As you warm up for the match, notice if you are able to see the spin on the ball before you meet the ball or if you can see a “yellow streak” into and out of your racquet.  If you can see either of these consistently in the warm up – you are probably focused enough to start the match with good results.

2.) Move like the pros… 

The pros average 10-12 steps between each ball they contact.  How about you? Want to be a better player?  Add 2 more steps to your footwork between each ball you hit.  Strokes will improve, speed to the ball will be faster and your intensity will stay high.

3.) Get a grip on your game. 

Practice your ground strokes or volleys with the tightest grip you have (call it level 5) now go to level 4, then 3 then 2 then just barely holding the racquet in your hand level 1.  The pros use mostly level 2 and 3 on their grip tension.  You will not be able to follow through with a grip tension of 5 or 4 on your ground strokes and your volleys with vary between going long and dying on the strings with a 5 or 4 grip tension.  The next time your player misses a shot or has an unusual finish to their shot, ask them to identify their grip tension.  Keep it light for success.

4.) Breathe for success… 

Most errors come from not breathing as you contact the ball which can cause a whole host of errors from no finish to a stroke to feeling fatigue even when you are in good condition.  Do it like you would if you were lifting weights, breathe as you exert your effort – blow the ball off your racquet.  It helps to breathe as your opponent contacts the ball as well so you breathe twice during a point.  You will feel relaxed, have a sense of timing and seldom tire in a match.

5.) Out of sync? 

Try counting as you meet the ball and when your opponent contacts their shot.  Counting at the exact moment of contact with improve your focus, sense of timing, breathing and keep your mind focused in the moment.  Hear the rhythm, as you count you begin to recognize the rhythm of a rally, relax at contact and stay focused on the task at hand.

Photo Credits: heraldpost

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What is a drop shot?

• The drop shot is a ball struck with underspin and a soft touch that takes all the speed off an incoming shot and delivers is over the net so short that the opponent has difficulty sprinting from the baseline to retrieve it.
• It is designed to make the ball land short in the deuce or ad court of an opponent so it will bounce 2 to 3 times inside the service court.
• This shot forces the opponent to sprint forward to the net in an attempt to retrieve this no-pace ball – on the dead run.
• The sender of the shot moves forward into the court as well to cut off any attempted drop shot back while reducing the angles available by the person running the shot down.

What is the best surface to use a drop shot on?

Clay courts and grass courts are the best surface to use a drop shot on but it is being used more on the hard court as well by all level players.

4 Times to use the drop shot:

1. Against opponents that stand deep behind the baseline.
2. If the opponent is pulled wide off the court and out of balance.
3. To change the rhythm in a point.
4. Great shot to use to fatigue and opponent by bringing them to the net then lobbing over their head, forcing a lot of vertical court coverage.

It is not a good idea to drop shot when:

• The ball is deep in your court.
• The ball is struck particularly hard at you.
• The opponent is near of inside their baseline and in a balanced position.

Who on the pro tour best utilizes the drop shot?

• Fabrice Santoro
• Andy Murray
• Roger Federer

How to best defend against the drop shot?

1. Keep your opponent deep in their backcourt.
2. Keep the ball high as well as deep.
3. Play closer to the baseline to reduce the space you have to protect against the drop shot.

Best Drills to work on the drop shot?

1. Stand near the service line  and have someone feed you a soft short ball and you try to drop it over the net with enough underspin to make it bounce 2-3 times inside the feeders service court.
2. Put a basket or target half way between the service line and net.  When you partner feeds you the ball you try to drop in into the basket with backspin of either your forehand or backhand side.
3. When warming up with short court tennis, use the drop shot to keep the ball in play and slow down the rally so you can “feel” the ball and get a lot of shots in play so you can warm up.
4. The drop shot also will help you develop a chip shot, slice shot, spin volley, return of serve and a defensive shot to keep you in points when out of position.

Conclusion:

The drop shot is a “must have” shot for beginner and intermediate level players who wish to defeat players with “pretty” strokes and more experience.

It is the perfect shot for high school players who are playing on a team for the first time and do not have consistent deep strokes.

