The Most Important Element Of Tennis For Consistency 

Just wanted to say... You are my tennis coach! I have never had a single tennis lesson in my life but I started two years ago and from all the tennis instructionals on youtube, your videos were the most helpful and clear to me. I won my first tournament this summer and I'm only getting better! Thanks for everything and keep up these videos because these are Life to me!

He is like the tennis's philosopher of youtube. Thanks for the video!

Intention .....makes so much sense. Thanks, Ann

Holy shit! Your lessons are so pedagogical. This one is so simple yet so crucial. You really have a gift.

Of all the videos that I’ve seen from you , this is the one that helped me the most and that I saw the biggest change in my game. After I started forcing myself to have intention with every shot, a lot of lessons and techniques I had learned became second nature and my body subconsciously new where and how to move for the highest percentage shot my current skill level could give. I use to shoot without intention and it was all over the place. This is by far imo for a beginner the most important lesson. It makes you do so many things you’re not even aware of. Thank you so much !!!

So many times I watch one of your videos I just think “why hasn’t anyone told me that before”. Always so simple but so effective, best tennis channel on RU-vid hands down !

Actually my wife began to simultaneously say "Hi, I'm Tomaž from Feel Tennis." when I start the next clip lying in bed. Best instructor on youtube!

This is also called "visualization" and is very common is most endeavors, not just tennis. With enough practice, you will begin to form a good intuition of what kind of hitting produces what kind of results. It then becomes natural, a second nature so that even before you hit the shot, you'll visualize it and try to do what you see in your mind's eye. Getting there is a big step and is a very important part of transitioning from conscious thought/planning/action to instinctive/reflexive play.

Hi. I really like your perspective. Your lessons are the perfect complement to a great tennis book I am reading: "The Inner Game of Tennis" W.T.Gallwey. Thank you.

for me this is your best video so far, taking paralysis from analysis right out of it!

Clear intention! I never had this in my learning, practice, focus. But it's making a lot of sense. Tennis from an engineer/scientist/neurologist - excellent! Thank you.

Thomas, amazing. You are just awesome. Each and everything that we do, whatever it may be, has to have an aim or intention. That is what you taught. simply awesome.. I just implemented in my game, it changed just 200% within 14.24 minutes (the duration of the video) Thanks a ton again and keep up the good work. Eagerly waiting to have yet another amazing technique of transformation...

Thomas you are THE teacher. I love your lessons. Thanks.

This is a great theory. Personally when I play in a bad mood and have no confidence the ball just simply doesn't listen. My swing is shaky and hesitant. Mental attitude in tennis is a frequency that instantaneously manifests into body movement.

Tomaz, Yesterday I was hitting around with a Tennis Partner & he made several comments regarding my strokes. I told him that he needs to decide what he wants to do with the incoming ball as soon as it's hit on by the opponent. I gave him a link to this video. I hope he takes a look at it & hope he understands what I mean. Every time I hit I try to keep my intention as clear as possible. It's working for me. Thanks & keep on making these amazing Instructional Videos

Hi Tomaz, first of all i would like to thank you for all the teaching you’ve provided through RU-vid. You’re hands down the best tennis instructor out here if not in general. Anyways i would personally like to highlight how important this piece of “intention” impacts your shotmaking skills. sometimes we can get very focused on the technique, such as when and how you want to prepare your racquet, but in fact what really affects your technique fundamentally is the image you have in mind. Personally i think this really shows when you’re training against a wall, when you are forced to think and “intend” the ball to be sent to a certain direction (usually in the dead center of the wall). That way you get to line up your mind and ultimately technique to make the ideal contact. All in all I again want to highlight how important this sense of image is and how big of an impact this has on your technique - sometimes it’s all in your mind. After having the Eureka moment, I now hit with clear imaginary target - usually imagining a circle on top of the net. Hope everyone benefits from this great piece of advice from the tennis master. Thanks again Tomaz!

Amazing lesson. So important to have this in mind than just worrying about technique/power/speed. Thank you!

You are by far the most articulate, accurate and inspiring tennis coach on RU-vid. Your lessons resonate with my practice as I have started playing tennis recently. In fact I recently realized the intention phenomenon and you're absolutely right!

This instruction is useful for all sports. Intention is much less practiced than technique and form, which actually gives players bad form. I never thought about deciding early before this channel. Thank you.

this is some quality stuff! keep it up Coach!

