All Court Tennis: Tennis That Lasts a Lifetime
Brent Abel
1Animation: Brent Medley
Caption: All court tennis: satisfying, easier, more successful.
I love the fact that tennis is a sport we can play our entire lives. I believe that the
secret to maximizing this experience in every way is to become an all court
player. All-court tennis is more physically satisfying and mentally engaging than
having a one-dimensional game. It is much easier on your body as well.
I love the pro game as well, but how realistic is it for the average player to try to
build a game after someone like Rafael Nadal? Realistically, becoming an allcourt player is the way to go for the vast majority club players.
The Maestro
What do I mean by all-court tennis? To explain I need to talk about the man who
completely rebuilt my own game. His name was Tom Stow. He also became the
inspiration for my whole philosophy as a teacher. Tom was a fine player, good
enough to have won the NCAA doubles title while at the University of California
at Berkeley in 1925. But where Tom left his mark on the game was as a
teacher.
There have been very few people in the history of the game who studied strokes
the way Tom did. His pre-eminence as a student of the game earned him the
nickname “The Maestro” and drew praise from the legends of his own day like
Jack Kramer and Pancho Segura.
1Still: Tom Stow
Caption: The man who invented the all court forcing game and changed my life:
Tom Stow.
For many years Tom was the head pro at the legendary Berkeley Tennis Club
where I am a member and still play today. During his time there Tom worked
with several Tennis Hall of Famers including Sarah Palfrey, Margaret Osborne
and, most notably, the great Don Budge. Budge, the first man to win all four
Grand Slam titles in a calendar year, often credited Tom with refining his entire
approach to building points.
As far back as the 1930’s, Tom saw remarkable, revolutionary connections
between tennis and everything from golf to ballroom dancing to boxing. His
knowledge about such concepts as weight transfer and swing shape helped him
create an incredibly efficient way of striking the ball that made it easy to play
forceful all-court tennis. And he proved its effectiveness not only at the world
class level, but with hundreds of players he developed at all levels.
2Animation: Budge
Caption: Don Budge, the best known of the hall of fame players Stow trained.
To give one example, Tom also taught Tony Price. Now I’m quite certain you’ve
never heard of Tony – and that is precisely my point. Tony’s now in his early
60s. He plays a fine grade of 4.5 level tennis.
But here’s what I love about Tony’s game:
Tony’s comfortable in all parts of the
court. If he needs to, he can strike crisp forehands and backhands. When he
draws a short ball, his footwork moving forward is superb and he gets himself in
the right place to hit the ball with power. Once he’s at the net, Tony volleys quite
nicely.
Tony knows the fundamentals of his own game so well, he can go six months
without hitting a ball and then, with barely three minutes of warm-up, feel grooved
and ready to go. To me, Tony’s game living proof of the principle of all-court
tennis: When you use more of the court, you play better tennis. You also have
a lot more fun.
And that is the premise of the all-court approach Tom Stow taught. The premise
is with proper grips, swing shapes and body movement, it’s quite possible to
build a game that lets you play with the skill, the passion and the pleasure of a
Tony Price. When you learn to hit the ball the way Tom taught, there is another
huge benefit. Tony Price rarely gets injured. I believe playing all court tennis you
save wear and tear on your body.
3Animation: Nadal
Caption: Can you chase balls all day ten feet behind the baseline?
Today’s Pros Don’t Always Help
This notion about health – and fun -- is very important to me. The professional
game has evolved to the point where most of what you see on TV today is
heavy-duty baseline tennis – based on extreme grips and body rotations, twohanded backhands and, heavy spin.
But I think we can all agree that 99.9 percent of the people who ever pick up a
racket will never play on the ATP or WTA tour. So why are people learning to
play like that? I wince sometimes when I see how the game is currently being
taught and what a narrow range of skills so many youngsters are acquiring. I
wince even more when I see older players – many of whom only play doubles –
are now trying to learn forehands hit with Western grips.
After all, can you really torque your body like Andy Roddick and expect to play
all-court tennis your entire life? It’s one thing to have a young supple body like
Rafael Nadal and be able to chase balls all day five or ten feet behind the
baseline, but if you’re not a world-class player, is it really fun to play that way?
4Animation: Brent Volleys
Caption: All court tennis means the ability to play the net.
A former junior player I know is now 23 years old and learned to play the
contemporary style, including an extreme semi-western grip on the forehand and
a one-dimensional baseline game.
She got good enough to play college tennis for four years. She won tons of
matches on fitness and patience. But recently she confessed to me that she’s
bored by tennis and the way she plays. At this point, it seems, her brain is now
bigger than her game. Her technique and tactical style is prohibiting her from
using her imagination. In many ways she’ll have to start over if she wants to play
the game with the skill of Tony Price.
I believe that young players who become locked into the topspin baseline swing
patterns with no real variety are going to be abandoning tennis as they grow
older. When you try to play like today’s pros, the game becomes too hard,
limited and boring. Consider, for example, how hard it is for someone copying
the contemporary pro style to effectively play doubles. The grips and strokes are
ill-fitted for everything from service returns to volleys and transition shots. And
equally tragic, the court sense that’s learned by using those techniques is
extremely limiting.
5Animation: Variety
Caption: Taking the ball early, using slice, playing serve and volley.
