Britain's bitter sweet Davis Cup win

Last Sunday the British Davis Cup team claimed the title for the first time since 1936. It was a great milestone for the team, let’s acknowledge that, but let’s also not lose sight of the fact that the only real reason that it was such a “sensational win,” as Prime Minster David Cameron put it, was due to the nearly 80 years that passed without a victory for the Grand Slam nation. By contrast, each of the other Grand Slam nations have had a victory in the past 14 years.

(Murray) has given up talking to the LTA about the future of the game as he says it’s a waste of time

What is particularly worrying for British tennis is that there is a dearth of junior players coming through the ranks, which Andy Murray was quick to point out following the team’s Davis Cup victory. “We used to have junior No 1s and juniors competing for Grand Slams." If you consider that British tennis at the professional level is as strong as it has been since the 1930s, albeit almost solely thanks to the achievements of Murray, then it presents quite a dilemma. When you have the World No 2 player, who has won two Grand Slams and the gold medal at his home Olympics, you would expect participation to be through the roof. I still recall how Pat Cash’s victory at Wimbledon in 1987, after not having a slam winner in over 10 years, inspired a generation of young Australian’s, including myself, to take up the sport. So what’s going on in the the UK?

According to Murray, the Lawn Tennis Association (LTA), the governing body of tennis in the UK is simply not doing enough. And he has given up talking to the LTA about the future of the game as he says it’s a waste of time because “nothing ever gets done.” Former British player, John Lloyd, has echoed his sentiments: “I’m hearing that things aren’t changing…it is the same old stuff.” Lloyd even suggested things are going backwards under the LTA’s current chief executive, Downey. It’s difficult to argue otherwise when you hear that the LTA’s chief has only spent 10 minutes with Murray in the last two years.

So what needs to be done? The LTA is the world’s richest tennis association for one simple reason: Wimbledon. Wimbledon has provided the LTA with around 250 million pounds over the past 10 years. Now THAT I consider sensational! To have a tennis club provide that level of funding to its governing body and see no payoff, particularly amongst its juniors, is heart-breaking and would almost be considered criminal in other countries where far more success has come from far less funding. Lloyd says Wimbledon’s money is not enough and they need to take a more active roll in deciding how their funds are used rather than sitting back and saying it’s not their job.

I have to agree with Lloyd. The LTA’s approach has clearly been utterly ineffective for far too long. If Wimbledon can put on the world’s greatest tennis tournament and become the world’s richest club, perhaps there are a few chaps in their ranks that have some brighter ideas than the LTA when it comes to investing in the future of British tennis. Are the ladies and gentleman of Wimbledon prepared to get their hands dirty?

Tip of the week: Practice often

If you play purely for fun then a weekly game may suit you just fine. But if you're serious about improving, whatever your current level, then you need to commit to playing at least twice, preferably three times a week. A coach might only be required for one of these sessions to teach you new skills and check you're still on the right track after you've been practicing.

When you're learning a new skill, a significant amount of repetition is required to forge the new muscle memory that will ultimately result in a stroke that doesn't require conscious thought. By playing every 2-3 days you will quickly regain your feel for the ball and get back to where you left off the previous session. Conversely, if you're only playing once a week, a significant portion of the session will be spent getting back to where you left off. So three hours of play in one week will be more beneficial than one hour a week for three weeks.

If for whatever reason you can't get on court then try either watching pro level tennis on TV or visualizing yourself playing. Studies have shown that both methods can improve performance, compared to those that don’t engage in any related physical or mental activity, as muscle memory is still being built. See you on the court!

World Tour Finals hotting up

The Barclays ATP World Tour Finals in London is closing in on the end of the round robin stage, but it’s already shaping up to be one of the most exciting end of season events for many years.

has Federer finally managed to waken some of Novak’s mental demons?

First off there was Roger Federer dispatching World No 1, Novak Djokovic in straight sets. This was more than merely an upset. It put an end to a 23-match win streak by Djokovic, his last loss being to Federer in the Cincinnati final at the end of August. It also snapped Djokovic's 38-match win streak indoors, which included winning the Tour Finals for the past three years and defeating Federer each time along the way. Perhaps even more notable is that Federer’s victory prevented Djokovic from getting the upper hand in their career head-to-head meetings for the first time ever with Federer moving ahead 22-21. In a season when Djokovic has been utterly dominant, has Federer finally managed to waken some of Novak’s mental demons? Everyone other player will be hoping so!

