This week at Nenagh LTC sees the start of Winter League Training with Frank O’Keefe and Drilling in the Five Game Situations and Tennis Xpress with Anne Marie Darcy.

A useful tip from Frank and Anne-Marie this week is how to cut down on the points you loose by giving yourself a “Margin for Error”.

PLAY WITH A “MARGIN FOR ERROR”

There are three ways you can lose a point in tennis:

  1. Your opponent hits a clean winner which you cannot touch at all
  2. You hit the ball into the net
  3. You hit the ball over the net but outside the court

Statistics prove that the vast majority of the points you lose in any match will be as a result of hitting the ball into the net or outside the lines.

How can you cut down on these errors? The answer is to give yourself a bigger “Margin For Error”.

What does this mean?

  1. Many players aim too low over the net. If the shot goes a little lower than they intended, it lands in the net.
    • - In a baseline rally you should be aiming 1 to 2 metres over the net!
  2. - Many players aim too close to the lines. If the ball goes a little farther left, right or longer than they intended, it misses the court.
    • - Even the top players in the world do not aim to land the ball on the line.
  3. Many players hit the ball too hard.
    • - You should only hit it as hard as you can control it. After all, winning slowly is better than losing quickly!

Giving yourself more margin for error means you will miss less shots, and that automatically puts more presssure on your opponent.