Vic says: It's my opinion that your feet aren't your problem; it's more likely your balance. There are players who seem to be in awkward positions, but they are quite balanced. When your feet are playing games with you while you're hitting, there is normally very poor balance. Try intentionally hitting some shots from a seemingly weird position (but still "on balance"), and you will be surprised. You can usually tell if you're on balance as you can comfortably hold that position for some time without straining yourself. For example, Michael Jordan worked out on a four-foot-by-four-foot beam to practice his balance. And during the French Open final, Andrei Medvedev was beautifully balanced until he started trying to out slug Andre Agassi at the end of the third set. Then he got creamed. After you practice some balancing moves while stroking a ball, let me know how it works out.

Question: I played a league doubles match recently and lost 6-4, 6-7, 7-6. I was serving for the match at 5-4 in the third set and suddenly I started double faulting. In that game, I double faulted six times before finally serving underhand and then got blown away by the return. In my next match, I double faulted at 30-40 in every service game! I'm a serve and volley player and the serve was my major weapon. I've totally lost confidence in my serve when the situation is tight (I can still serve okay in other situations). Please help, it's very frustrating.

Vic says: Obviously I haven't seen your serve, but in most cases, the hitter with performance anxiety is double faulting because the wrong message is being sent from the brain to the musculature. People who are intuitive seem to be thinking about the outcome rather than the process. The best players in this world are process oriented and only play in "the moment." The second thing seems to be that an individual with performance anxiety usually tosses the ball closer to the baseline rather than far out front. This causes more guidance from the forearms and doesn't allow for a free swing. If you're around six feet tall, you must meet the ball with the racket-face pointed forward and downward about 6 degrees to hit a flat serve in the box at 100 mph. When hitting a spin serve, it's normally better to hit harder than softer (a softer hit serve is harder to control, ironically). Also, don't be afraid to double fault. In good doubles, if you're serving at 15-40, it's still an even match.

Question: My 10-year-old son loves the game and has all the strokes. He loves to train and can hit all the targets in the games but loses focus against the top kids in tournaments and gets upset too easily. He wins most of his matches easy but the top kids give him trouble. Can you please give some advice?

Vic says: The best answer, whenever possible, is to reward your son for stroke production and effort and not for wins and losses. He should know that great champions aren't afraid to lose and so they just keep hitting the ball as though it were another point early in the match. You may have read something about this previously, but it's called being "process" oriented rather than "outcome" oriented. It's important for youngsters to know that they will lose some matches, but they will also win their share by becoming process oriented. The only shot in tennis is the one you're currently hitting. That's why Jimmy Connors was so great. A reporter once asked Connors, "What were you thinking when you were down match point to John Lloyd?" Connors said, "Nothing." He was that focused on just playing each shot properly. By the way, Connors won the match.

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