📖Tennis Tips & Buying Guides
Plain-English tennis tips and buying guides to help you choose the right gear, learn the game, and actually improve.
Showing 58 guides
How to Choose Your First Tennis Racquet
Head size, weight, grip, strings and budget — a plain-English walkthrough so your first frame helps your game instead of fighting it.
Read guide →Tennis Scoring Explained: From Love to Match Point
Why does 0 mean 'love' and why does the game jump from 30 to 40? A clear, no-jargon guide to points, games, sets, tiebreaks and how to call the score.
Read guide →Deuce in Tennis: What 40-40 Means and How to Win From It
Deuce is where more club matches are decided than anywhere else. What it means, what ad-in and ad-out are, why a game can last twenty points, and how to actually win from 40-40.
Read guide →From 3.0 to 4.0: The Drills and Habits That Actually Move the Needle
The jump from a 3.0 to a 4.0 player is not about a bigger forehand — it is consistency, depth and a reliable second serve. Seven focused drills to get you there.
Read guide →How to Beat a Pusher
The most-asked question in club tennis. Why hitting harder backfires — and the patient, aggressive game plan that actually dismantles a pusher.
Read guide →11 Mistakes Every Adult Beginner Makes
Starting tennis as an adult? Skip years of frustration — the habits experienced players wish they'd never grooved, and exactly what to do instead.
Read guide →The Budget Tennis Gear Guide: Where to Spend and Where to Save
You don't need to spend a fortune to play well. Where your money genuinely matters — and where experienced players say to save it.
Read guide →How to Stop Choking: The Mental Game
5-3, serving for the set, and your arm turns to stone. Why choking happens — and the routines players use to play free under pressure.
Read guide →Tennis Strings Explained (Without the Jargon)
The cheapest upgrade to your game isn't a new racquet — it's the right string. Types, gauge, tension and hybrids, in plain English.
Read guide →One-Handed vs Two-Handed Backhand: Which Should You Play?
The eternal tennis debate. The real trade-offs between the one- and two-hander, how to fix the one-hander's weak spots, and an honest answer to which one you should actually learn.
Read guide →5 Serve Mistakes That Are Killing Your Game (And How to Fix Each One)
Your serve is the only shot where you control every variable — yet most club players repeat the same five errors for years. Here's how to spot and fix each one fast.
Read guide →The Grip Guide: Continental, Eastern & Semi-Western Explained
Grips confuse every beginner. What the continental, eastern and semi-western grips actually are, how to find them, and which to use for each shot.
Read guide →How to Practise Tennis Alone
No hitting partner? No problem. The most effective ways to genuinely improve on your own — wall, ball machine, serve baskets, shadow swings and footwork.
Read guide →Tennis Warm-Up & Injury Prevention
Tennis elbow ends more tennis journeys than lack of talent. A proper warm-up and a few smart habits that keep your elbow, shoulder and knees healthy.
Read guide →On-Court Etiquette & Handling Bad Line Calls
The unwritten rules that make you the player everyone wants to hit with — plus how to keep your cool (and your integrity) when the calls go against you.
Read guide →How to Choose Tennis Shoes: Feet, Surface & Playing Style
Shoes are the one piece of tennis gear you shouldn't cheap out on. How to pick the right pair for your feet, your court and the way you move.
Read guide →Tennis Vacations: Where to Play and Watch
Two kinds of tennis trip — going to play, and going to watch the pros. The destinations, camps and tournament tips the community swears by.
Read guide →The Tennis Bag Buying Guide
From a simple backpack to a 12-pack tour bag — how to pick a tennis bag that fits how you play, without over-buying.
Read guide →The Complete Tennis Workout Guide: Strength, Speed & Injury Prevention
Tennis isn't a gym sport, but off-court training is what lets you play your best tennis and stay off the treatment table. A full off-court plan — strength, speed, core and the injury-prevention work most players skip.
Read guide →The Inner Game of Tennis: Is the Classic Mental-Game Book Still Worth Reading?
Billie Jean King called it her tennis bible. Fifty years on, is W. Timothy Gallwey's Inner Game of Tennis still the best mental-game book in the sport — or has it aged out? What players, coaches and casual readers actually say.
