By Eli Buenaventura
For Variety

REGARDLESS of your level of play, it is not enough that you practice your shots as you are told. It is equally significant that you must also know the reasons behind every shot you are making and the overall specification of the tennis equipment that you are using.
Here are ten questions and answers that may help optimize your performance.
1.Why tennis players hit the ball hard? Although the margin of error will be higher, tennis players still prefer to hit the ball hard. According to a study, the less time your opponent prepares to return the ball, the very likely he will make an error or hit a weak shot. For example, if the ball leaves your racket at 50 miles per hour, your opponent has 1.5 seconds to return it. As the ball’d speed increases as it leaves your racket, the less time your opponent has to return it
2.Why natural gut is the most expensive string in tennis? It is expensive because it is not easy to make one as compared to synthetic. Natural gut is made fromthe intestine of a cow and it takes about three cows to make a single string. Sheep intestines are also used to make natural gut. Because of its feel, natural is the preferred string of many tour players today.
3.Why you have to hit the ball with a follow through? The objective is to make sure you don’t decelerate your swing. And therefore, you are hitting the ball with some pace. The other reason is to relax your hitting arm that becomes tense during the swing. The follow through also gives you a chance to hit the ball when you are late.
4.Why tossing the ball higher increases your chance to land the ball in the service box? According to a study, when the ball is falling when struck, the resultant shot will acquire some topspin. Therefore, the higher the toss, the more spin it gets when struck. The result is a bigger clearance at the net, which is also known as the serve window.
5. Why you have to hit the ball deep all the time? Like hitting the ball hard, hitting the ball deep also increases your chances of making an error. However, hitting deep will also give your opponent less time to react when the ball bounces closer to the baseline or to the service line. And therefore, there is more opportunity to win the point. According to a study, if the ball leaves your racket at 60 mph, for every 4.5 feet closer to the baseline, your opponent has 1/10 of a second less to react after the bounce.
6. Why customizing your own racket is not advisable? Nowadays, rackets are carefully designed to meet the players’ demands and specifications. In this regard, you can play better tennis and enjoy your game with so much fun. Adding lead tape by yourself at the tip of the racket to move the sweet spot might not help you achieve your intentions.
7. Why tennis players stand further from the baseline when returning serve? As commonly seen in big tournaments, players stand behind the baseline for two reasons: It gives them enough time to react to a 110-mph serve. The sever also slows down by few miles per hour due to air resistance and bounce. Study shows that you have .71 of a second to react to a 110-mph serve that is reduced to 102 mph, while you are 5 feet behind the baseline.
8.Why crosscourt decision favors more the hard hitting players? By hitting cross court, the hard hitting players have safer vertical window to hit their shot because of the greater depth of court behind the net. While it is true the net is lower in the middle, it is actually the deeper court that makes the shot at that angle attractive. But due to the size of the players and too much spin generated on the ball, they try down the line shots to surprise their opponents.
9 Why a much tighter string favors heavy top spinners? Aside from the general knowledge that tighter string leads to better control, it also helps the heavy top spinners to commit fewer errors. As the ball meets the racket, it will slide or roll along the string before rebounding off. If you have less tight string, the ball will clip the frame and it will result in a miss-hit.
10. What is tennis yips? Recently, this kind of movement has bothered tennis players, particularly when they are serving. Players jerk or twitch as they serve. As a result, they play a poor serve that either hits the net or sails over the service line. Yips is very common among golfers, particularly when they are putting. Yips is believed to be caused by intense demands of concentration and coordination.
Note: I will be in Australia from January 18 to 24 for the Oceania Tennis Federation general membership meeting. You will read my next column on January 31.