Girls Post # 3 Three Short Tennis Video Tips

See our schedule in the 'Links' section of the blog here. See link below this paragraph too. I'll see all of you at or shortly after 9am on monday for our scrimmage at Haddon Township High School. We should be done shortly after noontime. We'll all return to school where your parents can then pick you up after our individual meetings, no one should be there latter than 130.

www.highschoolsports.net/defaultcal.cfm?ct=s&schoolid=NJ080332150&spt=9&lvl=1&division=2

Paul VI Girls Tennis 2010 Schedule as seen at the website above. It is subject to change due to rain or unforseen conflicts of either school. This may occur once or twice during our season. Please check the blog to see any updates or cancellations, as I will post them here for parents and tennis team members alike. This blog is for both of you.

Monday 8/30 10:00AM @HaddonTownship(scrimmage)
Friday 9/10 3:45PM vs. Woodrow Wilson postponed
Monday 9/13 3:45PM vs. Lenape
Tuesday 9/14 3:45PM vs. Timber Creek
Wednesday 9/15 3:45PM vs. Camden High
Thursday 9/16 3:45PM vs. Seneca
Friday 9/17 3:45PM vs. Lindenwold High School
Monday 9/20 3:45PM vs. Winslow Twp
Tuesday 9/21 3:45PM vs. Bishop Eustace
Thursday 9/23 3:45PM @ Woodrow Wilson
Monday 9/27 3:45PM @ Washington Township
Thursday 9/30 3:45PM vs. Cherry Hill West
Friday 10/1 3:45PM vs. Camden High
Monday 10/4 3:45PM @ Cherokee
Wednesday 10/6 3:45PM @ Seneca
Friday 10/8 3:45PM @ Eastern Regional
Tuesday 10/12 3:45PM @ Cherry Hill East
Wednesday 10/13 3:45PM @ Moorestown Friends
Wednesday 10/20 3:45PM vs. Shawnee High School



Great week ! I hope you all have a safe weekend and do practice your service toss and find a wall or partner to practice your strokes.

Sincerely,
Coach



'Singles Strategy Tips' for our singles players and anyone having to play a challenge match - this is a great general video that those new to tennis can take a few points from that can help them now



Service Toss Tip

This is a blog post I put up here for the boys' team in February. Please watch the video and heed the simple advice. I was thinking about this as I left practice today. Relaxed muscles can help you hit a tennis ball with more power, control and fluidity than tense and constricted muscles that aren't getting air.


Please watch this short clip and listen for the connection between breathing and your muscles when making contact with a tennis ball. This is a fantastic tip. Remember a couple deep breaths though the nose can do wonders for your body, mind and soul. It can help you relax and refocus. Do it as your sitting in a classroom and taking a test. BUT please practice it, even though it may sound goofy, so it starts to become natural when your on the court.

Service Toss Advice and Two Other Short Videos

See the first video below that further explains to us the importance of the Service Toss. You'll see Brad Gilbert, the same gentleman who's in the video describing the 'toss assist.' The last blog post video. You'll also see a short video on the 'Service Grip' we've been working on. This is the same grip we'll use to volley with. We will get further into the scoring and any other necessary questions relating to match protocol tomorrow.





Service Toss Video






Scoring Of A Tennis Game and History FYI





Service Grip Explained


www.highschoolsports.net/defaultcal.cfm?ct=s&schoolid=NJ080332150&spt=9&lvl=1&division=2 - The Link To Our Fall Schedule

Tennis Training Aids By 'Square Hit Tennis'

Hey Paul VI Girls Tennis Team Members ...
This is one of my very first posts of the blog seen here. Its about the service toss. If you were with me today you got to use it and the wrist assist ... go to this link http://www.squarehittennis.com/instructionsTA.html ... if you don't want to read the whole post here. You can click on the left, after you click on the link above, to see to short video pieces about the 'Wrist Assist' and the 'Toss Assist.' I decided to take a Flyer and buy them, and after today's experiment with some of you, I see their usefulness.






