Coaches corner: March 2
This season, Texas men's tennis head coach Michael Center and Texas women's tennis head coach Jeff Moore, two of the top coaches in collegiate tennis, will take turns sharing a variety of tennis tips which are based on the training programs of both University of Texas tennis teams. Additionally, the coaches are eager to answer any specific questions you might have about your own game. If you have any questions for Coach Center or Coach Moore, feel free to submit them and check back with TexasSports.com for the coaches' response. George from Port Lavaca George - Doubles teams are decided based on several factors including: compatibility of personalities (chemistry), compatibility of playing styles and the side on which a player feels more comfortable. Chemistry is crucial for a team’s ability to “click.” Most doubles teams have one player who is better at setting up the point and one who is a good finisher at the net. Ideally, the “setter upper” should play in the deuce court and the “finisher” should play in the ad court. Toni from Barcelona Toni - Strength is more important with regards to fitness than it is to effective stroke production. Size and strength are of little value unless you have efficient stroke technique. This is why certain relatively small players (i.e. Agassi and Henin) can compete with bigger, “even stronger” players. Efficient technique enables a player to achieve excellent timing which is the key to control and power. Loel from Austin Loel - In college tennis, three doubles matches are played. The first team that wins at least 2 out of 3 matches is awarded one point. Ten minutes after the conclusion of the doubles, all six singles matches go on the court simultaneously and one point is awarded for each match. The first team to win four points clinches the dual match. Pro sets - first to 8 instead of 6 - are played in the doubles because a conventional set is deemed to be too short to decide a match. It was shortened from 2 out of 3 sets to a pro set to decrease the overall dual-match time. Dual matches used to last up to 5 hours. The shortened format gives us a better chance of getting fans to stay for the singles. JT from La Marque JT - A tactic that works well against this type of player is to move him to the corner of his forehand side to expose his backhand, then hit to his backhand corner forcing him to stretch to return the ball. As soon as you see him stretch, move forward in anticipation of a short reply. With a short reply, you can hit a forcing shot to open court or behind him and attack the net. Unless you can overpower a player like this, never let him set up to hit his slice. Oftentimes even a player with both a slice backhand and a powerful forehand prefers to set up the point with the backhand and then hurt you with the forehand OUT OF THE BACKHAND CORNER. Don’t let him camp out there.
|
|
