Serveitup Tennis Magazine #60

Issue #60 February 2021 

real junior tennis 

5issue #60 

Years

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2 Serveitup February 2021

FROM THE PUBLISHERS DESK 

We are very excited to announce to you, that we have reached an 

incredible milestone. 

This is issue #60, which celebrates 5 years of us being able to 

bring to you stories and videos and photos and all other features 

and content, that promoted, educated and celebrated you. our junior 

tennis players. 

We couldn’t have done it without you, and we mean that literally. You 

were the ones who sent us your stories, photos and videos. If you 

didn’t do that, we wouldn’t have a magazine. 

So we say thanks to you, and all of our supporters, as we celebrate 

this ausicious occasion. 

And for those who haven’t done so as yet, send us your tennis story, 

photos and videos to info@serveituptennismagazine.com for an 

opportunity to be featured in Serveitup.. Also subscribe to get a new 

issue in your inbox every month. 

P.S. Don’t forget to share and follow us. Also don’t forget to leave 

us your comment on Facebook, YouTube, Twitter and Instagram, or 

email info@serveituptennismagazine.com 

wesley baptiste 

01/15/21 

“major milestone” 

All articles are written by the publisher 

Wesley Baptiste unless otherwise noted.

Our Credo 

Serveitup is the quintessential junior tennis magazine. We intend 

to promote and showcase only junior tennis players 18 and under. 

Serveitup lays claim to the fact that we are real junior tennis. 

Serveitup is the most unique, dynamic, cutting-edge junior tennis 

publication on the planet. Our vision at Serveitup, is to transport 

you every month, on an exciting journey into the remarkable lives 

of real junior tennis players. We will tell their stories and reveal 

who they are. You will know about their Lifestyles, Fashion, Tournaments, 

Health & Fitness, Achievements, Equipment, Instructions, 

Goals, Passions, Training Methods, Travel and much more, before 

they become the next tennis superstars. 

We will strive for excellence in every issue. Every publication will 

be specifically designed to deliver the most relevant resources to 

educate, motivate, empower, showcase and interact with all junior 

tennis players. We will chronicle the lives of the junior players, as 

they begin their pursuit into that elite world of tennis stardom. 

For this reason Serveitup is totally free and 100% juniors. We will 

digital 

promote junior tennis players, whether they play the junior circuit 

or the pro level. We intend to affect junior tennis globally by getting 

Serveitup into the hands of current and future junior tennis 

players. That makes Serveitup a must read for every player... and 

their parents? So get all your photos and content ready, and send 

them to info@serveituptennismagazine.com 


This is a 

Collectors Issue 

in this issue 

In this milestone collectors issue, 

we bring you some articles 

from the last five years. 

Obviously there were so many 

to choose from, but we simply 

chose a few, that we hope will 

stay with you for a long time. 

This is a 

Collectors Issue

Stop 

Playing safe is the surest way to never 

ever reaching your potential. You 

will never know how good you are, 

and how good you can become, by 

playing safe. If any coach is telling 

you that, they are actually holding 

you back. Stop playing safe, start 

going for your shots... that’s the only 

way for you to build confidence. 

Go

shots!

develop 

Weap

ons 

You can’t win in today’s game without having weapons 

to dominate your opponents. Whether it’s a monster 

forehand or backhand, an overpowering serve, 

or even blistering speed, you need weapons to compete 

in today’s game. Too often we think of weapons 

only in power... but weapons can be, having an uncanny 

court sense, or ridiculous defensive skills, or insane 

shot selections etc etc etc. Start developing your 

weapons, and don’t be afraid to use them in matches. 

That’s the only way you will truly know if you have 

weapons.

winning 

Accid

is not an 

ent 

If you have a game plan, to execute strategies 

and techniques you’ve worked on in practice, 

winning should be easy. But if you don’t practice 

with a purpose, and never have a game 

plan, but just show up hoping it will work out, 

then you really don’t have a chance. Winning is 

not an accident.

Unreal Exp 

The reason for all the drama and 

Stop 

the tantrums with tennis players 

on the court, has to do with only 

one thing; unreal expectations. 

Players go to play a match, and 

they’re expected to win. 

On their home practice court, 

they think that they are the best 

of the best, and even their parents 

buy into it. When it begins 

to unravel during a match, that’s 

when tempers flare up between 

both player, and parent. 

All you are expected to do, is 

give your best. from what you 

have learned, from what you’re 

been taught. If it’s good enough 

to win, you will win. If it’s not, get 

back on the practice court and 

work on the things that broke 

down.

Having 

ectations

Body 

language 

shows your m

Competition 

Will Expose 

You! 

There’s no 

place to hide! 

Competition 

exposes 

everything... both 

the good and the bad. 

