How Playing Tennis Slowly Improves Your Technique And Timing

[@feeltennis]

Check how slow Roger Federer starts his warm up (the video is in slow motion obviously but you'll get the point...): kzbin.info/www/bejne/gX3dkpSio5uFnJI

[@speedymr]

Best tennis coach ever period. He is the Professor!

[@chubbieminami3274]

Thank you from Japan. I applied your advice to practice top spin strokes with slow setting on the ball machine. Now I am able to hit some good top spin balls with good timing and little effort. Today, my tennis coach was truly impressed with my improvement in just 2 weeks. She said I am too good for my "beginner" class level now and said I can advance to my next level class. 😀

[@feeltennis]

Wonderful, thank you for taking the time to sharing your feedback!

[@mayabergom]

Wow. Tension is your greatest enemy in tennis! What a powerful insight.

[@feeltennis]

Indeed it is! :)

[@cecagjacobkhaob6443]

Sounds funny, yes. But that’s the reality especially for the beginner, for the people whom afraid of the crowd. And most for the soldier facing heavy fire powers from the enemy most during ambush, and live IED’s, UXO. You will feel those if you’re in the actual scenarios

[@dimawood007]

Another genius video from professor Tomaz Mencinger. :) Thank you for emphasizing on "obvious" aspects of tennis that most of tennis players including me don't realize and take seriously. Not observing this rule has catastrophic effects and prevents tennis players from progressing. A little note about your videos: you video editing, organizing, speech and everything is very, very high level. Not many lectors at university can show so high level of preparation for lessons as you do. You are a great pedagogue.

[@feeltennis]

Very much appreciated as always!

[@sunsioux444]

@@feeltennishow do you like that - you are now a pedagogue! 😂

[@robertwong-w5s]

For biginners, play slow, and small swing with fore arm/wrist, might be more helpfull. A full swing, might be too difficult for beginner to just in time to hit the ball. Basket ball shot coaches suggest to shot near the board, with only hand and wrist. Might be the same approach. Simple, slow, with less movement. Easier to master.

[@robertwong-w5s]

@@feeltennis For biginners, play slow, and small swing with fore arm/wrist, might be more helpfull. A full swing, might be too difficult for beginner to just in time to hit the ball. Basket ball shot coaches suggest to shot near the board, with only hand and wrist, body movement is not included. Might be the same approach. Simple, slow, with less movement. Easier to master.

[@klue.]

I hate it when I hit with someone and after mini tennis, they start blasting the ball right away with no real baseline warm up. I prefer to stand deep back and hit slow in the beginning like you mention to get some feel and slowly ramp up. Usually the ones that start blasting right away end up having super inconsistent rallies. Before going back to baseline, I started to say let's go with 75% for a bit so that it's still closer to baseline but they play like mini tennis.

[@feeltennis]

Yes, going far behind the baseline is your best solution. And yes, blasters are usually very inconsistent and beat themselves...

[@andreiloginov9807]

Signing under every word in that video! All amateur who ALWAYS playing scores should listen and learn and understand: You are playing without any technique and don't let yourself even to have a chance to learn the proper technique. Always too late on the ball, always with upper shoulders and tention in all the body. Play slowly and without score. Train first, be able to hit different balls and only when you feel confident - play a match. Thanks alot for such a great video!

[@feeltennis]

Well said!

[@cjbfire95]

I’ve got to implement this, I’ve heard the coaches say only hit 65% which is hard for me to do because I watch so much tennis and love how fast and hard pro players are. Try is is definitely a mental hack I need to remember. Thank you

[@krisgolab5450]

Usefull tips. Thanks Thomas. Tommorow I start conciously with a slow warming- up.

[@dougwrightuspta6221]

Great Advice. Hitting slow is the path to relaxed effortless ...more advanced levels of play. When I worked with a highly ranked ATP Tour professional in Houston TX this " Hitting Slow " concept was a vital component to our teaching method.

[@zeynepgozlukcu]

Teşekkürler.

