Feature
Article 
The Phenom
As I travel around the tennis community, the most
common topic of conversation is Donald Young and the state of African
American tennis today. Even if Donald's not the conversation eventually
it comes back to him. Is he the next biggest thing in tennis? Will
he dominate and rejuvenate American tennis? What makes him special?
What does he have to do to dominate the Pro tour?
Well, he moves like a gazelle, and pinpoints,
laserlike groundstrokes, with accuracy. He also has great hands
and volleys like McEnroe. Why is he not dominating men's tennis?
Well at every level of play adjustments need to be made. Each player
must figure out what he or she has to do to win. Example: to go
from state ranked junior to top level national player the most common
adjustment is consitency, and court coverage, to go from juniors
to collegiate player the most common adjustments are learning how
attack and how to handle pressure. So, once he figures out what
adjustments to make he'll be ok. Secondly, he needs to stronger
physically, it's still a boy against men. Lastly, he needs to develop
a weapon, so that opposing players have something to fear.
The Phenom is right on schedule to dominate. He
has all the tools,and good leaderships(parents), and he will dominate
in due time. |
Tip
of the Month
How To Play
a Serve-and-Volleyer
1. Don’t try to pass a serve-and-volleyer
until you find out if they can actually volley. You may be rushing
and over hitting passing shots against a player who can’t volley.
2. Serve-and-volleyers depend on pressure and percentages. So, don’t
miss returns. To keep the pressure on him, take all returns down
the middle, forcing your opponent to constantly make good solid
volleys over and over. Then be aggressive with passes after the
first volley.
3. Establish a pattern, so that you can break it on a big point.
Example: Take all passing shots cross-court early in the match,
then on a big point pass down the line. Your opponent will pick
up on the fact that you’re only going cross court and when you go
down the line, your opponent will be no where to be found.
4. If all else fails beat your opponent to the net. Most serve-and-volleyers
are uncomfortable on the baseline, and most won’t venture in if
you’re already there.
Good Luck!
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