MOST TENNIS PLAYERS spend hours working on their strokes, and that’s good. What isn’t so good is that in the process many developing players tend to overlook other crucial aspects of playing winning tennis. As we work on our own strokes, we often fail to analyze our opponent’s strokes. We also tend to not take full advantage of positional opportunities during points that would make our shots even more effective. Tennis players must be aware of not only their own strengths and weaknesses but their opponents as well.
Having great strokes is good, but having the whole package – mental, physical and tactical – on the tennis court is better. Here are four suggestions:
1. OBSERVE YOUR OPPONENT
Scouting your opponent is important when you’re playing a tournament, whether it’s a junior tournament or a club tournament or whatever. Ask yourself: How does your opponent react to the shots you hit? If you play a high, heavy ball to their backhand, do they back up on that shot? Do they like to take balls on the rise? Do they have the ability to hit a one-handed slice backhand? After you’ve made a shot, watch and see how your opponent reacts to the shot. Observe what type of shot they are looking to use off of your shot, and then position yourself mentally and physically in order to take advantage of those situations.
TIP: During the warm up, give your opponent as many different types of shots as possible, and notice how they handle them. Hit a slice, then hit a high ball and pay attention how they respond. Take note where they prefer to stand while serving. The list of what you can observe before competition is endless, and the information gives you a huge advantage before the first ball is put in play.
2. RECOVERY, ANTICIPATION AND FAKING
First and foremost, finish your shot before recovery. Many players that I watch are so concerned about getting back into position after they make contact that they start to move before they hit. This obviously affects the quality of shot you’re about to hit. When you’re moving well on the court, you should feel like you’re in a dance with the ball. Hit, sink
into your legs, push off and float back to the center, avoiding aggressive, hard moves. Imagine hitting like Federer, and remember what Muhammad Ali said: “Float like a butterfly, and sting like a bee.”
TIP: Attempt to fake your opponent. Instead of recovering all the way back to the centerline, stop a few feet before you get there. This can be an effective way to defend when your opponent tries to hit behind you. It’s also a good way to bait them into hitting a shot that you know is risky. In other words, if you cheat towards the backhand side during a backhand crosscourt rally, you can tempt a player into hit- ting down the line to your forehand. This is especially effective if you know your opponent’s down-the-line backhand is likely to create a short ball that you can attack aggressively with your forehand.
3. POSITION AGGRESSIVELY
I like to take the ball early, and I teach taking the ball early to everybody. Hitting from inside the baseline gives you greater angles to work with, and it also takes valuable time away from your opponent. I encourage my students and the pros to take as many balls as possible inside the baseline. Watch Djokovic and Nadal play, and notice that one reason Nadal has so much trouble with Djokovic is because Djokovic steps into the court, takes the ball early and on the rise and is constantly putting Nadal under pressure.
4. TINY STEPS MAKE THE DIFFERENCE
Most aspiring players have trouble with moving their feet correctly on the court. One element they have trouble with is taking enough little adjustment steps around ball. I want to hear the squeak- ing of the shoes on the court: lots of little steps to get into position. We do drills for that. We stand in the same side of the court that the hitting player is on and feed easy balls where they have to take tons of little steps, and we’ll do it to the point where it becomes a habit. The balls that are the easier balls are the balls that require more little steps because the wind affects it more, and the bounces can be more unpredictable.
