How to FINISH the Point Behind a SHORT BALL

How to FINISH the Point Behind a SHORT BALL

by | Tennis Coaching, Tennis Training | 0 comments

Do you struggle to put the ball away after you set yourself up for a short ball?

Let’s say that you stretch your opponent with an aggressive serve or groundstroke and their reply is a blocked shot that lands inside your service court – It’s a sitter, a ball waiting for you to step into and hit it aggressively, to finish the point with, or produce another weak reply from your opponent.

But you don’t have the understanding or the technique to execute a short ball put-away…

Not to worry anymore!

Below, you will find a video showing you how to execute a short ball put-away shot and three drills that you can apply if you have a tennis partner willing to help you practice it – it’s only 9 minutes long! 🙂

This video is taken from one of the tennis lessons, part of the My Daddy / My Coach series that I had with my two daughters, ages 9 and 8 years old:

Cosmin Miholca

Cosmin Miholca

Certified Tennis Coach

Check out my work at WebTennis24 where I share with you my best video tennis lessons, drills and tips for players, coaches and tennis parents.

7 Practical Ways To Avoid Slippery Grips When Playing Tennis

7 Practical Ways To Avoid Slippery Grips When Playing Tennis

by | Tennis Training | 13 comments

While I was practicing with one of my tennis friends, he showed his frustration for not being able to control his racquet – due to the humid air, his grip would easily become slippery while playing.

He asked me what should he do about it…

Not only did I share with him my personal ways to keep the racquet grip dry, but I thought it would be a good idea to ask some other tennis friends too, and find their secrets in this regard. So here are some of the practical ways to keep your hands dry while playing tennis (warning: some of these you might find disgusting or unhealthy 🙂

Before the match:
– Consume salty foods (stay away from junk foods like french fries or chips). I once saw a friend of mine eating from a bag of pretzels before a tennis match; he said it helped him to not sweat too much during the match.
I would not recommend that and never tried it. Find some other sources of foods that contain sodium like vegetables or chicken broth.
– Get a fresh new grip or overgrip.

During the match:
– Use special cream that keeps hands dry (you can find them on the internet or local tennis shop).
– Blow into the palms after every point you play (my favorite one).
– Wipe the palms against the court’s windscreen (your call (; – risk getting your hands dirty but it actually works very well in drying the palm (I tried it many times).
– Use a dry towel that you have placed somewhere close to where you are (put it on a chair next to the back fence just in case there is no other support for the towel).
– I know this next tip might be disgusting for some but I’ve seen players wiping their hands/palms on the sole of their shoes. I admit I tried that a few times too and it works very well – you’ll just have to wash your hands and grip afterward; and yes, avoid shaking your opponent’s hand at the end of the match. (;

Use your judgment when applying the aforementioned tips. Slippery tennis grips are annoying and sometimes we do whatever it takes to avoid them to play our best tennis.

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Cosmin Miholca

Cosmin Miholca

Certified Tennis Coach

Check out my work at WebTennis24 where I share with you my best video tennis lessons, drills and tips for players, coaches and tennis parents.

How to Play When Your Opponent Is “In the Zone”

How to Play When Your Opponent Is “In the Zone”

by | Tennis Training | 0 comments

You play against an opponent whom you have competed with before, but on this particular day everything “connects” for them: the groundstrokes are consistent, perfectly placed and timed drop-shots, their lobs are “magically” finding the baseline, the first serves are at a high percentage… and whatever you do the ball finds its way to come back for another shot. In short, your opponent has one of those days when everything connects. So frustrating for you!

What should you do and how do you play?

One lesson I’ve learned in my entire tennis career is that no matter how good your opponent is playing, you should always care for these three things:
1. How long can they maintain this level of play?
2. Whatever it takes, you should stay positive and show no sign of frustration to fuel your already confident opponent.
3. Stick with whatever strokes you feel you have control over. It is not the time to try something new. Be humble in your play.

Really, all it takes to win most of the matches against “in the zone” players comes down to the above three mental points.