Tomaz is a scientist. This is a great video showing that you set the intention first, based on position, then you execute the intention. Love this.

finally! Intention guides our every physical action, from reaching for the salt shaker to opening a door. We can't really understand all that goes on in our miraculous brain and muscles to accomplish the intention, but there's no doubting it is driven by intention. Analysis and technique can make a huge difference over time, but without intention, things break down. Of course there are more factors - when intention is formed, how it can change depending on the situation, ability to recognize the situation etc. Endless.

Another great video. Feel tennis is the best ..easy to understand and clear message

Excellent work out for consistency and effortless hitting with power & precision.Thanks.

This is the best tennis lesson Thomas and transformed my game .I was focusing too much on the technique all the time and no intent which resulted in less consistency and I will go back and again look for flaws in my technique and got frustrated as I couldn’t find the real issue with the consistency

Thank you coach Thomas for making these amazing helpful videos. Not only I've learned so much but mentally your videos answered so many questions. I've been learning to play without a coach and found your videos to be extremely valuable

I guess this is the secret of life itself. Having intention, aim, purpose etc

"thinking about technique" is a major problem for me....when I forget about technique and hit freely, stroke is much better and more consistent....thanks for the video.

Easily the best tennis tutorial channel out there.. D best part is you give emphasis on the little but very important things which most ppl ignore.. Thank you for making such awesome videos and making it easier for us on the court..

You are a very good coach! Your voice alone is doing half of the job! Keep it up!

Great video! For a while I wondered about why I was playing so bad in matches (and even sometimes in training) while my technique and physical shape were good. It's because I don't pick and visualize a trajectory for my shot. Instead, I just hope my shot goes in. When I play really relaxed or feel where I want to hit the ball, I play at double my normal level.

Wow! Consistency of results depends on consistency of process, but I never thought of the process as beginning with intention. Now I can visualize trajectory early enough for technique to follow naturally when the ball arrives. Thank you Dave, Luis, Michael, Urban, and of course Tomaz.

Coach Tomaz is using the discovery method of allowing the student to observe, think and learn by himself so the student is self-correcting and adjusting his behaviour by himself. This sort of learning is much faster and more permanent and it is a form of top level coaching that I have never ever seen this in many years of observing tennis instruction.

The best part of every video? When you're hitting, it's so clean

Let me also say that your videos are superb. They are easy to understand and simple enough to actually improve how I play. Thank you so much

Thanks Thomas... early clear intension, targets and such is the way to go... great video as usual.

good video. so simple yet so easy to forget

This is sooooooo right. Listen to this kids, this is maybe the most important thing to keep in your mind when playing

Superb!!You have a great INTENTION of nailing the Tennis skills :)

Thanks Tomaz, this is so simple and yet so important. A stroke of genius.

This tutorial was just what I needed. I’m a late convert to tennis ever since COVID stopped me playing football. With your help and from others I have developed a few good shots. Trouble is they have been fairly random - baseline shots are basically ‘quite hard, over the net, fairly deep’. Better players just get me running around and then kill me or wait for my error. I will now use your drill of making early, clear intentions of each shot’s trajectory - I might not shout them out though! Thanks for everything Dave

Great lesson & drills! It worked with volleys. Next: groundstrokes! Strangely, doing this with groundies also works. Once I make a decision about my intention, the many parts of a groundstroke seem to fall in place, eg, footwork, split step, unit turn, string face, etc. Former strategy was to “get the ball over the net."

What a fantastic video. It's such a basic concept but one that most of us dont do! Bravo.

Great video, many coaches focus only on technique, depriving all other natural aspects of the game like this one.

Very good and very helpful advise. This video point out the true meaning of early anticipation. Early intention and decision is the key . Thanks . Great advise

Makes sense. Great video. Thank you. You are a tennis Guru.

I will try that one for sure. Let's fight for better consistency! Thanks Thomas.

Tomaz thank you for this video! It is always interesting to see drills that not every coach knows about. I am eager to try this out, because I think that this is one of my main problems on the court. Thank you again and I am really looking forward to seeing more great videos from you.

love your videos. Wish that I lived closer to you so that I could take personal lessons and improve the power in my backhand!

Excellent instruction!

Beautiful beautiful beautiful concept and drills. Thank you, brother.

Wow. This made a real difference to how I will approach my games in future. Thank you!