[@kbddv6181]

This is brilliant and so basic! Thank you, Coach. It is THE most important of all the learning techniques in tennis. It is used to properly learn virtually everything we do that requires eye/hand coordination and proper bio mechanic movement/technique. From dribbling a basketball to playing the piano. From throwing a football to serving a tennis ball. If a person practices wrong form because they are doing the activity at a speed higher than his/her current ability, that “wrong” technique is what we are practicing and learning. The increased speed should happen extremely gradually so that the form remains correct. Repetition of correct form results in learning correct technique. To become really good at anything that requires proper form of movement, requires starting slow to get lots of repetitions of correct form and extremely gradual increases in speed so that the form stays correct in practices and tension and arm muscling the ball doesn’t become what you are learning. Only hit with a partner or teaching pro who has the ability to hit slowly with you and will be patient enough to increase speed at very tiny increments where you can maintain the form.

[@feeltennis]

I couldn't have expressed it any better. Thank you very much!

[@prashantgupta7167]

Gem of a video. Thank you the insights. Extremely helpful.

[@sunsioux444]

I think this is really important, especially for new players like me trying to develop touch as I can get a little hyped up and want to kill the ball then I end up hitting it out

[@aquamansurfer]

Hi¿ could you make a video explaining the difference between hitting with a control raquet with lower tension vs a power raquet with high tension? I think it may be interesting , thanks !

[@sergiodealencar]

I totally agree with this approach. Many hard hitting players struggle to hit slow with a full motion, specially on mini tennis. Once players master this skill, they will have much better control.

[@NamesAreRandom]

The problem here is if you have a good motion and are transfering momentum properly then your racket will whip over even if you do the full motion super slow. The only way to not get it to not do that is to swing incorrectly (basically swing using the arm only) so you can actually be teaching yourself a bad swing. I see mini tennis as a chance to practice good movement and setup for each swing, but you can't really do the full swing.

[@CarlUsana-o3l]

@@NamesAreRandom actually you can, just hit it with the most spin less through the ball. Basically the same swing but slower racket head speed. I do this for my warm up

[@GuacamoleyNacho]

I played a lot with asian guys and to prove their male prowess they always hit with a lot of force and they fail to control the ball going out most of the time!

[@Gigi-pd8vj]

As a former tennis coach I strongly agree due to the reason that it takes time to become a good tennis player.

[@mauroeuphemio3644]

After a match with some jammed balls, I instinctively try to do in the next day a confortable slow exchanging balls practice, just back an forth "to recalibrate". After your point, I will add this approach to the beggining of every practice and match. I will add "a 3 minutes calibration time" to every warm up. Thank you for the video.

[@feeltennis]

Good stuff, let me know how it goes after a few weeks...

[@rucas10]

Splendid video ! Great tips and extremely well explained and that make perfect sense. For example. "before we run, we must first know how to walk".

[@feeltennis]

Yes, exactly

[@GuacamoleyNacho]

Wonderful tennis learning video! Can you do video on how to self practice on the wall playing slow first and near the wall (like standing service line distance) and then finally becoming stronger to play further away from the wall (like base line distance). Thank you so much, Instructor Tomaz!

[@jasonelwoodphoto]

I’m going through this right now. I injured my shoulder and had to stop playing for a few years. I’m just now starting to get back out there. My brain is moving faster than my diminished technique. My first couple of days back I was playing terribly. I’ve really had to remind myself to a) slow down, and b) keep my eye on the ball.

[@feeltennis]

Yup, that's the right approach, take it easy...

[@olafsrensen9578]

it looks so beautirfull relaxt when you swing that I will call this sport"s art !

[@mdougf]

Great stuff as always. Thanks

[@marcelopuyol249]

Excellent as always. Very "feel tennis" lesson. Thanks.

[@nathanmiller6051]

Excellent all around!! Thank You 🙏

[@nadernayo]

Wonderful video .. thanks

[@insighttennisacademy9421]

Hi Tomaz, I totally agree it's a good idea to start the session slow and focus on relaxation and sound technique. After that I would recommand to keep playing slow at first but using the whole court starting with a 2de serve trying to keep relaxation and technique sound with much more adaptation (even with possibility to play a dropshot or come to the net, but everything around placement instead of speed). Since adaption is in my view the key performance factor in tennis and serve and return the most important shots, this is the prefered step after slow rallying trough the middle. After that I would build up the speed keeping playing on the whole court and staring with serve and return. The transition to matchplay becomes much more smoother in this case instead of firing rally's through the middle and cross before using the serve or the whole court (like in most academy's). I hope you understand my point and looking forward to your view on this topic:) Best, Paul

[@feeltennis]

Thanks for sharing, Paul, good tips!