However you play, always keep in mind that the mentally stronger players always (or at least most of the time) prevail when the balance of technical skills is leveled between players.

Do you have any tips you would like to add? Leave them in the comment box below.

Cosmin Miholca

Cosmin Miholca

Certified Tennis Coach

Check out my work at WebTennis24 where I share with you my best video tennis lessons, drills and tips for players, coaches and tennis parents.

How to Play Against a “Big” Server and Tall Net Player

How to Play Against a “Big” Server and Tall Net Player

by | Tennis Training | 8 comments

A few days ago I got an email from one of our subscribers who is a passionate doubles player. He had a dilemma: how should he return against an aggressive server and a tall player at the net?
Immediately I thought: tough question! In my opinion, this particular player has to face a perfect doubles team: a great server and a tall partner to pick up the weak return.

The thing is that most players would try their best to avoid the net player by hitting aggressive passive shots. That puts extra pressure and the percentage of missing the balls into the net or out is greater.

I would do the following:
– For doubles… I’d have my partner position just behind the service line and let them know that I’d return the serve right at the opposing net player (well, not all the time; just often enough to keep them from poaching and putting the pressure on).
– For singles… again, I’d try to hit the ball at my approaching opponent’s feet or hit the first ball right at them, waiting for my chance for a passing shot.

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Cosmin Miholca

Cosmin Miholca

Certified Tennis Coach

Check out my work at WebTennis24 where I share with you my best video tennis lessons, drills and tips for players, coaches and tennis parents.

Do THIS for a Better Return of Serve

Do THIS for a Better Return of Serve

by | Tennis Training | 0 comments

The returning serve should not be treated like a groundstroke swing – the ball from your opponent’s serve travels faster and you’ll have less time to react to it.

Therefore, when I teach the return of serve, I tell my students to imagine they have a wall or fence behind them. In this way, they should avoid taking the racquet back, otherwise, they’ll hit it against the imaginary fence/wall. A slight shoulder turn and abbreviated backswing should be enough to handle fast-coming serves (see picture above).

Shorten your backswing by imagining yourself returning the serve while having a wall/fence behind your back. That will help you make contact with the fast-coming ball further in front of you.

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Cosmin Miholca

Cosmin Miholca

Certified Tennis Coach

Check out my work at WebTennis24 where I share with you my best video tennis lessons, drills and tips for players, coaches and tennis parents.

Which Player Should Serve First in Doubles?

Which Player Should Serve First in Doubles?

by | Tennis Training | 4 comments

One of the first questions that your partner will ask you at the beginning of a doubles match is “Do you wanna serve… or should I?”

Most of the time players just mumble something until one of them says: “Ok, you serve first!”

But really, this is a situation that should be treated seriously if you care to compete well in doubles.

I’d say that the stronger server between the two of you should serve first. In this way, if your team wins the game, that puts you in the lead and takes some of the pressure off.
On the other side, if both of you have decent serves, then you would pay a compliment to your partner by letting them serve first. That shows you have trust in them and this helps in building your team’s confidence.

Cosmin Miholca

Cosmin Miholca

Certified Tennis Coach

Check out my work at WebTennis24 where I share with you my best video tennis lessons, drills and tips for players, coaches and tennis parents.

My Neighbors’ Animals Don’t Love Tennis! :) Bloopers

My Neighbors’ Animals Don’t Love Tennis! :) Bloopers

by | Tennis Coaching, Tennis Training | 0 comments

Throughout the previous year, I have recorded many videos for you to improve your tennis skills.
But that was not easy. Why? Because my neighbors’ farm animals kept interrupting.
That’s right, those animals had no sympathy for my work. Can you believe that???

These are some of the behind-the-scenes bloopers from shooting the WebTennis24 videos. Have a little fun at my expense. (;

Cosmin Miholca

Cosmin Miholca

Certified Tennis Coach

Check out my work at WebTennis24 where I share with you my best video tennis lessons, drills and tips for players, coaches and tennis parents.