Hitting the ball early is definitely a concept that needs closer examination. Even at the highest levels I have seen players lose their superb timing and touch just by setting up too early.

Take Pete Sampras, for example. In his prime he was, along with Rod Laver, one of the best players of all time. But for the last few years, except for a few epic performances, the magic seems to be gone from his racquet. Could the explanation be something as simple as preparing his groundstrokes much earlier than before? Is this what is contributing to his uncharacteristic unforced errors?

When players get older they are usually counseled to take the racquet back earlier to compensate for slower reaction time. Chris Evert followed that path, so did Guillermo Vilas, Gabi Sabatini and many other champions, and soon their best game was lost.

The reason is very simple. The player who used to react naturally, in a totally instinctive way, is now using a mechanical compensation to counter balance a natural phenomena, the slowing down with age.

Stalking the Ball

Great groundstrokers stalk the ball as it is coming in, following it with their racquets out front, pointing at the ball. Their attention is absorbed in the moment - in adjusting to the ball’s path. Then, in what seems like the nick of time, they stroke it smoothly, confidently, and with uncanny accuracy.

By setting up the stroke too early, the player must imagine the ball’s path prior to the actual trajectory happening. In other words the player must make adjustments to where he thinks the ball will be instead of the actual path of the ball.

More importantly, by setting up too early, there is a span of time where a player's mind can wander, call it daydreaming if you like and this distracts from focusing exclusively on the path of the incoming ball. All this may occur in hundredths of a second, but it is still a distractive additive that need not be there.

This happened to Bjorn Borg when I was coaching him during his second comeback attempt. I noticed he was preparing earlier than usual for his shots, rushing them in fact. I suggested he wait longer on the ball. "The more you wait, the more time you will have,” I said.

By tracking the ball longer, Borg narrowed his focus on the one immediate task instead of concentrating on extraneous distractions and the work paid off for him allowing him to regain some of his lost form. Just 20 days later, he had a wonderful practice match with Pete Sampras, losing a close 7/5 7/6. Afterward, he told me he felt as if he had so much time now.

This takes us right to my opening statement. Hitting early is a concept that needs closer examination. It's one thing to move inside the court shortening your opponent's response time. There are many players, Agassi being the prime example, who like to attack the ball on groundstrokes, hugging the baseline or even prowling further inside the court. But Agassi is not rushing his preparation.

Keep your eyes fixed on him during the setup and stroke, rather than looking at the ball he is playing. Notice how long he stalks the ball, keeping the racquet in both hands towards the front. Almost as if he was pointing to the ball with the racquet.

Sampras, in his prime, also exhibited this trait, most noticeably on the forehand side - pointing to the ball with his racquet for a long time. That seems to have changed. At the high speeds of professional tennis, if a player executes just a few hundredths of a second too early, the brilliance of his game can be lost. Errors creep in yet the player doesn't know what is going on. His fabulous touch is gone, along with that wonderful sensation that he can do no wrong.

Setting up too Early

For heavy topspin players, being slightly early makes it more difficult to lift the ball to their liking. They have to hit much more in front of their bodies, and they lose their force.

At the highest level of the game it is hard to detect when a player is preparing earlier, but the shots seem a bit weaker, the ball has less sting, and the once uncanny accuracy is no longer sharp. The sting or weight of a shot does not depend on the speed of the racquet head, but rather on the acceleration and weight applied at impact.

Today’s champions allow their racquets to approach the ball slowly, then, only at the last possible moment, they release their sting. This gives the ball more energy and more bite. If you approach the ball slowly, almost touching it, and then increase acceleration, you will feel the contact on your strings for a longer period. The ball will then take off at a high speed as if it were shot from your racquet.

Your eyes may not notice it, but you will feel the difference - a sensation more solid, a bit longer, and with much more control. Practice this and you will be less likely to experience sudden loss of control, where the ball flies off your racquet even though you were actually trying to gain more control by restraining your power.

The speed of the ball, even when applying the same amount of force, depends on how close to the contact point you start applying that force. If you release your power early, too far from the ball, as a baseball batter might, you're likely to get a lot of ball speed, but very little control.

So here is where the real balance occurs in tennis and that balance is literally in your hands. You control it by timing the release of your power, choosing carefully the point where you exercise your strength. You don't have to hold back the force, but you must release it at precisely the right time.

If a top professional persists on hitting the ball earlier than usual, not noticing that he or she is a few hundredths of a second ahead on his optimum release, or that the court plays a bit slower than the one he has practiced on, he starts to lose his confidence. He may become a bit tense, not really feeling the ball, his "touch" gone, confusion abounds.

This happens more frequently to players who like to strike groundstrokes early. They are playing with fire, too close to the "too early" frontier. But there are the geniuses out there. Who, on their best days, display the magic, the talent in full flight. They seem to just touch the ball and it strikes like lightning. This has been Andre Agassi's brilliance over the years. He stokes the fire, he plays with it, but he rarely gets burned.

What he learned early in his career, perhaps aided by McEnroe's famous 1992 tip a few weeks before Agassi's first Grand Slam victory at Wimbledon, "On grass courts, no backswing," was to wait longer with the racquet in front. Which isn't very observable from a spectator's viewpoint unless you study the player instead of watching the ball in play. But for a brilliant player, that is what it feels like. He doesn't rush because he feels he has all the time in the world. So enjoy the power as much as you like. Just make sure you find, or you touch the ball first, then explode into it.

Practical Application

The question that may come to mind is, how does the club player or the professional for that matter develop this technique? The answer is relatively simple.

The first thing to do is to follow the ball's trajectory with your body as usual. No preparation yet, just tracking. Precisely at the bounce, start counting to five. Hold your racquet near the ball as long as possible and try make contact on the five count, emphasizing the finish of the stroke.

Gustavo Kuerten practiced the racquet forward technique when he was a kid and eventually developed some of the most penetrating groundstrokes in the game.

At first, this may seem improbable, that there can't possibly be enough time to finish the stroke but I urge you to give it a try. You may discover that this may be the most "important advice" you'll ever receive and that "racquet back early" the most foolish.

Hitting the ball just like that, seemingly waiting, in my mind, forever, I participated in a more than 400 ball rally with Jimmy Arias, and he missed first! And Jimmy had one of the hardest forehands in the world!

This is the type practice I did with Gustavo Kuerten when he was a kid. I had him stalk the ball until he panicked, then he would hit. The consequence was that, eventually, he felt as if he had all the time in the world and developed some of the most penetrating groundstrokes in the game.

"I urge you to try this technique on all of your groundstrokes. It may seem difficult at first but you just might be amazed at the results. The exception to this racquet forward technique is the one handed backhand. In that case, change your grip and follow the ball with the butt of the racquet, not the racquet's head."