Whatever you think 

you are hiding and no 

one knows, will be totally 

exposed during 

competition. So if you 

are pretending you 

know how to hit certain 

shots, competition will 

not only expose it, but 

will show how weak you 

really are. It will totally 

embarass you. What is 

ental state 

your body language 

showing... the good or 

the bad.

confident playe 

er, comes to a match, goes 

It’s so very easy to recognize 

the confident from 

the non-confident players, 

before, during and after a 

match. The confident play- 

through their pre match routines, 

and then relaxes with 

a book or music until their 

match is called. During their

s NEVER rush! 

match, they are very patient 

and meticulous with everything 

they do. Even after the 

match, they ‘re not distraught 

over a loss, by snatching up 

their bag, and storming off 

the court. On the other hand, 

for the non-confident player, 

everything is completely 

the opposite.

ho 

What are you looking for? 

1 

Are you looking for instructions to develop 

and improve your game? Are you looking 

for someone with knowledge to maximize 

and take your already developed game to 

2 

the next level? Don’t settle for an instructor 

when you need a coach. Hopefully you’ll 

find someone with both qualities. 

3 

Are they a good role model? 

Remember you will be spending a great 

deal of time with this person. This means 

that together with your tennis instructions, 

you will absorb some of his personality 

traits. Is this the kind of person you can 

look up to? 

Are they a cookie cu 

5 

18 Serveitup February 2021 

Watch out for coaches whose pl 

each other. There is more than o 

ball. Anyone who tells you differe 

telling you they only know one w 

Every stroke and swing has vari 

reflect in the beauty of the differen 

on the circuit.

w to choose the 

right coach 

Can they teach / coach? 

Don’t get confused between a great “hitter” 

and a coach. There are many good 

hitters who were past players, who are unable 

to teach you what they know and how 

to do it. Play matches against these hitters 

to improve your game. A great hitter does 

not mean a good coach. 

4 

tter? 

ayers duplicate 

ne way to hit a 

ntly, is actually 

ay to do things. 

ations, and it is 

t styles we see 

Have you seen their work? 

Look at their past and present students. 

Observe the strokes and how they play. 

Know that every player require a different 

response for their unique problems. The 

coach’s ability to adapt to different situations 

will be reflected in their players. 

Serveitup February 2021 B

DON’T BRING EXCUS 

YOUR OPPONENT 

WHY YO

ES ON THE COURT 

DOESN’T CARE 

U LOSE

Physical follows Mental 

T 

here is a formula for winning, and everybody wants it. 

so what is it? Let’s establish something. Winning is 

not about your strokes, it’s about sowing doubts in your 

opponents mind, and breaking their will... to win. 

• You can hit hard, they can hit hard. 

• You have footwork, they have footwork. 

• You have speed, they have speed. 

• You have endurance, they have endurance. 

• You are fit, they are fit. 

So how do you beat that player, when sometimes, they 

are a little bit better than you are in some areas? You 

beat them mentally first. 

No one is ever totally ‘on balanced and comfortable‘ to 

play every stroke and pattern in tennis. As you play, look 

for signs of things that frustrate and make your opponents 

uncomfortable... and there will be plenty. 

Continue setting up those plays, and keep on doing those 

things to frustrate your opponent. Those emotions have 

a way of transferring to other areas. As you continue to 

frustrated your opponent, it wouldn’t be too long before it 

carries over into the things they can actually do well; and 

all of a sudden they’ll begin to mess up, and doubt begins 

to take hold of their mind, that nothing is going right. 

Once you beat your opponent mentally, the physical will 

follow. That’s how you win! 

The sec 

W

et to 

inning

Tennis 

2. 

Talk 

Be Very

PLAYING 

Patient 

Since pushers are basically 

not going for offensive 

shots, you have 

to be very patient, in selecting 

the correct shots 

to win your points. 

This is not “playing their 

game“, it is constructing 

your points differently, 

and at times rallying 

a ball for about five 

to six times, being patient 

enough to recognize 

when you have the 

advantage. 

Without patience, you 

will always be thinking 

about going for big 

shots, and sometimes 

on every ball, and that 

will be a big mistake. 

PUSHERS

Prac 

Perma 

Practicing strokes with the wrong technique, 

never makes you better, it only make 

you perfect the wrong thing. You WILL get 

better at hitting the ball, but you will be limited 

in what you will be able to do. Also it 

only teaches your muscles to permanently 

hit incorrectly.

tice 

nent 

kes

500 

Minimum Daily 

If you are a competitive junior 

this should be a must on yo

Requirements 

Forehands 

Backhands 

Serves 

Returns 

tennis player training fulltime, 

ur ‘To Do List‘, every day!

Being nervous is actually a good 

thing. Every tennis player should 

thing 

get nervous. Getting nervous is 

actually a sign that you really 

want it... bad. It is what is called 

the ‘IT‘ factor. 

This is what causes everyone 

from the youngest person, to the 

oldest person, to compete. Everyone 

wants to be the best, to 

get the best. And when you don’t 

get it, peer pressure causes you 

to work harder to get ‘IT’. 

A player who doesn’t want it 

wouldn’t care, and won’t give 

any effort. Remember the more 

nerves you have, actually shows 

how badly you really want to win. 

