How are they on short balls?

1. What type of grips do they use?
2. What type of shots do they prefer?
3. Is their forehand or backhand stronger?
4. What types of spin did they use?
5. How effective is their footwork?
6. What height do they prefer on the forehand & backhand?
7. How well do they volley and recover?
8. Do they look comfortable on short balls?
9. Are they comfortable with their overheads?
10. How did they serve? How much spin or speed?

While knowing your own game is important when you enter a match, learning all you can about your opponent can give you confidence and help you know how to use your game to defeat them.

Ken DeHart

www.kendeharttennis.com
kendehart@aol.com

Photo Credits: nsaplayer

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Are you adjusting your strategy?

1. What patterns do they use with their ground strokes to set up points?
2. How do they handle pace and off-pace balls?
3. Are they predictable with where they hit under pressure?
4. Based on their grips, where are their power zones?
5. How many balls are they willing to hit before going for a winner?
6. To which side – forehand or backhand, do they move weakest?
7. Are they winning because they are better than you or are you giving away points too early in the point with unforced errors?
8. Are you using the 5 tactical priorities of match play: in play, direction, depth, spin and speed to effectively play your points or are you just hitting balls?
9. Is your opponent beginning to tire, are they injured or are they rushing to play the points?
10. Are you sticking to your game plan or have you adjusted to the flow of the match?

A good game plan will often have to be adjusted as the match is in progress.  The opponent may well change their tactics and force you to adjust yours as well. Pay attention and know why you are winning and why you are losing during the match to choose the correct strategy and tactics.

Ken DeHart

www.kendeharttennis.com
kendehart@aol.com

Photo Credits: nsaplayer

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Tennis Ball and Grape Balloons.

Playing in Serbia on the red clay, Americans John Isner and Sam Querry showed heart and where American tennis still has a great crop of young players coming along.

In their first ever Davis Cup appearance, John and Sam lost their first matches as USA players.  That had to be nervous time – can you imagine playing for your country in front of thousands of cheering fans applauding every error you make and every shot the opponent makes?

Day 2 is the Bryan Brothers vs Serbia – oops, only Bob Brian (Mike had gotten food poisoning) and John Isner playing the top doubles player in the world for Serbia, Zimonjic and singles specialist Tipsarevic.  The Americans manage to pull out an incredible win.  At set point in the tie breaker, Isner is passed on set point at the net – Zimonjic had raised his hand and called Bob Brian’s serve “out.”  The umpire declared a let for distraction and the Americans somehow manage to win that point and the tie breaker and the match later on.

Day 3 Isner and #2 in the world, Djokovic – in Serbia, thousands of exuberant fans and on red clay.  John plays well in the first set but gets broken late in the first set to go down 0-1. 2nd set, John comes back to win, 3rd set, Djokovic wins and in a tie breaker, John wins the 4th set.  Djokovic is penalize a point in the tie breaker for hitting a ball into the stands.  This is his second violation and John gets a free point to go up 3-1 in the breaker.  John holds serve after a tight tie breaker to force a 5th set.

5th set Isner – now in his 10th hour of Davis Cup competition in the last 3 days and all in matches that count is broken early in the set.  The crowd goes wild.  John stays competitive throughout the set and goes on to SAVE 5 MATCH POINTS, before netting a forehand from the ad court on return of serve.

Awesome play from John Isner who played 4 years at Georgia, won the NCAA Singles Championships before going out out on the tour.  Way to go John…  He had lost to Sam Querry last week in Memphis in the finals and then teamed with Sam to win the doubles – he and Sam are a double threat in singles and doubles.

John showed so much composure and guts in this match against the crowd and the #2 ranked and 3rd best clay court player in the world behind Federer and Nadal.  John and Sam love to play tennis and will be a part of Davis Cup for many years to come as well as the ATP Tour.  This should be a super summer for both of these tall (6 ft 9″ and 6 ft 6″) American players.

We may have lost this week but we certainly have seen we have a couple of winners in John Isner, Sam Querry – not to mention the best doubles team in the world – the 30 yr old Bryan Brothers who will soon become the team with all the worlds doubles records by the time they think of retiring.

Thanks Americans, we are proud of you,
Ken DeHart

Photo Credits: Camino Z

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Tennis Doubles

Great teams like the Bryan brothers talk between points, keep each other pumped up and focused on what they are planning to do to play the next point. They also have to know what their job description is as a teammate to help their partner play effectively.

