Some Pro Personal Bests (PB's) you can test yourself against.
First Serves - 65% of first serves in. Naturally pro's serve at a much greater speed than the club player. But you will find that when you serve at 65% of first serves in at your relative level you will stand a good chance of holding serve comfortably for the most part (all other things being equal).
Serve speed - Male Pro's now serve very fast. Reaction times are now measured in split seconds. Male first serve speed are typically between 180-200km/h and anywhere up to 220 km/h with the odd freak serve reaching into the 240km/h. Second serves can range from 130's all the way up to 180 or 190 km/h.
Winners: Unforced Errors Ratio - 2 Winners: 1 Error- This is where consistency really comes in. You must keep enough quality balls in play to create opportunities to convert winners. This is one of the toughest numbers to achieve and it can vary greatly from match to match. It is an ideal to strive for. Pro's will hit this level with regularity.
As your skill levels improve you will start to see more winners for every error you make. This is natural. When starting out, all players make more errors and struggle to hit a winner. This gradually changes as you become more skilful. The closer you are t Pro level, the more often you will see this 2:1 ratio appear as a minimum. Sometimes you will have matches that even exceed this. That's when you can call yourself a pro.
Double Faults per Set - 1 per Set. Do I need to say any more?
Conversion of Opportunity - this is when you have a player in trouble and an opportunity to take control of the point presents itself. Pro's will win these points in 60% - 90% of these situations. Keep in mind that this can vary depending on the circumstance. I often keep statistics on this in more cases than error, winners etc because I have found that the player who is converting opportunity the most wins.
The set-up is what will also vary these numbers. For me, it can be an opportunity when someone is out positioned. Whilst the shot making is still solid there is an opening in the court and I am looking for my players to have the skills to convert these opportunities into points.
In other situations it is less subtle and more obvious. An opponent may drop a ball shot and present an easy opportunity to put a ground stroke away to maybe it's an easy volley or smash.
So you can see that the 60% - 90% will vary but with experience, tracking and recording and awareness of these numbers you soon get the feel for what's acceptable and what should be improved on.
Return of Serve Consistency - 80% of returns back into play at a neutral to aggressive level on 2nd serves. Less than 20% of second serves should be sent back as error or as defensive shots that give the server an opportunity. The higher the level you play the harder it is to maintain this level.
Rally Speed - My research shows to be competitive at the higher pro levels you want the following speeds over a ten ball rally. Male 11-13.5 seconds per 10 balls. Female 12-14.5 seconds per 10 balls. To be accurate the ball must travel the full length of the court for the full 10 balls.
Use these numbers to gauge and improve your game. Remember that you cannot hit a target that you cannot see. You can improve which ever area of your game you like by simply keeping count and putting pen to paper. These exercises take less than 20 minutes a session but they will add to your game in a big way.
"What gets measured gets achieved."
1. Consistency - (we covered this in Part I)
2. Depth - this is a more advanced version of the above where you aim to keep as many balls in a row in, except this time the ball must land in the back half of the court. If it lands inside the service box then treat it as "out" and start scoring again from zero.
Be as strict on yourself with your line calls as you would be in a match. The key to improving is to be totally honest. If the ball is out, it is out. Start again and seek to improve. Kidding yourself with dodgy line calls just so you can write down a new record will get you nowhere. When you truly beat your old record you will know it. That is where the power of these exercises comes into play.
You need to develop your self-image. You need to know within yourself that you are getting better. That your consistency and depth is improving. You can only achieve this through integrity to your own tennis game.
3. Placement - using the same highest count, create games for yourself and your opponent where placement to a particular side of the court is the goal. Once again, treat the ball as out if it lands in the wrong half of the court.
Use crosscourt forehands and record your highest number in a row. Then go to the backhand and do the crosscourt exercise again. You can also do down the line ground strokes as well.
Advanced Placement As skill levels increase you can have one person hit down the line whilst the other player goes crosscourt so you get the side to side movement from both players. Record your highest record and then switch so you get to experience and develop both sides of your game. I can honestly say that this exercise is the one I always aim to be doing well as I approach a tournament.
The mental toughness this exercise builds is brilliant. It simulates match play along with the pressure of recording a personal best. If you have enough pride in your game to take this seriously and push yourself to be your best then you will get the most out of this.
4. Rally speed (Power) - this exercise is a measure of the time it takes for you to consistently hit 10 balls up and down the court. You need to do this with someone of an equal standard. You rally the same ball back and forth. Do not do this with a coach with ball feeding. It will lose its purpose.
Here's how it works - the count begins on zero when the first ball hits the strings. As it travels down the court you count every contact on strings from 1 - 10 to determine your rally speed (5 shots each). A good level is around 14 seconds. Male Pro's often rally in the 13's and have the ability to increase that into the 12's. The key to this exercise is how consistently you can maintain your level of speed. I recommend consistency to be at 3 out of 5 rallies making it to 10 in a row (elites 4 out of 5) otherwise you are rallying at a speed you are not consistent enough at yet.
Tip - record the date each time you break your old record so you can look back and see how much you've improved. It also becomes useful when looking through your record book and realising you haven't beaten your PB for a while. Personal incentives to improve are powerful.
In the 3rd and Final Part of this Tennis Makeover Series I will be sharing with you the number we aim to achieve with Pro Players. These numbers can be used as a measuring stick between you and the Pro's.
Scott Groves has sinced written about articles on various topics from Trucks, Recreation and Sports and Sales letter. Scott Groves is the author of Psycho Tennis, 23 Mental Laws of Tennis, The Power of Subconscious Goal Setting, and more. Also a former ITF Pro and has been coaching for 14 years. For more information visit. Scott Groves's top article generates over 12100 views. to your Favourites.