Improve your tennis ball timing

My game is a lot about footwork. If I move well - I play well. Roger Federer 

Roger Federer

               
    Timing is a very important concept in all sports. Mastering the correct timing in tennis can be the deciding factor whether or not you become the player you want to be not. Timing plays a vital role in how many balls you can return, the efficiency with which you return them and the amount of reaction time you may possibly have on the next ball. Different coaches and coaching programs use various techniques to help their students get the right timing on the ball. After reading this article, you can check out some of the links to some of the techniques listed at the bottom section of the page. We’re going to tackle one of the easy timing techniques in tennis that particularly, beginner tennis players will find useful. I choose to name this technique the One-Two-Go technique.

One-Two-GO! It’s pretty simple, before you hit any ball, you count in your head, one-two then on your third count, play the ball. Try to repeat this for as many balls as you can before you start missing. This is one of the first few mental techniques every player must master. If you are playing with your coach, he/she might want to feed you about 30 to 50 balls while you practice this. It will also be good if they can feed you about 15 balls each time you start a training session so that you become well adapted to the method. In case it is with a sparring partner you are doing this, you may have to take turns to try it. The true essence of repeating this procedure is to get the player enough time to get prepared for each ball so that they can put in the right footwork and thereafter, play the ball all within the possible 3 seconds they will be making the mental count. How it improves your game After practicing the One-Two-GO for some time, you will realize the improvement in your game when you rally with a sparring partner. Now, as you play longer rallies, you would come some points where you would notice how your body cannot respond fast enough for certain shots the way you would desire. This is the point where most coaches recommend jogging or running their students. Your inability to get all the balls in a rally when you start to use the one-two-go would mean that you may lack the stamina for such rallies. You therefore have to start taking a few drills to increase your stamina and speed in a game. We’ll be addressing these topics later on. If you have found this topic helpful, you may as well try it out the next time you get on court. Practice it continuously till you perfect your timing. This way, you will easily pick up other techniques and improve your play the way you want.