Racket Positions
Where do I hold my racket in the ready position?

     It's amazing how  many tennis players get by without knowing the basics of where to hold their
racket in the ready position.  If you look around (or maybe you are a guilty party...as I was), you will
see almost every single player at the club level holding their rackets in all different places.  Then, they
wonder why they hit that ball late or off center.  This is usually followed by a grunt, scream or cry
of anguish.  All this could be easily avoided by holding the racket properly in the ready position. 
This is Tennis 101, so let's not be lazy!

     There are two basic ready positions.  The first ready position is the position you get in when you
are ready to hit a ground stroke or return of serve at or behind the baseline.  The other is when you are
ready to volley at the net.  We will discuss the split step and where your elbows go in another lesson.
For now, let's just concentrate on how to hold the racket and why.

     When one is in the ready position at the baseline, one should hold the racket at chest level.  If you
look around, you will see players (especially at the club level) holding the racket everywhere but at
chest level.  You will even see them with their rackets almost at their feet at times. 

     First let us look at the proper position.  Here is a picture of professional tennis player Eric Nunez.
Eric Nunez won several Futures professional tennis tournaments in 2006 before moving up to
Satellite tournaments and helping out his uncle Colonel Nunez who is a trainer with the
United States Davis Cup team.  Here he is in the middle of a point holding his racket in
the correct ready position.  The racket should be at chest level.

Alex Nunez holding his racket correctly at chest level

Conversely here are a couple of pictures of how not to hold your racket.  The reason you want the
 racket at chest level, is to make it faster (and therefore easier) to hit either a forehand or a backhand.
 The less work you have to do to get into position to hit that next shot the better.

Usually club players hold their rackets too low

 Now let's look at  the proper racket placement for the ready position at the net.  When you "rush the net", you should
 hold your racket at eye level.  This will make it faster (and therefore easier) to volley correctly.  Switching to correct
 racket placement on your net ready position alone will improve your volleys by leaps and bounds.  Ask yourself why
 you miss most of your volleys (volley lessons coming soon!), and some of you may answer because you don't get
 your racket on the ball in time.  Before you can worry about split stepping, angles, drop volleys or sticking the above
 shoulder back hand volley, your racket needs to be in line with your eyes.  Here is a picture of proper
 racket position at the net.

Racket head at eye level

 At the net, you can usually find players holding their racket either too low or to the side.  Here we have a
 couple of local club players demonstrating how not to hold your racket at the net.  One was even of me not
 too long ago.  Since correcting this, I found that I am able to get to more volleys in time.

Daniel (left) and Jorge (right) demonstrating incorrect racket placement

 There you have it!  Using proper racket placement will allow you to get to that ball faster
 (and therefore easier) in order for you to blast that forehand up the line or stick that volley
 in a short angle.  It will also keep the local U.S.P.T.A. certified professional tennis
 trainer happy.  Trust me; the last thing you want is to see him looking like the picture
 below.  (Hi, Don!) 

"Get your racket in the proper position, knucklehead!"

Need hands-on lessons?  Don VanRamshorst is a U.S.P.T.A.
 certified professional tennis instructor.  Nothing beats the real
 deal! Call the Harlingen H.E.B. tennis center for rates and your
  next appointment today! (956) 428 - 2092