Differences in styles in different parts of the world

        I have always wondered why most south American play with the same styles while most North American have a totally different type of game. As a South American player studying in the US, I realized how different the way of teaching tennis was between both continents. This would explain why there are so many similarities between players of the same continent and so many differences with players from another continent.

John Isner (USA) VS Diego Schwartzman (Argentina)

First of all, a general tendency for North American is the following:

• Short point
• Flat and aggressive balls
• More points finished at the net
• More 'Serve and Volley' Type of game
• Players close to the baseline
• Main surface: Hard Court

And in South America, the trend is:

• Long rallies
• More spin in the ball
• Rarely go at the net
• Players far from the baseline
• Main surface: Clay Court

In Europe, the types of games vary a lot from one country to another. For example, Spain shares a lot of common points with South America, while France is more focused on the "technique" part of the game, and England shares some common points with the US.

Those differences in styles can be explained by the availability of tennis surfaces. For example, if a country has more clay courts than hard courts, the coaches and players will adapt their games, and take example on South America. 

Then, each country has a federation of tennis where most of the coaches are trained. In other words, most of the coaches of one country will learn the same techniques since they share the same federation and will transmit those techniques to their players. Most likely, the players of one country will have the same type of playing because of that. 

It doesn't mean that one country has a better way of coaching than another; it just means that they have different styles. Indeed, the current top #3 is Djokovic, Nadal, and Zverev which are all from different countries and have different types/styles of games. 

In a nutshell, tennis is a sport with a lot of variety, which allows the public to watch very different matches. This variety helps the sport to be entertaining as well.

Is it worth trying to go pro in tennis?

            Tennis has one of the most competitive environments in the sports world. Imagine you are a teacher and you are in the top #300 in the world; you are one of the lucky teachers who can live from his work. This example seems harsh? Well, the world of tennis is even harder! Indeed, if you are not part of the top #200 in the world for the men and top #100 for women, you won't be able to make a living from your work. So, here is the question every tennis player ask himself: is it worth trying to go pro in tennis?

          At the age of 17/18 years old, each player has to make a decision whether to turn professional or play just amateur, study and get a 'real-life job'. Most of those players have years of experience. They started playing when they were really young, and all of them dreamt of becoming the next Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer, Maria Sharapova, or Serena Williams. They all wished at one point to pursue a tennis career as they had good tennis results. They were maybe number one of their country as junior players (under 18). But is it still enough? The competition in this sports is so difficult that the answer is not simple.
          The ideal answer would that if you have a great level and great potential, you should try to turn professional. Fulfill your dream and it will pay off at one point. But the reality stands with money. The most real but brutal answer is that if you have a lot of money to spend, then go for it. If your parents have money, if you have good sponsors, or if your tennis federation is sponsoring you, then you have more chances to reach your goal than someone who has a lot of potential but no money.
         As you probably know, tennis is a very expensive sport, especially when you get to a competitive level. You need to have money to pay a coach, pay for the courts to practice and for your material, then pay the fees of the tournaments you play, find a place to stay during the tournament and also feed yourself. All that, knowing that if you don't get to the semi-final of the tournament, you most likely won't get any money at all. And even in making semi-final, you will have spent more money than you can earn.

        So, if you want to try to be professional and have the money for it, then yes, go for it! But if you don't, I would highly recommend you to start looking for good sponsors or deals you could have. Save every cent you can! But the way is long before you make a living from playing tennis professionally.

Lesson #4. How many hours a week should we play tennis?

         Tennis is a harsh sport for the body and is not always easy to figure out the amount of time you should be practicing. If you don't play enough, your chances of getting better decrease, and if you practice too much, you overtrain and consequently risk an injury. So, how do we know how much time a week we can spend on the court?

 First of all, it depends on different factors: you level in tennis, the number of years played, and your general physical condition. As tennis is an individual sport, the amount of time one can spend on the court will be different for each person and depend on their resistance as well (physical and mental).

But overall, here is an idea of what you could do:

• If you are a beginner (0 to 2 years of tennis), 2 hours a week seems a good number to help you get better. If you are in good shape, 3 hours will be recommended.
• If you have an intermediate level (at least 3 years of tennis), 3 or 4 hours a week should be enough to make your game progress. You can eventually go up to 6 hours depending on your type of game (physical game or not).
• Finally, if you are a competitive player with an advanced level, the number of times you play really depends on what your body can take. Usually, 6 hours a week is a good number for any advanced player. But if you have high goals and wishes to perform at a high level, you should plan to practice every day of the week. 

As a competitive tennis player, I use to practice 5 hours a day, 5 days a week which is 25 hours a week. It is a lot but I got there progressively and started to play young. I do not have the same goals anymore so I only 8 hours a week. 

Surpass yourself but watch out for injuries!

Lesson #3. Tennis Surfaces

Rafael Nadal won 11 times the French Open, but he only won one time the Australian Open. Have you ever wonder why there is such a big difference?. Here is the answer: the difference of surfaces.

There are many differences surfaces in tennis but only 3 of them are represented at the four tournaments of the Grand Slam: Hard, Clay, and Grass.

Both Australian and US Open have hard courts surfaces. The hard surface benefits the aggressive players as the ball goes faster than the other surfaces. Players like Novak Djokovic are  the favorites for this kind of courts.

At Roland Garros (French Open), players play on clay courts. Here, the ball will go slower and take more spin which allows players like Rafael Nadal to be efficient. Indeed, Nadal is a baseline player who can stay hours on the courts and needs time to play. That's why he won so many times the tournament. In addition to be a great player, he plays his best tennis on clay.

In England, there is another major tournament, Wimbledon, which it is known as "the capital of tennis". The surface there is grass and it benefits player with an aggressive style and serve and volley style. Indeed, on grass, the balls goes really fast and doesn't bounce high.

These 3 major surfaces are the most used for tournaments on the professional tennis circuit. 

For my part, clay is my favorite surface. Since I like to play at the baseline and have longer points, clay benefits my game.