Glam Slam Tennis

Get a Grip… On Your Volleys

Lisa Dodson, The Total Serve (www.thetotalserve.com) — Thu, 09 May 2013 11:03:44 +0000

The most critical aspect of the volley is the GRIP. Holding the grip in the proper place (Continental) ensures that the racket edge will be forward for hitting volleys with under spin and control. Volleys are control shots not typically power shots.

Here are a few grip reminders to ensure a great CLASSIC volley from anywhere on the court:

Spread your hand out a bit on the grip vs. bunching your fingers together.
No death grips – hold the racquet lightly.
Stand with good upper body posture in your volley ready position – it impacts your grip.
Line the “V” part of your hand up with the first bevel to the left on your grip if you are right handed.

Check out part one in our series on the volley.

Getting a feel for the backhand slice

Kathy Toon — Fri, 03 May 2013 11:05:36 +0000

Hitting the slice – it’s a love hate kind of thing. You’ll absolutely love having this shot in your repertoire and you’ll probably hate learning it

Good news. Here’s a fun way to get a feel for the backhand slice – borrow your kid’s Frisbee and start tossing it around!

The motion of the backhand slice in tennis is very similar to that of tossing a Frisbee. I’m talking about the basic, recreational Frisbee toss, not the modern slick shots you see in high-level ultimate Frisbee.

Check out the video below and get a glimpse of GlamSlammer’s at a recent clinic getting a feel for this fabulous shot.

Return of Serve – Breathe your way to a better return

Jan Brogan — Thu, 25 Apr 2013 11:06:54 +0000

Unfortunately many of us hold our breath when we get nervous or uptight on the tennis court. If we do breathe, it’s usually shallow, which causes an increase in muscle tightness and blood pressure -making the situation worse. We see this a lot on the return of serve.

Players have a lot of time while waiting to return serve. Too often our minds do a number on us by bombarding our brain with thoughts. It’s tough to stay relaxed with this mental barrage going on.

Nothing controls and calms the mind like full, deep breathing. With proper breathing, we can actually lower our reaction time, and stay calm, cool and collected for the return of serve.

When we breathe deeply – into the lower lobes of the lungs, the parasympathetic nervous system is activated, which produces endorphins, which in turn makes us feel relaxed. Breathing can help us let go of distractions, get re-centered and refocused on the task at hand – getting the return of serve in play!

Learn to Love the Half Volley

Amy Jensen — Thu, 11 Apr 2013 11:28:51 +0000

Ok – so your opponent watched our recent video on The Dip shot, mastered the technique and is constantly getting the ball at your feet. What do you do? First of all, well done to her – ‘cause you are now forced to hit a shot few of us would choose to – the Half Volley!

The half volley happens when the ball lands at your feet so it’s too short to use your regular volley and you’re too close to the net to hit a full groundstroke. A lot happens in a short amount of time and you end up having to hit the ball as it is coming off the ground.

Too often players opt to slice this shot back with a modified volley motion. Makes sense on paper– it is a half volley after all. Check out today’s lesson as Coach Amy Jensen breaks down the half volley and gives you a great tip on successfully dealing with this shot.

Serve & Volley – A Must Have for Doubles Success

Jan Brogan — Thu, 04 Apr 2013 10:15:34 +0000

If you want to be a good doubles player, let alone a great one, you MUST be able to serve and volley. True, a lot of pieces must come together to execute the serve and volley – get the serve in, transition to the net, make the first volley and be ready to close the net – all the effort is worth it.

The cornerstone in this whole process is what we call the “transition volley.” This requires hitting a volley on your way to the net. I know it sounds counter intuitive – most of us feel like we need to stop and set up to hit this mid court volley. Yet the opposite is true. It takes some work, yet the best transition volley’ers learn to “float” right through their shot on their way to the net.

To practice this shot, focus on your “split step” rather than doing a “split stop”. The split step is a fluid motion as you move to and thru the volley.

A picture’s worth a thousand words so check out the video and see beauty in motion!