Cooling Down a Hot Opponent

Beginners should aim most of their shots toward their opponent's weakest stroke, which is often the backhand. Trying to raise your game isn’t necessarily the best option when you face a player who’s giving you more than you can handle. The first thing most players do when they find themselves trailing in a match is look for things that will help them raise their level of play. The problem with that strategy is that players typically start matches using their A game, so switching to something else usually means they end up using a tactic that’s the second- or third-best choice for their style of play. I’ve found that the smartest players react in a different way when they’re behind: Rather than trying to lift their own level, they focus on lowering their opponent’s. Here are some ways to win ugly. BEGINNER OBJECTIVE 1: Keep the ball in play. When you’re just starting to play tennis, you can win many matches simply by being more consistent than your opponent. Mastering the concept of shot tolerance—knowing how many balls your opponent will hit before he feels he has to go for a winner—should be first on the todo list of all developing players. While shot tolerance varies from player to player, hitting three or four balls on a point is often all it takes to push a beginner out of his comfort zone and cause him to take a risk that, more often than not, will result in an error. OBJECTIVE 2: Isolate and destroy Isolation is the tactic of identifying and exploiting your opponent’s vulnerabilities. At the beginner level the most glaring weaknesses are often particular shots, such as the backhand or the volley. Once you identify the chinks in your opponent’s game, hit the majority of your shots to those soft spots. Making your opponent hit shots he’s uncomfortable with should bring down the rest of his game. Use underspin to test your opponent's timing and technique. INTERMEDIATE OBJECTIVE 1: Master the moonball While many intermediate players know how to play aggressively from the baseline, few have learned the skills needed to attack when given a steady diet of high, looping balls with plenty of topspin—aka the dreaded moonball. These difficult-to-handle shots force your opponent to move back from the base-line, giving him fewer angles and less pace to work with. Consequently, moonballs often lower your opponent’s level of play by depriving him of the opportunity to attack while simultaneously forcing him to be more patient than he might like to be. OBJECTIVE 2: Use slice and underspin Have you ever seen someone come off the court bragging about how well he played against a guy who sliced and diced? I haven’t either. The fact is, most players absolutely hate to compete against opponents who hit a lot of junk. Why? Slice and under-spin shots are not as easy to handle as they appear. Sure, they look like they would be easy to attack, but because they bounce lower and slower than topspin shots, slices take you out of your rhythm. Hitting aggressively against these shots requires well-grooved technique and excellent timing, abilities most intermediates don’t have. Changing spins is one of the most effective ways to lower your opponent’s level of play. Drop shots can lure advanced players into the forecourt on your terms. ADVANCED OBJECTIVE 1: Serve to the weaker side It’s not uncommon for advanced players to have a 5.0 forehand and a 4.0 backhand. Discovering whether this is true for your opponent will give you a huge advantage. Think about it: If you pay attention and hit your serves to your opponent’s weaker return side, you can deter-mine if you’re going to be playing a 5.0 player or a 4.0 player as you start each point in your service game. The last thing you want to do when you’re trailing in a match is to give your opponent an opportunity to hit his best shot. OBJECTIVE 2: Develop a drop shot This may seem like a tactic best suited for a lower level of play, but remember that most advanced play-ers prefer to hit from the baseline. If you can make your opponent come to net on your terms, you can force him to beat you from a part of the court where he’s uncomfortable. Re-member to use the drop shot to get your opponent off the baseline, not to try to end the point outright. If a winner is your goal, the drop shot is not the best choice.

Two tips for better doubles

Bounce for better poaches: If you are going to poach a service return, start to move when the served ball bounces. At that point, your opponent will have his or her racquet back in preparation for a return. Move at an angle simultaneously toward the ball and toward the net for an easy volley. And don’t forget to let your partner know you are going to poach before the point starts! Mirror your opponents: If both of your opponents are closing in to the net, mirror that image and close in as well. If an opponent backs up behind the baseline for a shot, then you and your partner should mirror that movement and back up toward the service line in anticipation of a lob. If the opponents move to one side of the court to reach a shot, you and your partner should follow and sway with the movement of the ball. If you keep moving with your opponents, you’ll be in position to win the match.

Don’t overdo it

Have a match coming up against the top player in your league? That guy or gal who beats you every time, even if you start out with a big lead? Take a lesson from last weekend’s Rogers Cup champ, Novak Djokovic, and don’t worry about playing up to your opponent — just be yourself. You’re not unique for wanting to play your absolute best against the best competition. But asking that much of yourself — I have to hit more winners, fewer errors, and better angles, TODAY — often produces decidedly worse results. Playing within yourself isn’t easy, but there are ways to approach a match that can help you do it. Think about spin and depth, not power: Players too often think they have to hit the ball harder against a quality opponent. You’re probably better off working your opponent with softer, topspin strokes that clear the net by a safer margin and land deeper in the court. If your opponent has less to work with — fewer short balls and fewer obvious angles — you’ll find more chances coming your way. Don’t be afraid to use the middle of the court: You don’t always have to put your opponent on the run (check out how many backhands Djokovic aimed at Rafael Nadal’s feet in the semifinals of the Rogers Cup). It’s difficult to create angles, and hit winners, off deep shots in the center of the court. If you jam your opponent, you might get that short ball you’ve been waiting for. Use your second serve as a first serve: Unless you are an ace machine, keep that first-serve percentage high, even if it means a little less pace and a little more spin. Concentrate on placement. Repetition is your friend: If you find something your opponent doesn’t like, keep going after it. Do you think Djokovic felt guilty about pounding Federer’s backhand over and over again on Sunday? You don’t need to look better than your opponent. Winning will do just fine.

