Practice Sessions

Jay watched your match video, and the first thing he said was that you move well and your grit is all there. You fought back from 5–2 down, saved match points, hit amazing volleys, put away overheads under pressure, and sliced back a really hard first serve that most girls couldn't touch. Keeping the ball in play under pressure was smart strategy, and it almost won you the match.

You have something a lot of girls your age don't: real strokes. Your forehand, backhand, volleys, overhead, and serve don't need to be rebuilt. Now it's about details.

Right now you play “not to lose.” We're going to train you to play to win: knowing exactly what you want each ball to do, and knowing you have the shot to make it happen.

• Grab a basket of balls. Put it behind you, out of the way, so it feels like a match. Keep a couple in your skirt.
• Go alone. Nobody watching, including me. Missing is the whole point, and it's hard to swing freely when someone's watching.
• Use the places you actually stood in the match: your usual deep-and-wide forehand and backhand spots, the middle behind the baseline, and about three feet inside the baseline where short balls caught you.

1. 1Go to your first spot and stand exactly where you were in the match.
2. 2Ask the ball a question. Decide exactly what you want: “From here, I want this to go high and heavy cross court.”
3. 3Drop it and hit it. Legs lift, hand stays loose, left arm reaches toward the ball and then clears.
4. 4Hit two or three balls, then move. Let each ball tell you the story: too short, not enough spin, too tight, or did you look up early?
5. 5Keep rotating through every spot, then begin again with a new target shot. Moving keeps it feeling like a match.

A ball you drop has no pace, so it tells you the truth. To make it go high, heavy, and hard, you need your legs, a loose hand, and a big left side.

• Aim at least three feet inside the sideline. Height and spin do the damage, not the angle.
• Miss long, never wide. Long means you went for it; wide means you aimed too close.
• Contact point is everything. Farther in front goes cross court; a little farther back goes middle; well behind goes down the line.
• Practice inside the court too. Find where your errors happen and drill that exact ball.
• The slower the ball, the faster the swing. Soft balls must be hit, not guided.

When you're done, you should be able to look at a ball and think: “I want it there. I know how to do that.”

She's going to walk on court thinking, “I've got this.” That's the best thing that could happen, because you've been doing your homework. Losing to her already frees you up. You have nothing to lose.

• Plan C: don't miss. You already know how to do this, and it's a great backup.
• Plan A: play to win. Ask yourself: if I hit three good forehands, do I win this point?
• Always want the ball back. Don't hope she misses—stay switched on until the point is truly over.
• To close out a match, get under the ball and lift it again and again. Make her keep hitting.
• Need time? Lift high and heavy cross court. Low forehand? Lift down the line with spin. Weight moving in? Drive deep, then angle the shorter ball. Enough weight on it? Come in and volley.

• On your serve, expect the ball back in. Be surprised if it's out.
• Keep your head still at contact and exhale.
• Big left side on the forehand: reach, then clear.
• Want every ball back, every time.
• Play to win, not to not lose. If it gets tight, go back to your shots.

Even if you lose again but hit three of the shots you practiced, you're on the right path. This isn't about one match. It's about showing you what kind of player you can be. Have fun in the lab. I'm so proud of how hard you work. Love, Dad.

You won six in a row because you learned to keep the ball in. That was level one. Somewhere in there you started playing not to lose. Level two is freeing up your swing and going after the ball. You already have the stroke. Now you're playing the good players, and that's exciting. So who cares about winning? Just hit the ball.

• Target: cross court to her forehand, two to three feet inside the sideline and three to four feet inside the baseline—not hugging the line—with heavy topspin.
• Setup: weight forward, plant the right foot, and toss the ball so it falls to contact height slightly in front. Point at it with your left hand.
• Swing free. Hit hard and up, and let the spin bring the ball back in.

• Missing is allowed. Hitting the back wall means you're swinging free. That's progress.
• Mistakes are information. Long? Maybe you got too far under the ball, your head moved, or the bounce drifted and you reached. Figure it out.
• No scoreboard, no team. This is private practice. Have fun with it.

When a ball sits up in a match, your brain will say: “There's the ball I practiced.” Go get it.

Don't worry about hitting it in. Today your job is to swing away. Hit harder by turning and pushing off your right foot on the forehand. You already have spin; keep the forearm loose and trust it to bring the ball down. Don't steer it.

• Turn more.
• Push off the right foot.
• Clear the left side and stay loose.
• A deep, slow ball or slice is your invitation. Move forward, turn, and go after it cross court with topspin.
• Missing long means you're swinging free. If you're missing often, ask whether you're getting too far under the ball. Don't tighten—get looser and turn more.

Swing away. Show off your stroke.

Jay's first reaction to your match video was that you move well and your grit is all there. That third overhead you put away after two came back? That's you. He'll take that grit all day.

