| Watching professional tennis players can be a great | | | | correctly. For example, Fernando Gonzalez developed |
| way to improve your game. The pros have flawless | | | | a big backswing on his forehand because that allows |
| technique so it's reasonable to assume that, should you | | | | him to best maximize his talents. However, this |
| be able to copy their strokes, your technique will be | | | | backswing doesn't interfere with his ability to correctly |
| close to perfect as well. However, it's extremely | | | | execute the fundamentals. The problem most |
| important to know what - and what not - to copy. | | | | club-level players have when emulating a particular |
| Otherwise, you can get yourself into trouble. | | | | idiosyncrasy such as Gonzalez's big backswing is that |
| Simply put, you want to start by copying the | | | | doing so DOES interfere with the fundamentals. It's an |
| fundamentals. Every pro does several things the same | | | | incredibly, incredibly common occurrence. |
| each time they hit a particular shot because those | | | | Now that said, trying to copy your favorite pro isn't |
| things - the fundamentals - are essential to hitting the | | | | necessarily a bad idea. Perhaps you have similar |
| shot correctly. It doesn't matter if we're talking about | | | | athletic talents, so what works for him or her may |
| Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Dinara Safina or Ana | | | | work for you. It may help you get the most out of a |
| Ivanovic - they all execute the fundamentals of a | | | | particular shot. The key is to be cautious. You must |
| particular shot every time they hit it and that's what | | | | understand what's necessary to hit a fundamentally |
| you want to emulate. | | | | sound shot - and you must be able to do it repeatedly. |
| Copying your favorite pro's idiosyncrasies is where | | | | In that way, you'll be able to go back to basics if you |
| many club-level players get into trouble. Any good | | | | try to copy a particular pro and things don't quite work |
| player has a particular style that he or she built on top | | | | out. |
| of the fundamentals necessary to play the game | | | | |