ETI Network

Membership Overview

ETI Network is a unique online membership community for players committed to taking their game to the next level.

You will have access to almost three years of worth of tennis content valued at hundreds of dollars. You get access to the entire library for FREE! Each month’s lesson plan includes – video lessons, on court diagrams, articles and stroke analyses – all revolve around specific themes with well defined action plans. All monthly topics are presented within the following five categories.

In sum, each monthly issue presents an organized theme where all the articles, videos, court diagrams and hot seat reviews focus you on a specific action plan.

Importantly, each month’s content is provided in small digestible chunks that you can act on where each article is short and to the point. So far our monthly topics have included:

Now, with each topic, and there is only one per month, we break them down into the following key areas; Between the Lines, On Court Lessons, Mind Games and Ask Jim. Each of these items is a short article and/or video that you can take action on each month.

Again, each monthly issue presents an organized theme where all the articles, videos, court diagrams etc. focus you on a specific action plan.

Also, you can search the entire site for relevant material – For example, you can search for the phrase “patterns of play” and a whole slew of articles will appear. We have published so much darn stuff over the past 28 months, much more than you could read in one sitting – but all accessible using the search box.

That’s right, if you are unsatisfied for any reason, you will receive a courteous and prompt refund. No questions, no receipt required, no fine print, no nothing…You just get 100% of your money back if you are not happy.

OK – your opponent has approached the net, and you are quickly mulling your options – lob, cross court, down the line – what about up the middle to create a two shot pattern?

Oftimes baseliners panic when the opponent takes the net, and passing shots are rushed, over played, and in many instances the opponent doesn’t even have to volley.

The following makes excellent sense if you are centered (meaning more or less close to the center of the court along the baseline) and makes less sense if you are cornered (meaning pushed way off the center of the court into one of the corners).

The second shot pass is a tactical play that lets the volleyer make the first move, and the baseliner respond to the volley with a pass on the second shot rather than the first.

So imagine the opponent has approached – play this first shot up the middle and or slightly off center to one side or the other. The volleyer will reach this shot but now has the first opportunity to make the error – you have purposely made him/her play. If the volleyer converts the shot, now take your chances on this your second shot. Hopefully the volley will not have been as deep as the approach, so you are taking your chances that this second shot will be easier than your first one.

Now take this second shot pass to a deeper level (think chess instead of checkers). Your opponent takes the net, you play your first shot intentionally off the center, letting them volley, but now you have preplanned your second shot to the other side of the court. Sort of like planning ahead. In fact it is.

Try this with a practice partner or coach, to perfect your options against net rushing opponents.

Pushers are darn hard to beat. They hit the ball slower, if not more awkwardly, than our more refined big hitting opponents. They seem to get to nearly every ball. And worst of all, because they slow the game down so darn much they are rarely out of position.

And as often as not some version of this player is generally the club champ.

If you are willing to take Spring Training seriously, then seek out the club pusher. And commit to play that person on a regular basis. Because they rarely beat themselves, your task is to reduce errors and learn not to beat yourself – once mastered this will become an excellent and rewarding contest.

There is an issue with waiting and weighting – for as often as not players are early when trying to time their shots against this type of opponent – and on this topic I have created a special feature on “Waiting/Weighting” within the ETI Network

Building Self Confidence – as written by Fred Earle

One of the most difficult things for tennis players to acquire is confidence in themselves and their game. It’s difficult because confidence is something that can’t be taught. You have to risk and take chances in order to gain a better feeling about your game. Confidence is something that is built from success. So the key is how to define success. If your definition stems only from your wins when you play, your successes may be few and far between.

I try to have all my players learn a simple formula which will not only help them with their success and confidence in tennis, but in everything they do, from school to their jobs, and their relationships with their family and other people. I first heard this formula from Jim Loehr, a noted psychologist from Denver, CO., about five years ago and I have used it ever since. If you can answer “yes” to each of the following five statements at the end of a match, lesson, or practice session, you have been successful and your confidence will grow.

I put out 100 per cent effort today. I gave it all I had.

