As the former French Open Champ & World No 2 tennis player Michael Chang once said “depth is King”.

And he should know, as he was only kept of the top of the rankings and winning at Wimbledon and at the US Open by tennis immortals Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi.

He was also really the forerunner for some of the great players of today players like Rafa Nadal.

Anyway, this is what this tennis tip will do for you in the real world of tennis (and that’s where it really counts) -

It will keep you in the point for more shots and as we all know at this stage, keeping lots of shots in court isn’t always easy.

You will be asking your opponent to hit an extra 1 or 2 shots every point than they may feel uncomfortable with and that will often lead them to make errors.

Remember what it says in the rules of tennis – “the winner of the point is the last person to hit the ball in court” – consistent depth will help you to be that person.

To help you achieve this, use the large rectangle formed by the service line, baseline and singles sidelines as your target.

Spend 5 minutes before your next practise/lesson etc and look at it from over the net and keep looking at it as you walk back to he baseline.

Then, drop some balls for yourself and hit shots over the net trying to get the ball in this “back box”.

You can even try adding in this simple scoring sytem to help add a bit of fun and pressure.

You award yourself 5 points if your shot goes over and lands in either of the service boxes.

You award yourself 10 points if your shot goes over and lands in the back box (the rectangle we spoke about earlier).

You score zero if the ball fails to go over the net.

You also score zero if the ball goes too deep and drops beyond the baseline as well as if it is too wide and drops in the tramlines or completely out of court.

Keep a note of your scores for say 10 shots and see how long it takes you to regularly hit 100!!

As your scores go up, so will your game.

Tip

The biggest mistake most players at this level make is that they hit the ball too low and therfore possibly into the net or too short if they do get it over.

Your ball when hit from the baseline should be roughly twice the height of the net as it goes over.

Provided you hit the shot with some topspin, the ball should fall comfortably into the court on the other side of the net.

Practising this drill (on both forehand and backhand), either on your own or with a partner will pay great dividends for you in the future as it will teach you about how to hit the ball as well as where to hit it.

Have a go at it today.

Another new season of tennis is upon us as the Aussie Open is underway.  The women’s side of tennis is certainly interesting with Justine Henin back, but this article will focus on the men’s tour.

Things will certainly be interesting in men’s tennis this year.  It’s one of the first years in recent memory where fans legitimately believe that more than just two players have a chance at finishing on top.

Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal have had a profound impact on the sport and remain the top two in the game, but their leads aren’t as comfortable as they once used to be.  As a result, it’s time to list a few more players who may finish at the top.  Let’s look at the contenders.

No article like this would be proper without calling Federer the most likely person to rank atop the world.  After all, he’s held a pretty firm grasp on the position for over eight years now.  On the other hand, he’s getting older and others are catching up.

Last year, Federer’s dominance was threatened by Rafael Nadal, who legitimately owned the Swiss legend in their head to head matchups.  Having beaten him in the finals at the Australian Open and Wimbledon the prior year, Nadal looked to be the likely heir to the throne.  Still, he has injury issues that tend to get in the way.

Out of nowhere last year came Juan Martin Del Potro, a young sensation from Argentina who seemingly came out of nowhere to stun the world when he defeated Roger Federer in the finals of the US Open last year.  Many believe that he could very likely finish the year at number one.

Then, there are two final players who will both have a go at the throne.

From Serbia comes Novak Djokovic, a player whose potential has long been known.  Unfortunately, the talent of Federer and Nadal has been too great for him to surpass.  This could change though, and 2010 could be his breakout year.

One final player worth mentioning is Andy Murray.  Since he reached the world’s number two rank last year, his consistent showing at major events could put him in a position to surprise many fans should he capture a slam or two.

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