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Waking up to a normal, miserable, dreary Monday morning is even worse when you have to go to school. I have to almost yank myself out of bed and drag myself to get ready. I get to school, and then I remember- Homecoming Week!! I race up to my locker to find it brightly and boldly decorated with tennis racquets, tennis balls and pictures of me all over! Maroon and white streamers are everywhere. I unlock my combination to get in to my locker, to find it loaded with candy and small gifts. There are tennis ball containers full of my favorite jolly ranches and bubble gum! Tennis ball magnets, tennis ball pencilseven tennis house slippers adorn my locker!!

I look up and down the hallway and most lockers are decorated. There are cheer posters everywhere! The mood in my hallway at school is one of excitement. Everyone is checking out the lockers. Everyone is trying to steal each others candy from inside their lockers. As classes start, I am no longer dreading this Monday morning like I always do. The drudgery that started the day has melted into fun and excitement. I notice I dont mind being at school today. I wont mind being at school all week-because it is Homecoming, like no others!

Here, a high school tennis player enjoys the thrill of school spirit during homecoming week at her high school. Do you need tips on decorating lockers or the courts for your team? I can help with some quick last minute ideas to make your homecoming a success.

Locker:

Cover with wrapping paper, Aluminum foil, or scrapbook paper

Spell the players name out with any array of ideas (tennis balls- for shorter names, poster board, yellow plates used to resemble tennis balls with the players name written on in Sharpie)

Tennis Slogans:

1. Game-Set-Match

2. LOVE TENNIS

3. LOVE-LOVE __________(Players name)

4. GO _____________ (teams name)

5. 40-LOVE (or any score; make sure your player is Winning!)

ALSO, pictures are a great touch! Add any from baby pictures to team photos. I try to start with a theme to begin ideas rolling. Themes work anywhere from a favorite cartoon character to the theme used for this player, LOVE-LOVE. A theme of hearts and LOVE were on the locker. Have fun with it and make it personal! Thats the most important thing!

COURTS:

Courts are fun to have decorated for the Homecoming match, or even for Senior Nights for the graduating Seniors. Poster boards decorated with slogans or made into yellow circle with the girls names along with cable ties (plastic) have been a lifesaver for putting last minute decorations up on the fences at the courts.

What do I put on the poster board?

-Spray paint an outline of an old tennis racket onto the poster board with the teams colors

-Use paint to spell out the teams name; one letter per poster board (Watseka Warriors would take 16 pieces of poster board to create) It is also fun to add pictures of the mascot on the dividing the words.

-Yellow poster board cut into circles gives the girls a personalized touch

-Picture collages always make a fun finishing touch!

Written by Katie Foster Any questions? Email us at tennischicks20@yahoo.com

When you go to the store to buy tennis shoes what exactly do you look for? Is it the way they look or feel, or how about the weight or durability of the tennis shoe? These are all key components in picking the right tennis shoe for your game. But what is the most important part of picking the right tennis shoe for your tennis game?

I have been a successful tennis player for quite some time. I started playing when I was about 10 years old and now I am a senior playing at the University of Georgia. In 2007 we were able to win the National Championships held in Athens, GA. What I am trying to say is I have worn my share of shoes and I know what works for me. It might not be the same for you but I would like to share my insight.

I look for a couple different elements when I am choosing the right tennis shoe. First when I try on the shoe it can't weigh me down. If it feels too heavy and bulky I'm not going to be able to move quickly and swiftly around the court. This is very important because the comfort and weight of the shoe play a big part in your footwork on the tennis court. We all know that once your footwork goes your whole game goes down. So make sure that the shoe is light and comfortable.

Next the shoe must be versatile. It has to be able to mold to your foot with flexibility. Now this is something that is difficult to feel when trying on a brand new shoe because it takes a while for a new shoe to break in to your foot. One thing I do is take the shoe and try and bend it to see how flexible it really is. Normally the more durable shoes are going to be less flexible which could cause blisters and uncomfortable movement on the court.

So we know that the shoe needs to be somewhat light and comfortable when you put it on as well as flexible. Now we need to figure out the durability. This is very important because when you shop for a shoe that is said to be very durable then the other features will definitely struggle. So something has to give. I want my shoe to be durable but I don't want to lose comfort or flexibility. So see how much buildup there is at the end of the shoe by your big toe. This is a fey factor to see how much tread and durability has been built up in the design of the shoe.

