4.5jumping to open in pursuit of 1glorious atp point

[yonexpurestorm]

Originally Posted by CStennis11

Just a few questions for you Yonex if you don't mind.
I have noticed that you mention a few of your opponent's serve to be very good and unbelievable.
How big is the difference between their serves and yours before you ventured on this journey when you were a 4.5? What level was your serve at during this your 4.5 level of play?
How much of a difference does exercise, fitness and diet actually matter?
Thanks in advance and I apologize if these questions have been answered before.
Good luck!

sorry for the late reply CStennis, i dont get on this site as much as before. ill try and answer your q's for what its worth.

i actually feel my serve has always been pretty good and one of the stronger parts of my game. the problem i noticed as i played better and better players is that my first serve % is not as strong as it should be. when i would have to rely on my second, it would get attacked by the better players. this would essentially force me to have to hit weaker, but higher % first serves and i wouldnt get the free points i was used to. i also noticed how inconsistent my serve can be. some days im bombing aces, others i cant find the service box.
the better players i play have big serves that are consistent. some of them are real fast, but others are just placed well. some guys have real good spin and it takes a while to adjust. i think one of the bigger problems is that when i play some of the higher players, their serves are much better than im used to and it takes at least 3 games to adjust.

fitness is probably one of the most important things i have noticed. especially for older guys like me when playing against some of these college kids. when im playing some of the better guys out there i find myself able to hit with them and play really fun and competitive fast paced points. however, the next point i cannot give 110% like i did on the previous point. this is situation that seems to happen to me a lot in open tournaments. we will start out having good fast paced play for 3 to 4 games, going serve for serve. then we will come to my serve and have some long points where i had to go all out to keep my self in the game. eventually it goes to 30 all and we begin to go all out again, but this is when i lose a step and make a dumb error or give an opportunity for an easy winner. being tired, i dont get the pop behind my serve that i normally should and either cant equal the score, or if i do going to duece and back to ad a few times really kills me. eventually i get broken and lost the first set 3-6 or 4-6. the next set kind of works the same way, except now im even more tired. its my fault for not being in better shape, but lately time has not been my friend to improve upon this. in order to win, you have to be in shape to give 110% on every point. these guys are so good that if your not they will exploit your weakness every chance they get.

[yonexpurestorm]

Originally Posted by double barrels

yonex,
your passion for tennis and improving is remarkable.
I completely respect your goal...
I too am trying to get that 1 ATP point, however, my goal is to get it in doubles. If I succeed in singles, that will just be a bonus.
Earlier this year I would consider myself a solid 4.5 player, now I would like to think I am an average 5.0 singles and doubles player (at least in the atlanta area).
I will be 24 before the end of the year, so my singles time is running short, however doubles has many many years before I even peak.
What do you suggest as far as starting the process of tournaments?
I currently play USTA, ALTA (atlanta league) and Ultimate Tennis (flex league).

I plan on trying to enter some ITF tournaments by the end of spring/start of summer, any suggestions on how to go about that?

i would say stick with playing open tournaments as much as you can. i never played any ITF tournaments, but i assume they are the same. being in atlanta i am sure they are no shortages of good tournaments with good competition. i think on of the things that has held me back a lot is the pressure that comes along with playing tournaments. i frequently get in pressure situations and will allow myself to tighten up and lose crucial points. the more tournaments you play the better you will become at winning in pressure situations. it is also a good idea to play down a level a few times to get the feeling of winning and how to do it.

another thing that you have to focus on is increasing the number and quality of hitting/practicing partners. you will only become as good as the hitting partners you play against. also try and have a mix of them, a few lefties, serve and volleyers, baseliners, guys with big serves, basically try and prepare yourself for different playing styles. a problem i see myself running into frequently is when i play some college kid that beats me pretty handily doesnt have any need for me as a practice partner, since he plays daily with kids just as good as him. whenever i play a tournament i will always ask the guy after the match where he lives and usually exchange numbers to practice later. ultimate tennis is also good for this. however, i have noticed lately that i have been able to beat my practice partners more than before. as you get better the pool of players to practice with will get smaller and smaller.

