Serena Williams

I got up at 3:30 am here in Charleston, SC to see THE match from down under.  My roommate was asleep, they wouldn’t let me access the TV in the bar – afraid I would drink them dry I guess.  Little did they know I don’t drink.  I went to the fitness center to watch the Ladies play on TV there – convenient, I also got to work out and watch at the same time.

The “Hour Glass of Momentum” continued its turbulent run again.  Serena came out strong, but Justine with her “new” game in her admitted second career was hitting away on everything.

Serena has such strength to muscle the shots, stay so low and handle a variety of shots from any opponent. Justine has such amazing timing and agility that she can almost match Serena’s power.  Serena starts off the match serving well and would eventually finish that way as well.

Justine, with her new approach to tennis is in the games but she chooses to no longer play defense and is developing the game she feels she needs to win the one she wants — Wimbledon.  Justine has 5 or more break chances in the first set on Serena’s serve. She moves inside the baseline and goes big on the 2nd serves and did not make most of them.

Serena wins the first set and looks like she will win the match in straight sets – but wait, momentum is about to switch again.  Justine runs off 15 straight points to win the second set.  She continues to go for winners on second shots after hitting up the middle on first balls to neutralize Serena’s angles.  She is laser sharp on her shots.

Bathroom break for Serena and out they go for the 1st 3 set final in a major in several years.  Serena comes out still a little flat and falls behind on her serve.  Justine is still going for the big returns and fails to break – mistake.  Serena holds but Justine will break the next game with glimpses of her second set tenacity.

Unfortunately, she gets a little tight and the toss gets too low and she is broken by Serena.  She will go on to be broken 2 more times as Serena takes momentum away from her and serves for the match with 2 aces and a final point that pulls Justine off the court and Serena hits into the open court to win her 5th major down under to tie with Margaret Court and bring her total Grand Slam titles to 12 and tie Billie Jean King in that category.

Serena plays 12 matches in the 2 week event and wins the singles and doubles titles.  Pretty amazing – not since John McEnroe have we seen a player be so strong in both events – or even play both events.

Justine — off for 20 months and in just her second tournament has reached the finals of the first two tournaments she plays — playing a new style of tennis.  She won the hearts of the fans and is more gracious and collected in her acceptance speech to the crowd than Serena.

What can we take away from this event?

1. The hour glass of momentum will always be there – it is just who can recognize it  & control it at the right time.  Be aware of it as you play your matches.
2. Your will to win is stronger than you game to win in most cases.  It is OK to want to win strongly!!
3. How many of us will work to improve our game (you are never too old to add to your game – at 62 I have continued to improve my game)?
4. How many of us will risk losing to make the changes permanent in our game – Justine?
5. Get in shape to play the game – you can win with fitness (see Al Juodikis for his fitness program for you).

Love to play and you will always be a winner – play only to win and you will only be a score keeper.

See Serena Williams narrate her win against Justine Henin.

It snowed here in Charleston this morning.  I am off to attend another session on Quick Start Tennis for kids and adults – more ideas for you when I return to SJSRC on Sunday.

Photo Credits: Bas Van Uyen

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5 things NOT to do when using a ball machine:

1. Do not place the ball machine only on the baseline in the center of the court
2. Do not have the ball machine oscillate only from deuce court to ad court
3. Do not use the ball machine to practice only your ground strokes
4. Do not stand still after each of your shots
5. Do not return random shots of the in-coming ball

5 things TO consider doing when using a ball machine:

1. Place the ball machine off center where the opponent might be when making a shot
2. Have the ball machine direct the shots where the opponent might hit based upon their position on the court or particular tendencies of a know opponent
3. If you wish to have the ball machine oscillate, have it direct he ball within the options available if it were playing from that position in a rally.
4. After each shot recover to a new position on the court based upon where you place your return of the ball then recover quickly based upon where the next ball is coming from the ball machine.
5. Direct each ball you receive back toward an intended target. Aim for a direction and depth using the appropriate spin as you send the ball back over the net.

There are many options to consider in planning your practice to improve the quality and effectiveness of you practice time with the ball machine.

5 things to consider when PLANNING your practice:

1. Getting advice from someone on how to adjust the ball machine and how to vary deliveries of the ball
2. The length of time you want to practice – half an hour or an hour based upon your goals, shots you wish to work on and conditioning level
3. Having a friend join in with you to practice volleys off your ground strokes, lobbing off your volleys when at the net or alternating hitting after a certain number of shots or pattern has been completed.
4. It also helps when it comes time to pick up the balls when the machine is empty so you can spend more time hitting.  That may include taking turns putting balls in the machine while either of you are hitting then rotating turns. Consider serving all the balls that did not make it over the net when you do have to pause to pick up the balls to work on your serve as part of your practice.
5. Write down drills you create or ask your tennis professional to suggest some drills that would be good for your singles game.

