Learning how to aim in tennis is the key to better consistency and accuracy of your strokes.
While it may seem to you that aiming is something every tennis player does intuitively correctly it turns out that that's not the case.
Because tennis shots have to be played over the net, that requires 3 dimensional visualization of the ball's path not to mention imagining how we want to the ball to spin.
For people who have had lots of experience with sports with balls in their childhood this aiming process that I will describe below may come quite easily, but for others it will not.
Therefore I've laid out how I aim my shots in tennis and have broken it down to three concepts.
Step 1: Hit Along The Track
The first concept to have in mind is the "track" that starts at the contact point and leads all the way to your target area.
This track is roughly the width of the doubles alley and it helps me visualize the racket path through contact that extends long towards the target.
A narrow track helps you aim better and also helps you hit the ball cleaner.
This narrow track / path also affects how you execute the stroke technically as it makes you swing longer through the contact point as you extend along the track.
It's very similar idea to bowling where we have a long track and we extend along it towards the target.
To me hitting a tennis ball is like bowling in the air. The track is in the air and I also have to add some trajectory to the ball compared to bowling which I will explain in step 3 - having a window.
If you don't have a mental image of a narrow track and you just hit the ball with a more vague general idea of where you want to hit it, then your tennis technique will adapt to execute such a shot and consequently you won't be hitting the ball cleanly.
Step 2: Spin the ball on the horizontal axis
While I point out the spin axis here as step 2, you can easily add that later as step 3 if it requires too much of your mental focus.
Most of you reading this article already hit groundstrokes with topspin so you're already on the right track.
But what you may not realize is that spinning the ball EXACTLY around the horizontal axis really helps with ball control and accuracy.
Visualizing to spin the ball exactly on the horizontal axis really helps you clean up your stroke technique.
It's quite easy to just hit topspin but in most cases you're hitting the ball a bit too much across which makes the ball spin in an axis that is slightly tilted.
While you still get most of the benefits of topspin, you are not hitting the ball as cleanly as possible and you are not hitting it the most accurately.
Step 3: Aim into a window above the net
The "window" is something that most tennis players don't visualize well.
While most players have some vague idea about height above the net, it's too generic and does not make the player control the accuracy of their height better.
In many cases players have no idea about the height at all as they are making their shot, they think just in 2 dimensions, meaning they are just deciding whether to hit the ball left or right without any height parameter.
Visualizing a window above the net helps with accuracy and depth control.
This is approximately the size of the window I visualize.
I approximated the size of the window I visualize with the space between the two umbrellas so that you have a better idea how big the window is.
It of course must depend on your skill level. Lower level players should visualize bigger windows and higher level players can visualize smaller windows.
Why Do I Aim Into A Window Rather Than A Target On Ground?
While I of course know the area on the court on the other side where I would like my ball to land, I don't really feel I can aim accurately because that target is so far from me.
The window above the net is way closer to me and it doesn't feel that difficult to me to hit it.
I aim EVERY single shot I make into the window above the net.
So I feel much more confident when I make my shots as I can "feel" much better where the window is above the net depending on whether I am hitting down the line or cross court.
To better understand what I mean by "feeling where the window is", start with drop hitting and stand at around the service line and aim into a window.
Aiming into the window from the service line first gives you a better idea of how much easier is to aim into a window than a ground target.
You'll see that it doesn't seem that difficult to hit such a big window. Then gradually move back and keep hitting into a window.
Note that in tennis we cannot watch where we hit but we need to watch the ball. Therefore we need to have some kind of orientation in our mind in which direction to hit the ball.
And since the window is closer to me than the ground target I find it much easier to orient in space and know in which direction the window is in relation to the ball and therefore I can play very accurate shots.
One more thing: once you define the height with the window, all you need to figure out is the speed and spin parameters that combined with the height give you good depth.
Hitting with the right speed and the right height results in good depth.
Good depth is the key to consistency and neutralizing your opponent from attacking.
And once you have the window and the right speed (assuming your topspin rate is mostly the same) then depth is the result of those parameters.
As you tweak the parameters of depth and speed you also control depth.
Summary
In tennis we can make an analogy to driving a car - tennis technique is like an engine and aiming in tennis is like being a driver.
No matter how much you improve your technique, if you're not "driving" it the right way, meaning you don't aim your shots the right way, then technique is not going to be effective.
You've learned about the idea of tracks, horizontal spin and a window above the net.
If none of these are currently in your mind as you are about to hit a forehand or backhand, then I suggest you start with a window idea first.
It will give you a direction and height parameter.
Refine it later with a track parameter and lastly refine it with a horizontal spin idea.
And just like in driving it was tough the first few driving lessons to keep all the instructions in mind but then in time they became subconscious, so is the same process in tennis.
Learning to aim like described above will take more of your mental effort at first but eventually your subconscious will take over.
I invite you to incorporate the right way to aim in tennis into your game and return to this article after some time to share your feedback with the rest of us.
Your instruction is the best I have encountered.
There is one overriding principle that always limits the amount of benefit I derive from the lessons. ( all lessons except serve and return)
I can eventually master the technique with practice but only in practice. When I play a match much of what I learned goes out the window for one simple reason. I don’t get to the ball in time. When I am late I struggle just to keep the ball in play and cannot apply effectively the correct strokes.
I assume most players no this but it still leads to frustration when u can’t make use of good information as provided in your lessons. Simply stated as u r aware if u don’t get to the ball on time there is no way to improve your game.
Have h addressed this subject ??
Thank u for all u do for tennis.
Earl
Thanks for the kind feedback, Earl.
Here are a few things that come to my mind:
1. If you are really constantly out of the time in the match then you are playing someone who is way too good for you at the moment. You need to play someone your level and also lower level than you in order to have time.
2. You are standing too close to the baseline taking the time away yourself. Of course I don’t know that, I am just giving you things to consider so that you can correct them. If this is the case, then stay further behind the baseline so that you can have more time to position.
3. You don’t recover quickly after your previous shot and you don’t recover to the right position so now you really have to run for the next shot. Check the “Just In Case” series of videos and see which of those 4 topics apply to you: https://www.feeltennis.net/improve-game/
4. You will still sometimes run out of time even when you apply all of the above, your opponent will just hit a good shot. In those cases you CANNOT apply new techniques, it is completely normal. You need to improvise just like every player at every level has to do. At the pro level the last statistics I remember from one of the seminars I attended was that the players position well to the ball around 60% of the time. That means 40% of the time they are hitting while on the move. Some of those shots are hit at complete stretch and obviously “correct” technique is not possible.
Check out my article on the Myth Of Tennis Technique and watch the video on top to see how many times Federer hits with “incorrect technique”: https://www.feeltennis.net/tennis-technique-myth/
Let me know if any of these tips help…