The fundamental part of learning how to play tennis is getting used to each of the swings. You have to get comfortable with using your forehand and work on putting the same amount of power on your backhand.

Whatever kind of motion you're doing, though, you have to remember to follow through! Some beginner tennis players won't complete their full range of motion on a swing. This hinders the amount of force you can put on the ball.

Stop doing things halfway if you really want to know how to get better at tennis. A little more focus on your swing can create incredible results.

 

A proper warm-up provides five very important things for a tennis athlete:

1. Increases body temperature allowing muscles to work more efficiently
2. Primes the cardiovascular system and gets the heart and lungs ready for vigorous activity
3. Stretches muscles actively, preparing them for the forces of experiences during tennis
4. Engrains proper movement patterns and the coordination needed in tennis
5. Wakes up the nervous system and gets the brain talking with the muscles

Not only is a warm up important for you to get comfortable and loose on the court, but it is a great way to learn about your opponent. A warm up can showcase a lot of your opponent's strengths and weaknesses.

All players should have a strategy to play to their own strengths each match, however, players that succeed and stand out are players that can adjust their strategy on the fly based on what you can gather from your opponent in the warm up.

Simultaneously try to get a feel for not only your own, but also your opponent's strokes, footwork, mentality and strategy for the game.

 

The serve is the most critical and valuable shot in tennis. A strong serve will allow you to ace your opponent and quickly win a point. While on the other hand, a weak serve allows your opponent the opportunity to aggressively return the ball and dictate the point. And worst case scenario, inconsistent serves can lead to double faults, handing your opponent a free point.


The serve is the only shot in tennis that you have complete control over. You have the luxury of dictating where you place the tennis ball, how you spin it, and how fast you hit, allowing you to end the point before your opponent has even touched the ball.

 

In tennis there are three main ways to hold a racket: western, eastern, and continental grips. There is no single grip that is right for everyone, and many players use grip variations. Most players naturally hold the tennis racket in an eastern forehand grip. Many tennis pros, like Roger Federer, use this grip. For an eastern grip, take your dominant hand and place the index knuckle on the third bevel, in line with the string face.

The backhand can be tricky, because most players will change their grip slightly. If you have an eastern forehand grip, then most likely your backhand will change to a continental grip. For the continental grip, simply shift the index finger of your dominant hand to the the 2nd bevel and hold the handle as if you are shaking someone's hand.