6 Skills to Learn at Tennis Camp
When you go to tennis camp, you are going to learn the rules of the game and the strategy behind them. You will learn where to stand and how to keep score, sportsmanship and when to switch sides. You will learn strategy. Human Kinetics gives you a good example of the types of strategies you might learn. Amidst all of this learning, you will be focusing on the specific skills you need in order to be a great tennis player.
6 Things You Can Learn at Tennis Camp
When you are at tennis camp, you will learn a lot. Here are six of the main things that you will learn while you are there.
- Serving
Learning to serve is more difficult than you might think. It is not enough to just hit the ball. You have to make sure your toss is just right. You want power, but you also want to make sure you have to follow through. You also need to aim it to be in the correct spot.
What happens if you hit the net or go out of bounds or do anything else that counts as a fault? You get a ‘do over,’ but you also have to know what happens if you get a double fault.
At camp, you will learn all of the rules of serving as well as how to do it at all, and then how to do it well.
- Forehand
The forehand might not be the easiest shot to learn, but it is going to be the most common. It occurs when you hit from your strong side. In other words, if you are right handed, it is going to be easier for you to hit from the right side. You might need to take a step or two to ensure you get to hit from that side.
How you stand to make this hit and how you get in place to make sure you are able to hit it from this side can be tough. At tennis camp, you will be able to pick this up.
If you are already a tennis player, especially if you are a decent or even great tennis player, you can still work on your skills here. This is what is sometimes called the meat and potatoes of shots, so that should tell you how important it is.
You can be great at every other aspect of the game, but if your forehand is lacking, then your game is not going to be what it should be.
- Backhand
The backhand is often considered the hardest shot you might have to take. It is done the opposite of the forehand. You hit from your non-strong side.
If you are left-handed, you would hit from your right side. This means you must reach your arm across your body in order to hit the ball back.
Learning this hit takes a lot of work and practice. Often, you will need a lot of instructions. This is one of the reasons tennis camp is so great. You will get a lot of help and practice on getting your backhand down pat.
- Lob
You never want to let your opponents know what you are doing in tennis. It’s a lot of fun to hit a hard shot that cannot be returned, but if they are expecting that shot, then you want to throw them off with a softer, easier hit that is intended more to just go over the net. Enter the lob.
The lob is good to use if you cannot get to the ball in time to send it torching towards the other side. It is also used to fool the person you are playing against.
You can lob the ball with a backhand, forehand, or volley, though the last is less common. Learning this skill can be very useful, but it is something you want to practice. At camp, you can pick up this skill.
- Overhead
An overhead shot can be a backhand or a forehand that occurs over the head. Often, it is a response to a lob. This is a great spot to put a lot of power in the shot and to smack it down in order to attempt to get a point.
The overhead, when done correctly, is a lot of fun and looks really impressive. Think of it like a spike in volleyball. It is the one that gets all the ‘whoa’s!’ It also can seem scary to the other team who can find it intimidating. This can affect their whole game if they know you have the skill and are waiting for it.
However, like all of the other skills here, you need to have a lot practice if you want to be able to do this right and consistently.
- Volley
A volley occurs near the net. It is similar to an overhead in that your racket is in the air, but it is softer. In a way, it is like a lob of overhead hitting. You do not need to use a lot of follow through in a volley. It is more about getting the ball back to the other side.
Once again, camp is a great place to learn this skill.
Life Skills
Outside of the main tennis skills you will learn while you are at camp, you will learn a lot else. Many of these skills, such as teamwork, are skills that will not only help you in tennis, they will help you in life.
If you are ready to learn all this and more, then find a tennis camp to get started.