Hello Tomaz, Thank you for all your very technical breakdown videos. I would never have imagined that the answer was 'intention'. Will try it tomorrow in my match.

Tomas is simply the best!

I will practise this and also the counting drills for more time. My shot execution has a huge degree of variance..when i prepare on time and hit decisively its fantastic...but i cant seem to do that consistently

excellent, the first time i see such advices on the net and i agree 100% ...

Each one of your videos is really brilliant. Thanks for sharing.

Greetings from ATL USA. Most insightful and important tip of all time. Intentionality. Brilliance sir... Absolutely brilliance. 👍👍K. I. S. S.

Great instruction! Looking forward to getting out and applying this principle into practice.

I was today years old when I learned that making a shot choice early was so important.

Great video. Wish you were in my area so that I could have direct coaching from you. Will keep watching the videos for sure!

I very seldom was thinking about the trajectory , jut trying to hit the ball.... This is very good advice , I will try to apply in my next game :-)

I llove Tomaz's teaching, and this one may be the most important for me, Intention.

thank you very much, I thought about release the racket to the target and the ball only on the way. It helps me with "when" and "where" to release the target.

this reminds me of baby steps!

amazing, intention and will are so important

I'm really thankful for everything you share with us. Keep it up, you're an awesome coach!

One of the greatest coaches easily.

Thank you, your instructions. they just make so much sense.

Brilliant! I am going to share your philosophy, "with clear intentions!" aloha(:

Wow! that's a very helpful information. Congratulations! you always do a great job explaining everything so clearly

unique teaching technique. very interesting concept.

Very good tip professor, I ll try to implement

I value your so opinion highly, that if you think intention is the most important thing in tennis, then I should (at least consider it), too. My own belief is/was that keeping your head still at and after contact is the most important, but I can see how both work in sequence: first you form an intention, or "projected trajectory", and THEN you watch the ball attentively and fix your gaze on the POC just prior to contact and hold it until just after. There, that ought to take care of 90% of my tennis woes. Thank You, Master, I believe my education is complete. Now I only have to go out into the world DO IT (a whole other story)!

Very, very important and necessary. Thanks a lot!

this video tranformed my game!

Thank you so much. Your are a Tennis scientist !! Your RU-vid Channel is the best! One question: when do you think professionals like Djokovic will plan their next shot in each different situation such as offensive, defensive or neutral ? e.g. just after the ball leaving the racket of their opponents? when the ball pass the net?

Thank you so much. You are a great coach!!!

Great video and makes complete sense

This is actually the # 1 most important thing you must do: have a plan! If you don't know exactly which shot you want to hit where, how will you ever execute the shot in the first place? Obviously, looking at the ball and having good form is vitally important but...you must have a plan, Stan!!!

Very true. Great tip

Gezz dave the old bugger sure hits a good ball great footwork to. Top stuff cheers

Thanks. It's a very interesting idea. I've never though about it this way. I'll definitely going to try it.

Hi there - love this and your other videos. Can you apply this to doubles too? Doubles can be more reactive.

this is like The Matrix "there is no spoon" I've never played with that in mind before better said with that strategic mindset and now I do it all the time.

Very good lesson. Thank you.

I have never heared these before.Thanks a lot..

you are a good coach!

Very usefull thank you. Now all that remains is to be able to hide our intention

So so so helpful. As usual!!!

100 percent correct. No two ways about it. If anyone has ever played against or seen high level players 5.0 and up , the one thing that stands out is how sure they look when executing their strokes. This is because of what's described here. They know exactly where they want to hit. You can see clear cut plays like snooker and very little pure reaction / jerky play.

Awesome video! Great tips!

You always inspire me.

Your didactic was amazing and I can understand your english easy.

Excellent video. But when you were doing that drill saying out loud where you're going to play, sometimes you call it out even before the opponent hits the ball. How can you possible decide where to hit the ball before your opponent hits it?

congratulations your are just great. high skill training

Very interesting video, so thought provoking. t Does his decision of whether to place the ball cross court or down the line apply to volleys, overhead serves and lobs? If I make early decisions about where to place my volleys, will my volleying improve?

Thanks this is really cool and practical

Seems simple, but NO ONE ever says it this way. Thank you.

I am going to comment. Wow. Announcing my intention helped me write a great comment. 🤭 Nice video as always! 🙏