"Recovery" by Coach Ped Rouhafza

One of the most important fundamentals in tennis is Recovery. I firmly believe, especially at the junior level that many players tend to forget how important recovery really is. Let's put a junior player in a hypothetical situation to help understand what I am talking about. There they are, about to start their match. Player A and Player B have just taken their warm-up serves and they are ready to begin play. Player A serves the first point and a rally has begun. After exchanging several shots back and forth, Player A is pushed out wide and is able to hit an offensive shot down the line. Rather than recovering back to the middle, Player A hangs out in the alley admiring his or her shot. This is where problems arise and must be corrected. Because Player A is admiring the shot that he or she hit, Player B had a great get and was able to hit a cross-court winner because of the open court left by Player A. It is very important to understand that no matter how amazing of a shot you think you have hit and there is no chance of your opponent being able to return it, you should always assume that the ball you hit is coming back. The reason for this assumption is because you will find yourself being in the point longer rather than watching the balls go by as winners. I know for a fact that players will be able to stay in the point longer if they position themselves back on the court rather than hanging out in a specific spot. Once this concept in tennis is understood and practiced thoroughly to make it a habit, junior players at this level will have a major edge over their opponents. Remember, while you are watching your professional tennis idols play, you will never see any of them hang out in one spot after they hit a shot. They will always recovery to stay in the point because their mindset is simple: "Everything is coming back."