theres really not any great advice i could give, especially since my results havent been the greatest. being in so cal with the competition as good as it is the only thing that i can do is work on fitness and practice. however, practice smart. practice tactics and strategy along with shots. ill assume your strokes are pretty good. usually at the higher levels ppl all have very good strokes. it comes down to how well you can execute, how smart and where you are hitting your shots, can you find and exploit your opponnents weakness better than him to you, can you outlast your opponent, who performs better under pressure and so on.

good luck on getting your points, but just enjoy the ride. i am fully aware ill never make any money playing tennis, but just getting to go to some of these events and play guys that are that much better than me is fun. i like the atmosphere and the chance to pull off an upset against some top players. also, try and not get frustrated. i let this happen to me in the beginning, but eventually tried to use every match as a learning experience.

[Murrayalmagrofan]

So to bring this thread back from the dead...

What are your plans for 2013? Has your NTRP changes at all after having played all of these open tournaments over the last 2 years?

[yonexpurestorm]

Originally Posted by Murrayalmagrofan

So to bring this thread back from the dead...

What are your plans for 2013? Has your NTRP changes at all after having played all of these open tournaments over the last 2 years?

i have really fallen back on the training this year. in the last few weeks i have only played a few times. two of those days were in a tournament. ive been really busy and my tennis practice has suffered. for some reason my motivation just isnt there right now. ive put back on a few pounds and am definitely not making any progress right now.

all that said, in my last tournament i did take out a seeded player in the first round, but then proceeded to play like crap and get crushed in the next round. i just started eating healthy again about a week ago and got a hit in yesterday and felt pretty good. in march i am playing in the tri level nationals at indian wells, and am going to sign up for a local open tournament. i would like to do well in both of these so i am going to try and ramp up my tennis schedule again and really try and get fit enough to compete.

for 2013 i have the same goals as last year that i didnt accomplish. i still would like to win a small local open tournament, i would prefer to win the hb open. i would like to go a good number of rounds in one of the futures qualifiers that come here in the summer. i would also like to get a win against someone that has an atp ranking.

to do all this i need to get back down to my ideal weight around 175. i need to really work on backhand consistency and not allowing people to exploit it. most importantly i need to get in tournament shape. i need to not allow my legs to tire out and cause me to make errors because my footwork is sluggish.

there is obviously much more that needs to be done before i am really going to have any semblance of a chance at a point, but so far i have really improved from where i was. hopefully in 2013 i will have some good results and then i can make this thread interesting again.

[jdubbs]

Just a thought...you might want to hire a trainer and maybe a nutritionist. You can do this pretty inexpensively relative to your goals.
I am travelling for a few months starting in May and want to get in super shape for surfing, hiking, tennis etc and so hired a trainer and she shocked me by how much work ai needed to do to get in shape...I thought i was in shape, but not even close.
Seeing a nutrionist this week as well to get betterr eating habits. You are trying to compete at very high levels so why not get the tools that can help you succeed if those are the areas that are giving you problems. Just a thought. Best of luck.

[Murrayalmagrofan]

Originally Posted by yonexpurestorm

i have really fallen back on the training this year. in the last few weeks i have only played a few times. two of those days were in a tournament. ive been really busy and my tennis practice has suffered. for some reason my motivation just isnt there right now. ive put back on a few pounds and am definitely not making any progress right now.

all that said, in my last tournament i did take out a seeded player in the first round, but then proceeded to play like crap and get crushed in the next round. i just started eating healthy again about a week ago and got a hit in yesterday and felt pretty good. in march i am playing in the tri level nationals at indian wells, and am going to sign up for a local open tournament. i would like to do well in both of these so i am going to try and ramp up my tennis schedule again and really try and get fit enough to compete.

for 2013 i have the same goals as last year that i didnt accomplish. i still would like to win a small local open tournament, i would prefer to win the hb open. i would like to go a good number of rounds in one of the futures qualifiers that come here in the summer. i would also like to get a win against someone that has an atp ranking.

to do all this i need to get back down to my ideal weight around 175. i need to really work on backhand consistency and not allowing people to exploit it. most importantly i need to get in tournament shape. i need to not allow my legs to tire out and cause me to make errors because my footwork is sluggish.

there is obviously much more that needs to be done before i am really going to have any semblance of a chance at a point, but so far i have really improved from where i was. hopefully in 2013 i will have some good results and then i can make this thread interesting again.