It is also a keeper for club players who want to keep their opponents off balance.  It is an important shot to grow your tennis game and add new “weapons of mass confusion” for your opponent.

It is used more and more by the professionals and advanced players as an option to just keeping the ball deep and allowing the opponent to run side to side for shots.

It is considered one of the “ugly” shots in tennis – mostly by the opponent who has to try and continually run it down in their matches.  Add the drop shot to your game to become a winner at your level of play.

Personal Note:

As an all-court player, I use the drop shot to keep my opponent off guard and destroy any rhythm they might be trying to establish.  I use it often as an approach shot against strong baseliners.  It works great against players who are slow afoot or ones I am trying to fatigue. I also use it to bring baseliners to the net where they feel uncomfortable and then lob over the head.

Like most shots it will take practice and time – but it can become one of your weapons of choice in situations.

Ken DeHart
PTR & USPTA Master Professional
USA High Performance Coach
Wilson Premier Advisory Staff

Photo Credits: JCtennis.com

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I have a question regarding how to counter the inside out forehand. I’m a 4.5-5.0 player with an all court game, with a two handed backhand. Lately, I have been having trouble with one high level opponent who grew up on clay courts. Typically, we rally a few strokes and then my opponent starts hitting inside out shots to my backhand from his backhand corner. I typically return the balls cross court trying hit shots to his backhand, but given his position and the fact that I’m hitting while on the move this becomes increasingly difficult and I find myself moving further and further out to my backhand side as he cranks heavier and ever more angled shots. The point usually ends by my hitting a short ball and my opponent hits a winner to the (now) open court.

I have 2 specific questions:

1) If I want to control of the point by hitting a backhand down the line, what key reference points do you suggest for hitting a ball with heavy topspin on the rise with a two-hander?

2) I can change the rhythm of the point and get some more time by hitting a slice. What’s the best way to hit a slice on a ball with heavy topspin?

If you’ve got any other expert tips I’m all ears!

Handing the Inside-Outer

Options:

1. When you get into a situation where your opponent starts going to your backhand and you are still running around to hit your inside out backhand, play the ball “inside in” or down the line to force him to move back to the deuce court so you can get your next shot back into his backhand.

When we work with players and tell them to play an opponent’s backhand, it only means for a few shots.  If they start running around their backhand too far, go to their forehand to open up the backhand again.  They now have to hit their backhand on the run which often produces a weak return that lets you begin to control the point.

When your opponent starts to pull you outside your comfort zone on the backhand side, add height and spin to your recovery shot to buy time and re-establish your position – renegotiate, as he is dictating the deal.

2. If you choose to play a backhand down the line, remember you are changing the direction of the shot (COD – change of direction) and that is best done on a shorter ball not a deeper ball. You need to plan on contacting the back of the ball with lots of upper motion and racquet acceleration to avoid the ball reflecting out into the alley.  A slow or tentative swing will cause the ball to reflect wider off your strings.

It is best to be moving forward into the shot as your hit it on the rise.

3. Slice is king to neutralize the ball and buy time. Just got back from the US Open and watched how often the pros slice on heavy deep balls (Nadal, Federer and Roddick etc).  They force the opponent to wait on the ball to arrive and the underspin makes them really have to pay attention to be able to execute another aggressive topspin (most end up hitting it in the net).

You will make a few errors as you add new shots to your game but remember the idea is to have “Weapons of Mass Confusion” for your opponent.

Ken DeHart
SJSRC Director of Tennis
PTR & USPTA Master Professional

Photo Credits: CORE-Materials

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• Footwork & positioning of the feet and the body for the stroke
• Grip tension
• Tracking of the ball
• Intended target and direction of the ball
• Desired spin and arc of the ball

However for the stoke itself, here are 3 key components:

1. The Preparation or Turn – getting the racquet in a position to prepare for the second step
2. The Contact or Touch – the impact moment where the racquet and the ball make the connection.  The preparation of the racquet to approach the ball from above or below will help determine if the ball is to be contacted with underspin or topspin.  The racquet angle and direction of the  racquet face at the moment of contact with decide the direction, arc and spin of the ball as it leaves the racquet
3. The Finish – the continuation of the racquet motion following contact until the racquet has sufficiently de-accelerated

A simple way to remember is to have “TTF” forehand or backhand (Turn, Touch and Finish).