A new shoe should really last you about 3-4 weeks if you're playing a whole lot. Remember understand what you want out of your tennis shoe and that will determine what kind of style and purchase you want to make. For me not being the quickest guy on the court I need something light and flexible. That will allow me to move better on the court as well as keeping my feet in good condition (no blisters). Keep this information in mind and you will find yourself with a great tennis shoe.

I am currently a college tennis player and have been playing tennis for the last 12 years. I have been around tennis and tennis equipment for quite some time. Come check out my Tennis Website for all tennis equipment and apparel. Also come visit my Tennis Blog to find more useful information on tennis and how to improve your game.

There are a lot of things to learn when taking up tennis, but one of the main fundamentals that must be taught is how to swing. Perfecting your swing may make the difference between being able to handle yourself on the court, and never quite learning how to play a decent game of tennis.

Want to know how to improve your swing? Follow these important guidelines:

Step #1: Get Ready For The Hit!

Keep your racquet back at all times. Once the ball has left your opponent's racquet, you must move into position. It's important to keep your racquet back while positioning yourself to enable a clean shot.

But, before heading toward the incoming ball remember to...

1. Recognize that the ball is going to your forehand side.

2. Establish a balanced sideways stance as you begin to position yourself for the stroke by letting go with your non-dominant hand. At this point your racquet should be pointing away from your intended target and positioned about waist high.

3. Move into final position for the shot by maintaining enough space between your body and the ball. This will allow for a more fluent stroke. Position your body to enable you to hit the ball when it is waist high. If the ball happens to be below your waist, bend your knees to lower your waist height.

4. Next, move the racquet towards the ball and remember to keep the "head" of the racquet at the same height as your hand as you initiate your stroke. DO NOT bend or straighten your arm or move your wrists. Begin to rotate your shoulders while keeping your eye on the ball.

5. It's time to make contact with the ball. The point of contact should be somewhere around your front foot. Be sure that the "face" of your racquet is square to the ball at contact. Remember to rotate your shoulders through contact. This will allow you to keep your racquet face going in the right direction throughout the entire swing.

Step #2: Follow Through!

Correct follow through ensures that the prior phase of your swing was executed in a smooth manner. Similar to the backhand, correct follow-through creates an arcing motion that rises from the point of contact with the ball to an area just above your opposite shoulder. A smooth follow through is a direct response to a smooth contact. Brute force alone can't create a powerful swing. The key here is a smooth execution of both the stroke and its follow-through phase.

A strong follow through consists of these steps:

1. Lifting the ball over the net while keeping the arm and wrist fixed.

2. Finishing the shoulder rotation. If your chest is facing the intended target you are positioned correctly.

3. Being sure that your racquet face remains perpendicular to the ground through the entire follow through.

4. Be sure to keep your rear toe planted while the heel raises off the ground. Lifting your rear foot will result in a poor follow-through.

While all of these techniques and tricks can definitely help you to improve your tennis swing, the most important element to improvement is practice, practice and more practice.

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Everybody knows that the tennis serve is a very important shot but how many club players have a really good tennis serve?

Let's be honest if the Roddick tennis serve wasn't a very powerful tennis serve, his ranking would be a whole lot lower.

But what can you do to improve your tennis serve? Is there a way to the perfect tennis serve? Is there a way to get a faster tennis serve?

Well for the people still struggling with their delivery there is one main word that they should be looking to improve - THROW!

Yes that's it, there is a direct relationship between someone's throwing ability and their serving ability and that's a fact - do not forget that.

The fact remains that far too many people miss this point and do all the wrong things when trying to improve and even learn the serve and that includes many coaches who do all the wrong things when it comes to tennis serve coaching

It has nothing to do with strength, gender and/or muscle size as tennis serve biomechanics are all about throwing technique to such an extent that I regularly have my under 9 squad out-throw many of my adult squads just to illustrate the point. It causes a few red faces but everybody leaves with a better understanding.

Also high standard female players can out-serve male amateurs most of whom are bigger so that just proves the tennis serve technique over muscle or even gender issue.