Thanks for taking to time to provide such a detailed update. Hopefully, you can get into fighting shape within the next couple of months and do well this season.

I'm also *considering* making the jump to open this season, but I'm quite a bit older than you (35 yrs). I'm planning to start off the season playing three 4.5 NTRP tournaments, and depending on how things shake-out, making the jump to open around the summer. As I live in Virginia, I couldn't play frequently over the winter, so I've really worked on my fitness and strength. So I feel like I'm starting my 2013 season at a much higher fitness level than ever before.

Originally Posted by jdubbs

Just a thought...you might want to hire a trainer and maybe a nutritionist. You can do this pretty inexpensively relative to your goals.
I am travelling for a few months starting in May and want to get in super shape for surfing, hiking, tennis etc and so hired a trainer and she shocked me by how much work ai needed to do to get in shape...I thought i was in shape, but not even close.
Seeing a nutrionist this week as well to get betterr eating habits. You are trying to compete at very high levels so why not get the tools that can help you succeed if those are the areas that are giving you problems. Just a thought. Best of luck.

Interesting suggestion. I'm a member of a gym where these services are available to members are quite inexpensive prices.

Something to consider for sure...

[MarinaHighTennis]

Yonex your goals sound great but you do know that winning in opens, you gotta play everyday thats where the problem lies for most people including me. Also, you cant just play for fun. Everytime you come out for tennis, there has to be something to improve after the training session. Even though i love tennis amd would like to get that good, i find that that kond of mentality to "win" would reallybmake me hate the sport

[doug9238]

Here is how to get the one point that you are seeking:

#1 - get down to 8-10% bodyfat or less. You can't afford to be carrying extra weight or you will hurt yourself in the stress of the hard training. This is the point where you look down and see the hollywood six pack of abs. All rising and current tennis pros have it, and maybe the falling ones don't anymore and that partly explains why they are falling. This will take you anywhere from 3-6 months depending on how out of shape you are now. This will come with 80% diet and 20% exercise. Once you have acheieved this, you will have an A+ bodybuilder diet and a great exercise regimine as your base to begin the next steps.

#2 - build a huge cardio base. Work up to the point where you are 40+ miles per week. You will be running 6 days per week and have a combination of a long run (15+miles), a tempo run (6-8 miles at 80% max HR) and speed work (10 800's @ 95% max HR). The other three days will be easy/recovery runs with one rest day. Depending on your shape, this will take 3+ months to get to this point. A good test to see if you are ready for the next step is when you can run a mile sub 5:50, 5K sub 20 minutes and a half marathon sub 1 hr 35 min. Once you pass this test, you are ready to move on.

#3 Hit the gym hard. You need a ton of fast twitch muscle in your lower and upper body. You will achieve this by doing supersets and cicuits alternating days with upper body and lower body. Lower body exercises will be power squats, lunges, calf raises hip flexors and abductors. Upper body will be mainly core and back, along with wrist/forearm with a little chest and arms. This will be about 3 months. Your body will look a bit like a boxer once you are done with this phase. Next you will be ready to begin the tennis specific training

#4 Find a great coach that you can work with a minimum of 3x per week for 1.5 hours per session. Plan you budget to be about $500 per month minimum for this service. Your coach will analyze your game and more than likely have you start over completely and teach you the basics, which will start with very fast and explosive footwork and and cat like reflexes. Even with all of the prep you did in steps 1-3, you will walk away from the training feeling like you body was run over by a truck, but since you put in your time with the diet, cardio and weights, you will recover quickly and make gains without getting injured. after about 6 months of training like this, you will begin to get muscle memory and be taking split steps on every shot without even thinking about it. You will instictively explode on the first and last step with every ball you hit. You will will take large steps and follow them up with tiny steps. You will wear out your shoes about a pair per month. You will get smart and purchase your shoes 6 pairs at a time. You will rarely even touch your heels on the tennis court. Plan on 6months to one year to get to this point, depending on your mental strength.