No matter what your sport t or activity, there is a basic law with which everyone is familiar; “You get back what you gave out.” If you give out 50%, you will get back 50% worth of results. It’s the law. Sometimes, we don’t give 100% to protect our ego. It’s so important to remember, “all out every time.”

I maintained and sustained a positive mental attitude.

It’s been said over and over again, that success in every endeavor is based on attitude rather than technical expertise. A positive mental attitude is one key ingredient for becoming a success and building confidence. Feeling good about yourself and your progress is based on a positive attitude. Smile and enjoy what you are doing. Avoid frustration as it builds negative emotion and feelings. Remember, your thoughts control your feelings, so keep your thoughts positive.

Be Patient

There is a tendency in all of us to want instant skill. (Un)Fortunately, anything that’s good in life takes time and effort to learn. Be patient; avoid anger and negativism that occurs from being angry. Remember, easy does it. A little at a time. As you become a better player, improvement comes slower. Be patient.

I allowed myself to make mistakes.

Throughout our whole life, we learn more from our mistakes than from most any form of learning, making corrections from our mistakes and forgetting the mistakes quickly. You will always move towards that which you think about the most. If we dwell on our mistakes, we actually move toward that which we don’t want. Learn from your mistakes, and then forget them

I accept full responsibility for me today.

What I did and did not do is a result of me and me alone.

Fred Earle Quotes and Sayings

Use the bounce hit when you are nervous. Be sure you are in sync.
You are a product of what you put in your brain and mouth.
Turn everything except your head on your first step.
You play like you practice.
Stay on the balls of your feet as long as the ball is in play.
You have a dream; a dream with a deadline becomes a goal.
Play the ball; don’t let the ball play you.
Progress means taking risks.
The aim of a good player is to hit hard with control.
If you want to be a winner tomorrow, act like one today.
It’s not what is happening around you, it is what is happening inside you.
Winning isn’t everything, but courage is.
If you want to be a champ in my eyes, play up to your potential.
When I talk, bear hug.
Success is the way you walk the paths of life each day
It’s in the little things you do, and the little things you say
Success is not in getting rich, or rising high in fame
It’s not alone in winning goals, that all men claim
Success is being big of heart, clean, and broad of mind
It’s being faithful to your friends, and to a stranger kind
It’s in the children you love, and all they learn from you
Success begins on character and all the things you do

Your tasks here are to use your shoulders in a throwing motion to create racquet head speed. Throwing is a pulling action where the hand and ball are the last thing to come thru, think of it as flinging.

On the serve the first move is to turn away from the receiver (slightly) so the servers back is to the net. This wind up enables the server to turn into the hit – in this version the shoulders remain level and this is known as rotation about the long axis.

From this position, many extend the tossing arm and lead with the hips, and this bulge lowers the hitting shoulder, and the lower the shoulder the more room for it to accelerate up and into the hit. In methods where the right shoulder finishes well above the left shoulder, sometimes also called shoulder over shoulder, we see the role of cartwheeling in hitting up and into the ball.

 

Finally, from the initial turned position, if the server arches her back, and be careful for this can strain the lower back, this arch when reversed as the server springs up and into the ball will cause yet more racquet speed, and this somer saulting action is also part of the serve.

The art, I believe, is to vary the alignment and use of your shoulders for more side spin in the deuce court (rotation about the long axis). Kicking out wide to the ad is helped much more with cartwheeling and somer saulting. But to watch Federer, or all the excellent servers – they all use a version of all three methods within each serve – but place more or less emphasis as needed.

Keys to the drop shot:

Roger has said the addition of a drop shot to his repertoire (as well as Soderling beating Rafa in the quarters) led to his first (and I hope it is not his only) Roland Garros title.

And throughout the ATP World Tour finals, Roger used this shot off both wings, often appearing to toy with his opponents.

But if your club (or courts) are anything like ours, few take the time to practice this shot. Now there is even a new name for this play – they call it the vertical attack – moving the opponent not side to side but rather deep and short.

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