Comments on: How To Prepare Early And Stop Hitting The Ball Late

By: Tomaz

Tomaz — Tue, 26 Aug 2025 16:15:05 +0000

In reply to Jeremy.

I am asking the player first to call out the stroke he is about to play by the time the ball hits the net. Those few meters of the ball flight from my racket to the net are enough for the player to read direction and call out the stroke if they are ALERT enough and. watch the ball well off my racket.

As you could see, my student is unable to do that at first. Eventually he gets better, but I am correcting him as he wants to also move forward and yet he hasn’t even read the ball’s depth.

We can read direction very quickly but not depth, the ball needs to fly much longer before we know how deep it’s going, so we shouldn’t be just going forward blindly.

So after about 5 minutes my student learned how to increase his focus and prepare earlier.

You can practice the same principle even in a live ball exchange, check this video: https://youtube.com/shorts/SifgVWo_naM?feature=share

By: Jeremy

Jeremy — Tue, 26 Aug 2025 14:47:11 +0000

Hi Tomaz,
It is tough to understand what you’re saying in the video when you hit it into the net because the sound is low. What exactly are you doing and having your student do when hitting it into the net?

By: Hanna

Hanna — Tue, 22 Nov 2022 23:10:56 +0000

Hi Tomaz, How To Teach Early Preparation With A Basket Feed – shared on FB but still not able to open it 🙁 please help, btw all your coaching tips are great!

By: Tomaz

Tomaz — Sat, 21 Mar 2020 10:46:38 +0000

In reply to Fredrik Janson. Great, thanks for the feedback!

By: Fredrik Janson

Fredrik Janson — Tue, 17 Mar 2020 19:04:55 +0000

All your instructions are very good. However this is the one instruction that has had the biggest impact on my game. This tip in combination with your tip on watching the ball/keep the head still is making miracles for my tennis.
Thanks a ton!

By: Tomaz

Tomaz — Tue, 19 Feb 2019 03:40:18 +0000

In reply to Mark Streit. Glad to hear it helped, Mark. Thanks for taking the time to comment and share your feedback, much appreciated!

By: Mark Streit

Mark Streit — Sun, 17 Feb 2019 18:14:49 +0000

This has helped me tremendously. I play alot with lesser players so I think I had a habit of not preparing early since most balls come back slow or short. Then when I play at higher levels I did not even know why the game suddenly became so much harder. After playing poorly a couple weeks ago, I pulled up this instruction and it really hit home and is working like magic! Thanks again, Mark

By: Tomaz

Tomaz — Fri, 23 Feb 2018 01:07:38 +0000

In reply to Keith.

Hi Keith,

If you freeze then it’s already late for whatever advice I can give you.

Eventually you’ll learn to react immediately even to the balls flying straight towards you.

In most cases players will move away from the ball flight to play a forehand as it’s much easier to play if you’re moving away than the one-handed backhand. Two-handed backhand does work fine if you move away from the ball.

I suggest you visualize this situation often times when you’re not on the court and see yourself making a move to play a forehand as soon as you see the ball coming straight towards you.

Eventually your mind will store this response to the incoming ball and will trigger the right response in real play while you’re on the court.

By: Keith

Keith — Wed, 21 Feb 2018 20:44:48 +0000

In the How to Stop hitting the Ball Late video: I understand calling the stroke at split-step if the ball is clearly over to one side or another, but what should one call out (or do) if it’s coming straight at me. i always seem to freeze initially, then don’t get good stroke preparation. Your advice?

By: Tomaz

Tomaz — Tue, 20 Sep 2016 12:48:31 +0000

In reply to Luca.

Hi Luca,

In doubles we always assume that the ball is going to us. Every time your opponent hits the ball react as if it’s going to come to you. If it does, you’re ready, if not, you let your partner handle it.

You’ll probably say that in that case you wasted your energy for nothing. Yes, that’s exactly what we have to do.

We react and prepare for each shot “just in case” it goes towards us but if it doesn’t we wasted energy. That’s how it is, there is no other way…