This is part 3 of my interview with tennis teaching legend Vic Braden. In this interview Vic tells us his number 1 tips for tennis technique, the mental game and the tactical side of Tennis.
You do not want to miss this information from one of the greatest tennis teachers of all-time!
Vic Braden Interview Part 3
For part 1 of the interview click here: Vic Braden Interview Part 1
For part 2 of the interview click here: Vic Braden Interview Part 2
If you prefer reading, here is a transcript of the interview:
Florian:
Ok. Now onto the third subject of this interview. Vic, I would like to ask you with so many years of experience in teaching Tennis, what are the most important pieces of advice you have for recreational players ?
It does not matter if it is technique or the mental game; what do you think are the most important aspects to keep in mind ?
Vic:
For me number 1 is: Only concentrate on the shot you are hitting!
Don’t worry about the past or the future because those things contaminate the signal from the brain to the muscle.
If you can just keep your head still, we have found that intuitive players have a hard time keeping their head still. They have to really work on keeping their head down and keeping their eye on the spot where the ball was hit.
When you watch Roger Federer you will see his chin over his upper arm still looking at the spot where he hit the ball. Most people turn their head early and your head weighs more inch per inch than any other part of your body!
And if you look out early, you don’t get the racket low and you cut across the body and the ball often ends up in the net.
So it is very important that you just get in the habit of hitting that same old boring winner where you keep your head still and make sure you are swinging up 30 or 40 degrees and the racket is vertical at impact and you will be surprised how many people you can beat!
But that’s also the mental part of the game. The mental part is people start thinking: I had him 40:0 and lost the game or I had an ad and blew an easy overhead. You can’t do that. That intercepts certain signals from the brain to the muscles and just causes people to play worse.
So if they can just get in the habit of playing the shot they are hitting and play it perfectly. And if you don’t know how to hit it perfectly, then you have to get that in a lesson.
But it’s a physics problem. People think coaches really know something very unique but it’s not; it’s a physics problem.
We did tons of ball studies in wind tunnels and outside at 8000 feet, 1000 feet, at sea level and it’s very important for people to know that if they hit up 30 degrees at sea level, the ball goes up 5 feet over the net, if they hit it 50 mph and the ball lands 20 inches inside the opponents baseline.
I once wrote an article about that and said I think you can beat almost everybody in the world hitting it deep like that and Billy Jean called me and said: You are wrong, I could beat everybody!
Florian:
You know that reminds me of, I used to work at the Evert Tennis Academy and I was hitting quite often with Chris Evert in the mornings.
And with her every single ball would just land close to the baseline, no unforced errors, it was just unbelievable. You could give her a lot of speed and that ball would just came back close to that baseline over and over.
Vic:
Yeah, we did quite a bit of studies on Chrissie and most of her shots were about 50 miles per hour. Some of the new stuff now they are hitting 68 to 75 mph off the ground but Chrissie had a wonderful record and all she did was hit that ball deep at 50 mph.
Florian:
Yeah, she never missed and moved well!
Vic:
That’s right!
Florian:
Ok. So let me sum that up: For technique keeping your head still and not following it with your eyes was the first thing you talked about right ?
Vic:
Yes, don’t be looking out early to see where the ball is going. Make sure that your head is still while you are hitting it!
Florian:
Right. And then the second one was low to high to get that racket underneath the level of the incoming ball.
Vic:
Yes. 30 degrees but again people think they are down. Diane Ross did a study that was so valuable to me. We asked people if they got the racket down lower and they are pretty sure it is low and it is actually at chest level!
So you can’t lift up 30 degrees. And if you want more spin, 30 doesn’t give you much spin, Chrissie did not give you much spin but at 40 degrees you start getting more spin and we have seen several studies where Rafa hits up at 60 or 70 degrees.
Florian:
And what about tactics ? What are the most important pieces of advice you have for the recreational players out there ?
Vic:
Well, from the tactical side it is: Don’t miss so you get the other side to worry!
People don’t understand much about the psychological side but Tennis is about intimidation!
Can you intimidate your opponent so they crack up and go to the back of the brain and you can do that by sometimes getting to the net but what I like the recreational player to do is experiment from time to time and have some fun because when you are having fun, the front stage of your brain is lit so that is very important.
That’s why I always said: Laugh and win!
The biggest problem with recreational players is that they get mad at missed opportunities!
Florian:
So the mental game basically.
Vic:
You bet.
Florian:
Yes it happens a lot. Happens to me, happens to everyone!
But if you keep working on it I have found that it gets better and better and you just have to keep working at it and be willing to make some changes in the way you think about these things!
Vic:
At Wimbledon today Lisicki, because she was down 3-0 in the third set against Serena previously and beat her, she said to herself: Well I was down 3-0 in the third against Serena so today I can also beat this player from 3-0 down in the third set.
You could just see the front of the brain get active again.
Florian:
Yeah absolutely and that was very interesting. I saw that much as well and Lisicki is obviously a German player, she has so much potential but she really has not been known for her mental toughness.
She has lost some big matches in situations like that and now for the first time really she has won 2 in a row in really big situations like that so it will be interesting to see if that changes her brain for the long-term!
Vic:
You bet. I have a keen interest in her future now!
Florian:
Yes. Apart from Serena, she has probably the biggest game on the women’s tour I think.
Vic:
And the game now, when you watch the women play you are also watching some of the same strokes that the men have. They are hitting so hard and it is just wonderful.
In the early days women played with one hand but the biggest problem was the extensor muscles were weak and they couldn’t handle a high bounce.
The men refused to play mixed doubles for years and then all of the sudden they learned to hit a two-handed backhand service return with a steady racket and now a lot of the men play mixed doubles.
Florian:
Interesting. Alright Vic, thanks so much for joining us here and your advice was obviously really good.
You have certainly influenced my career as a tennis teacher heavily and what we do here with Online Tennis Instruction. Not sure if you know this but there are close to 20,000 people that receive these video tips on a regular basis and what I do has been heavily influenced by your books and all of the research you have done so thanks for that!
Vic:
Well thanks to all my friends in Germany. I really enjoyed it when I had my schools there! At 83 years of age right now, I will be 84 next month, travelling across the pond there is a little too tough!
Florian:
No doubt. Alright thanks Vic!
