquets before having to purchase one.
Cans of balls
Knowing how many balls to have as a beginner can be really confusing. If you take lessons, you are not expected to bring a basket of balls, but if you are going to play with a group or a friend, the etiquette is different. Typically, if you are playing with a partner or in a group, you might alternate who brings a can of balls each time you play. If you have a big group, there might be a schedule detailing who should bring a new can that week. As such, make sure you have a couple cans on hand!
Overgrips
On most racquets, there will typically be a black or white starting grip. This grip is not intended to be utilized every single time you play though. As you start playing more often, the grip may get sweaty and start to tear. You don’t want to play with a grip that is very worn because this affects your performance. Worn grips slip, are less comfortable, and make it difficult to maintain a strong grip (no pun intended). You should be able to get a pack of 3-6 overgrips from any sporting store or online. If you notice that you’re sweatier than most players, there are specially designated grips that work for sweaty hands.
Shoes
Starting out, many beginners will play tennis in running shoes. Depending on what kind of court you are playing on, this can be okay. But if you are able to invest in tennis shoes, do it. Why? Usually the sole for running shoes and tennis shoes are different. Running shoes are primarily just designed for forward motion. They might work on a track, but the design of a running shoe does not support all the jumps, hops, and lateral movements required in tennis. Tennis shoes will offer more stability, support, and injury prevention. Although they may be frustrating to break in, try to ease into it by playing for 30 minutes or so in your new shoes.
4. Focus on fitness
Even though it might look easy on TV, tennis is a physically demanding sport. Think about all the sprinting and agility required –you are running up, back, left, and right, so if you are not fit, you’ll probably be winded after a long point. How can you focus on fitness?
Jump Rope
A lot of tennis players jump rope to build endurance while simultaneously working on footwork. You don’t have to do anything fancy either. If you feel as though your fitness is lacking, try doing 20 seconds straight jumping rope, 10 seconds off. Do this for five minutes. When you feel up for it, try to build up to 10. Jumping rope is a prime fitness exercise because it activates many muscle groups simultaneously and elevates your heart rate.
Lifting Weights
Needless to say, having a higher muscle percentage helps in tennis for strength and control. Lifting weights can be intimidating, especially if you don’t like going to the gym. An easy way to ease into strength training is through free weights. If you start using free weights with your arms, and doing small routines that take no more than 5 minutes, within a couple weeks your confidence and strength on court will skyrocket. Finding the best starting weight is different for every person, but a couple arm exercises that work with free weights are arm circles, bicep curls, and tricep extensions.
Cardio
Tennis does require a solid level of cardiovascular capability. By doing minimal cardio training, whether it is interval sprinting on a treadmill, or something more fun like barre or zumba, you will notice that it is easier to get to those hard-to-reach balls while playing. You don’t have to belong to a gym to get in a good cardio workout. Find a local track and do mini sprints, or if sprinting is hard on your knees, do walking and jogging. Find something fun that works for you!
5. Learn from the pros
Even though the pros are way beyond the beginner level, learning from them can help build solid habits. If you have a free 10 minutes, go to YouTube and search one of your favorite tennis stars and watch their serve, forehand, backhand, etc. When you find a video, slow down the speed and focus on their technique. In your living room, garage, basement, yard, or whatever space you can find, get your racquet out and practice to the rhythm of the pros. If you can slow their stroke down and see the specific elements, this can be extremely beneficial.
This is not only useful for seeing technique but also for understanding how to navigate the court. How should you move during a point? What patterns do players use? Should you try and hit a drop shot? Should you hit the ball as deep as possible? All of these mental questions can make it tough to play during a match. On YouTube or on TV, pull up tournament videos from your favorite pro and watch where they move during a point. Take note of where they go after they serve, where they move after they hit a deep shot, or which side of the court they challenge their opponent on. Even if the pros are on a completely different level, watching them in action can provide some really helpful insight into the game.
6. Recover! And then, recover again!
Recovering to the baseline in tennis is crucial for maintaining control and confidence during a match so that you don’t feel like you’re running way more than your opponent. Typically, in beginner matches, what is most important is being able to effectively get to the ball and make solid contact. This cannot happen without proper positioning. By focusing on constantly recovering, and getting set up for the next shot, you will have a competitive advantage.
Returning to the baseline allows you to reset their positioning, ensuring you are in the perfect spot to respond to quick shots. This way, you will not feel like you are getting dragged all over the place. Because a lot of beginners get into the habit of watching their shots, they can get really tied up or stuck when responding to the next ball. By focusing on recovering and moving, you will be one step ahead.
7. Cool-Down
In order to stay healthy, never forget a cool-down after playing. This can consist of both a physical and mental cool-down. For beginners, you are going to be exercising new muscles, and you might be sore in places you did not really know could be sore. So, what can you do? Do a full cool-down in order to help your body recover faster and stronger and in order to minimize injuries.
Stretch
Stretching is an essential part of your cool down. There are many different stretches you can do, but the most important part here for stretching is to focus on where you know you are “tight” or what part of your body you feel yourself using during tennis.
One stretch for hamstring tightness, which can be common, does not require any equipment besides a tennis ball. Sit down on a chair, or a bench if you’re on the court, and put a tennis ball under your left hamstring to start. Move so that the ball rolls around and focus on areas that are sore. Do your right hamstring after. This quick 1-minute stretch can make a big difference!
Another stretch is to lay down and put your legs straight in the air. Many tennis players experience a lot of tension in their legs, which makes sense since they are in constant motion while playing. Laying down on your back will help relieve both mental and physical tension, and when you put your legs completely straight in the air, up against a wall, you will lengthen your muscles and minimize soreness.
After playing tennis and you are tired, the last thing you want to do is more cardio. Even though this step is tough, walking, jogging, biking, or even swimming for 5-10 minutes after your tennis workout can help prevent muscle tension while simultaneously helping joint mobility. A lot of tennis can be really rough on the joints, so add an additional cardio element into your workout in order to stay injury free.