Read guide →How to Develop a Real Kick Serve
A topspin second serve you can trust is one thing — a genuine kick serve that jumps at your opponent's shoulder is another. The toss, pronation, body mechanics and cues that separate the two.
Read guide →Inside-Out vs Inside-In Forehand: When to Use Each
Running around your backhand to hit a forehand isn't one shot — it's two, with opposite purposes. When to go inside-out for safety and angle, and when to go inside-in for a putaway.
Read guide →The Offensive Slice Backhand: More Than a Defensive Shot
Most players only reach for slice when they're in trouble. Used on purpose, a low, skidding slice is a genuine weapon — here's how to hit it with intent instead of as a last resort.
Read guide →How to Disguise a Drop Shot So It Isn't Telegraphed
A drop shot with no disguise just gives your opponent a head start. The setup, grip and swing habits that make your drop shot look identical to your regular groundstroke until the very last moment.
Read guide →Return of Serve Strategy Against Big Servers
Against a serve you can't out-hit, trying to hit a normal return just gets you aced more. The positioning, grip and mindset changes that actually work against a huge first serve.
Read guide →Constructing Points: Patterns That Actually Set Up Winners
Most club players just rally until an opening appears. Better players build the opening on purpose. The repeatable patterns of play that turn a neutral rally into a controlled point.
Read guide →Doubles Poaching and Formations: I-Formation & Australian Explained
Standing at the net waiting to react isn't doubles strategy — it's a missed opportunity. When to poach, how to signal it, and what the I-formation and Australian formation actually solve.
Read guide →Scouting and Reading an Opponent's Patterns Mid-Match
The best competitors aren't just reacting to the ball — they're tracking tendencies from the first game and using them by the third set. How to actually scout an opponent while you're playing them.
Read guide →How to Play Against Lefties, Grinders and Serve-and-Volleyers
A game plan that works against a baseline grinder can fail completely against a lefty or a net-rusher. The specific adjustments each unusual style actually requires.
Read guide →Tiebreak Strategy: What to Actually Do Differently at 6-6
A tiebreak isn't just 'the same tennis but with more nerves.' The specific serve, return and shot-selection adjustments competitive players make once the score hits 6-6.
Read guide →Periodization for Tournament Players: Training to Peak, Not Just to Train
Training the exact same way year-round means you're never quite fresh and never quite sharp. How competitive players structure training in phases so they actually peak for the tournaments that matter.
Read guide →Advanced Footwork Adjustments by Surface
The footwork that wins points on hard court can get you hurt on clay — and vice versa. How sliding, split-step timing and recovery actually change across hard, clay and grass.
Read guide →How to Get Recruited for College Tennis: What It Actually Takes
Playing well at your club doesn't automatically translate into a recruiting pipeline. What college coaches actually look for, when to start, and how the process really works.
Read guide →Customizing Your Racquet With Lead Tape: A Practical Guide
The same racquet model can play completely differently once it's tuned. How lead (or tungsten) tape actually changes swingweight, twistweight and balance, and where to place it for the effect you want.
Read guide →Full Poly vs Hybrid Stringing: The Tension Math Explained
Full polyester gives control and spin but loses tension fast and is hard on the arm. A hybrid setup can capture most of the benefit with less downside — here's how the tension math actually works, which combos players run, and when to restring.
Read guide →Pre-Match Routines Competitive Players Actually Use
Elite players don't leave match-day nerves to chance — they run the same routine every time, on purpose. What a genuinely useful pre-match routine actually includes.
Read guide →Self-Coaching Through Match Video Review
Without a coach watching every session, video is the closest substitute — but only if you know what to actually look for. How to review your own match footage productively.
Read guide →NTRP and UTR Explained: What Your Tennis Rating Actually Means
What the 1.0-7.0 NTRP levels really look like on court, how UTR's 1-16.5 scale works, which number matters for what, and how to honestly move up.
Read guide →How to Find Hitting Partners, Leagues and More Matches
You have a racquet, you can rally, and you have nobody to play. Here is how to find leagues, regular partners and pick-up matches without being weird about it.