Those who were with me thanks for being my test run. Those who hadn't used them yet will use them in the near future. BUT I want all of you to watch the video and learn about what important aspects of your tennis game that these aids can help improve. We will be working on those same aspects of your tennis game in practice each and every day this season. The volley is a stroke that the 'Wrist Assist' is particularly useful for. You'll see it instantly.

Good practice and I saw lots of good stuff. BUT We all can do an 8 min mile. I was reminded today that my old high school coach had us do a 2 mile fitness test, and in no more than 16 mins. Which one of our transfer students had the pleasure of taking with him last year. The two mile road run was a blast, even though I may have tried to hide along that route on occasion, to shave 1/4 mile off at the end.

Hey !!! If anyone wants to try a 2 mile fitness test, we could put it to a team vote.

I will email you all tomorrow, an hour before practices starts, if rain appears to be an issue.

Sincerely,
Coach Bo





REPOST - Paul VI Tennis - Service Toss 'How To' - Feb 2010

What is the most important shot, yet hardest to master in the sport of tennis? The Serve. I want you all to visit this you tube site and watch the video there on the service toss. Listen and pick up some necessary tips to improve your service toss. Note why Brad Gilbert thinks the toss is so important.




Brad Gilbert is one of the best in the tennis coaching business, he resurrected Andre Agassi's career in the late 1990's and spent time after that coaching Andy Roddick and Andy Murray, both in the top 10 now. This simple activity was something we did each and everyday of the first part of practice. Gilbert thought it so important that he and his partner invented a teaching aid for that specific reason. To mold it to you muscle memory in the most effective and efficient way.

The advice he gives about the toss is point for point the same as I gave all tennis team members each and every time we practiced such. Many of you didn't seem to like it. I hope this video sways your opinion now of its importance.

Notice the target dot in the video that he uses to practice the toss. Please hear where Brad recommends to start the toss and where to release the toss. Remember put a very little bit of pressure on the ball with the forefinger and thumb of your toss hand. Notice Brad and Venus above holding their toss arm up after the release of the ball. See his eyes and head still held up after the release of the ball. Notice where he holds the tennis ball in his hand. It was great to find this new training aid product, on brad's "square hit" website.

1st Girls Season Blog Post - Why We Run Vid Tip, Grip We'll Use For Serve, Volley, Overhead & Vid Tip On Why Proper Footwear Is Important

A good practice today, and I'll see you all Monday from 1-3 for the continuation of tryouts. Here's is a short video bit about the need for proper footwear. The last video tip seen here is on the need for aerobic conditioning for tennis. We must all be able to run an 8 min mile. The grip change is something we'll start work on Monday with, so such is a heads up. PLEASE check out the blog and have your parents check it out too as all the information seen on it we'll cover during the course of the season.

Continental Grip ... Bevel 1 ... Eastern Grip Bevel - Right Side ... We are using that same Eastern forehand grip for our backhand also ... we're only using 2 different grips, so to simplify ... notice the circled area on the hand print ... its just a quick shift up or down from that circled point on your hand.











Here are two videos, one on the proper grip for the volley, which is the same grip for the serve and overhead. This was the very first thing I tried to implement in our daily practice routine last season, through our extended practice of the serve.


Notice in the volley video about the contact point and keeping the ball in front of you while still improving your technique. This is something I've always stress when were drilling you on the volley. The second clip is a video is about the need for proper equipment to avoid injury.

Grips and shoes are discussed. Tennis specific shoes have extra side support, that cross trainers and running shoes don't. We have never had an injury, which is a fact that I'm very proud of. KNOCK ON WOOD RIGHT NOW PLEASE!!! That is the central reason I've been tough on your need for the right footwear. Injures to the feet, leg, knee and ankles' are all to common to tennis.

Tennis requires much running with frequent starting and stopping. You do all of this on essentially asphalt, which isn't that soft. Playing tennis for 2+ hours a day without said shoes would put you at an unnecessary risk. I don't want you to get injured !!! How much would and MRI cost due to a tennis injury, then compare that to the cost of a pair of tennis specific shoes? $50-$60 compared to maybe $1000 for the MRI on your ankle to check for ligament damage. Whatever you'd pay I don't know. Safety 1st, 2nd and 3rd !!! I think I remember a teacher once saying that phrase???