TENNIS – After the Roland Garros, the grass court season get’s underway and our GPTCA International coach, Mike James, explains the particular training needed to play on grass.
Oh yes that famous headline from a former ATP tour player ten years ago.
Since that famous quote things have changed during an interesting month on the ATP Tour.
In this article I shall take you through my findings from working and being around players competing on grass courts in the UK and witnessing first hand differences that make grass such a touch surface for any player in the modern game.
Grass court tennis requires the most short-term concentration because the average rally length is shorter than other surfaces. Players have to be totally focussed to handle the speed of the ball in shorter bursts. A sudden loss of concentration may cause two or three loose errors and result in a service break.
The basic mental approach on grass courts should be to dominate the opponent and dictate the tempo of the points. Being reactive to the opponent’s shots does not get you very far on fast courts.
One of the most difficult challenges for players who for the best part of the season compete and train on slow courts is understanding and accepting that they will make many more errors than normal. There will also be a feeling that it is difficult to establish a consistent rally tempo. Learning to accept these conditions and deal with them is part of playing on grass courts. Remember that both players tolerance level will become lower than normal with more cheap points making a presence.
Overall, the scores of sets are usually considerably closer on grass courts due to the fact that there are less service breaks. As such, the player must be able to play the big point well towards the end of sets and tie-breaks.
Seeing the ball well, and fast reaction and response times are great assets. Combined with good anticipation skills, these elements allow the player to use the fast court to his advantage.
Dynamic balance is at a premium since all the movements must be performed quickly and efficiently. Having an affective explosive strong first step is key with a much lower centre of gravity. Focusing on the bottom half of the body is more important in this physical phase than strength work around the chest and shoulders.
During the grass court season, be sure that players maintain their level of endurance with off-court training since there will be less aerobic benefit from the tennis itself. Players must be ready and accept they will often make fairly jerky and uncomfortable movements .
Having a great serving is an obvious asset on a grass court although with the grass being longer and the balls being lighter you now see far less aces being hit at Wimbledon. Strong servers like Isner and Del Potro often win over 80% of the points on first serve. Good placement, combined with sheer power, will reap many dividends. Slice serves are very effective on grass courts.
The return of serve in men’s tennis on grass courts is vital, the average number of balls per point is less than two in matches involving big servers. The serve and missed returns account for a huge number of points. Returning first serves with reasonable consistency and effectiveness, and taking advantage of second serve opportunities are what set up service breaks.
The ability to load quickly and make compact strokes like Murrey or Djokovic is important with the ball coming quick off the court.
Players standing close to the baseline allows the player to dictate the tempo of the points. Developing the timing to use the opponent’s pace to block the ball back, often offensively, is very beneficial.
Offensive slice backhands can be deadly, while slow defensively hit slice will have little effect and tend to sit up. Driving through the ball, sometimes with even a bit of sidespin, puts more pressure on the opponent
Effective volleyer’s are in their element on grass courts. Serve and volley tends to be used as a surprise tactic compered to 15/20 years ago. In the modern game you tend to see “Hit and Charge” approach or ghosting in after the serve. This is where the serve delays coming in until they see the returner in trouble and often drive volley the approach.
The ability to anticipate and maintain a strong court position is key. Specialty shots such as half volleys, backhand overheads and a variety of emergency volleys are very important and often keep the net-player in the points. Emergency volleys would include situations where the player is stretching or diving for the ball: or handling a ball hit very hard at the body.
Overall having a weapon and fantastic concentration are key in today grass court circuit, this makes for a very open interesting part to the ATP tour.
