Rafael Nadal's Backhand

By Paul Annacone Photograph by Thomas Coex/AFP/Getty Images 1. Core Nadal’s bulging biceps and calf muscles get the most attention, but it’s his midsection that makes all his strokes, and especially this stretched-out, open-stance backhand on clay, so phenomenal. Any other player attempting to hit a ball this far from his body, with such a wide stance, would lunge forward and lose most of his power. Nadal has excellent posture, balance and overall body control. Few players have enough strength in their abs to hit such an offensive shot from such a defensive position. 2. Shoulders Even though he’s facing the net and stretched to his limit, Nadal turns his shoulders and uncoils into the shot. This is a key point for club players: The open-stance backhand isn’t a license to do away with a standard shoulder turn. Without it, you can’t hit an effective shot. 3. Hands Though he plays left-handed, Nadal is naturally a righty, so it’s no surprise that his right hand does much of the work on this shot. When you try your next two-hander, pay attention to your off hand. It can give you more control and power to drive the ball. Don’t let it just go along for the ride. 4. Feet Nadal slides into this stroke and stops at the perfect time. Many club players either can’t slide on clay, or, if they can, they slide too far; Nadal has perfected the art. He comes to a stop, transfers his weight into the shot, and then his trailing leg slides along to the ready position without sending him any farther from the center of the court. He might look rugged and violent out there, but, as this image shows, Nadal moves economically and precisely. On clay, no one does it better. 5. Thighs Do you cringe when your pro tells you to get down lower for your shots? Nadal shows how it’s done. He has enough flex in his knees to sit in a chair. His center of gravity is low and he pushes through the shot from the ground up.

Target your Heart Rate.

By Sarah Unke

To get the most out of a cardio workout, you need to get your heart rate into your target heart rate zone. However you keep your heart rate elevated—by running, doing intervals on an elliptical machine, on taking a spinning class—the American Heart Association recommends that you do “moderately intense aerobic exercise” for at least 30 minutes most days of the week.

Rebecca Naden-pa/AP Photo Venus Williams gets her share of target heart-rate training on court.

So how do you know if your workout is moderately intense? Calculate your target heart rate zone and work to stay in the middle of that zone while you’re doing your cardio.

Here’s how you do it: According to the American Heart Association, a person’s target heart rate is 60–80 percent of his or her maximum heart rate. To find your maximum heart rate, subtract your age from 220. So, take a 35-year-old, for example. His or her maximum heart rate is 220 minus 35, so 185 beats per minute (bpm). That’s the maximum rate he should reach while exerting himself. The target heart rate zone, or where he should try to keep his heart rate for the most safe and effective cardio workout, is 60–85 percent of the maximum, so 111–157 bpm.

A heart rate monitor is the most convenient way to keep track of where your heart rate is during a workout. But you can also do it the old-fashioned way by checking your pulse. Just count how many times your heart beats in 10 seconds at your wrist or neck and multiply that number by 6 to get your beats per minute. That way you can tell whether you need to pick up your intensity, dial it back, or stay right where you are.

Pick the right doubles partner

It used to be said that the best doubles team in the world was John McEnroe and anybody else. While we can’t all play alongside a ringer, we do have some say in our selection of a partner, and that’s the first step toward playing good doubles. I feel that the best doubles sidekick is one who complements you. For example, if you’re an extrovert, try to find a more introverted partner. Or vice versa. Your differences in personality will even out your moods on the court and prevent you from getting too excited or too withdrawn. But this doesn’t just apply to your personalities. Combining players with different playing styles—for example, a steady player with a flashier one, or a right-hander with a lefthander— also works well. Angel Lopez, USPTA Master Pro San Diego Tennis and Racquet Club, San Diego, Calif.

Novak Djokovic's Kick Serve

How the Serb hits one of the nastiest kickers in the game.

By Paul Annacone
Photos by Manuela Davies/Double Exposure

1 For many club players, the toss is the biggest challenge on a kick serve. It must be to your left (if you are righthanded, like Djokovic) and slightly farther back than it is on a flat serve, so you can brush up on the ball to create topspin. Djokovic extends his tossing arm fully, keeps his eyes on the ball, and relaxes his knees. I also like his grip, a bevel turn to the left of the Continental so it’s easier to impart spin (for more on grips, go to TENNIS.com/grips). Another note: Djokovic’s hitting arm lags behind his tossing arm. I wouldn’t recommend this technique for beginners. Club players will have more success if they bring their hitting and tossing arms up together. It takes impeccable timing to let the hitting arm lag behind the tossing arm, as Djokovic does here. You're better off bringing up both arms together.

2 It’s easy to see why Djokovic generates such spin and pace on his kick serve: He’s almost elastic in his wind-up. He coils so much that his back partially faces the net. Djokovic’s racquet and hitting arm both point upward, but notice the angle of his shoulders, which slope downward. His hitting arm is lower than his tossing arm, leaving room for him to extend up to the ball and rotate fully, increasing the speed of his racquet along the way. Djokovic’s knee bend is now deeper and his feet no longer rest flat on the court.

3 Here Djokovic begins to accelerate up to the ball. He drops his racquet head, straightens his knees, and starts to uncoil. Club players can learn a lot about balance and timing from this photo. As Djokovic pushes off with his feet, his shoulders begin to open, but not too quickly—he doesn’t fall into the court. Notice that his tossing arm comes down; otherwise, it would block him from rotating his shoulders. Djokovic's chest points up toward the ball as he drops his racquet and begins to uncoil.

4 Like all great servers, Djokovic drops his racquet to the point where the top of the frame points at the ground (you can see it just below his left arm). His hitting elbow points up as the ball comes into view, slightly in front of him and to the left of his hitting shoulder. His feet are off the ground and his energy is directed up and forward, which will allow him to brush up the back of the ball and propel it into the court with pace. If Djokovic were to let this ball drop, it would brush the side of his head. This is where the ball needs to be for the up-and-out motion required for a kick serve.

5 When you hit a kick serve, your racquet must brush up and over the ball from the 8 o’clock position to the 2 o’clock position (for lefties, it’s 4 o’clock to 10 o’clock). This photo shows Djokovic right after contact, and you can trace the upward arc of his swing path. His hitting shoulder and arm, which started out low in the second picture, are now fully extended, and his shoulders have rotated almost 180 degrees.

6 Djokovic’s momentum carries him well inside the court. His back leg extends outward for balance, while his chest is parallel to the ground. The the most important thing to learn from this sequence is that hitting a kick serve doesn’t just require brushing up on the ball. You must hit out, too. That’s what makes Djokovic’s kicker one of the best in the game. Djokovic's back leg kicks out for balance as he lands on his left foot.