Infinite Ideas (Firm) - Instant tennis 2: winning the mental game

Instant tennis

Winning the mental game

Infinite Ideas

Attacking weak second serves

For a lot of players the easiest shot theyll face is the weak second serve. A lot of new or inexperienced players will do anything to avoid the ignominy of double faulting so theyll concentrate on getting the ball into court at virtually any cost. Attack these shots. Hit them deep and hard, to a tight angle or go for a delicate sliced drop shot. Reply to your opponents temerity with aggression. Youll win the points more often than not but just as importantly it will force your opponent to take more chances with her second serve. The result? She will put herself under so much pressure shell probably serve up a lot of double faults and youll win a lot more points.

Always be a swinger

Its often tempting to try to gently poke the ball back over the net. This happens when youre brain is worried about your ability to control the shot for fear of going long or wide, so you hold back on your natural full swing. Dont. A full swing doesnt have to be fast swing. You can use a long, slow and controlled swing if you need to. Its much better than trying to poke or prod the ball over the net.

Service high, next shot deep

Heres a tactic you can try that many pros use. Now, obviously they do it with rather more precision and power than youll probably manage but the principle is the same. Aim your second serve high (a couple of feet at least) over the net to get the ball deep into the service box and safely over the net. Try to use top spin to add some pace. Serve short enough to force your opponent to have to come forward off the baseline. Shell find herself stranded mid court for your second shot which should be played away from her and deep. Try it; if your opponent is a genius at playing short balls then drop it fairly quickly, but assuming shes not you can then be bolder with your first power serve, relying on the shorter second service if needed to drag her out of position.

Drop it short, lob it high

The killer drop shot that sucks your opponent forward, followed by the winning lob is a great combination to master. It exercises perfect control over your opponent, wins the point if properly done and helps tire her out. If your drop shot is too deep and your lob too long you could be in trouble but an average player has trouble playing short balls or overheads. So if you can play both consistently then youll start to win a lot of points. Practice placing drop shots to bounce at least three times inside the service line of your opponents court. An effective lob should land about four feet from your opponents baseline. So practise this fun and effective shot combo.

Head in a spin

If youre on the defensive its unlikely that youll be able to thump the ball with any degree of accuracy. Chances are youll go long or hit the net. If youre stretching to play the shot and are under pressure going for the lines isnt recommended as youll probably miss. If your opponent has constantly got you on the back foot youll never break away from pure defence. But if you use a variety of spins the chances are youll disturb her rhythm and flow and by doing so disrupt her timing enough to draw errors. Once your opponent gets unsettled mistakes will start to happen. So experiment with slices and top spin; mix it up as much as you can.

Getting the balance right

Any successful groundstroke is usually the result of a player maintaining good balance. Try to keep the upper body straight, the head still; think of this as the axis around which you then move your limbs. Too often with a groundstroke the player moves all over the place. One common mistake is to be tempted to move back to the middle of the court before the shots been played. Practice hitting you shot, then finish on balance. So, once youve hit your backhand or forehand stand still and balanced afterwards for about one second. This should mean your ground strokes become much more consistent.

Return to sender

An obvious point but if you dont get the opponents serve back youre going to lose the point. So its a good plan to concentrate on keeping the return of serve in play. Its a tough shot to play unless youre playing a very weak server. Anyone with any basic skills will mix her serves up so you can never get into any sort of rhythm. Its tempting to constantly take a big swing and try to blast the ball back but invariably when you do that youll miss more than you make. That way youll never break serve. So make it your goal to get the ball back at any cost. Using a full swing try a variety of approaches from a gentle sliced return, that will take a lot of the speed off the ball, to a controlled forehand drive. Do whatever youre comfortable with depending on how your opponent serves, but just make it a priority to get the darn thing back!

Your place in court

Its a big space, the tennis court, and its difficult to cover all of it especially if your opponent is whacking serves hard and accurately. Positioning yourself properly to take the serve is critical. You can do this by trying to read the body language of your opponent to anticipate which side the ball will come to you on. Learn from how he throws the ball differently when he serves to your backhand than when he goes for your forehand. Watch what he does with his racquet. Hell probably hold it differently depending on whether hes going to play a slice serve or power it down the middle. Practice your returns by getting someone to serve at you from inside the baseline. Have him tell you where he is serving to first so you can get into the right rhythm. Then have him serve it to a variety of places. That way youll practice your anticipation skills. Remember, taking the ball early is easier if you have a short backswing because you can get to the bounce more quickly.

Master of disguise

If youre learning to read a players serving intentions during a match then the chances are hell do the same to you when its your turn to serve. So learning not to signal your intentions is a good idea to help you win your service games. Practice with the toss of the ball. Normally a player who throws the ball to the right will be trying a slice serve. You cant send a power serve from that position easily. But you can go down the middle, slice it or play it powerfully into your opponents body all from that throw. So practice different strokes with different tosses. Aim at the centre of the box to hit shots straight at the body of your opponent, but aim deep. Then practise playing it left and right of the line, and practise mixing these shots up with the toss.