Ne 

30 Serveitup February 2021 

30

s you didn’t know 

1 

rves are Good 

Serveitup February 2021 

Serveitup Digital Magazine October 2016 31 

B

C 

Too many players either hit their 

shots too late, or can’t make certain 

shots from certain angular positions 

on the court. That is because their 

contact point, is incorrect. Work on 

correcting your contact point and it 

will eradicate all those problems.

FIXING YOUR 

ONTACT POINT 

FIXES YOUR 

PROBLEMS

Chokis 

Choking shows that you actually care, and 

nerves and fear, to get to a state of relaxa

ing 

actually good 

that you are fighting through the pressure 

tion where you can totally give your best.

BUILD A WO 

KICK S 

Nothing is more difficult to handle like a dominan 

with a terrible junky service motion against juni 

may be good, but don’t play for the here and now 

there is bigger and better competition. You will de 


t kick serve. Ask any pro. Winning some matches 

or players who are still working on their returns, 

. Focus on perfecting your serve to the max, where 

finitely need a kick serve, a world class kick serve. 

RLD CLASS 

ERVE 


B

why & whe 

understanding 

the ser

ve 

Serve Wide 

When a player stands back expecting power. 

Serve Tee 

When player stands too far in the alley. 

Serve Short 

Whenever you are serving wide. 

Serve Power 

n 

Directly at the player’s body to handcuff them. 

Serve Short 

When a player stands back expecting power. 

Serve Wide 

To pull players off the court. 

Serve Power 

If player stands in too close. 

Serve Tee 

When a player stands back expecting power.

Keep you

When it comes to serving, many times 

you’ve been told things like keep your 

head up, or keep your eyes up, and keep 

the tossing arm up. While all this can give 

a small degree of help, the real solution 

is to keep your chin up. If you keep your 

chin up, it’s practically impossible to drop 

your tossing arm, your eyes and your head 

when you are serving. 

r chin up!

WINNING builds 

CONFIDENC 

There is nothing like winning to help 

you build your confidence. Being able 

to take all the things you’ve learnt into 

competition, and applying them, and 

seeing them work, will build massive 

confidence in you.

E


the ‘5’ 

critical years 

for junior players 

When it comes to really developing tennis 

skills for junior tennis players, the ages from 

10 to 15, are very critical. 

These are the years that a child become a 

teenager, when an awkward kid develop 

better motor skills, when puberty transforms 

the child’s body, when following directions 

becomes easier to comprehend, when it’s 

physically possible to do some things that 

they were unable to do before, and many 

more. 


B

Wins The Mat 

Nobody 

In The 

First Set 

A tennis match is two out of three sets. 

So prepare yourself to battle until the 

match is over. 

Everyone comes out and can play their 

best when they are fresh. Some players 

can get hot and go on a roll for a 

few games. So what if you lose the 

first set, the match isn’t over. There are 

still two more sets to fight through. 

Are you willing to do something about 

it? Are you putting u 

or just throwing in th 

When players get ti 

know if they can tru 

to that place, if not, 

how good you really 

them the match, fig 

cause ‘Nobody Win 

The First Set’. You m 

self and end up win

ch 

p any resistance, 

e towel. 

red, it’s when you 

ly play. Push them 

you’d never know 

are. Don’t give 

ht to the very end... 

s The Match, In 

ay surprise yourning 

the match.

eat your 

opponents with 

STRATEGY

More than hitting a ball and hoping 

to win a point, is the strategy 

behind it. Constructing points and 

executing plays, is what makes you 

become a dominant player. If you 

understand and develop strategy, 

winning matches becomes simpler.

KNOW 

the reasons why you 

LOSE 

Losing is only bad when you don’t learn from it. 

So collect data and understand why you lose certain 

matches. It is the surest way of beginning a 

foundational path of turning things around. 

For example, if you are losing because your opponents 

are picking on your weak shots that are 

breaking down, the answer is simple - you need 

to work on the strokes to make them stronger so 

they are not a liability. 

The same is true for footwork and conditioning. 

But if those are fine and you are on par with your 

opponents, or even better, and still losing, then 

you have to reevaluate your strategies, or your 

mental approach to the game. So knowing the 

reasons why you lose, propels you forward faster. 



B

First S 

mea 

Strike 

52 

The high-powered strokes that junior tennis players 

are hitting today, can have you always playing defensive 

tennis. You must find every opportunity you 

can, so you can put your opponent on the defensive. 

Every short ball, every weak serve, every ‘sitter‘ etc, 

those are open invitations to overpower and control 

the points. Look for, and create opportunities to 

play First Strike tennis... it wins. 

Serveitup Digital Magazine September 2016

ns 

trike 

First! 

Serveitup Digital Magazine September 2016

As a righty, it’s critical that you practice 

against a lefty. It presents you 

with different challenges. Every 

pattern of attack you’ve learned to 

use against right hand players is 

now totally wrong, and you have 

so many things to learn, when hitting 

with a lefty. It’s the only way to 

get better. 

RIGHTIES 

FIND A LEFTY HITTER

Photo of the 

The 

Month 

just let me get my racket! 


Artist: Cat Lee 

follow her on instagram @colacatlee 

Worldclass! 


B

digital 

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