Photo Credits: marragem

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In today’s game “topspin” gets all the press.  Everyone focuses how big the shots are, how much the pros use it and so most all the juniors and club players want to be like the pros.

When you listen to the talk about the really great ones who play the game you will also hear about how well they play defense to stay in the point and force the opponent to play uncomfortable shots.

Federer’s “chip” backhand return that lands about the backhand service line of the opponent is deadly.  The opponent must move up into the court to retrieve it from below net level and decide if they will attempt to come to the net behind their shot or retreat to the baseline after their shot.  When pulled really wide on the forehand, you will see the players use “underspin” to neutralize the opponent until they can recover position on their side of the court.

So what is the “otherspin” and how do you use in practice and match play?

There are 3 basic types of “Underspin Shots”.  The name of the underspin can easily refer to the depth of the shot.  Some shots will entail using more underspin than others and the amount of underspin you use can cause different problems for your opponent.

A low bouncing underspin can make it difficult to lift the ball deep into your court.  The 3 types of underspin are hit from the same basic racquet position and therefore provide a great element of disguise.  The 3 types of underspin are:

1. “Drop Shot” refers to an underspin ball that bounces close to the net and does not bounce forward very far.
2. “Chip Shot” refers to an underspin ball that bounces around the service line.
3. “Slice Shot” refers to an underspin ball that bounces near the baseline.

There are 7 basic reasons to use underspin:

1. Disguise - Out of the same motion you can hit any of the 3 type of underspin.  The “up” position in the racquet preparation position allows you to hit topspin by allowing the racquet to “loop” down under the ball and hit topspin drives, loops and lobs as well as from the same position create drop shot, chips and slices.
2. Defense - Buy time as the underspin can slow down the speed of an incoming ball or slow down the speed of the ball you send back to your opponent.  The underspin ball, because of the lower angle of entry over the net than the topspin will cause timing problem for the opponent as well.
3. Change the rhythm - By using the dropshot you can force an opponent to have to rush to the net to get the shorter ball and leave the security of their baseline.  This opens up an easy lob return over their head on the next shot.  The chip shot will have a second bounce low and near the baseline and often forces the opponent to bend low to pick up the ball and hit it up and short to you.  The deeper slice can make the ball bounce lower and faster as it leaves the court and change the opponents timing as they have to adjust their shot from the normal ball they hit against.
4. Approach shot - a lower and shorter underspin ball can make it difficult to pass you when you come to the net because of the unusual spin and low bounce of the approaching shot.
5. Return serve off a very slow, spinny or fast serve - the underspin will help you to avoid over-hitting the slow ball yet add a spin that can make it difficult for your opponent.  Spinning a spin ball is a great way to neutralize an opponents shot and the shorter underspin motion can make it easier to return a fast in-coming serve.
6. Defense off a high bouncing ball - it is difficult to do much with a high bouncing ball that is rising as it crosses your baseline because of height or spin, especially if you try to hit a topspin ball back.  Slicing off the high ball requires little effort and little racquet work to return the ball deep and soft to your opponent or to chip it short and slightly angled so they cannot hit a high deep ball on the next shot.
7. Offense – take time away by hitting a faster under spin ball that has a lower and skipping approach to your opponent making it difficult to get under the ball to return it to you.  The ball will seem to accelerate as it comes off the court and rush your opponent.

Solving Problems/Selling Solutions:

1. Some players say they do not want to hit underspin because they can’t do it.
   1. This is not to replace the shot you have but to add a new shot to your game so you will have more weapons to defeat your opponent.
   2. All new skills are challenging but an understanding or how to hit  the underspin, who to use it against, what it does to your opponent, where to hit it when to use it, when to use it and why it is important to use will give them confidence to practice it and slowly add it to their game.
   3. Use underspin as a mid-court short court warm up shot instead of topspin or flat shots to be able to keep the ball in play more effectively against players who hit too hard in the warm up.
   4. This shot is the same motion as your underspin volley and dropshot which you would use when close to the net anyhow.
2. The pros don’t use it:
   1. The pros do use it for the same reasons we want you to use it: disguise, buy time, change the rhythm, defense, approach shot, drop shot and offensive approach when the opponent is already in position.
   2. Notice that more of the pros not only use it on their backhand but several are using it on the wide and low forehands as well to get the ball back into play so they can look for another chance to go on offense later in the point.
   3. Because a lot of the juniors do not use it they hate to hit against it.  This is evidenced when adults who do use underspin play topspin juniors and they hate it when the “older” players hit drop shots, chip shots and slice against them – it messes up their timing.
3. I can’t hit underspin because I use a topspin grip:
   1. Don’t give up your topspin grip, add a new grip to your game so you have more options.  When you see a replay of a drop shot by the pros, the announcer will say, “see how he changed his grip at the last minute to hit the drop shot?”
   2. All the pros use a variety of grips for different kinds of bouncing balls, different heights of in-coming balls and different kinds of spins they want to hit. This is true on ground strokes and volleys – just ask McEnroe or Roy Emerson what grip they use on volley and they will ask you, “what height is the incoming ball?”
4. I like to play an attacking type of game:
   1. By using some underspin in certain situations, you can force weak returns that will allow you to move forward and play a more aggressive and attacking game.
   2. Sometimes your opponent is as strong or stronger with the attacking game than you. You will need to keep them off balance to prevent them from continually attacking you.  Play some shots that force them to defend or else create weaker returns by underspinning low and short or deep and slow so you can go on the offense occasionally.
5. I can’t play against soft hitters:
   1. Soft balls have a downward trajectory off your racquet and using underspin helps to pick the ball back up over the net.  Underspin can also help avoid over-hitting on slow balls while allowing you to place the ball back to your opponent to stay in the point or gain an advantage through an unusual spin or placement.
   2. Resist the urge to “kill” the short and softer ball.  You will usually try to swing harder than normal to put the ball away.  If you must try to put the ball away, walk through the ball as you contact it so the power will come from the legs and not the arms.
6. I don’t like to practice and using new shots mess up my game:
   1. Practice during the warm up by using underspin to warm up from the service line. This is the area you would normally use it in a match anyhow.  The shorter motion allows you to keep your hands in front of you, see the ball and the racquet at the same time and even slow down balls that are too hard by your opponent in the warm up.
   2. When you return a ball to your opponent during the match so they can serve, use underspin to give the ball back to them so they can serve.  This allows you to practice while the match is in play and develop confidence in a new shot at the same time.  If you just made an error, returning a ball to your opponent in a positive way helps to “erase” the error and replace it with the feel of making the shot.

A truly great player will develop as many weapons as possible for different kinds of opponents and situations.  Don’t limit the growth of your game by forgetting the “otherspin-underspin”

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5. 7 Tips to practicing the lob

1. Practice tossing the ball up, letting it bounce then directing the lob to a 9 foot by 9 foot area in the corner of the court near the baseline and sideline.

2. Practice tossing the ball up and away from you so you have to run wide or back up to lob to a 9’x9’ target near either alley and the baseline.

3. Have a friend feed you a deep slow high ball and you attempt to lob to your deep targets.

4. Have a friend feed you a wide or deep challenging ball that you must run down and place into your deep targets.

5. Have a friend serve to you from both the deuce court and ad court while you practice lobbing the return into the deep targets near the baseline

6. Have two friends play against you. One serves form the deuce court baseline while the other one is at the net. You practice returning serves deep over the net players head to the targets. This forces the server to retreat to track the lob down and play the ball to your half of the doubles court. Repeat form the ad court as well.

7. Remember – when you can’t see the sun – they can – lob into the sun! You will see the difference – they will see the sun.

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3. 5 Tips on where to Lob

1. Always aim lobs  over the opponents backhand side (notice if they are left handed)

2. Few players have the strength or timing to power a backhand overhead – even on a short lob

3. This tactic forces them to decide if they want to go for a dangerous angle or defensively put it back into the court – which keeps you in the point

4. If they choose to let the ball bounce to hit it, they are now forced deeper into their court and must play a backhand ground stroke. As a high ball bounces, there is a blind spot as the ball passes in front of your eyes from out of the air to on the ground. The high backhand requires and earlier point of contact than the forehand so they must retreat even further behind the ball to have a powerful point of contact.

