| LIFE IN SOLERA | DECEMBER 2025 | 37
5 Tips for Playing Tennis
1. Move your feet: Get to the ball by shuing your feet to create
a balanced and stable base, then use a split-step to be ready to
move in any direction.
2. Prepare early: Start your swing and preparation before the
ball even reaches you to give yourself more time for a better stroke.
3. Focus on consistency: Aim for a consistent "air target" over
the net to keep the ball in play. Don't try to hit every ball as hard
as possible; sometimes a soer, controlled shot is more eective.
4. Keep your head still: Stay balanced by keeping your upper
body straight and your head as still as possible while rotating
through the shot. Let your body turn, not just your arms.
5. Finish your follow-through: Don't stop your swing aer
hitting the ball. A full, complete follow-through will generate
more power and help you control the shot.
5 Steps for Serving a Tennis Ball
1. Bounce - e rst thing you need to do is bounce the ball a
few times to get yourself into a rhythm. Bounce the ball three,
four, or ve times, depending on what your lucky number is.
2. Set & Visualize - Now you should place the racket on our
wrist and imagine the ball going into the box, where we want it
to go.
3. Rock - To rock back is the third phase in the process.
Following the completion of our rock, we are going to lower our
hands.
4. Drop & Li - e dropping and liing of the arms is the
fourth step. e server should practice descending together
raising together – drop together and li together, repeat.
5. Fire! - e h and last step is to re your shot, which involves
making contact with the ball while going through the motions.
From Bashar Tennis. ~ Shirley Ferguson, (909) 816-0612
TENNIS TITANS
Terrie Garcia and Beverly Crowe
