The learning curve in tennis can prove exceedingly steep, but these tips can help you start playing better in little time.

1. 7 STRATEGIES TO IMPROVE YOUR TENNIS GAME
QUICKLY
RACHAEL HESLING

2. 7 STRATEGIES TO IMPROVE YOUR TENNIS GAME QUICKLY
 If you’re just starting to learn tennis, you might feel a
bit overwhelmed. The sport demands a great deal of
technical knowledge and physical fitness that can
discourage amateurs from becoming truly invested in
the game. However, tennis can also prove
extraordinarily rewarding when all those long hours of
hard work finally pay off and you’re able to play
intuitively, from instinct. To get over that initial learning
curve, here are a few helpful strategies that might
work for you.

3. 1. TAKE EVERY OPPORTUNITY TO PRACTICE.
 It’s just like anything else you’ve ever learned: you’ll only improve if you practice. Especially in the
beginning, it can become easy to stop practicing because you lack an opponent who can play at your
level. In truth, however, you need nothing more than a wall for some great tennis practice. A wall will
reliably return every hit to give you plenty of practice mastering different swings and maneuvering
around the court. With regular practice, you’ll begin to see daily improvement, and these little
achievements offer the motivation necessary to keep going.

4. 2. INVEST IN AT LEAST A FEW PRIVATE LESSONS.
 Even experienced players will book one-on-one lessons
with professional players and instructors to refine their
skills. For a beginner, a couple of sessions with a pro is
absolutely necessary for getting a better sense of the
basic techniques for success, from how to hold the
racquet to how to think about footwork. Developing
good habits from the very beginning can remove many
of the barriers that more experienced players face as
they try to get better down the line. Watching online
videos can help, but nothing is better than an in-person
lesson.

5. 3. TAKE TIME OUT TO WATCH THE PROS PLAY.
 While it may seem like a rather passive way of improving your tennis game, watching professional
matches is important. However, try to think of matches as more than just entertainment and instead
focus on their instructional value. If you pay attention to the types of swings used and when, you can
develop your own court instinct. To get the most out of the experience, you may want to choose a
single thing to focus on for each game, whether it’s shot preparation, footwork technique, or larger
game strategy. Paying attention to these factors will help you incorporate lessons into your own game.

6. 4. START WITH FOREHAND SHOTS AND GRADUALLY MOVE TO
BACKHAND.
 Before you try advanced techniques, you need to lay a solid
foundation in the basics. The forehand is the easiest stroke and
beginners can typically master the basics of it rather quickly, since
it’s directed by the dominant hand. With the forehand, it’s
important to ensure that the racquet makes contact with the ball
when it’s perpendicular to the floor, in order to send the ball flying
in a relatively straight line.
 The backhand requires two hands on the racquet and can be
harder to control. With this swing, you need to pay attention to the
top hand to ensure that it doesn’t become the leading hand and
cause the racquet to turn inward. Throughout the swing, your
wrists should stay as straight as possible.

7. 5. PLAY PEOPLE WHO ARE SLIGHTLY MORE ADVANCED THAN
YOU.
 When you only play opponents who are your same skill level, you probably won’t feel challenged or
inspired to get better. Similarly, playing against someone much better than you can feel deflating. The
trick is to find someone slightly better who can keep you on your feet. Most players are typically more
than happy to share pointers and give brief lessons, so this strategy can really accelerate your
learning.

8. 6. KEEP YOUR EYES ON THE BALL THROUGHOUT THE GAME.
 The whole point of tennis is to make contact with the ball,
which is impossible if you do not train yourself to track it
constantly. Some pros even recommend that, in the first
few months of learning the game, amateurs should keep
their eyes focused so much on the ball that they can
actually see the seams on it. While it’s critical not to get
lost in the details, this little trick trains the body to keep
track of the ball almost as a sixth sense. With this tracking
down, you’ll have a much better chance of consistently
making contact with the ball in the center of the racquet.

9. 7. LEARN THE LINGO.
 Nothing says “amateur” more than not knowing a sport’s lingo, and tennis is full of complicated
jargon. For example, scorekeeping can be especially confusing. The term “love” refers to a score of
zero, and the word “all” is appended to a score to indicate that it’s currently a tie. When both players
tie at 40 points, this situation is called a deuce. To win after a tie at deuce, a player needs to make two
scores in a row. The scoring system itself goes from love to 15, then to 30, and finally to 40. Many
people play games in sets. To win a set, players must win at least six games and at least two more than
the opponent. The term “match” refers to games played in one session and is typically best of three or
five games.