5. If the lob is played to the forehand overhead is almost always struck more powerfully. From this side, the arm can reach further back than on the backhand side. Players may even reach back and does a “sky hook” like a hook shot in basketball.

4. 11 Tips on when to Lob

1. To start the match – In doubles, on the first two points of the match – lob the return when the serving team is looking into the sun. This allows you to get the return of serve into play using the largest space you can find against their best serve.

2. To confuse – A well placed lob makes the receiving team have to switch positions and often retreat to the service line which give you time to organize to attack

3. To take away a powerful ground stroke – The lob makes the server not able to use their forehand in the deuce court off your return. Instead, they have to chase the ball down and hit a high bouncing backhand in the ad court while their partner is forced to switch from the ad court over to the deuce court.

4. If the lob is deep, it allows you to move forward so your team has now captured the net and gone from defense to offense with one simple shot.

5. To buy time – the lob allows you to get the ball up so you have time to recover into a better position to play the next ball with a shot you may prefer.

6. It gives you a bigger and safer target to aim for – the sky

7. It makes your opponent anxious to attempt to put the “easy” ball away before you can assume an offensive position in the court

8. To take over the net position – a deep lob that bounces and forces your opponents back near the baseline. This will allow you and your partner time to come up to the service line. From this position you will be able to determine if they are going to try to lob. You will now be able to play an overhead or close in if they try to drive the ball from deep in their court.

9. To defend against an Australian formation or “Modified I” formation – if the net player in the Australian position plays too close to the net, it becomes easy to lob diagonally crosscourt to the deep corner to defeat this alignment.

10. To defend against an aggressive poaching team – it is difficult to poach or have an all-out attack on the net if the receiving team keeps lobbing down the line or looping crosscourt when are in a total offensive scheme.

11. To defend against a fast closing serve and volley player – if the server closes too fast it becomes easy to lob over their head as they have to stop and back up to play the deep lob return. It is difficult to close quickly when the server has to retreat and change directions to cover a deep lob over their partners head. The server is now forced to play a high backhand in the ad court instead of a low forehand volley or ground stroke in the deuce court.

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1.  Lob with a Purpose – there are two main reasons to lob:

1. To win the point

2. To get out of trouble

The Offensive Lob

Offensive Lob is designed to win the point.

1. Aim point – about 10 feet over the opponents head – hit quickly so they have little chance to run it down or react to the sudden elevation of the shot.

2. Location – best placed over their backhand side of your opponent – be aware of lefties when you plan your lob.

3. Disguise – prepare for the lob as though you are going to hit a drive then at the last moment lift the shot into a lob.

The Defensive Lob

The Defensive Lob is designed to get you out of trouble buy time and keep you in the point.

Height is the key factor in this shot – high to buy extra time to recover. It also forces the opponent to decide to play a difficult shot out of the air or let it bounce.

2. 5 Tips on how to Set up the Lob –

1. Offensive - Get your opponents looking for the passing shot by hitting crosscourt and down the line with shots aimed about waist to chest high above the net with lots of topspin.
2. This strategy should draw your opponents closer to the net so as to be able to cut off the angles you have been using to pass them.
3. Use your first offensive lob on a shot when they least expect it a little later in the game, set or critical situation.
4. This “surprise” will make them a little hesitant to close in so tight and open up your passing shots once again.
5. Defensive – anytime you are in an awkward position, forced wider than the alley, force to retreat well behind the baseline or facing players that charges quickly to the net – Lob high and deep. This height and depth will give you recovery time while forcing your opponents back deeper into their court. This deeper court position will make it less likely they can put the ball away quickly – buying you time to get into a sound defensive position.

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I am finding that my swing and my backhand grip are much better than my forehand. When I go for a forehand shot, it usually ends up with a tremendous amount of topspin making it difficult to hit. Still, my opponent on the other side of the net seems to see it coming every single time. What am I doing wrong? On the other hand, when I hit with a backhand swing, I feel way more comfortable. I keep my eye on the ball, I swing low, and I have excellent follow through, control and power. How can I create a forehand that is as effective as my backhand and swing?