Read guide →Volleys and Net Play: The Fundamentals Nobody Taught You
Most club players volley badly for one reason — they swing at it. The grip, the punch, the split-step and the footwork that turn the net from a scary place into your best point-ending tool.
Read guide →The Overhead Smash: How to Stop Missing the Easy Ones
Nothing feels worse than shanking a floating lob you had three seconds to line up. The overhead is missed so often because it is a footwork shot disguised as a power shot — here is how to fix it.
Read guide →The Lob: Your Most Underrated Shot
Club players treat the lob as an admission of defeat. It is actually two shots — one that saves points and one that wins them — and almost nobody practises either.
Read guide →Doubles for Beginners: Positioning, Roles and the Rules of Thumb
Doubles is not singles with a friend. Here are the three court shapes, what each of the four players is actually responsible for, and the handful of habits that turn two individuals into a team.
Read guide →Playing in Wind, Heat and Cold: How to Adapt
The conditions are the same on both sides of the net — the player who adapts first wins. Practical adjustments for wind, heat and cold, plus the heat-illness signs you never play through.
Read guide →Tennis Balls Explained: Regular vs Extra Duty, Pressureless and When to Change
The cheapest thing in your bag has the biggest effect on how the game feels. What the labels actually mean, how fast balls die, and when it is worth opening a fresh can.
Read guide →Tennis Elbow: What Actually Works for Recovery and Return to Play
Tennis elbow is a degenerated tendon, not an inflamed one — which is why resting until it stops hurting then playing again puts you straight back to square one. Here is what the evidence actually supports.
Read guide →Grips and Overgrips: What to Buy and When to Change Them
The two layers on your handle do completely different jobs, and most players confuse them. What to buy, how often to change it, and how to wrap one so it does not unravel by the second set.
Read guide →How to Actually Practise With a Ball Machine
Most people set the machine to medium, stand in the middle and hit 300 comfortable forehands. That is exercise, not practice. Here is how to make a basket of balls change your game.
Read guide →Where to Play Tennis in New York as a Visitor
New York has 591 public courts across 97 parks, and a permit system that catches out almost every visitor. What it costs, where the clay is, and why you should plan to finish before dark.
Read guide →Where to Play Tennis in London as a Visitor
London has 4,295 courts, and only 295 of them are free to walk onto. How to tell the difference before you travel across the city, plus where the grass and clay actually are.
Read guide →Where to Play Tennis in Toronto as a Visitor
Toronto has 107 genuinely free public court sites, floodlights at most of them, and - unusually - 54 free sites that stay open through winter. How the city's club system works, and how not to get turned away.
Read guide →Where to Play Tennis in Singapore as a Visitor
Singapore has hundreds of tennis courts and almost none of them are available to you. The seven public centres that are, how to book, and how to handle playing on the equator.
Read guide →The Grand Slam Grounds Pass: The Best Value in Tennis
A show court ticket buys you one match. A grounds pass buys you a day of them, from a metre away, for a fraction of the price. How tickets work at all four majors, which day to pick, and the routes regulars use.
Read guide →Adult Tennis Camps: What You Actually Get for the Money
Five days, several thousand pounds, and a promise to transform your game. What a week of camp realistically changes, how to read a schedule, and the questions that separate good camps from expensive ones.
Read guide →Tennis Resorts and All-Inclusives: How to Choose One
Every resort claims a tennis programme. Some have fifteen clay courts and a coaching team; others have two cracked hard courts behind the car park. How to tell which you are booking.
Read guide →Flying With Tennis Racquets: Carry-On, Checked and What Actually Breaks
A racquet is 27 inches long and a carry-on allowance is 22. What that means in practice, which airlines are relaxed about it, and how to pack a bag so nothing arrives cracked.
Read guide →Playing Tennis at Altitude and in Heat: Why the Ball Does That
In Denver or Mexico City your normal rally ball sails long and your kick serve stops kicking. The physics behind it, the adjustments that work, and how long it takes to adapt.
Read guide →Packing for a Tennis Trip: The List That Survives Contact
Two frames, three overgrips, and the three small things nobody packs and everybody needs. A practical list built around what actually goes wrong on tennis trips.
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