After you hit, you watch the ball for about half a second before moving. That half-second follows you through the point: you reach the next ball late, muscle it, then arrive late again. You already know where the ball is going from the part you struck. Trust your contact and move immediately.

“I know where I hit it, so I know where I belong.” No peeking to see where it went.

No ball. Full-speed swings and real footwork, starting from the middle of the baseline.

1. 1Call it. Before swinging, name the shot, where it's going, and where you'll recover.
2. 2Hit it. Move into the imaginary ball with balance. Keep your head down and still at contact, exhale, and finish the swing.
3. 3Recover before looking up. Let the outside leg come around—the tripod—and push off, using the arms for balance. As your head rises, look at the exact spot where your ball would bounce.
4. 4Check step. Land on your exact spot, leaning forward and facing where your opponent would hit from.

Recovery depends on the shot you hit. Be exact, down to a few inches.

Going down the line opens the court, so the reply comes toward your other side. Cross court keeps the likely reply on the same side.

1. 1One shot at a time: “I hit this—where do I stand?” Repeat until it feels automatic.
2. 2Two forehands: one cross court with a small recovery; one down the line with a big move to the backhand side.
3. 3Three-ball series: name all three shots before starting and run them without stopping. Later, add a short slice or approach.
4. 4Speed: go as fast as possible with perfect footwork, then repeat at three-quarter speed.
5. 5Then real balls: once every recovery is automatic, add feeds from near the T.

• Head still at contact. Lift it only after you're already moving.
• Exhale on impact. Stay loose—don't muscle it.
• The tripod: outside leg comes around and pushes; arms balance the body.
• Wider check steps, square to where the next ball comes from, with a forward lean.
• Exaggerate the left side on the forehand. Point at contact height, then clear back toward the left armpit.
• Balanced going in; quick coming out.

On your serve, expect the return to come back in. Practice the high forehand lifted and flattened, both cross court and down the line. Have fun—mistakes are how this sinks in. I'm proud of how hard you're working. Love, Dad.

Gabi wins when she is aggressive on short balls, hits the approach, and comes in. She has been getting lobbed, so she has started hanging back near the T instead of closing. The fix is better positioning, not staying back.

• Upper body weight decides. If there is enough upper body weight and momentum going forward on the approach, keep on truckin' into the net.
• Approach off balls hit to the corners where possible.

• Service line is point A, the net is point B.
• Start 1/3 of the way in from the service line. Close enough to cut off volleys, deep enough to cover the lob.
• Once she has a feel for it, move up to 1/2 way in.
• Lean forward, ready to cut off the volley.

• Follow the ball to the same side it goes. Do not park in the middle.
• Approach to a corner: shift to that side and cover the down-the-line.
• Approach up the middle: follow the ball to the middle of the service box.

• Face the ball at the 90.
• Check step exactly when the opponent hits. Feet hit the ground really wide the moment the ball is struck.
• This is not the backcourt check step, where she goes up as the ball is hit.

• Weight going forward? Keep coming.
• Follow the ball: corner means cover the line, middle means middle of the box.
• Stop 1/3 of the way in, leaning forward.
• Land wide as the opponent hits.

The rematch with the Loyola girl. Use this mindset with your first two matches: play your game — no strategy, just mindset.

• The pressure is on the Loyola girl, not Gabi. She thinks she owns this match, and that is Gabi's advantage.
• The score lied. Remind yourself of the five-deuce games and the 40-love game you had: you were in that match.
• Shrink the goal: one more point every third game. Then one game. Then, "could you get another?"
• "You don't have to win. Let's just scare her a little."
• Go for your shots, head still, lift with spin, follow it in. On a double fault, hit the second serve harder.
• Lead with empathy: "I know it's hard to swing free when you're tight." Know that Dad is proud of you for putting yourself out there.
• If something isn't working, you are free to try something else. You have all the tools.

• Assume every ball is in. Head down, already recovering, no evaluating.
• Ignore the score. At 40-love or deuce she started playing not to lose, and that is when her feet stop.
• Soft, short balls are not an invitation to hit a winner. Keep working the point.
• If the ball doesn't come back, stay ready and watch the second bounce.
• One ball at a time. You don't win the match all at once.

Want the ball back. One ball at a time.

• Drop shot, then lob. Just clear her head at about 45 degrees. No hero lob needed: she is running backwards either way, and the next ball sits mid-court for an approach.
• After pulling her wide on the forehand: check step on or inside the baseline, not behind it. Take the floater out of the air and bunt it into the open court; don't drive it. Letting it bounce is what resets the point.
• A low ball near the feet: easy half volley, backhand cross court. Court position has already taken her time away.

• How you practice is how you play.
• Against weaker hitters: same check steps, same intensity, hit heavy with spin without going for winners.
• She will see that slow ball in tournaments, so treat it with respect.