This is not some revelation in tennis training as people were throwing rackets across the net many years ago when most courts were grass and the chances of breaking your racket was minimal and even now the Williams sisters throw their old rackets about to practise their serves and they are 2 of the biggest servers in the Women's game!

So how good is your throwing?

Can you throw a tennis ball from one baseline to the other or even better into the back fence opposite (with no run up)?

If you can't then you need to be working on it because I have 8 year olds that can so it is possible!

Biggest mistakes/things to get right! The main error I see is where people try to throw a ball with their body facing the target, rather than sideways on and rotating their hips, trunk and shoulders in order to accelerate the ball. The second BIG mistake is when the elbow is lower than the shoulder as you bring the arm forward. You must get the elbow higher just like you were carrying a javelin NOT a shot putt! The third BIG mistake is when the wrist is behind the elbow at the release point. Look at any slow-mo of great servers or even pitchers (same basic action) and you will see that when they release the ball, their throwing arm is fully extended and straight from the shoulder to the wrist. If you don't have these three "factors" in place you will end up with a pushing action rather than a chucking/throwing action and a very ineffective serve. So get those old tennis balls and get to work - remember you don't have to be a girl to throw like a girl!

Paul Gold is a Performance Enhancement Specialist and Speed Agility Quickness trainer. For info about products and services contact via http://www.tennis-training-central.com He has just released a special report on strength training for tennis, go to http://www.tennis-strength.com for details. He also has a tennis footwork special report, go to http://www.footwork4tennis.com for more details.

Copyright 2000-2007 Tennis Training Central

Let me start by saying, you will get on quicker by having coaching lessons with a good professional trainer.

However, there is every possibility to learn to play tennis, from a well written instruction manual, prepared by a professional tennis coach.

It is true to say, that every sport can be attempted and if you have flare and are dedicated to learning, that you can participate in that sport, but there is still the need to be able to perform correctly, to get anywhere in that sport.

Most sports have a technical issue and that is ther difference between just participating and competing. As an example practically everyone can go out and run, but if you want to compete against other runners, then you will need to find out the finer, technical points of running. This goes without saying, in practically all sports.

There is a particular problem for beginners, in learning to play tennis, without any kind of instruction, and this is the frustration of trying to hit the ball and trying to send it where you want to, in the first instance. Two people decide to go to the tennis court, they each have a racquet and a couple of balls. They stand at the far end of the court (near the base line) and attempt to hit the ball to one another - as the pros do! They quickly find out that they are constantly having to go to pick the ball up and very seldom get the chance to return a ball, they get frustrated with each other, and that probably ends their foray into tennis.

Fortunately, tennis can be broken down into individual parts, and this is the beauty of the system developed by Dennis Van de Meer and taught by all professionals of the P.T.R. (Professional Tennis Registery - the largest international coaches association) This therefore lends itself to being written into an easy to follow instruction book.

But - do not believe that you can go out for a week and learn to play tennis, as some books have suggested, in the past. To follow a course that I am suggesting, will take time and perseverance; it is essential to follow the instructions very carefully and to keep going over the training points, to ensure they are done correctly. To develop bad habits at this stage means they will be difficult to eradicate later.

At the end of 3 to 6 months, providing you learn at least once a week and practice once a week, you should be ready to play a game of tennis, then if you are hooked on tennis, I would recommend a few lessons with a good tennis coach and why not join a tennis club. Once you can play, there is nothing that will improve your game faster, than playing with others at a club. You could be hooked for life, and you will never regret it.

For further details on such a book as mentioned above, visit my website or email me.

Coach John.

To find out more about the great game of tennis and to subscribe to a monthly news letter, visit http://www.tennisatthenet.ws

John Hoskins is an L.T.A. and a PTRUK qualified licensed tennis coach working at a number of facilities as head coach in Kent, England.

Scientists who are doing research in Quantum Physics have discovered evidence of entanglement between the human consciousness and the smallest, sub-atomic quantum units that form the physical universe. That's why it's now believed more than ever that the thoughts happening within us, will create what's happening outside of us. Great religious leaders have known this for a long time.

"As you think so will you be" was written in the old testament over 2000 years ago. Notice it doesn't say "As you be so will you think". When we apply this concept to tennis it doesn't mean that your an intermediate player or an advanced player so therefore you think like one. It means that your an intermediate player or an advanced player BECAUSE you think like one. Once you get it, you'll realize that it pertains to everything you do. Whatever you're able to focus your thoughts on is what you attract into your life.