#5 Once you are ready, your coach will teach you the technical aspects of the 5 types of shots. forehand, backhand, volley, overhead and serve. Then you will hit over 10,000 balls before the muscle memory kicks in and you can do them instinctively. You will hit 100 forehands crosscourt and miss 5 or less and no pushing. They will all be deep with topspin. Then you will do backhands and volleys. Once you can sustain this, you will have decent rally shots. Then you will work volleys, overheads and serves. You will work your serve on your own time, 4x per week 100 1st serves to both sides with 60% in and 100 2nd serves to both sides with 98% in. Plan on 6 months to achieve this

#6 Next you will hit the tournaments. You will crush everyone so bad at a 4.5 tournament that it will not even be fun. You will find that you can hit winners without even bending your knees or even raising your heart rate. You will never touch a 4.5 tournament again. In the opens, you will win the matches and it will feel just like the training that you have been doing. You will realize that you play in the matches exactly the same way you have been hitting in training. No such thing as a good day and a bad day anymore. The variation in your game is minimal, and you act on instinct and not on emotion.

7# Next you hit the qualies of the futures. Here it is a whole new game because you are facing some big leage spin and pace and variety that not even your coach was giving you. Your instincts tell you what to do and you have to rely on your fitness to get you to the ball every time. You will realize that you belong here, but everyone will play hard and the competition will be fierce. The mental toughness is what will win in the end along with a little luck and the wise shot selection on the few key points.

from here the only way to elevate your game is to take your fitness to a new level and to increase mental toughness

Those are the steps to get a few ATP points, and only in that order with no shortcuts. The adaptability of the human body is absolutely incredible and the honest truth is that most people are actually capable of achieving it, but the reason that 99.9% do not is because who would actually committ put themselves through the process described above, which is torturous to say the least.

[yonexpurestorm]

Originally Posted by doug9238

Here is how to get the one point that you are seeking:

#1 - get down to 8-10% bodyfat or less. You can't afford to be carrying extra weight or you will hurt yourself in the stress of the hard training. This is the point where you look down and see the hollywood six pack of abs. All rising and current tennis pros have it, and maybe the falling ones don't anymore and that partly explains why they are falling. This will take you anywhere from 3-6 months depending on how out of shape you are now. This will come with 80% diet and 20% exercise. Once you have acheieved this, you will have an A+ bodybuilder diet and a great exercise regimine as your base to begin the next steps.

#2 - build a huge cardio base. Work up to the point where you are 40+ miles per week. You will be running 6 days per week and have a combination of a long run (15+miles), a tempo run (6-8 miles at 80% max HR) and speed work (10 800's @ 95% max HR). The other three days will be easy/recovery runs with one rest day. Depending on your shape, this will take 3+ months to get to this point. A good test to see if you are ready for the next step is when you can run a mile sub 5:50, 5K sub 20 minutes and a half marathon sub 1 hr 35 min. Once you pass this test, you are ready to move on.

#3 Hit the gym hard. You need a ton of fast twitch muscle in your lower and upper body. You will achieve this by doing supersets and cicuits alternating days with upper body and lower body. Lower body exercises will be power squats, lunges, calf raises hip flexors and abductors. Upper body will be mainly core and back, along with wrist/forearm with a little chest and arms. This will be about 3 months. Your body will look a bit like a boxer once you are done with this phase. Next you will be ready to begin the tennis specific training

#4 Find a great coach that you can work with a minimum of 3x per week for 1.5 hours per session. Plan you budget to be about $500 per month minimum for this service. Your coach will analyze your game and more than likely have you start over completely and teach you the basics, which will start with very fast and explosive footwork and and cat like reflexes. Even with all of the prep you did in steps 1-3, you will walk away from the training feeling like you body was run over by a truck, but since you put in your time with the diet, cardio and weights, you will recover quickly and make gains without getting injured. after about 6 months of training like this, you will begin to get muscle memory and be taking split steps on every shot without even thinking about it. You will instictively explode on the first and last step with every ball you hit. You will will take large steps and follow them up with tiny steps. You will wear out your shoes about a pair per month. You will get smart and purchase your shoes 6 pairs at a time. You will rarely even touch your heels on the tennis court. Plan on 6months to one year to get to this point, depending on your mental strength.

