hey, im 16 and i play tennis for the HS team... to be honest up until this year i havent rly played tennis...

My daughter is Nationally ranked and one year older.

You cannot catch up on a national level but perhaps you can

compete in high school. Most players have coaches and devote at least 4 hours to the sport year round. High school is a lower level and I would still get a coach and take lessons, practicing as much as you can. Good luck!

I think it depends on the level of your interest in tennis, if you really like tennis, you'll naturally want to devote more time into the practice and get better.

I am 17 and i've been playing on the high school team for 3 years so far, and I really enjoy it. What I'm trying to say is, in your case, since you play many sports what you should consider is whether you can have fun when you make the varsity team, I mean, some school districts have some fairly weak tennis team, therefore, even if your high school team is very good, your opponents are not even fun to play with so there isn't much fun in there. on the otherhand, if your team is pretty bad, you guys might lose pretty bad against the others so there's no fun to it. But, to answer your question, it is not impossible to catch up the kids that plays all year round, it all depends on how good you're at tennis, there are people you just can't beat even though you practice every single day because they are just better than you and know how to beat you. However, if what you need is a way to make sure you can get into the varsity team, you should do some research on your team mates and figure out what's their weakness and how to beat them, then focus on practicing your stradegy of making into the team. and no matter what, just make sure that you want to play and have fun. good luck

OK, I'm the same way ,only I play tennis and no other sports. There are no indoor tennis courts where i live and I don't belong to a tennis team (I'm too young for HS and not allot of people around my parts like tennis).I have to go on-line to get racket bags and tennis shoes, my local sports center doesn't sell that stuff because its not a good seller. Well what are you gonna do? I don't know about you but i pack my summer with tennis.Tennis Camps, trips to the court, hitting the ball off a wall outside when i cant make the trips to the tennis courts,reading about tennis, watching tennis. I recently suffered the death of my mom and sense then i burred my emotions in tennis.I wore out the backings of my tennis shoes in only 12 visits to the tennis courts. Tennis is my obsession Just play hard.

I'm 34 Year old. Tennis is an sport I've played for a while. Here some advice:

1 Practice. practice. Practice. Make corrections in your mind when you make a mistake...

2 Push forward. From serve.

3 Respond to balls strongly or softly, according to how the opponent hits.

4 To try to hit a smash, always walk back facing the net.

5 Make an effort

6 Hit well. Drivehand is with topspin upward. The ball will climb over the net, and, due to friction with air, it will descend on the other side.

7 Arrive well to the ball. Precision first. Later you can improve force.

8 Serve: straight ball (not forward too much. straight up) And hit forward with effect forward. Try to aim to the corners. As with all strokes, be comfortable and separated from the ball. Go for it...

9 Serve: Secure with second serve. It's funny: If you hit the ball (first serve) in the net, you should correct in your mind and aim higher with the second serve, curving the swing in order to hit with topspin for serve, and with more force, so that the ball can climb over the net and land, do to the effect, inside the serve square.

10 Respond to first serves as if your racquet were a wall, and high.

11 All play: complete swing and calm: do not stop the movement.

12 Backhand slice: with all the arm.

13 Play like practicing: do not aim too much to the corners, and with care.

14 Hit higher from the base line.

15 In volleys (near the net) hit forward. Watch the ball. Be calm.

16 Do not give up.

17 If you feel any pain, stop and rest. Go to the gym.

18 One hand backhand grip should be Continental, for flat stroke only (and slice). (Drivehand can be topspin - rasp the ball upward)

19 Forward: At the first short ball, start going to the net.

20 Make corrections in your mind for every mistake you make, for the next time around: For instance, backhand swing should be higher than drivehand swing.... although they seem the contrary. This happens when changing strokes during a point. If not, the ball could go out or hit the net.

21 Hit the ball: Place yourself sideways, because the ball will travel in a parallel way.

22 Remember the score before each point.

Ahh.....a good question I can answer. Swimming is mostly a gift. I will NEVER be a fast swimmer, my body isn't build streamlined. On the other hand I know a girl who can do a pool length in 3 strokes and never breathes hard. So a few things count A LOT. 1) - your build. Some people are just built to slide through the water better. If this is you, it won't matter if your buddies are out there slaving away in the pool every morning. You'll still be faster without even trying. 2) - READ the BOOK entitled "Total Immersion". Master its techniques if you can. The technique was invented in the early 1970's and now all major competitive swimmers use it. The author studied how fish swim fast and how fast swimmers swim fast. He then changed the crawl stroke and position to create a new style of swimming called "Total Immersion". If you can master the technique it will make you faster with less effort.

Hello,

Hey i m a 17 yr old girl that never touched a racket til my 9th grade yr in hs n didnt know anything about tennis really. So what i did was watched others play n then kept practicing. If u cant practice outside, check into the indoor balls that are bit bigger and softer then tennis balls but work like them (u cant break windows with them!)...you can practice your form and that will help u a whole lot...I live in PA n i play out a lot so its easier for me to practice but i think that my advice wouldnt hurt at all. I went from not playing ever to being position #2 on my HS team. Good Luck!!!