Okay, so I kept messing up my backhand slice – felt like hitting a wet sock instead of a tennis ball, you know? Then I stumbled on some Auburn Montgomery tennis coach advice floating around. Figured, what the heck, worth a shot. Grabbed my racket, a bucket of old balls, and headed to the cracked public courts downtown next morning.
Starting With Footwork Drills
First tip I saw was about footwork. Coach apparently screams “FEET FIRST!” like a broken record. Made sense ’cause I usually planted myself like a tree trunk then wondered why the ball sailed past. So I set up cones – well, actually, just my water bottle and gym bag corners – in a zigzag pattern.
Walked through them sideways, then jogged, then tried sprinting while keeping low. Felt like a drunk crab at first. Knees were burning after 5 minutes. But I kept at it for 20 minutes straight, shifting weight quickly. Next rally session, noticed I actually got to wide balls without tripping over my own laces.
Adjusting My Serve Toss
My serve’s always been a coin toss – sometimes smashes the fence, sometimes bounces before the net. Their coach says the toss is everything. I filmed myself with my phone. Shock moment: my toss wobbled like a jellyfish! Was tossing too far left, making my body twist funny.
Drilled tossing 50 times without even swinging. Just focused on throwing it straight up, slight inch into the court, same spot every time. Felt stupid tossing a ball 50 times for nothing. But then tried serving for real? Holy cow. Hit 7 out of 10 in the service box – usually I’m lucky to get 3. Ball actually went where I aimed for once.
The “Dirty Contact” Fix
Biggest disaster was volleys. Kept popping them up like beach balls. Coach mentioned “dirty contact” – keeping wrist firm and hitting through the ball low. Practiced against the chain-link fence as a backboard.
Made myself say “DIRTY” out loud every hit to remember wrist lock. First 10 minutes? Mostly fence dents and balls ricocheting into bushes. But then… click. Stopped trying to lift and just punched straight through. Sound changed from a weak “thud” to a sharp “crack”. Later in doubles practice, nailed two swinging volley winners. Teammate asked if I took steroids. Just grinned.
So what’s the takeaway? Did three things work magically overnight? Nah. But these pro tips – free ones even – gave me concrete crap to chew on instead of flailing wildly. Footwork isn’t sexy, tossing practice feels dumb, yelling “dirty contact” makes people stare… but dang if that Alabama coach advice didn’t shave points off my game. Gonna grind these basics all summer.