Now don’t get me wrong. I love the enthusiasm and tenacity of Roddick and
Nadal. And I think to some degree there are discreet things each of us can learn
from top pros. I’ve studied tons of high speed footage on Tennisplayer in order
to understand the fundamentals that transcend all technical styles.
But my experience teaching all-court tennis for 25 years has shown me there’s a
way out there that’s easier and more fun. And by more fun I don’t mean goofing
around. I equate “more fun” with improvement. That means competing more
effectively against a broader range of players in everything from practice
matches to league and tournament play.
6Animation: Singles Point
Caption: Forcing shots create court position and opportunities to win points.
Singles
The court approach can also help you become a much more forceful singles
player. Tom Stow's philosophy was to apply pressure through what he called the
all court forcing game. Tom's premise was that if you developed sound stroke
fundamentals that you could hit enough "forcing" shots and used those shots to
establish sound court position, soon enough the other guy would either miss or
give you an easy ball you could place for a winner. Don Budge did this so well
that opponents said they felt helpless playing him.
Doubles
Let's take a look at how an all-court approach is also a perfect fit for doubles. As
we all know, the name of the game in doubles is to establish good court position
at the net. The all court approach to developing your game helps you
accomplish this. The emphasis is on volley-friendly grips, compact strokes,
efficient movement and recognition of which places on the court are most
important to occupy. There are a number of productive techniques, drills and
patterns you can apply that will help you and anyone you play with collaborate
more effectively.
7Animation: Doubles Point
Caption: All court tennis is the best style for doubles.
The Hard Way
I learned the effectiveness of this approach through personal experience. I was
fortunate to begin working with Tom Stow when I was 30 years old. I was
teaching tennis then, but in retrospect I realize that in many ways I was deceiving
myself both as a teacher and a player. As a teacher, I was mostly drawing on
clichés, all those familiar lines like “get the racket back,” “swing through it,” “bend
your knees,” and, of course, “watch the ball.” I didn’t really have any kind of
system for helping pplayers learn to play better.
As a player, I was probably what would today be labeled a 4.5 on the NTRP
scale. But my strokes were a joke – a wristy forehand my buddies and I called
“the flick,” along with a backhand known as “the cut” and volleys I kind of poked.
I knew if I wanted to talk the talk with my students, I’d have to learn to walk the
walk first. So with Tom, I pretty much gutted my entire game. For about 18
months, I relearned every stroke from zero. It took a lot of work.
1Still: Brent Gold Ball
Caption: The gold ball I received for winning the national 35 and over hardcourt
doubles title.
One of the most important principles I learned was: don’t fight the ball. Learn
how to efficiently use your body to generate pace and accuracy. Eventually that
hard work paid off. Five years after I first called Tom Stow I was fortunate
enough to win the National 35 hardcourt doubles title. I can guarantee you that
without him, I’d never have won a set at a tournament like that. Over the years I
have continued to do well both in sectional and national singles and doubles.
Now to learn all-court tennis do you have to gut your entire game the way I did?
Not necessarily. Not everyone has the time, the inclination or the need to
improve their game this way. My approach calls for constantly pursuing ways to
improve. At a minimum what I want to suggest is approaching the game a little
differently.
8Animation: Brent Don’t Fight the Ball
Caption: Don’t fight the ball: use your body to generate pace and accuracy.
Hackers Versus Players
The way I see it, there are two kinds of people who play tennis: hackers and
players. A hacker is content with what he already has. And to me there are some
hackers in the top 200 in the world. Being a hacker might mean beating the
same guy every Sunday, or doing well in league play, or even having a high
ranking at a sectional level. But the hacker is so addicted to outcome – those
precious results – that he is resistant to making long-term changes that might
cost him in the short-term.
“Players,” on the other hand, are open to new ideas that might cost them some
immediate gratification, but over the long term will yield greater rewards. And
yes, I’ve seen 3.0 players who embody this principle. I can guarantee you it took
Tony Price a while longer to learn a topspin backhand than if he’d merely stuck
with the one-handed slice. But if you really put in the effort to develop all-court
tennis, I can guarantee that you’ll play better and have better results.
Once I worked with Tom Stow I saw that my days of “grab-bag” teaching and tips
were over. His approach to all-court tennis gave me a big picture approach and
a unified system that gets results. They hit the ball better and they have more
fun doing it. What more could you ask for?
2Still Brent Bio Photo
Brent Abel is the founder of WebTennis.net, dedicated to all court tennis. For
over 20 years he has been an elite senior player at the national level. His
numerous titles include a prestigious gold ball as National Hardcourt Doubles
Champion. Brent began his teaching career at the fabled John Gardner’s Tennis
Ranch in Carmel Valley, California. In addition Brent has taught at some of the
most respected clubs in the Bay Area, including the Moraga Country Club, the
Tiburon Peninsula Club, and the California Tennis Club. He still plays regularly
at the Berkeley Tennis Club where he first met the great Tom Stow.
3Still WebTennis Logo
Click Here!
Brent Abel’s WebTennis.net, provides free instructional tips and also offers
commercial instructional products that deliver on his commitment to teaching allcourt tennis. There are simple drills you can do by yourself, as well as practice
routines you can try with a friend. Other drills focus on aspects of stroke
production, match play tactics, and especially the cornerstone of all-court tennis
– court positioning. Plus plenty of doubles tips. There is also a free newsletter.
Everything works together as part of Brent’s unified teaching system for
becoming an all-court player.