#5 Once you are ready, your coach will teach you the technical aspects of the 5 types of shots. forehand, backhand, volley, overhead and serve. Then you will hit over 10,000 balls before the muscle memory kicks in and you can do them instinctively. You will hit 100 forehands crosscourt and miss 5 or less and no pushing. They will all be deep with topspin. Then you will do backhands and volleys. Once you can sustain this, you will have decent rally shots. Then you will work volleys, overheads and serves. You will work your serve on your own time, 4x per week 100 1st serves to both sides with 60% in and 100 2nd serves to both sides with 98% in. Plan on 6 months to achieve this

#6 Next you will hit the tournaments. You will crush everyone so bad at a 4.5 tournament that it will not even be fun. You will find that you can hit winners without even bending your knees or even raising your heart rate. You will never touch a 4.5 tournament again. In the opens, you will win the matches and it will feel just like the training that you have been doing. You will realize that you play in the matches exactly the same way you have been hitting in training. No such thing as a good day and a bad day anymore. The variation in your game is minimal, and you act on instinct and not on emotion.

7# Next you hit the qualies of the futures. Here it is a whole new game because you are facing some big leage spin and pace and variety that not even your coach was giving you. Your instincts tell you what to do and you have to rely on your fitness to get you to the ball every time. You will realize that you belong here, but everyone will play hard and the competition will be fierce. The mental toughness is what will win in the end along with a little luck and the wise shot selection on the few key points.

from here the only way to elevate your game is to take your fitness to a new level and to increase mental toughness

Those are the steps to get a few ATP points, and only in that order with no shortcuts. The adaptability of the human body is absolutely incredible and the honest truth is that most people are actually capable of achieving it, but the reason that 99.9% do not is because who would actually committ put themselves through the process described above, which is torturous to say the least.

very informative post. i honestly dont think i would have anywhere near the time to acheive all the steps you layed out. i also dont think i will ever get that point, but competing and maybe winning some local opens will be good enough for me for now. as long as im enjoying the ride im winning in my book.

[spinorama]

Originally Posted by yonexpurestorm

i havent had any tournaments or otherwise good news to post for the past month, but this weekend i was able to put together some decent wins. i played in the la habra tennis center open in the open division and 4.5 division for singles. there was very good competition since first place open received $ 1800 and 4.5 first place received $ 400. in the open division i won my first round, but ended up losing 2 and 3 to the one seed in qualifying. i was happy with my play, but realize my stamina is not quite there yet. the kid i lost to was in one of those camps where they play tennis all day and then get tutored. my game is on par with these guys, but i cannot keep the intensity going without getting gassed. so there is plenty more work to do.

on a better note i took down the 4.5 division without dropping a set and taking the final 0 and 0. i had actually lost to the guy i beat in the final before so i know i am improving. the prize money was the largest ive seen for a tournament so the competition was pretty good, even for 4.5. in the semis i had to go through the #1 4.5 tournament player in so cal.

lastly, in my 6.0 ultimate tennis league i made the playoffs again, but lost in a close match 4-6 6-7 in the first round of the playoffs. i am making improvements, but as anyone around my skill level knows improvements are not linear. my next tournament is next weekend and i will be playing only open singles. then i am going to train all december and prepare for 2013 and hopefully i can put together some good wins.

Read some of this thread, sounds cool and sounds like you have progressed a lot. I'm surprised you beat David in bagels, you must be really improving fast.

I'm always down to hit on weekends, let me know if you are ever up in the valley and would like to play a quick set

[aced_Tezuka]

@doug
I should follow this while I'm in college or after. If I were to follow this 100% I could play like the pro's lol.

[jdubbs]

Originally Posted by doug9238

Here is how to get the one point that you are seeking:

#1 - get down to 8-10% bodyfat or less. You can't afford to be carrying extra weight or you will hurt yourself in the stress of the hard training. This is the point where you look down and see the hollywood six pack of abs. All rising and current tennis pros have it, and maybe the falling ones don't anymore and that partly explains why they are falling. This will take you anywhere from 3-6 months depending on how out of shape you are now. This will come with 80% diet and 20% exercise. Once you have acheieved this, you will have an A+ bodybuilder diet and a great exercise regimine as your base to begin the next steps.

