DECISION MAKING
Tactics Simplified
by Mahboob Khan, PTR/USTA/ITF
High Performance Coach
Tennis Program Director
Islamabad, Pakistan
It is obvious in order to implement the tactical aspects of the game you ought to have the fundamentals: perceptional/coordinational skills, sound technique under pressure, and physical conditioning base.
Enabling the players to play the future game of tennis, they ought to have at least two weapons – such as the serve and forehand --. Only one weapon will not suffice!
Play
by these POWER PRECEPTS:
· Learn to hate your unforced
errors!
· Know yours as well as your opponent’s game –
who is doing what to whom?
· Play your strength to your opponent’s weakness
· Give your best effort at all times!
· Concentrate on the process NOT on the outcome for if you
take care of the process the outcome will take care of itself!
· Be busy like a bee collecting points!
· The player who returns the last ball wins the match. This
is the reality!
WHEN YOU ARE SERVING
· The ratio of first serves in must
be around 70-80%
· Keep the returner guessing with wide, body, and up the
T serves. Use variations such as flat, kick, slice so that the receiver
is confused what to expect!
· If you lead 40-0, or 40-15, take calculated risks by serving
and volleying, putting pressure on the returner to pass.
·
I do not recommend serving and volleying on each and every
point because this will allow the receiver to plan his returns.
Have you ever imagined what Andre Agassi, the greatest returner
along with Jimmy Connors, does to Taylor Dent, the best serve
and volleyer of the present time? |
· If you hold your service games effectively, that will put
mental pressure on your opponent’s service game. Make him
think about your serve! This will allow you to break many of his
service games!
· Wide serve followed by cross-court volley or big forehand
ground stroke will put you in a commanding position to win the point.
· Wide serve followed by a wrong-footing shot is a great
tactic on faster/slippery surfaces.
· Against 2-handed backhand players, strong serve in the
body will jam them;
· Serves up the T, both in deuce and ad court, (if mixed
with other types of serves) are great because they will create grip
change problem for the receiver giving you an easier return to work
with!
WHEN YOU ARE RETURNING THE SERVE
·
A rule of the thumb is: Watch the ball as it goes up and try
to track the ball from the server’s racket |
· Remember: the lob is also a passing
shot – and get-you-out-of-trouble shot
· Break as many service games as possible but try to hold
your own.
· On a faster serve, cut on the back-swing and block the
ball back like a volley. Remember, your first priority on the return
is to return the ball deep in order to neutralize the server’s
advantage so that you are on equal terms with him.
· On the second serve (as the toss goes up), use the blind
spot to run around your backhand and hit a powerful inside-out or
inside-in forehand! What is this blind spot? Well, when the ball
goes up the server is watching the ball not you; this is the time
you can run around your backhand to hit forehand!
· Always display an energic and confident look even if tired!
WHEN BOTH OF YOU ARE RALLYING FROM THE BASELINE
(including attack and defense)
Please stay with your opponent stroke by stroke, deep to deep, cross court and down the lines, until he or she misses, or gives you a short ball on which you will have the following options (winners, approach shots, etc): a) If the ball is shoulder or chest high, attempt a winner and follow your winner to the net so that forward momentum is created and to block the ball with a volley (sometimes the winner comes back!) (Procompare: please show Federer’s inside-out FH winner from the mid-court as Video 5) |
|
| b) If the ball is
low, hit a backhand slice approach shot down the line and go
to the net to play out the point there with volley(s) and/or
smashes. Remember: “Slice is nice” as an approach
shot. Cross-court is easier to hit but puts you in a bad volleying
position; down the line deep approach hit with slice, will force
your opponent to retreat and hit up on the ball and will also
give you the time to approach the net. Many combinations are
possible: Approach down the line, volley cross-court; approach
down the line and wrong-footing volley down the line; c) The quality of the approach shot should be such to take away at least one return option! |
d) If the ball is easy and higher than the
level of the net (right zone for a right-hander, left zone for a
left-hander), you can either hit a FH winner down the line, or use
your forehand with excessive topspin loop to your opponent’s
1-handed backhand and close in for a volley. 1-handed BH players
have difficulty handling high loopy balls. NOTE: ALWAYS WEIGH YOUR
OPTIONS; STICK WITH WHAT YOU FEEL COMFORTABLE WITH.
e) If your opponent is pinned behind the baseline, you can also
attempt a drop shot and go to the net to block off any possible
get by your opponent. Remember: there is only one correct option:
the option with which you win the point!
You should not be the first one to commit “process” mistakes or unforced errors.
Move your opponent around by hitting more cross-court shots, taking the center away from him, and then on a shorter ball change direction and hit a down the line winner or approach shot.
Understand the Court Geometry: Your opponent moves more when you hit cross-court shots (and he hits down the lines); you move more when he hits cross-courts (and you hit down the line shots)! Cross-court ground strokes mixed with down the lines, and topspin mixed with slices are quite a deadly recipe against western grip players!
Using a combination of cross-court and down-the-line shots, pull your opponent wide on his strong side and then hit to his weak side (want to expose the weakness? Well, you have to hit to his strong wing first).
| Then, pull him on his weak side and then hit to his strong side. He/she must hit his/her favorite shots on the run. Give your opponent what he/she does not like. If he likes high balls, give him sliced/low balls; if he likes low balls, give him high balls. Mix it up: Use topspin and underspin, hard and soft, high and low, cross-court and down the line, deep and short, to throw off your opponent’s rhythm. Rafael Nadal is a master of using his topspin ground strokes to deadliest effect. |
Some players miss when they have to move; some hit great shots on the run:
· The player who misses when he has
to move: make him move laterally and vertically – jerk him
around!
· The player who hits great angular shots on the run: Hit
deep down the middle to cut off his angles (force him to generate
his own angles)!
· Some players miss from certain locations on the court:
Find out in the warm-up and in the first 2-3 games. Put him in a
situation he does not like.
· Each player has a “tolerance point”. All world class players get frustrated when a player like Nadal returns all his shots, and at certain tight situations of the match such as tie-breaks, and 4-all in the final set. Take the game to him -- to that tolerance point! Read and react to the ball early; prepare your racket before the ball bounces on your side. Always beat the ball to its destination so that you are able to hit your shots in your comfort zone. Do not panick if you lag behind. Tennis matches can be won from 0/6, 0/5, love-40 down. “It ain’t over till it’s over (Connors)”. |
If your opponent has used a good combination to press your backhand and has covered your obvious passing shot, hit an underspin backhand short and low cross-court, forcing him to hit his volley from below the level of the net allowing you to pass him on the next ball. Use 1-2-3-combination to pass.
When you are at the net: Low and difficult balls – using your first deep volley as an approach down the line, move in. High and easy volleys – put them away cross-court or angle them away to the open court for winners. Your response must match the situation keeping in view the difficulty element!
Overhead Smashes: short lob, smash short (slam dunk style); deep lob, smash deep to your opponent’s backhand, or in the open court.
Insight about Approach Shots: Although the ideal approach shot is up the line, you can also go cross-court in certain situations:
· Makeability of the Shot: When because
of the difficulty element, down the line is impossible. In this
situation you hit the shot which you can make i.e. cross-court;
· When you have pulled your opponent really wide to his forehand,
you have created more distance for him to run from FH-wide position
to BH-wide position, allowing you the extra time to set up for the
ensuing volley;
· When your opponent is relatively slow in his footwork;
· When your opponent has a relatively weaker backhand (or
forehand).
· To create an illusion -- as a tactical ploy!
We would like to thank Mahboob for this article and as usual welcome any feedback. Please contact us at info@procomparetennis.net.
Kind regards