10 options to make your PRACTICE PRACTICAL:

1. Select real singles targets using the 4 squares on the opposite side of the net.  Square 1 is the deuce service court, square 2 is the space behind the deuce service court, square 3 is the space behind the ad service court and square 4 is the ad service court. This will help you with the direction and depth of your intended target and make your practice more practical.
2. Even though the ball machine is set to send the ball to you as a ground stroke, practice moving forward after your initial shot to play a half-volley and then moving in further to play a volley or two.
3. As you play shots moving in toward the net, select targets for direction and depth that you would actually use if your opponent were on the baseline where the ball machine is located and your were attempting to capture the net.
4. When you get to the net, recover back quickly and retreat back toward the baseline as though you were put on total defense by your opponent.  Pause to make a shot from your position and then retreat further back until you choose to advance forward again.
5. Vary the speed of your shots.  Use the 3 speeds mentioned in other articles: level 1 is slower and has lots of spin, level 2 is a rally speed and level 3 is as hard as you can hit – without missing.
6. Vary the spin of your shots.  Use varying degrees of topspin and underspin to improve your weapons in match play.
7. Vary the frequency of the shots delivered by the ball machine.  Allow little time between shots or too much time like an opponent who plays softly and slowly with their returns.
8. Vary the spin of the shots delivered by the ball machine to help you learn how to receive different shots that may be difficult for you in your matches.
9. Limit the number of shots you make without pausing.  Hitting 3oo balls in a row just because that is how many the ball machine holds is not effective not efficient practice.  After about 40 or 50 balls, use the remote and turn off the machine and reset some feature of the ball you are receiving – change the direction of the in-coming ball, speed, spin or depth of the ball.
10. Change your targets often.  Practice enough returns to specific targets until you feel comfortable with that target then move on to a new target that demonstrates your ability to control the direction, depth, spin and speed of your returning shot.

Ask your tennis professional to use a ball machine in your next lesson to see how it can be used effectively in your practice session.  Ball machines are great ways to permit repetition in receiving particular balls and learning a response to that ball.  Ball machines also assist in developing confidence in your strokes so you can use them in match play without having to think about “how” to hit.  This will allow you to focus more on the strategy of “where” to direct your shots and enjoy playing the game – TENNIS.

by Ken DeHart
USA High Performance Coach
PTR & USPTA Master Professional

Photo Credits: shortCHINESEguy

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Tennis Ball Machine

Ball machines are great for practicing your doubles shots – if positioned correctly.

5 things NOT to do when using a ball machine:

1. Do not place the ball machine on the baseline in the center of the court
2. Do not have the ball machine oscillate from deuce court to ad court
3. Do not use the ball machine to practice only your ground strokes
4. Do not stand still after each of your shots
5. Do not return random shots of the in-coming ball

5 things TO consider doing when using a ball machine:

1. Place the ball machine in the deuce court near the singles side line
2. Have the ball machine direct the shots to your deuce court alley
3. If you wish to have the ball machine oscillate, have it direct the ball to your deuce court alley and then toward the center service mark in the deuce court as though you were pulled wide to return a shot and the next ball was directed up the middle to your center of the court.
4. After each shot recover to a new position on the court to keep your feet in motion simulating real match play
5. Direct each ball you receive back toward an intended target. Aim for a direction and depth as you send the ball back over the net.

There are many options to consider in planning your practice to improve the quality and effectiveness of you practice time with the ball machine.

5 things to consider when PLANNING your practice:

1. Getting advice from someone on how to adjust the ball machine and how to vary deliveries of the ball
2. The length of time you want to practice – half an hour or an hour based upon your goals, shots you wish to work on and conditioning level
3. Having a friend join in with you to practice volleys off your ground strokes or lobbing off your volleys when at the net.  They can even practice poaching on every other shot that comes out of the ball machine and you can practice switching after the poach.
4. It also helps when it comes time to pick up the balls when the machine is empty so you can spend more time hitting.  That may include taking turns putting balls in the machine while either of you are hitting then rotating turns. Consider serving all the balls that did not make it over the net when you do have to pause to pick up the balls to work on your serve as part of your practice.
5. Write down drills you create or ask your tennis professional to suggest some drills that would be good for your doubles game.