Answer:

It may be the case that as a tennis player will develop one hand more than the other. In many cases, a player’s backhand grip will far exceed his or her forehand, creating a miss-balance in their play. Common problems include a large top spin or bottom spin, which may make the ball seemingly hard to strike but is actually very easy for the opponent to return. This is in contrast to a comfortable, easy feel to the backhand, and because of such, play with that grip will have much more power behind the ball, more control, eyes are kept on the ball and there is real follow through. A key to good tennis play is to balance the fore and backhand grips.

The best way to begin to improve is to remain calm during the forehand shot. A lot of times what happens is there is a slight imbalance, which causes stress and anxiety and leads to more and more of a difference. Taking ones time throughout the stroke and making sure that technique is followed instead of speed will provide a foundation upon which the player can then work on developing speed. That way, when the player gets up to speed, the technique is sound, it is just a matter of calibrating hand eye thought coordination. This will lead to less stress and more successful swings.

Loosening the grip is also a good way to remain calmer and less tense throughout the stroke. One can develop a scale of grip by hitting a racket that is held tightly and while held just tight enough not to fall out of the hand. Assigning a one to ten scale, many players whom are professionals will use a tension of 40 ~ 60, or half way. Make sure to hold the racket just off perpendicular from the ground. This will better guarantee less of a spin and more power being placed in the delivery of the ball, making much harder for you to strike. This will give the strike much more versatility than simply by relying on spins alone for the technique.

Once the grip issue is addressed, then there are addition areas to tweak, including direction of strike and depth of shot, both of which enable an easy means to target exactly where the ball will land. This will make the forehand much more powerful.

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Trusting your strokes is a skill that is obviously quite mental in nature. In my program, called Defeating the Monsters in your Mind, we take a unique look at approaching the trust factor, like so:

First we need to have a definition of what mental toughness is. Mental toughness is the ability for you to perform a skill, based on what you know at the time, performing the skill accordingly without fear of failure or success.

The lack of trust begins when you do not have a clear cut picture for success. Your mind is not focusing on the shot, but is already worrying about the future and concerning itself with the consequences before they even have a chance to happen.

Before you are a competent rally person, you need to focus on the task at hand like so:

1 – Read the incoming ball,
2 – Make a decision regarding both speed and location,
3 – Move into a position allowing you to execute your shot, performing the skill,
4 – Allow your eyes to stay within the contact zone long after the ball has left,
5 – Allow your movements to continue after the shot, recovering and then preparing you for the next shot.

In the practice phase for your game, your focus should be on the execution of your shot. In the match, the focus will then switch to the result of the shot before it is made.

There are a number of drills available that will enhance your ability to perform in match play the same way that you would perform in practice, including:

1 – Looking for the spin of the ball as it comes toward you,

2 – Preparing for the shot as soon as you can see the spin. The sooner the spin is perceived, the more time you will have for preparation. This level of focus, which falls at 8 or 9 on a scale to 10, will allow you to better evaluate what your focus level is, which will help you determine what your practice level is.

3 – Count as you make contact with the ball, as well as when your opponent makes contact with the ball, allowing you to focus on it.

4 – Counting will also allow you to breathe. You can cause a lot of stress in a rally if you are not breathing. It is common for “choking” to occur where you freak out and go for a winner because you are not breathing.

5 – Make tennis an experience that is moving, by counting the number of steps after each contact, and before the next contact. Most professionals average at around 10 to 12 steps, though average players take 4 to 6 and beginners only average 2 to 4 steps.

The reason for dropped steps usually relates to:

- Not knowing you needed to take a specific number of steps,

- Beginning to worry about the shot’s future allows your feet to move less and legs to become tighter.

These are some of the most typical ways to conquer the monsters in your mind. If you have any thoughts relating to the fear of failure or success will impact your ability to play the game. The only way to control the future is by taking the right steps now. See the ball spin, count, and move, in order to stay in the present.

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