#2 - build a huge cardio base. Work up to the point where you are 40+ miles per week. You will be running 6 days per week and have a combination of a long run (15+miles), a tempo run (6-8 miles at 80% max HR) and speed work (10 800's @ 95% max HR). The other three days will be easy/recovery runs with one rest day. Depending on your shape, this will take 3+ months to get to this point. A good test to see if you are ready for the next step is when you can run a mile sub 5:50, 5K sub 20 minutes and a half marathon sub 1 hr 35 min. Once you pass this test, you are ready to move on.

#3 Hit the gym hard. You need a ton of fast twitch muscle in your lower and upper body. You will achieve this by doing supersets and cicuits alternating days with upper body and lower body. Lower body exercises will be power squats, lunges, calf raises hip flexors and abductors. Upper body will be mainly core and back, along with wrist/forearm with a little chest and arms. This will be about 3 months. Your body will look a bit like a boxer once you are done with this phase. Next you will be ready to begin the tennis specific training

#4 Find a great coach that you can work with a minimum of 3x per week for 1.5 hours per session. Plan you budget to be about $500 per month minimum for this service. Your coach will analyze your game and more than likely have you start over completely and teach you the basics, which will start with very fast and explosive footwork and and cat like reflexes. Even with all of the prep you did in steps 1-3, you will walk away from the training feeling like you body was run over by a truck, but since you put in your time with the diet, cardio and weights, you will recover quickly and make gains without getting injured. after about 6 months of training like this, you will begin to get muscle memory and be taking split steps on every shot without even thinking about it. You will instictively explode on the first and last step with every ball you hit. You will will take large steps and follow them up with tiny steps. You will wear out your shoes about a pair per month. You will get smart and purchase your shoes 6 pairs at a time. You will rarely even touch your heels on the tennis court. Plan on 6months to one year to get to this point, depending on your mental strength.

#5 Once you are ready, your coach will teach you the technical aspects of the 5 types of shots. forehand, backhand, volley, overhead and serve. Then you will hit over 10,000 balls before the muscle memory kicks in and you can do them instinctively. You will hit 100 forehands crosscourt and miss 5 or less and no pushing. They will all be deep with topspin. Then you will do backhands and volleys. Once you can sustain this, you will have decent rally shots. Then you will work volleys, overheads and serves. You will work your serve on your own time, 4x per week 100 1st serves to both sides with 60% in and 100 2nd serves to both sides with 98% in. Plan on 6 months to achieve this

#6 Next you will hit the tournaments. You will crush everyone so bad at a 4.5 tournament that it will not even be fun. You will find that you can hit winners without even bending your knees or even raising your heart rate. You will never touch a 4.5 tournament again. In the opens, you will win the matches and it will feel just like the training that you have been doing. You will realize that you play in the matches exactly the same way you have been hitting in training. No such thing as a good day and a bad day anymore. The variation in your game is minimal, and you act on instinct and not on emotion.

7# Next you hit the qualies of the futures. Here it is a whole new game because you are facing some big leage spin and pace and variety that not even your coach was giving you. Your instincts tell you what to do and you have to rely on your fitness to get you to the ball every time. You will realize that you belong here, but everyone will play hard and the competition will be fierce. The mental toughness is what will win in the end along with a little luck and the wise shot selection on the few key points.

from here the only way to elevate your game is to take your fitness to a new level and to increase mental toughness

Those are the steps to get a few ATP points, and only in that order with no shortcuts. The adaptability of the human body is absolutely incredible and the honest truth is that most people are actually capable of achieving it, but the reason that 99.9% do not is because who would actually committ put themselves through the process described above, which is torturous to say the least.

Best post I think I've ever seen here.

