Training after a break

Hi Alois and Jeff,

I am an amateur player and have been playing almost everyday for the last 1-2 years. I discovered your wonderful website about two months ago and it has been really helpful in improving my game.

However, I have recently observed a problem in my game. From the past year,  whenever I take a break of just 2-3 days, the quality of my shots (especially the forehand topspin) and consistency gets worse and it takes weeks to get back to my usual level. This has happened to me many times and is very unsatisfying.

Do you know why this happens and any ways to avoid this?

Thankyou

Hi Rimanshu,

Thanks for the kind words.

Great to hear that you are enjoying the game and playing so regularly.

I think coming back after a break is often a mindset rather than a physical thing.  Perhaps you can think about starting slower when you play after a few days.  Think about more consistency for the first 10 minutes, build your confidence and then progress from there.

Perhaps it is also expectations.  With the forehand topspin start slowly and focus on the smoothness of your stroke first. Because you are brushing the ball on contact there is a smaller margin for error.  Start with very simple topspin with a flatter contact and then build up to more speed and finer brushing of the ball.