Your thoughts are so powerful that with a simple notion you can literally change the physical world. An example is the placebo effect. If someone takes a sugar pill and they believe it's the latest, most powerful cure for the headache, their body can spontaneously produce the correct chemical needed to stop that pain. If that same person takes another sugar pill and they believe it will cure something else, their body can produce a completely different chemical designed to cure that ailment. The point is, the physical world can be changed and things can be created on the basis of what you believe to be true.

What do you believe about tennis? Do you think it's complicated, and there are so many things to do that it's very difficult to play well. Or do you think tennis is easy, and if you just do a couple of basic things correctly everything else falls right into place for you. Whatever it is you think about the game will be true, because that's what you 'll project into the physical world.

Most people who become great tennis players have a favorite they idolize right from the start. This has a tremendous effect on their thoughts. In their inner world they always envision playing and becoming just like that player, so that's the reality they create for themselves. It's called "seeing from the end."

I wasn't surprised when I heard what Roger Federer said in one of his interviews. After winning 26 matches in a row and finally losing because he may have been ill, he humbly said, "Put everything else a side. The better man won."

I'll bet Federer had dreamed about what he was going to say in interviews like that years ago when he first decided to fashion his game and attitude after Pete Sampras. That's an example of "seeing from the end". Sampras did the same thing when he idolized Rod Laver, and all three of those guys are class acts. That inner vision of how to play great tennis with a humble attitude was passed on down the line from to the other.

Right now, it's important for you to pick a favorite player that shows you the finished product you want. If you study this player and watch them every chance you get, you'll start to envision playing just like they do. This will help you "see from the end" and experience the tennis game you intend to create before it ever shows up in the physical world. Then make sure you stay focused on those thoughts. To really be able to see from the end you can never lose that image of your finished product.

Neural scientists tell us that having the same thoughts cause the same neurons to fire and connect in the brain, and every time they do they build stronger connections. That's what establishes long term relationships between nerve cells called neural networks. All the neural networks you create with your thoughts ultimately determine your identitiy. So keep your thoughts focused on what you intend to create. This will develop a strong tennis identity that will effect the world in a very substantial and consistent way.

When you become so focused on that finished product that you lose track of yourself, lose track of your ego and lose track of time, that's when magical things will happen for you on the tennis court. That's when you are truly in control of the physical world around you, and you become a reality creating machine.

Tennis requires great concentration. Even the slightest distraction can affect your game. Even something as simple as a pinched toe or an aching heel can send your game in a downward spiral. That's why it's so important to find and wear the right tennis shoes for your feet and game. Don't risk playing poorly because of sore feet. Take the time to find just the right tennis shoe to help you hit the court in style and comfort.

It is often said that you get what you pay for. Purchasing tennis shoes is no different. While there are some lower-end manufacturer's who offer decent tennis shoes at a discount price, most serious players prefer the stability of buying and wearing a good quality shoe form one of the top sports shoe manufacturers. These industry leaders have taken the time to build a reputation for sound quality and lasting merchandise. Be sure, even when purchasing shoes online, that you are getting the very best piece of sports apparel that you can afford to avoid the need to replace them earlier than normally necessary.

Think tennis shoes haven't changed in 50 years! Take a look around. Today's court foot apparel is sleek and trendy. Tennis shoes certainly are changing, with more and more styles available all of the time! Many children lines feature a bright colored shoe that kids love: pinks and whites for girls with purple glitter and shoes made in the same plethora of different kinds of fashions for boys. Color combinations for boys include blues, greens blacks and more. What style a player chooses really is up to their style wants and needs, as well as their budget.

Men and women too have more options today then in the history of tennis. New designs and styles are being introduced every season, featuring both comfort and style.

If you want a special shoe designed just for you, there are shoe designers ready to help. Some offer the services of artists and designers to help you create the perfect one-of-a-kind tennis shoe just for you.

Of course, comfort should always be of utmost importance. Be sure that the shoe style you pick is comfortable, and easy to move in. It should fit snugly (but not tightly), and allow your foot to move freely in any direction.

