Basic Tennis Instruction & Conditioning

Basic Tennis Instruction & Conditioning

This manual was originally developed for distribution to the authors tennis students and emphasizes basic positioning and strokes. The discussion about neuro-control was added after a number of students wanted a greater detail of the concepts of skill learning and neurological structure. There are many and fine instructional sources for advanced information on court play. For advanced detailed instruction and strategy consult these sources.

As a book of instruction it has been formulated using the physical sciences and motor learning. The author spent 7 years "just doing what worked". Subsequently he documented five years of practical application of science based instruction and sought input from sport psychologists that has refined the effectiveness of this manual. It is a method of learning and playing tennis which seeks to develop a basic stroke pattern that is efficient in both time and energy. It is by no means the only way to hit a tennis ball. The first strokes taught here are basic top spin applications. The body form and arm movements are easy to adjust to. This is the soundest way I have yet found to develop a basic stroke, upon which, the addition of various other methods should be based.

The discussion begins with ground strokes (ready position, stroke & follow through), volley (stance & stroke), and serve (stance & stroke). The accompanying stroke animation disk allows those who are more visual oriented to observe body, arm, and leg positioning for the execution of the skill. Click here for a to access a demonstration of the individual .avi files on the disk.

About the author

Mr. Wenz taught tennis professionally for 13 years. Starting as a recreation department instructor he worked as an assistant pro and eventually as a head professional and club manager.

In the army he was the Athletics and Recreation NCO for HQ Troop Command, Fort Ord, CA. Coordinating various recreational and athletic events among many duties, he directed tennis clinics on base, and taught American Red Cross water safety instruction for lifeguard candidates.

Mr. Wenz graduated from CSU Long Beach with a double major emphasizing interscholastic sports and conditioning. His graduate work was done at UC Santa Barbara in Exercise Physiology working under the tutelage of Ernest D. Michaels, Ph.D.. He conducted post graduate research at the noted UCSB Environment Stress Laboratory headed by Steven Horvath, Ph.D. Further post graduate work was conducted at both Cottage Hospital in the radiology department with the direction and appreciated help of Dr. John Crues, and at Samsun Medical Research Foundation under the helpful direction of Dr. Lois Jovanovic, in Santa Barbara, CA. He investigated body composition analysis using a G.E. large bore full body 1.5 Tesla magnet investigating potential use of magnetic resonance spectroscopy.

Most recently he has been developing teaching aids and information for the preventive health and exercise science professional.

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