These tips are things that most players could benefit from. Of course, probably not all of them apply to you, and there's no point trying to stay conscious of them during a match. Pick one that strikes a chord with you. Keep it in mind as you start a match, and remind yourself a couple of times during the match, especially if you lose a couple of games in a row and need to get back in the groove. When the tip becomes an automatic habit, then move on to another one.
I've only seen two people who I thought tossed the ball up too high, and one of them was Steffi Graf so I was no doubt wrong there. An extra foot or two of height on the service toss allows you to stretch out and hit the ball at full extension, giving you better angles and more opportunity for spin. Try to throw it a little higher than you will really hit it, and hit the ball on the way down.
If the return of your serve comes back down the middle, it should be within your partner's reach. So don't worry about that -- guard against the angled returns that you have to handle. When serving in doubles, stand close to or even behind the doubles alley and then head to the net on a diagonal path.
Losing a point by getting passed in the alley is no different than losing it some other way. And many players think that "passing" the net person means hitting it right at them, no matter where they're standing. So stand 2-3 feet closer to the middle than you normally would. It's doubtful that your opponents will suddenly develop pinpoint down-the-line passing shots.
What's the advantage? People will be saying "nice poach" when you hit volleys without even having to move. When you do poach, you will get to the ball more often. Your opponents will also miss more shots wide by trying to return at a sharper angle. (So it's important that your partner knows about the previous tip, i.e., that at the baseline they should stand closer to the sideline.)
Don't let 1-2 passing shots discourage you. If your opponents can make 1-2 per game then maybe go back to your normal position. Look at it this way:
How often do you see people missing easy volleys, having trouble volleying slow balls, hitting volleys below the level of the net, or hitting volleys straight back to their opponent? All of these can be avoided by standing closer to the net, particularly in doubles where much of the time you start the point halfway to the net.
The ideal position? Close enough to the net to touch it with your racquet. It seems like foreign territory, but you will find that if you can stay the course, you can hit putaways, drop volleys, and sharply angled volleys much easier than otherwise.
Now if your opponent has a great lob, you might not be able to stand this close all the time -- but when you see a soft shot that you can volley, move forward for the kill.
Remember, you can't hit the ball before it comes over the net, but the instant it does it's fair game, and you can follow through over the net as long as you don't touch it.
Chances are, you don't "redline" your car's engine every time you want to accelerate from 0-60 MPH. That would hurt your gas mileage, strain the engine, and you might lose control. The same applies to your swing.
Lots of stroke problems and injury problems can be traced to quick acceleration of the racquet at the last moment. If you have "wristy" strokes, feel like you're straining to hit the ball, or often hit it late, you can save wear and tear on your arm and control the shot better by:
You may find that this tip also helps involve your shoulders, legs, hips, etc. in the swing as you stop "muscling" it with your arm. You may also find it encourages a more complete follow-through.
Yes yes, we all want to do that. But why does it seem like they're always hitting forehand winners?
Well, for most people against most opponents, hitting to their weaker side means you hitting forehands down the line (to their backhand), or backhands sharply crosscourt (again to their backhand). Perhaps you hit most of your forehands crosscourt and your backhands tend to go to the middle. So, practice practice practice these other shots so you can make them in a match situation.
It also means sending any lobs, offensive or defensive, towards the opponent's backhand corner so they can't hit a hard overhead. Think about it: if your lob is bad, they still probably can't clobber it; if your lob is good, they'll be scrambling back trying to hit a desperation backhand shot. Again, you have to practice lobbing forehands down the line into the corner, and backhands sharply crosscourt into the corner.
If your opponent consistently serves faster than you can handle, ignore the standard advice to stand on the baseline to receive. Back up 2-3 feet and you'll be amazed how the ball seems to be floating towards you in slow motion.
Everyone likes to hit the line, skim the tape, and sail a lob just past their opponent's outstretched racquet. Some people like it so much that you would think they got credit for hitting the tape or just missing the line. Don't fall into the trap of actually aiming for these exact spots with every shot -- aim a little bit over the tape, inside the line, higher than the volleyer can possibly reach. Then, you'll still win the point when you're a little off.
Popping up a soft lob to the middle of the court isn't productive. Sure, it keeps you in the point an extra second or two, but you have to rely on your opponent to miss the next shot.
When you have time to prepare, lob toward your opponent's backhand corner. Make it land close to the sideline. This turns the lob into an offensive weapon, and you may win the point outright or get back a weak shot that you can attack.
When you're out of position or on the run, bang the lob way up in the air. High enough so that you can tell your doubles partner to back up, or you can get back to the middle in singles and then bluff to one side or the other. A lob with a lot of arc, especially if it bounces high and your opponent has to wait a long time to smash it, can throw their timing off.
If the net man in doubles is poaching, or the server is serving and volleying effectively, hit a quick surprise lob over the net man to force them out of their preferred positions. Remember to get it over the backhand if you can, but the most important thing is to disguise it and get it over them before they can react.
If you don't feel you're playing well, e.g., you've lost a few points or games in a row, you're mishitting, or you're missing easy shots, take a second to calm down. Bounce the ball a few times on your racquet, twirl your racquet, and generally try to recapture the focus on swinging this very light stick to make solid contact with this very bouncy ball. The small motions of bouncing the ball and letting go of the racquet may help you rid yourself of muscle tension that makes the game seem harder than it really is.