Whether you choose a standard run of the mill white canvas tennis shoe, or one of the more popular stylish brands or styles isn't really going to change your game much, is it? No tennis show can make you a better player, but like all sports equipment, having a show that fits properly can help you better withstand the vigor of hard play on the court.

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There are many components that contribute to an effective tennis-training programme but whilst most people will readily mention strength, endurance, flexibility, speed etc one of the most important yet understated components is variety.

Your body is fantastically adaptive in as much as if you repeat the same thing over and over you will adapt and it will become the norm (an important factor in learning), however if you perform the same workout routine (no matter how good it is) it will eventually prove counter productive as all initial gains you make plateau and there will be no overload and any gains will be reversed.

Think of it another way, if you play your favourite song over and over again for too long it will eventually lose its early appeal.

This is where using other sports and methods of training (or cross-training as it is known), is important.

For the pro players that I work with, participating in other sports keeps them physically and mentally fresh (they obviously play so much tennis) whilst still promoting a training stimulus.

For my junior players (minis included) as well as my recreational adults (some very serious and not too recreational by the way), it is a way of training many of the fitness components critical for tennis away from the tennis environment whilst still retaining a competitive games - based edge. This is especially true of the "mini" juniors for whom early "specialisation" in a single sport has been shown to be counterproductive.

Here are some ideas to either spice up or enhance a program you are currently doing, or to get you started on a new one.

1. Participate in sports such as basketball, soccer, baseball or volleyball.

All these sports have the stop-start repeated sprint tempo that tennis requires with soccer providing a multidirectional agility-training stimulus that is vital for effective court coverage. Although basketball and volleyball include many directional changes as well, they have a large leg power component to them through the repeated jumping that takes place.

Baseball has many useful tennis related aspects to it such as pitching and getting the ball from base to base (which are throwing actions like the tennis serve) and sliding to make base can be very useful when you come to play on clay where sliding is a vital component for success.

2. Use outdoor activities.

Cardio training can be achieved by running, hiking (also good for leg strength), skating (balance and agility), skipping (co-ordination), cycling and swimming, to mention just a few. If you are in a park you could use equipment such as benches, balance beams, monkey bars, rope climbs etc. to do body weight driven exercises such as push-ups, pull-ups, balancing, step-ups, squat jumps, tricep dips, calf raises, etc.

As always start slowly and at your own pace and progress slowly increasing the length and/or intensity as you improve.

So, with a little thought and creativity you can combine all the fitness components necessary for improving tennis performance into workouts that take place away from your normal tennis environment, thereby allowing you to be physically and sometimes more importantly mentally fresh every time you step back on the court to play a match or have a lesson.

Who knows you may even find yourself having fun whist getting fitter and improving your tennis!

Before starting any exercise program, always be sure to first consult your physician.

Paul Gold has a Masters degree in Sports Sciences and is a Performance Enhancement Specialist and Speed Agility Quickness trainer. For information about products and services contact via http://www.tennis-training-central.com He has just released a special report on tennis footwork, go to http://www.footwork4tennis.com for more details. Copyright 2000-2007 Tennis Training Central

Let us take the men's draw top half as an example. As much as I want to accept the rules, I just can't. Of course I understand that the 1st seeded player should play the weaker players, but how weak can a whole quarter of the draw be? Or rather how lopsided can a quarter of the draw be?

The opposition Roger Federer will have to "feather" in his quarter of the draw is just a cake walk, compared to the quarter just below him where Novack Djokovic, Dimitri Tursunov, Marata Safin, Marcos Baghdatis, Leyton Hewitt, David Nalbandian (Federers slayer twice in 2008), Juan Carlos Ferrero, David Ferrer will be playing gargantuan matches. This list of players opposing each other in the same quarter looks more like the list of 'who is who' that won most of the tournaments in 2007 not to mention the most Grand Slam winners together in one quarter! While Roger Federer, in his quarter of the draw, comparatively, will be playing "no names"!!

What does this mean? The above-mentioned high calibre players, who are worthy to be finalists at the highest level of play, will bludgeon each other to death and by the time they get to the end of their quarter and into the semi-final, whoever is left and whatever is left of them, the lucky one surviving the onslaught will be purely a shadow of himself and a sacrificial lamb for Roger Federer to give him the final coup-de-grace in style.

