Summary of ATP world tour events (2012)

The 2012 Atp season can be described as one of the most thrilling seasons in the history of the ATP. This season was one of the few where anything was expected to happen. As a fan of the tour, one would have expected the restart of the rivalry between Djokovic (who was outstanding in 2011) and Nadal who was likely to seek some revenge against the Serbian. With Roger Federer fighting to remain in the picture and Andy Murray still struggling to match up against the top three seeds, no one could have predicted the outcome of this season..

The top 4 seeds

Novak Djokovic

2011 proved to be an amazing year for the young Serb and he sought to carry the momentum into a new year. After enduring one of the longest grand slam finals of all time, he claimed his first major of the year. The French clays at Roland Garros however did not favour Novak as Nadal swept past him to win a record breaking 7^th title. With Federer Building enough steam to win at Wimbledon and regain number 1 ranking in the world, Djokovic was left with the option of redefining his game or fading into the background. Nole however, managed to win  the end of year ATP tournament to regain the top spot in tennis.

Roger Federer

The year begun somewhat slowly for Federer who was suffered an injury scare. Making it to the finals either the Australian Open or French Open seemed almost impossible as both Djokovic and Nadal were on top form. When Wimbledon finally arrived however, Federer was back to his winning ways and managed to overcome Djokovic in the semis and Murray in the finals. The Swiss maestro shot back to world number one and a record setting 17 Grand Slam titles.


Rafael Nadal
After suffering at the hands of Novak Djokovic throughout the 2011 season, most “Rafans”(a nickname for Rafael Nadal fans) expected a huge comeback from the king of clay this season. All seemed to be going well as Rafa managed to win a routine Roland Garros final against Novak and was looking to send that confidence unto the grass at the All-England tennis court. This dream was short lived when the Spaniard suffered an unbelievable loss to Lukas Rosol in the second round of the championships. His season ended with that loss and a knee injury scare which cost him the almost 6 months off the tour.

Andy Murray
“Finally people can stop asking me that stupid question!” This statement from Murray summed up his year, and ended the long 76 year wait for a Grand Slam trophy. Defeat to Federer on home soils this year was treated differently by the Brit and we saw an even more determined Murray. He return to centre court at Wimbledon to win gold in the Olympics and in similar fashion, the US Open against his good friend, Novak Djokovic.

The Art of the Forehand

       Believing you’ve already watched my first post on the art of the forehand, we can go ahead and discuss in today’s session, the significant points to note when playing a good forehand.

Forehand swing

        

     The forehand is a very useful skill in tennis. To unlock the full potential of your forehand, you may have to consistently practice the steps listed in today's lesson. The forehand play is essentially about playing the tennis ball with your inner arm, swinging across your shoulder to get the ball across the net. Your wrist and grip also play a very important role in how effective your forehand shots are.

   The READY position

      Before you play any shot, you must be in the “ready” position for the ball. The ready position is, the stance where you are facing the net with the one hand holding your racket and the other supporting the frame in such a way that it the racket face will make right angles with the net. It may seem complicated from this description but, I will send a follow up video which help you understand it much better. The idea behind this is, when in this position, it is easier to take any ball with either your forehand or backhand, depending on where the ball is placed.

The SWING and FOLLOW THROUGH

      To play a forehand shot, you first get into the right footwork position. That is, if you’re right-handed player, you will have to put your left foot forward. Your left foot will have to be parallel to the baseline with your arm stretched towards the ball, open your racket face to an angle of about 60 degrees to the ground, in such a way that the racket is just a little behind you, while all this goes on, keep your eyes fixed on the ball . When the ball is about a foot or two from your racket, swing your arm and the racket across your shoulder.What you want to do at this stage is to  (some coaches term this as the follow through). You should recover soon after your follow through by getting back into the ready position. Congratulations! If you understand the procedures and can keep hitting balls this way over the net, you can be rest assured you are on the right path.

       The essence of getting your footwork right is that it increases your accuracy of landing the ball in the court when you hit a shot. It also puts a lot less pressure on your shoulder when you hit the forehand and ensures a more natural arm swing for the player. Another key point to note about the forehand swing is how the racket makes contact with the ball. A good forehand swing will allow for the player to keep their eye on the tennis ball till it is about a foot or two away from the racket, after which contact s made. There are 2 main ball spins that can occur after contact.

They are; (i) Topspin balls and (ii) Flat balls. For beginner tennis players, there's no rush and the ideal here is to return balls accurately into the opponent’s court, so, most coaches go for flat balls till the players can handle topspin balls. In later posts, you would realize the differences between these two and the importance of going through these steps.

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You should also read this; Get in the Game!

Check out also; My interview with Nam Nha Tho

Tips to finding a good sparring partner

"Okay so now that we know what is required to start playing tennis, how then do we begin actually playing the game?" one may ask.

In my previous blog i recommended a few things you needed to begin playing tennis one of them was a good sparring partner.Today I'm going to discuss how you can get a good sparring partner and a few of the techniques you will need in order to start sparring.

The Good Sparring Partner

If you want to begin playing tennis, it would be good to let a few of your friends and your colleagues know about a couple of weeks before you start taking your lessons with a coach. This could very well be a good way of getting a friend you feel comfortable with to be your sparring partner. This makes it easier for you to concentrate more on the game and still enjoy the company of your friend. You can also choose to announce your interest to play tennis on media like facebook.com if you have an account there. Another way of getting a sparring partner is by asking the coaches at your local tennis club to pair you up with people who are of the same ITN ranking as yourself. You are encouraged to visit http://www.itftennis.com/itn/ for more information about ITN rankings.
Also you may want to create an advert or a poster which you can place on the notice board at your local tennis club for a partner. When you finally do get a sparring partner, find some time to meet them personally so that you both can visit the court together. It is also recommended that you arrange a suitable day in the week to have your first training session.
The techniques for sparring

If this is your first time of stepping on the tennis court, you may almost be overwhelmed by your inability to play like a mentor you most likely see on TV. Your experience could very much consist of one or all of the following.You may be all over the place chasing balls, going round and round in circles during the return of a ball, hit some really high balls that may even go over the fence and may even feel embarrased. The good news is, that's how everybody begins! This is why you need a sparring partner who is of the same standing in the ITN rankings as you are.This way you can motivate and encourage each other as you go along.

The first technique you should try out could be playing the ball on one side of the court. This technique improves your control of the ball and aids you play in the direction you want to instead of just anywhere on the court.

Try and master this technique, go out and have some fun with your new partner and always remember to be true to yourself. For more helpful tips on how to become part of Ghana's growing tennis community, just follow this blog.