Top Ten Tips

No, not the top ten "writing" tips, or "reading" tips, or "how to organize books" tips.

These are the top ten "tennis" tips (I like this bit of alliteration, don't you?).

It's completely off-topic for the stuff I usually blog about, but I'm blogging about it nonetheless because...well, I find these tips so wonderfully basic, so unquestionably, um, true. They've reminded me of all the principles behind the drills that were, er, drilled into me during my first couple of years of learning the sport, and which I needed to remind myself of periodically even when I somehow managed to scale the ladder from beginner to intermediate player.

In fact, the tips appeal to me so much that, in fear of that web-page suddenly being deleted, I am copying-and-pasting it all here:

This is a list of musts for tennis players. If you are struggling with your game I suggest you look at this list of back to basic tips and make sure you are doing all ten of these things correctly.

1. Watching the Ball-It is crucial to watch the ball all the way to your racquet.
2. Moving Your Feet- You must have quick feet. Don't run around the court with long strides, take short quick steps.
3. Keeping Your Head up when you Serve-Keeping your head up helps you watch the ball all the way to the point of contact.
4. Following Through- The follow through is one of the most important aspects of the most common strokes in tennis.
5. Turning Your Shoulders- Turning your shoulders helps you get your racquet back into the right position.
6. Step Into Your Volleys- Stepping into your volleys is a great way to make sure that you get shoulder turn and a lot more power into your volleys.
7. Pointing at the Overhead- When you point at the overhead you create a target.
8.Getting the Racquet Back Early- Late swings account for the majority of poor shots.
9. Using Your Hips with the Two-Handed Backhand- Using your hips gives you a compact but solid backhand.
10. Develop Match Play- If you can play as well in a match as in practice you will be successful.

There you have it, the top ten to do list for tennis players. It is very easy to get away from good fundamentals, but just as easy to get back to these good fundamentals. Implement these ten tips into your game and you will be back on the road to happy hitting.

And to make doubly, no, triply sure that I don't lose this, I'm going to save this into my computer, and print it out as well.

Strangely, I'm doing this even if I can't play the game regularly anymore, damn my bum knee.

It's always a good idea to fall back on the fundamentals when you're having trouble with whatever it is you're trying to do, don't you think?