If that wasn’t enough, Rafael Nadal went out the next day and crushed World No 2 Andy Murray, after perviously dispatching of Stan Wawrinka in a similar fashion. Casual observers of the game might not raise an eyebrow as Nadal and Murray have also had a competitive rivalry in recent years. However, Nadal has been a shadow of his former self this season. The biggest slump of his career has been typified by a barren clay court swing, which throughout his career has been the bread and butter of his seasons. His confidence has been shot, regularly losing to players well below him in the rankings, even falling to a player outside the top-100 at Wimbledon. Murray on the other hand has had a strong season, including defeating Nadal on his beloved clay the only other time they met this season. Murray has been complaining about the transition he has had to make between the clay courts he has been practicing on for Britain’s upcoming Davis Cup final and the medium-paced hardcourt that the Tour Finals is being played on. Regardless of whether this gripe has any real significance, Nadal’s emphatic victory has shaken things up.

So Federer and Nadal (from different groups) are through to the semi-finals. Both have topped their groups meaning they won't meet each other in the semis. Djokovic has made it through as the second qualifier in Stan Smith Group after defeating Berdych, so he will face Nadal in the semis. The second player through in Ilie Nastase Group will be the winner of Wawrinka versus Murray, an interesting matchup given their form so far. At the time of writing the pair are about to head onto court so as you're reading this the final four will be set. I'll back Federer to go through to the final and, despite Nadal's inspiring form, I think Djokovic will meet him there for a rematch. If that plays out you can be sure Novak will be eager to seize the opportunity to level their head-to-head once again and remind the world who is the past king and who is the reigning king!

Tip of the week: Use the unit-turn

One of the biggest problems players have when trying to hit the modern forehand is not performing a proper unit turn. Too often, as players prepare to hit an open-stance forehand, they simply stick their hitting arm out to the side while keeping their upper body facing the net. This lack of rotation of the shoulders can cause a major loss of control. In an attempt to generate power the player will likely bend their elbow which will pull the racket towards their body rather than have it follow the ball.

An easy fix to ensure that the shoulders still rotate away from the net on the open stance forehand is to keep your non-dominant hand on the racket as you take it back. This will force the shoulder of your non-dominant arm to move across your body. Bending your knees to allow your hips to turn will enable you to achieve a good 90 degree shoulder turn. Release this position only when you're ready to swing at the ball. As your shoulders rotate back towards the net you'll find that power comes completely effortlessly and at the same time your control will be improved as the momentum of your shoulder will naturally swing the racket through the ball and towards the target. See you on the court!

Second serve the key

When I ask a student what the most important shot in the game is I expect them to answer with the serve or the return, since the serve is the first shot of every rally while the return is the first chance the returner has to neutralise the server's first strike advantage. Taking a look at the World No 1's serve and return stats, particularly on second serves, seems to confirm this.

Novak crushes it on his second serve, topping the list of second serve points won (60%)

Djokovic essentially turns most players’ second serve into a weapon of his own. In 2015 he has won 60% of points started with his opponents’ second serves, more than any other player. The top servers average 60%-70% of first serves in play. This means that, even for the best servers, for the 30-40% of points on their serve that are started with a second serve, they can expect to lose most of them when playing Novak.

You might say, well a good sever who is averaging around 65% of first serves in play and is winning the vast majority, let’s say at least 75%, won’t be bothered by losing most of their second serve points. Maybe not against most players. But Djokovic, being the returning machine that he is, claims 33% of points on his opponents’ first serves as well (bettered only by Ferrer). Some quick maths on these aggregate stats tells us that overall Djokovic can expect to win over 40% of points against a strong serving opponent. Weaker servers, or those missing more first serves than usual due to the pressure of Novak’s return game, well they won’t stand a chance!

So what about his serve? We know he’s not the very best server right? Well he certainly doesn’t have the biggest first serve, his position at No 20 on the most aces list testifies to that. And he’s not the most effective either at No 17 on the list for percentage of first serve points won. But his stat of 75% isn’t too shabby either. And this stat only refers to WHEN the point is started with a first serve, so when coupled with his high percentage of first serves in (66%, which is the tour’s sixth best) he’s going to get his fair share of easy points on serve.

Surely his opponents’ best chances will be on his second serve then? Think again! Novak crushes it on his second serve, topping the list of second serve points won (60%), well clear of the serving master himself, Federer in second place. This is probably the least known strength in Novak’s game since the second serve doesn’t seem worthy of much attention. But it’s a crucial factor in Novak’s dominance that has been a mainstay of his repertoire throughout his career. As Pete Sampras once said “You’re only as good as your second serve."