Having a sense of purpose and the 17 dollar serve

by Russell Tamas
(Atlanta, Georgia, USA)

Last night I played a doubles league match with a good friend of mine as my partner. We have not played together in over 6 months. We are both recreational players and play 3 - 5 times a week.

The warm-up went well and it seemed that we would have a very competitive match against some worthy opponents. We were down 0-4 in the first set when I explained to my partner that we only play 2 sets and 10 point tie-breaker if we split sets.

It was then we both checked into the match and started chipping away at the task in front of us. We went on a 5 game run to get to 5-4. We lost the next game and won the following two to take the first set 7-5.

We opened the 2nd set and started strong with the goal of not having a mental letdown. Next thing we know we were up 4-0 in the second. I think we got a little comfortable here and let up a bit; our opponents rallied back to make it 4-4.

My partner and I paused to regroup and get our minds in the right place. I won my serve to make it 5-4 and we went on the break them for the match. We had more fun playing that last night than either of us could remember in a very long time.

The thing I learned the most in that match is to have a clear picture of what you need to do on the tennis court at all times. If you do not step on to the court with a sense of purpose and urgency the points and games will easily slip away from you and the match will be over before you know it.

Without a purpose and proper focus you will be left sitting on the side line wondering what just happened; I know I have been there before.

I started playing just over a year ago and cannot seem to get on the court enough. My wife tells ours friends that I learned to play tennis watching videos off of the Internet (thank you Tomaz).

They often laugh and giggle in disbelief with one another about the subject. That is until they are on the opposite end of the court and receiving my serve.

This is where I start to laugh and giggle and they are standing there confused with the power, action and placement I put on the ball. I tell them that is my 17 dollar serve and anyone can learn it.

Thank you for a great set of instructional videos to kick start my tennis career.