This is somewhat similar to the spanish Bull-fights. Once the poor bull is depleted of blood by the "picador", the "matador's" final coup is kids stuff, Ol! Nevertheless, a big song and dance is created around it and the bullfighter gets the ears, the tail and is carried by the "fans" around the arena and everyone claps! But the question remains, was the bull fit? Was it a fair fight? Are the players below Roger Federers quarter going to be bled to death before they face Roger? It looks like, YES! Is it a fair fight? NO!

What is in it for tennis fans and tennis lovers? A mockery of us and a travesty of a tournament! As I once said this is no different then the 1930s where the previous winner was automatically put in the final. Today it is the same with a few practice matches in between!! Now, look for yourselves, this is a copy of the Australian Open 2008 top half of the Mens' Draw at the present stage (2nd Round Top half):

ROGER FEDERERS QUARTER:

Roger Federer SUI (1) v Fabrice Santoro FRA

Janko Tipsarevic SRB v Fernando Verdasco ESP (25)

Juan Monaco ARG (21) v Amer Delic USA

Oscar Hernandez ESP v Tomas Berdych CZE (13)

James Blake USA (12) v Michael Russell USA

Sebastien Grosjean FRA v Robin Haase NED

Marin Cilic CRO v Jurgen Melzer AUT

Hyung-Taik Lee KOR v Fernando Gonzalez CHI (7)

HERE STARTS THE QUARTER BELOW ROGER FEDERERS:

Novak Djokovic SRB (3) v Simone Bolelli ITA

Sam Querrey USA v Dmitry Tursunov RUS (32)

Lleyton Hewitt AUS (19) v Denis Istomin UZB

Marat Safin RUS v Marcos Baghdatis CYP (15)

David Nalbandian ARG (10) v Peter Luczak AUS

Alun Jones AUS v Juan Carlos Ferrero ESP (22)

Vincent Spadea USA v Denis Gremelmayr GER

Juan Martin Del Potro ARG v David Ferrer ESP (5)

Your comments are welcome.

For quick access to all links to the referenced articles please go to http://www.tenniscruz.com

Copyright Tenniscruz.com. All rights reserved.

Srgio Cruz is a tennis instructor, ex # 1 National Champion, Davis Cup Player from Portugal and former Coach Jim Courier ATP World Ranking # 1

http://www.tenniscruz.com

This is a question usually asked by beginning tennis players, but there are a couple of dynamics that can change the answer to this question, so I'll start at the beginning - and if you stick around, you'll also get some sneaky 'bonus' tips that just may help you out with the more advanced serving techniques I teach my students.

First of all, the grip that most beginning tennis players use (unless taught properly when they start) is the 'frying pan' or 'fly swatter' (Full Western) grip. They hold the racket like they would a fly swatter and take whack at the tennis ball. This makes perfect sense to them, as they are yet unaware of the relationship between loading, twisting, unloading, acceleration, pronation and follow-through. They just want to hit the ball! As these players start to improve their technique through proper instruction, they are weaned off of the Full Western grip and toward the Continental grip. This is the primary grip used for the serve. There are two reasons we use this grip: Power and Spin. We'll get into those in a minute; but let's first take a closer look at the grip itself and how we actually make contact with the tennis ball using the Continental grip.

The Continental grip is achieved by 'shaking hands' with the racket grip, with the tennis racket being perpendicular to the ground. There is 'V' shape formed by your hand when you 'shake hands' with the tennis racket. Picture an imaginary line running from the center of the 'V' formed by your hand, and extend that line up to the edge of the tennis racket. Now you are holding the tennis racket with a Continental grip. If a player were to swing the racket with a Continental grip the same way they did with a Full Western grip, they would hit the tennis ball with the edge of their racket. Great. Now what? Well, now this player must now learn the proper way to get the ball onto the strings of the racket while using the Continental grip. This is done through 'pronation'. Pronation is the act of turning the forearm and hand inward from a neutral position (think 'hand shake'), to a position where the inner forearm and palm are facing down. An easy way to demonstrate this to yourself is this:

Sit at a table

Extend your serving hand out onto the table as if you were offering a hand shake.

This is your hand and arm's 'neutral position.

Now turn your hand so that it's flat on the table.

You have now just pronated your forearm and wrist.