[@Timothy_Pitt]

Before leaving court, I like to do gentle hitting, for reasons given in video. When opponents agree (not always!), it adds more to the session, for me at least

[@robertrenk7074]

In order to play a musical instrument fast and well you also need to be able to play slowly and correctly first.

[@feeltennis]

Yes, thank you for sharing!

[@MohamedIsmail-hf5pk]

Superb advice

[@ajaykumara7158]

Thank you very much Sir Tomaz for enlightenment 👍

[@feeltennis]

You are very welcome

[@AgustinDavidF]

Super tennis tip!

[@josephschmidt9580]

Thank you Tomas!

[@pamelakrueger7353]

Good advice!

[@SquatLife]

This is great!

[@peterbalogh7707]

Fab video. Typical problem for me. About 1 handed backhand it would be nice.

[@feeltennis]

One handed backhand is rarely hit late because it is so uncomfortable and painful that you learn in 1 minute to hit well in front. Forehand and two-handed backhands though can be hit way too late because one can slap the ball with the wrist and still make it fly.

[@jayrussell26]

@@feeltennis good point Tomaz ! Great video btw - I’ve already shared it w my hitting partner to plan for our next sesh.

[@K4R3N]

Best coach

[@Apstenusrazbega]

Free hitting in relaxed tempo for 8 years helped me a lot(thanks to Thomas). I often see that recreational players who play matches each session are the worst players. They have ugly technique and even they can place the ball well it doesn't help when they face someone who has consistency and correct technique. You just give them deep ball in the middle and repeat several times - they will make mistake by themselves. But the playes who like to train without points are way more skilled in general.

[@tennisgain7567]

Totally agree you have to crawl before you run.

[@CarlUsana-o3l]

crawl to walk, then walk to run 🤣

[@ruslanbekukh3702]

Perfect ...

[@pakchu2]

What are your thoughts about starting a session with mini tennis?

[@feeltennis]

I've been doing it for 35 years. :)

[@reggaetennisman]

Hi tomas, excellent video and point. Slow... yes. Hey speaking of which, I have a new and improved 'brand' of tennis I've been developing for decades now and I call it Holistic Tennis. This idea of "playing slow" is very similar to what I "preach"... I've been seeking similar/ truly progressive tennis minds for a long time now and honestly have not found hardly a one! It's like that yuh know? Conventional thought and indeed Conventional tennis is so prevalent still, it can be very difficult to find your way if you think at all 'differently'. That being said, I would love to chat with you about tennis and innovation if you are willing and interested. Thanks Tom, keep up the great work and look forward to reasoning with u soon!

[@feeltennis]

Much appreciated, Corey! And sure, contact me through my website feeltennis.net...

[@remedypath5941]

Tomaz is the best!!!

[@FairwayJack]

GOOD STUFF

[@NWGJulian]

this video seems like made for me. i play tennis now for 2 years, going to training twice every week, and i have to say that i am quite positive about my „skill level“. well, yesterday i had my very first internal club championship match. well, it didnt run as expected … the balls were coming to me so fast, i didnt have time to correctly shoot them back. my timing was extremely off, because i couldnt hit with my usual pace and routine. it wasnt much fun tbh. like you said, his skill level was far above mine. but the question is, how can i adapt to those faster balls? i mean, earlier or later i have to face people in matches that are better than me. i noticed that what i have to do is to start with the swing way earlier, like when the ball is over the net. but is there a way to train that? thanks!

