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Submitted by: Nick

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Hey Paul, Just gonna give you some suggestions for each of your questions. They are all great questions that can be answered, but there is no one correct answer. They are questions that each player has to figure out through many matches. 1) "Losing The Lead" Losing after a great start happens all the time. The main reason is that after getting ahead one naturally has a "letdown". It's how we deal with this letdown that matters. One way is to increase your intensity after getting ahead;"I want to WIN this set". Continue doing whatever play you did to get ahead, and if anything be MORE aggressive. Also your opponent may have increased his level and/or be more relaxed playing behind. Accept this, there is nothing you can do about it. He is playing well and the match is going to be harder now. Check out the article by Tomaz about this (specifically the video of Federer and Nalbandian). Federer accepts losing the 3rd and 4th set and manages to fight his way back to a breaker in the 5th. http://www.tennismindgame.com/losing-a-lead.html 2) "Holding Serve" You say that your serve is solid and not a weakness. Although you don't say that it's a weapon. The serve is at best a weapon and at least neutralizes your opponent. To make your serve a weapon you need placement then power (since you already have consistency). Most of your serves (around 80%) should go to your opponent's weaker side (backhand usually). All of your second serves should go to your opponent's weaker side (maybe a couple somewhere else just for variation). Whenever you step up to serve decide what target you want to hit (down the T, wide, or into the body). For power keep three things in mind: I. Hit the ball at FULL extension II. Get your body weight going FOWARD into the court. III. Practice, Practice, Practice. Timing is everything with the serve and the body needs a lot of time to get coordinated. 3) "Controlled Aggression" Any shot that pressures your opponent into making an error is as good as a winner. I'm assuming that your talking about the baseline. First off it's very hard to hit winners at or behind the baseline. The main objective of hitting shots at the baseline is to get the short ball. Also an important principle is that the higher back behind the baseline you are the more you have to "lift the ball" with more arc. After getting the short ball THEN you can attack. You can go for the winner cross court or approach the net down the line. At the net you have many angles available and it's much easier to end the point. If net play isn't part of your game then by all means go for a down the line winner off a short ball, again this is about what works for you. Hope the suggestions were helpful, good luck with your game. -Nick

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