Practice makes perfect

Everyone likes to play matches. It’s how you measure yourself against the competition. But it doesn’t necessarily improve your tennis ability. The best way to accomplish that is to pinpoint deficiencies in your game and practice them until they become reliable. Playing matches puts the emphasis on winning, not improving. By removing the pressure of winning, you allow yourself the freedom of making mistakes and exploring parts of your game you’re not comfortable with. Here are some things to remember when practicing: —You can still make a game out of it:Some players complain that practicing is boring. You can play points out, just don’t keep traditional score. Play a tiebreaker or to 21 and start points without serving. The less you make it feel like a real match, the more you will experiment and try different shots. —Expose yourself:Whatever part of your game you’re not happy with is what you should be practicing. When playing a match, you want to win so you try to play to your strengths and conceal your weaknesses. You’ll never be a complete player that way. If it’s volleys – get to net. If it’s a slice backhand – start chipping. And there has to be something you can work on, because even the pros practice. —Remember, you do it in other sports:Tennis is one of the few sports that don’t emphasize practice. Golfers hit the range to work on their drives. Baseball players get in the batting cage to improve their swing. Practicing your weaknesses just makes sense. If you don’t have anyone to practice with, don’t be embarrassed to take a bucket of balls and just serve. Skip the match and hit the practice courts. It’s the only way you’ll really improve.

Adjust for high balls

One of the toughest shots for most recreational players to handle is the high-bouncing ball, especially if it has a lot of topspin on it. But there’s an easy way to improve your success rate in dealing with these pesky shots: Use a higher backswing. Lots of players unwittingly lower their chances of returning high balls effectively by taking their racquet back the same way they do for waist-high or low-bouncing shots. By doing so they force themselves to have to swing sharply upward to meet the ball and this puts the racquet and the oncoming ball on very different paths, thus requiring nearly perfect timing to make good contact. Instead, you’d be much better off taking your racquet back higher than usual and adjusting your entire swing up. That way you’ll put your racquet more in line with the ball and improve your chances of making a solid hit.

Go for seconds

It’s an old saying, but it’s still true to this day – “you’re only as good as your second serve.” A good first serve is important. A good second serve is crucial. When going for a second serve, too many players tell themselves, ‘I’ve got to get this serve in.’ What they should be telling themselves is that this is another opportunity to hit an effective serve. After swinging with all their might on the first serve, they will let up and spin a soft serve in the box just so they don’t lose the point. It’s a natural progression, but it puts the player at a disadvantage right from the start of the point. Being overly aggressive and regularly double faulting is stupid. But over the course of a match, playing passively on second serves is more destructive than an occasional double fault. That’s why a good player takes a bigger cut at the ball on their second serve than on their first. That’s right, your racquet head should be moving faster on the second serve than the first. That’s what happens in the pros. Here’s why: Look to the Baseline—Watch players with heavy topspin hit their ground strokes and you’ll notice how much faster they swing than players who hit a flatter ball do. That’s because they need greater racquet head speed in order to achieve the same pace and depth on their shots. The player with the flatter shots can be more dangerous, but has much less margin for error. Just like the difference between a first (flat) and second serve (spin). Practical Geometry—Since the first serve has less spin it will cut through the air quicker. It also has a much more acute trajectory than the arc created by a topspin second serve. So the flight path of the ball is shorter. That’s why it is important to use the legs, hips, shoulders, wrists, and entire body in a first serve, because the swing itself should just be a fluid and relaxed motion. Simple Physics—It may seem strange to actually swing harder on a second serve, but it makes sense. The faster you swing, the more topspin you will create. Topspin results in constant rotation of the ball, which reduces velocity and brings the ball down into the service box. Even if you swing harder it’s still a safe and consistent shot. You’re just producing more topspin, which will make your second serve heavier, bounce higher, and much more difficult to return. The next time you’re faced with a second serve, don’t let up. Go after it. Soon it could be as dangerous as your first.

Work on your foot speed

Tennis players spend a great of time working on their strokes. They will take lots of lessons or practice for hours looking to hone their shots. But a sure way to improve your game without even stepping on a tennis court is to increase your speed and agility. It’s not as glamorous as learning to hit a big forehand or serve, but gaining more foot speed can win you just as many points.

Here are some numbers for you:

• Average seconds per point:
Clay – 10
Hard – 5
Grass – 2.8
• A player averages 4.2 directional changes per point.
• Average distance covered per stroke is 4 meters.
• The ratio of time playing tennis and time walking around the court is 35:65.

By looking at this data, it’s easy to see that tennis is fast game full of explosive movements. You should train your body accordingly. Jogging will give you endurance, which is good for long matches, but when do you ever jog to a ball to hit a shot? You need speed. Practice sprinting short distances in all different directions (just like you would on a tennis court) and then rest. Do a series of sprints where you run for 15 seconds, then rest for 45 more. Simulate the action of a real point. Try to incorporate sets of hops or jumps, or any movement that will increase your quickness and explosion. You want to train your body to be able to run hundreds of short races – not one long one.