[@feeltennis]

The long process of practicing at slow speed reinforces the correct contact zone. You are likely still not aware of and you don't pay attention to meeting the ball in the hitting zone - therefore you are late. So in the long term this will improve as you realize that intercepting the ball in the hitting zone is the most important thing in tennis. In the short, term try tips from this video: kzbin.info/www/bejne/o5Ldomd9otCXf7c

[@NWGJulian]

@@feeltennis wow, thank you very much! yes i know that my technique is still not great, and i am not hitting in the perfect hitting zone. maybe i should pay more to it in training, thanks 👍🏻

[@fredericmayer899]

super advises, not intuitive, tennis is too fast now and its too difficult to play high intensity, thank you, super coaching

[@hofficz1]

i play almost year and still have problem with late touch with ball .. IDK what to do ..

[@feeltennis]

I would say it takes about 5 years of playing tennis at least 2 times per week (but ideally at least 3 times per week) before you can hit on time and be overall comfortable on the court dealing with all sorts of different balls. Do not underestimate tennis, it is the most difficult recreational sport there is.

[@GuacamoleyNacho]

​@@feeltennis i am addicted to tennis. However i feel muaythai, boxing, martial arts are just as difficult or actually a lot tougher than tennis.

[@naren4624]

you’re closest to timothy gallwey- the inner game of tennis .. 🧎🏻‍♂️🙏

[@yrmthr]

I've seen a lot of really good players warm up right up against the net and hit slow while gradually moving back & increasing power. Is this a common practice?

[@feeltennis]

Yes, that's the right approach.

[@K4R3N]

We can do this against wall or with machine?

[@feeltennis]

Yes, but with a wall play off the second the bounce to have more time. For ball machine set lower speed of feeding...

[@K4R3N]

@@feeltennis thank you

[@ceejrmel1239]

This is so great. My friends always want to practice hitting hard and fast but it’s fine only I feel we don’t make improvements like this. When slow down you can feel your improvement

[@feeltennis]

@@ceejrmel1239 Send them a link to this video. 😀

[@marlowe1969ify]

Thankssssss

[@davspa6]

Okay, now I understand why there's a guy I hit with and that's how he starts off the hitting all the time. I never have understood why he does that, he's a teaching pro or used to be.

[@vr6936]

tri point tri LOL :o) Sutra opet dva point eight!!

[@liverbird66]

Can you drill like this against a wall instead… hard to get people to not just start smashing the ball

[@feeltennis]

Yes, but hit the ball after 2 bounces...

[@liverbird66]

@@feeltennis tried this out yesterday and it’s the best I hit in a practice session in a long time… everything just simple, easy and consistent… found your timing of the pace of the rally very intriguing also… so was counting to keep myself in the 3 second range and could then get a feel for what had to be done by when aka after 1 I initiate turn after 2 sec be in full unit turn and at 3 sec initiate swing… great stuff all together so simple and very effective 👍🏻…. What I find playing tennis is that although I hit forehands during games sometimes brilliantly, I actually do not know what I am doing exactly I just do it… but sometimes I am not doing well and it’s frustrating as I can’t rectify the problem as I don’t fully grasp what’s going on etc I can see this drill really helping me with this problem

[@feeltennis]

@@liverbird66 Thank you for taking the time to share your experience! Wonderful! Yes, well, tennis strokes feel really well when the hit it very precise - so in the sweet spot and at the right time. So to get spatial and time precision right it's not a conscious process but a subconscious one. We just need to be aware of what happens at every contact and through that awareness the brain and body can start to make minute adjustments to make the next shot better.

[@clovespinheiro]

❤❤❤

[@maliththennakoon8978]

🎾🌍

[@kaialoha]

Slow is wrong. Slow smooth acceleration is correct. S l o o w.... slow .. quick quick is Ted Williams' advice in his book The Science of Hitting. Williams is the best hitter in baseball and the last 400 hitter. The swing must ALWAYS accelerate ( positive increase in speed ).... Less or more acceleration determines ball speed. Decrease of acceleration is disastrous.

[@feeltennis]

Then how do you think I play with low level students when I have to rally with them? And how can they gain any consistency and repetitions and rhythm if they try to accelerate at the ball and yet have no racket head control yet? Every child in a tennis club learns to play tennis by playing hundreds of hours slow. Remember, I am never wrong, only you may misinterpret the information.