The Importance of Teaching Angles

Key Points

• Teaching angles is extremely important from a young age
• Angles help you develop consistency and pull your opponent off the court
• Start working on angles from the service line
• The best grip to teach young kids is the semi-western grip, which allows you to generate spin and also hit the ball flat
• Placing the racket on the floor and picking it up with your knuckle on top creates the perfect semi-western grip
• Keep the elbow away from the body to create some space
• Elbow slightly bent and away from the body on the take-back
• Early unit turn with the racket tipped up
• Drive the hips through for extra power
• Left arm out to the side which allows for more shoulder rotation and coil
• Use the elbow on the follow through to "punch the bad guy"
• Use the open stance in the corner
• Recover from the open stance with crossover and shuffle steps
• When covering long distances, run to the ball, set up with your open stance and land on your outside foot
• Push the elbow away from the body
• Left hand positions the racket for the load of the upper body
• Work on hitting the side of the ball
• Move the racket low-to high and ‘punch the bad guy’
• Load and land on the outside leg
• Line up the right elbow and outside knee so everything is working in synch
• Follow through with your elbows above the shoulders
• Crossover step to the ball
• Keep the elbows away from the body
• Balls should cross the sideline before crossing the baseline
• Keep your head straight and drop the racket under the ball
• The trajectory of the ball should have lots of height with spin and the "ball should look like a rainbow"
• If the ball is below the height of the net, hit spin