Here's another exercise that shows you how to pronate your forearm and wrist that you'll be more easily be able to relate to a tennis serving motion:

Place your serving hand flat against your ear. This is your 'start' position for this exercise.

Keeping your elbow in position, extend your hand up until your fingertips are pointing directly at the ceiling.

Still keeping your elbow in position, extend your forearm forward, while at the same time turning your palm toward the ground. Continue until your palm is facing down and your forearm in parallel to the ground.

Repeat this motion several times.

Now repeat the exercise with a tennis racket in your hand.

Instead of placing your serving hand against your ear, you will now be holding your tennis racket with a continental grip, so that your fingernails on your serving hand are right next to or touching your ear.

Again, keep your elbow in position and extend your arm and racket up unitl the racket is pointing straight up-and-down. (You should be imitating the Statue of Liberty at this point).

Continue extending your serving arm forward while turning your palm inward, until the face of the racket is parallel with the ground.

Repeat this motion several times, and really try to get a 'feel' for the swing.

Once you've done this a few times, head out to the courts and give'er a go. Don't worry about incorporating the swing into your entire service motion just yet, and don't 'over do it'. In the above mentioned exercises, you are going through the motion with your racket in hand, but propelling the racket using your arm only; if you 'go nuts' with this exercise, you could injure yourself by putting too much pressure on your rotator cuff (it's way deep down in your shoulder, folks, and something you won't want to injure). Just getting the 'feel' for the pronation of your forearm and wrist is what you're after at this point. By serving a few tennis balls with your racket while using the Continental grip, and eventually incorporating your entire service motion into the process, you will get the 'feel' of pronation, and at the same time you'll lessen the chances of using too much 'arm' and injuring yourself.

Now as for the sneaky 'bonus' section here, I offer this up only as a way for advanced players to get a little more 'pop' and extra spin on their second serves, and as a way for 'serve-and-volley' tennis players to get a strong, controlled first serve they can follow to the net. If you have not mastered the basics of serving, this is not something you should attempt. I know that even after having said that, some of you who are not ready will try it anyway; fair enough, that's human nature. But if you're not ready for this and try it, you just may think it's impossible; that' okay. Get your 2nd serve to the point where you can hit 20 serves in a row into the far right corner of the 'ad' court, using what I taught you above, and then come back here and read this.

Okay, so let's say you're a player who's got a pretty good first serve, and a reliable second serve that you can pretty much put wherever you want in your opponent's service box, deuce and ad court alike. But you want to be able to 'swing out', full force, and hit your second serve harder than you can right now, but you don't want to sacrifice accuracy either. That would be a pretty good deal, right? Well, here's how you do it:

Move your grip toward the Eastern Backhand side of the handle (about " to the 'left' of center from your continental grip if you are a right-handed player) and hit your normal second serve. What you will discover is that you have taken a lot of speed off the the ball, and increased the spin. This gives you a higher flying ball that clears the net by a higher distance than normal, and drops faster into the court, thereby increasing your chance of actually having the ball land in your opponent's service box.

But what do you do about the loss of power? Simple: Just swing as hard as you would on your first serve, and pronate your forearm and wrist as fast and a 'far' as you can. This will impart not only massive spin to the ball, but will add power as well, the result of faster pronation and exaggerated follow through of the forearm and wrist.

If you find yourself hitting the ball short (into the net) or long (past the service line), simply adjust your toss to compensate, tossing closer to your body if you've been hitting the net, or slightly farther out in front of your body if you've been hitting long.

In summary, remember: the basics never change. Learning to serve properly with a Continental grip and executing the fundamentals will give you a firm foundation on which to build an outstanding serve. The advanced techniques shown in the second half of this article are just that; advanced techniques that, once you have built a solid serve, will help you get an 'edge' on the court - where it counts!

To Your Massive Tennis Success,

Coach Kyril

Kyril Popoff is a former NCAA Div1 All-Conference Tennis Player, Instructor, Coach and Author.

His books include THE TEN LAWS OF TENNIS SUCCESS and FOCUS %26 WIN: WHY YOUR TENNIS GAME ISN'T WHERE YOU WANT IT TO BE, %26 WHAT TO DO ABOUT IT!

You can sign up for Coach Kyril's Tennis Lessons, Tips %26 Tricks newsletter at: http://www.coachkyriltennis.com