[jrs]

Originally Posted by doug9238

Here is how to get the one point that you are seeking:

#1 - get down to 8-10% bodyfat or less. You can't afford to be carrying extra weight or you will hurt yourself in the stress of the hard training. This is the point where you look down and see the hollywood six pack of abs. All rising and current tennis pros have it, and maybe the falling ones don't anymore and that partly explains why they are falling. This will take you anywhere from 3-6 months depending on how out of shape you are now. This will come with 80% diet and 20% exercise. Once you have acheieved this, you will have an A+ bodybuilder diet and a great exercise regimine as your base to begin the next steps.

#2 - build a huge cardio base. Work up to the point where you are 40+ miles per week. You will be running 6 days per week and have a combination of a long run (15+miles), a tempo run (6-8 miles at 80% max HR) and speed work (10 800's @ 95% max HR). The other three days will be easy/recovery runs with one rest day. Depending on your shape, this will take 3+ months to get to this point. A good test to see if you are ready for the next step is when you can run a mile sub 5:50, 5K sub 20 minutes and a half marathon sub 1 hr 35 min. Once you pass this test, you are ready to move on.

#3 Hit the gym hard. You need a ton of fast twitch muscle in your lower and upper body. You will achieve this by doing supersets and cicuits alternating days with upper body and lower body. Lower body exercises will be power squats, lunges, calf raises hip flexors and abductors. Upper body will be mainly core and back, along with wrist/forearm with a little chest and arms. This will be about 3 months. Your body will look a bit like a boxer once you are done with this phase. Next you will be ready to begin the tennis specific training

#4 Find a great coach that you can work with a minimum of 3x per week for 1.5 hours per session. Plan you budget to be about $500 per month minimum for this service. Your coach will analyze your game and more than likely have you start over completely and teach you the basics, which will start with very fast and explosive footwork and and cat like reflexes. Even with all of the prep you did in steps 1-3, you will walk away from the training feeling like you body was run over by a truck, but since you put in your time with the diet, cardio and weights, you will recover quickly and make gains without getting injured. after about 6 months of training like this, you will begin to get muscle memory and be taking split steps on every shot without even thinking about it. You will instictively explode on the first and last step with every ball you hit. You will will take large steps and follow them up with tiny steps. You will wear out your shoes about a pair per month. You will get smart and purchase your shoes 6 pairs at a time. You will rarely even touch your heels on the tennis court. Plan on 6months to one year to get to this point, depending on your mental strength.

#5 Once you are ready, your coach will teach you the technical aspects of the 5 types of shots. forehand, backhand, volley, overhead and serve. Then you will hit over 10,000 balls before the muscle memory kicks in and you can do them instinctively. You will hit 100 forehands crosscourt and miss 5 or less and no pushing. They will all be deep with topspin. Then you will do backhands and volleys. Once you can sustain this, you will have decent rally shots. Then you will work volleys, overheads and serves. You will work your serve on your own time, 4x per week 100 1st serves to both sides with 60% in and 100 2nd serves to both sides with 98% in. Plan on 6 months to achieve this

#6 Next you will hit the tournaments. You will crush everyone so bad at a 4.5 tournament that it will not even be fun. You will find that you can hit winners without even bending your knees or even raising your heart rate. You will never touch a 4.5 tournament again. In the opens, you will win the matches and it will feel just like the training that you have been doing. You will realize that you play in the matches exactly the same way you have been hitting in training. No such thing as a good day and a bad day anymore. The variation in your game is minimal, and you act on instinct and not on emotion.

7# Next you hit the qualies of the futures. Here it is a whole new game because you are facing some big leage spin and pace and variety that not even your coach was giving you. Your instincts tell you what to do and you have to rely on your fitness to get you to the ball every time. You will realize that you belong here, but everyone will play hard and the competition will be fierce. The mental toughness is what will win in the end along with a little luck and the wise shot selection on the few key points.

from here the only way to elevate your game is to take your fitness to a new level and to increase mental toughness

Those are the steps to get a few ATP points, and only in that order with no shortcuts. The adaptability of the human body is absolutely incredible and the honest truth is that most people are actually capable of achieving it, but the reason that 99.9% do not is because who would actually committ put themselves through the process described above, which is torturous to say the least.

Great post - I am starting another thread with this Hope you don't mind