10 options to make your PRACTICE PRACTICAL:

1. Select real doubles targets:  deep cross court to square #2, short underspin or heavy short angle shots to square #1, down the line toward the net players alley or lobbing high and deep to square #3 over the opposing net players head.
2. Even though the ball machine is set to send the ball to you as a ground stroke, practice moving forward after your initial shot to play a half-volley and then moving in further to play a volley or two.
3. As you play shots moving in toward the net, select targets for direction and depth that you would actually use if your opponent were on the baseline where the ball machine is located and your were attempting to capture the net.
4. When you get to the net, recover back quickly and retreat back toward the baseline as though you were put on total defense by your opponent.  Pause to make a shot from your position and then retreat further back until you choose to advance forward again.
5. Vary the speed of your shots.  Use the 3 speeds mentioned in other articles: level 1 is slower and has lots of spin, level 2 is a rally speed and level 3 is as hard as you can hit – without missing.
6. Vary the spin of your shots.  Use varying degrees of topspin and underspin to improve your weapons in match play.
7. Vary the frequency of the shots delivered by the ball machine.  Allow little time between shots or too much time like an opponent who plays softly and slowly with their returns.
8. Vary the spin of the shots delivered by the ball machine to help you learn how to receive different shots that may be difficult for you in your matches.
9. Limit the number of shots you make without pausing.  Hitting 3oo balls in a row just because that is how many the ball machine holds is not effective not efficient practice.  After about 40 or 50 balls, use the remote and turn off the machine and reset some feature of the ball you are receiving – change the direction of the in-coming ball, speed, spin or depth of the ball.
10. Change your targets often.  Practice enough returns to specific targets until you are confident with that target then move on to a new target that demonstrates your ability to control the direction, depth, spin and speed of your returning shot.

Ask your tennis professional to use a ball machine in your next lesson to see how it can be used effectively in your practice session.  Ball machines are great ways to allow you repetition in learning how to hit a shot.  They also assist in developing confidence in your strokes so you can play them in match play without having to think about “how” to hit.  This will allow you to focus more on the strategy of “where” to direct your shots and enjoy playing the game – TENNIS.

by Ken DeHart
USA High Performance Coach
PTR & USPTA Master Professional

Photo Credits: arsandy.wordpress.com

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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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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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5 Handy Tips

When you are involved in a match and need help deciding what to do, look to your hand for the answer.  Make a fist and then follow these simple directions:

P = In Play Stick up the thumb – the most important part of the hand which stands for “Get the ball in Play.

D = Direction With the thumb still up, extend the index finger and point which stands for “Direction” which has 3 options: down the line, cross court or down the center.

D = Depth With the Thumb and first finger still extended, the next and middle finger stands for “Depth” and there are 3 depths: near the baseline, near the service line and near the net. With depth you will add a special ingredient to help you – Height. Height stands for the clearance of  your shot above the net to assist the depth of your shot.

S = Spin The last two fingers are the controlling fingers.  The ring finger stands for “Spin” and spin helps to control the depth of the shot and there are 3 spins: topspin, underspin and sidespin.

S = Speed The last finger is really important.  The little finger has huge importance, it stands for “Speed” and there are 3 speeds: level 3 = as hard as you can hit – without missing, level 2 = a rally speed that enables you to keep a 10-20 ball rally going and level 1 = a loopy-spinny shot that everyone hates to play against.

While coaching may not be allowed on court, you can put the letters P, D, D, S & S on the tips of each of your 5 digits and in the palm of your hand write the word, “coach”.

The coach says, “If you need help, the answer will be in your hand.  There are 5 ways to control a match.  The first 3; in play, direction and depth are managed by the last 2; spin and speed.  Together that provide you with 13 options to solve the problem you are facing in the match.

Play = 1 option – over the net and in the court

Direction = 3 directions to aim the ball

Depth = 3 depths to play

Spin = 3 kinds of spins to impart to the ball

Speed = 3 kinds of speeds to use

You do not need to try all of these at one time. Individually or together they give you options and a focus point in defining a purpose or plan for the defeat of your opponent.

So the next time you are facing a challenging situation in a match, look to your hand for a “Handful of Answers.”

These 5 options make a great lesson plan if you are teaching others the strategy of the game or working on your own game.  If you or your students are unable to perform these 5 options, you now have a great “technical” lesson plan.  Teach and learn “how” to execute the strokes necessary to achieve the 5 strategies in the hand.

For other innovate approaches to playing and teaching “The Game”, go to www.kendeharttennis.com.

Send me questions about your game, training techniques or drills and I will give you weapons to develop a competitive game – regardless of your level.

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Reasons for the serving team to use this formation:

1. The serving team is both good volleyers.
2. The serving team has good overheads and likes to intimidate the other team.
3. The serving team likes pace or speed and wants the games to be fast with lots of quick action.
4. The serving team has poor ground strokes and does not want to get into long baseline exchanges.

Reasons for the receiving team to use this formation:

1. The receiving team has good chip returns and wants to get into the net before the other team.
2. The receiving team’s returns very strong and puts the serving team on defense – this neutralized the serving team’s advantage.
3. The receiving team does not have consistent ground strokes and has a low level of tolerance for long rallies.
4. The receiving team thinks that is how all good teams play.

