We sat down with Angela Crossley, Head Coach of Angela Crossley Tennis Coaching and the recipient of the 2014 LTA Coach of the Year award to discuss the importance of building consistency, and her top three tips for being more consistent in your game.

How to play more consistent tennis

Consistency is one of the first reasons why someone might be motivated to book a tennis lesson. Usually, they would’ve played at a grassroots level with a friend or family member but are hitting far too many balls out and are looking to tighten up on their game.

Ultimately, consistency comes from having steady footwork and racket set-up which will then give you consistent outcome of a ball. However, for recreational players first starting out, the focus should be on getting them to understand that they need to re-create the same shots over and over again, rather than hitting a different wonder shot each time.

By increasing your consistency you’ll eventually develop the ability to keep the rallies going for longer and force an error out of your opponent that will win you the point, rather than attempting to hit big winners and smash the ball past your opponent.

The important thing to remember is that every player builds their consistency at different paces. For a player coming in from a pre-existing sporting background, it can be quicker but for a complete beginner who has little transferable skills it can take a bit longer. Typically, developing movement around the court can be done quite quickly but getting your strings to point in the right direction can be trickier and require more work.

With that being said, Angela has outlined three of her top tips so you can work to build the consistency needed to level-up your game.

1) Footwork

Having good footwork is key to building consistency. Working to move your feet into a position where every groundstroke is hit at waist height is a really good starting point because you’ve got something to focus on.

Try practice moving to and from the ball and ensure you’re doing some recovery that’ll help you move towards the next ball. This means getting back to a neutral position in the middle of the court – making sure you’re hitting the ball and moving rather than hitting and standing still.

2) Control the racket face

Make sure you’ve got a consistent racket face. Don’t be too open so the ball flies upwards, but don’t be too closed that it’s going to hit the floor – try to have a neutral strings to target racket face and practice consistently hitting the ball in. Once you’re regularly hitting four or five shots in a row, then you know you’re progressing in the right direction.

3) Mindset

While repeating drills is vital for building consistency – so is having a strong mindset. Regularly practice having a consistent mindset where you’re thinking ‘I want to hit this ball in’, rather than looking for winners and smashing the ball past your opponent. Tell yourself you’re going to try and stay in the rally and get the ball over the net, rather than going for too much too early.