Fatso Tennis

Archive for the ‘DVDs’ Category

I got a really nice review on my tennis training DVD. Check it out here:

This is an older VHS video, but the info is still great. This video goes over where you should hit your shots when you want to play the percentages. Of course it discusses cross court being a high percentage shot because of the greater length of the court and lower net, but what I liked especially was the discussion of when it makes sense to change the direction of the ball.

Knowing where to hit your shots can really up your game.

According to the video, when the ball is crossing your body on a groundstorke you should send it back in the same direction it came. This works for either forehand or backhand so you don’t have to think too much.

When the ball is not crossing your body is the time when biomechanically and strategically it’s good to change the direction of the ball.

When getting a short ball and approaching the net they recommend hitting the ball 90 degreees to the angle of the net instead of going for the lines.

Lots of other percentage tennis stuff is covered along with drills to make your percentage tennis automatic.

I just checked the Human Kinetics website and couldn’t find this tape there. See if you can find a copy of this video maybe on Ebay (and something to play it on) and your game will improve.

“Creative Shots for Winning Tennis” by Renata Marcinkowska is probably one of my all time favorite DVDs (not including mine of course hahaha).

Renata is a two time all american and teaching pro who put together this little 40 minute video with the help of Championship Productions .

I think I like it so much because it’s comprised mostly of cool shots that are not too hard to master, but that run your opponent off the court . . . and that’s what I’m all about.

I love the shots on this DVD

Renata Covers the following shots:

Slider Serve where she uses an eastern backhand grip and tosses way to the right and hits the serve as the toss is rising. I’m not sure what all the top pro coaches think about this, but I love it for a several reasons.

1. It will surprise someone who has gotten used to your normal serve rhythm because instead of tossing high and waiting till the ball drops, you are hitting as the ball goes up which will turn out to be a much faster delivery than the returner is used to.

2. It runs the opponent way off the court on the deuce side or creates a hard to handle body serve and

3. Well I’ve got to go back in time to tell you the third reason I love this serve.
In the 1971 film “Billy Jack” Tom Laughlin (who plays Billy Jack) said to a guy one of the most famous lines in film history.

Billy Jack to Mr. Posner: I’m gonna take this right foot, and I’m gonna whop you on that side of your face… [points to Posner's right cheek]  …and you wanna know something? There’s not a damn thing you’re gonna be able to do about it.

Then he promptly whopped Mr. Posner’s right cheek and knocked him down.

That’s how I feel about this serve. If you can get good at a slider serve that runs your opponent way off the court you can telegraph it all you want. You can toss it so far to the right that Ann Coulter would want to take up tennis.  . . . “and you wanna know something? There’s not a damn thing your opponent is gonna be able to do about it.”

OK. I won’t be so long winded on the other shots. Here they are:

The New American Twist Serve

Roll shot from out side of court.

Inside out backhand slice with semi Western forehand grip (this is really cool)

Baseline drop shot

Topspin Lob

Drop Volley

Half Volley

This DVD is a good deal.

“Winning Tennis for the Overweight and
Hopelessly Out of Shape”

Click here to check out our new tennis instructional video

Check out the review we got on the popular Timeless Tennis Blog

http://timelesstennis.blogspot.com/2010/04/dvd-review-winning-tennis-for.html

Click here to get your own copy Read the rest of this entry »

I have no idea how many tennis videos I own. I have a six foot banquet table stacked about 2 feet high with tennis videos. I have learned a ton about tennis from these videos. I still get instruction from competent instructors, but there are tons of things you can learn from videos.

Here’s some of the places where I shop for videos:

Championship Productions

Tennis Warehouse

Ebay

Fatso Tennis (hahahaha. I had to slip that one in)

Get busy learning from videos