How to play teams that play one up one back:

1. Get to your first serve in, it is more difficult to approach off of.
2. Direct your shots between them. Make them decide who will play the ball down the middle. Trying to hit angles is difficult because they close in and leave you little room to angle your shots.
3. If you get pinned back in a one up one back position – Lob the player closest to the net. If the lob is deep and bounces, come in and control the net against them.
4. Take the pace off your shots when they capture the net. Use softer shots with more spins so they cannot use your pace to kill your partner or hit aggressive shots between you.
5. Lob the serving team right away and force them to switch and run down the lob. You move in and now control the net.

What not to do:

1. Avoid getting sucked into their style of play if is not your style.
2. Take the pace off the ball to slow it down and give you more time to spin the next ball or lob them.
3. Never play one up one back formation against this team – they will pick off your partner in most cases.
4. Don’t try to hit hard passing shots, the balls will stay too high and give them speed to volley against.
5. Don’t miss first serves – you can’t get to the net on weak second serves and they love to attack weak 2nd serves.

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Reasons for the receiving team to stay back:

1. The serving team is too strong with the serve and it is difficult to return the ball past the server’s partner – fear factor.
2. The net player of the serving team is too aggressive and creates a “monster in your mind” about getting the ball in play or past the monster at the net.
3. The receiving player is afraid of getting their partner killed.
4. The serving team hits the ball too hard and plays too aggressive at the net so we will stay back and lob until they make a mistake.

Reasons for the serving team to both stay back:

1. The receiving team keeps hitting the server’s partner with the return of serve.
2. The serving team’s serves are too weak to put the receiving team on defense.
3. The receiving team chips and comes into the net and dominates play.
4. The serving team is not a traditional doubles team, does not volley well and is much more successful dinking and lobbing.

How to play teams that stay both back:

1. Hit short, dinky balls and drop shots that force them to come into the part of the court they hate – then lob them.
2. Hit short angled returns to pull them off the court and create open spaces to use your power to put the ball away.
3. Stay back and loop with them for a few shots then come into the net to volley the loopy returns out of the air – short angled shots.
4. Keep your feet moving, hitting more spin overheads, short angled volleys and play overheads as overheads and volleys as volleys so as not to over hit.

What not to do:

1. Avoid hitting hard deep overheads at the players on the baseline, they will use your power to lob the ball back as a lob.
2. Do not under estimate this team because of how they play. They are smart to play this way if you can out hit them. Give them their respect or you will choke. Keep your feet moving or you will get tight and make lots of errors in the net.
3. Avoid easy errors and simple mistakes. This team relies on free points – not great shots to win matches. Do not look up as you hit to see where they are – they are back.

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Doubles Situations

1. The receiving team must lob the return of serve and try to take the net at least twice in each game. This is especially effective when the serving team is serving into the sun.
2. The serving team must play out of the “I” formation or Australian formation.  Get use to using the formations so you will have confidence to use them in a match as well as experiencing how to return against the formations.
3. The receiving team starts with both players back. This takes the pressure off the receiver to make a great return to avoid getting their partner killed by the poaching player of fast charging net player
4. The serving team starts both players on the baseline. This formation helps when the receiver is killing the net player because they cannot volley or the serves are too weak.

Singles Situations

1. Players must serve, return and rally 6 balls cross court before the point can begin.  Serve to the deuce court and rally deuce court then serve to the ad court and rally ad court cross court.  Keep score like in a regular match.
2. Player serves and rally out the point.  If the ball lands inside the service line the striker loses the point.  You can also play that the short ball requires the receiver of the short ball to go to the net to play out the point.
3. “3 to win a major” – (with 3 players) one player will serve 3 points.  If the server or receiver wins all 3 points they win a “major point”.  If they win 2 of the 3 points they stay on the court and a third player comes on to replace the person who lost the 1 point and a new game is played. If they win 1 of the 3 they are the one replaced by the third player who will now play 3 points against the player who stayed on the court.  This stresses the difficulty in winning 3 points in a row.  (*when the score is 30-love there is an 80% chance the person with the lead will lose the next point and 65% chance they will lose the 4^th point as well).
4. “3 to win a major” – (with 2 players) one player serves and tries to win 3 points in a row to win a game.  If the receiver wins the point, they become the server and have 1 point while the former server loses all their points and starts at zero again.  Players keep games won and play out a set.

Situational scoring and match play can help to focus on specific skills necessary to improve ones tactical and mental approach to the game.  They also make great coaching opportunities. The shortened scoring and sets make great challenge match format that can be completed in a short period of time.

This form of altered play helps to make practice exciting and more challenging so players stay focused and do not experience “mindless” practice.  They get use to specific situations and proper responses to the score or situation so they play with a “been there before” confidence in actual match play.

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