In tennis we talk all the time about developing weapons in your game like the big forehand, the big serve, the consistent backhand or the ability to hit a variety of shots. But your biggest weapons might be not what you have learned over the years but rather the natural talents that you were born with.

These natural talents should be highlighted and your game style should be developed around these talents. That’s what the pros do and that’s why you never see two top players play the game the same way. Take Venus and Serena for example. At a young age, Venus already had the gift of power and speed where as Serena had the speed but not the power. Serena had great feel which Venus didn’t have so in the development of their game styles we took two different approaches. For Venus it was big baseline shots and lots of straight ahead power that she used to dismantle her opponents. For Serena it was using angles and finesse shots within the points to open up the court or get her to the net. So what are your natural talents and how do you develop a game style around them?

The top five natural talents that are helpful in our sport are: speed, power, feel, gracefulness and intelligence. You may have been blessed with one or all of these talents and of course if you have all these talents then you don’t need to read any further, Mr. Federer. Let’s first say that you know how to hit all the basic strokes of tennis and now let’s build your game around each of the top five talents. First if you have the talent of speed then you have the makings of a pure baseliner counter-puncher. If you stand about two feet behind the baseline during points then there won’t be a ball that you can’t chase down and send back over the net. There are many players who get frustrated when they can’t seem to get a ball past someone or when they watch as all their best shots are retrieved and the point is restarted. If you have the talent of speed I suggest you practice your ground strokes, both offensive and defensive, from every spot behind the baseline and outside the sidelines, develop patience and take pride in your ability to get every ball back over the net.

If you have the talent of power, you have the makings of an aggressive baseliner or serve and volley type player. If you have the power on your strokes and on your serve then you are going to create a lot of short balls from your opponents. You will also have the ability to hit winners or force mistakes by overpowering your opponents. Here 

you want to stay closer to the baseline during points and look to move forward after one of your power shots. If you have the talent of power, work hard on your down the line and down the middle ground strokes and all your mid-court shots because these shots will do the most damage if not end the points for you.