Do you know your job description?

Here are 7 simple descriptions for each of the 4 positions on the court in a match:

Server:

1. Talk to your partner and tell them where you intend to serve – to the opponent’s forehand, backhand or body.
2. Decide where you will stand to serve to create an advantage for your team – near the center service line, near the alley or neutral between the two.
3. Decide if you plan to – serve and stay back, serve and volley or serve and attack the first short ball.
4. Know what your partner at the net intends to do – stay, fake or poach.
5. Get your first serve in play 80% of the time with a specific – direction, spin or speed.
6. When you miss your first serve – you create a “must” situation for your second serve, your partner goes into more of a defensive mode and your opponent plans more aggressive returns.
7. Get ready for another ball to be returned as the point is seldom over with the first shot.

Server’s Partner:

1. Know where your partner intends to serve and – will they stay back, serve and volley or attack the first short ball.
2. Decide and communicate what you plan to do on the return of serve – stay, fake or poach.
3. Your job – D.A.D. – distract the returner (legally) by getting your feet in motion, attack the return or once the ball passes you – move back to play defense.
4. If you poach – aim for 1 of the 3 valleys with your volley – the 3 Service line “T’s” on the court and not at the player where they might defend themselves and accidentally get the ball back in play.
5. Avoid the 2 mountains – the two players aim to the outside of either player or up the middle in the 3 valleys.
6. If you do not poach, move back on a diagonal when the ball passes you to face the opposing net player or the net rushing team and play defense.
7. Get ready for another ball to be returned to you as the point is seldom over with the first shot.

Receiver:

1. Tell your partner which part of the court you plan to direct your return – 1 of the 4 squares on the opposite court is a good start.
2. Decide if you will – chip, drive, loop or lob the return.
3. Use the D.A.D principle – distract with your positioning, attack the return or defend by getting the ball back in play.
4. Position yourself to be able to move forward into your return of serve.
5. Decide if you will – return and go in, return and stay back or fake a move in after the return
6. Use your return to set up your partner at the net so they can finish the point.
7. Get ready for another ball to be returned as the point is seldom over with the first shot.

Receiver’s Partner:

1. Know where your partner plans to return the serve – one of the 4 squares.
2. Know if your partner plans to – chip, drive, loop or lob the return.
3. Call the service line for your partner so they can focus on the return.
4. Once the serve is determined to be good – look at the opposing net player and prepare to defend your position in the event they poach or your returner hits to them with the return.
5. If the return is past the net player move over and up to defend your net position against the ball to be hit by the server.
6. Prepare to D.A.D – distract the server who is now returning your partners shot, attack the return by the server or defend your net position if they attempt to hit at you.
7. Move back on a diagonal to defend if the ball goes back to your partner by facing the opposing net player or both opponents if they both come into the net.

These are a few key concepts that can help you and your partner become a more effective team by knowing what your Job Description is for each of the 4 positions on the court.  You can do your job well and help your partner do theirs.

Communication is vital, movement is critical and execution necessary for success as a doubles team.

Check out my website at www.kendeharttennis.com for UDF’s or Unusual Doubles Formations that can greatly enhance your teams positioning and ability to change momentum in a match.

Ken DeHart

Director of Tennis-SJSRC
USA High Performance Coach
PTR & USPTA Master Professional
2 Time PTR International Pro of the Year

Photo Credits: yingtak

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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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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.

Photo Credits: 1

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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.

Photo Credits: 1

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Playing the Score

Practice your singles and doubles match with altered scoring situations:

1. Start all games at love 30, 30 love, 30 all, 15-40 to experience the  pressure of being ahead, tied or behind with no room to play lose points.
2. Start all sets at 2 all, 3 all or down 2-4 and serving to feel the pressure of set scores that create no wiggle room for unfocused play
3. Play best 3 out of 5 tie breakers using the 10 point tie breaker used in place of a third set.  Use this in place of regular sets for challenge ladders and tie breaker experience (first to 10 points by 2 wins the breaker)
4. Play best 3 out of 5 tie breakers using the 12 point tie breaker used at 6 all in a set (first to 7 wins the breaker).

Situational Tactics

1. You can only score while serving.  If you lose the point the opponent serves until someone scores a point from that side of the court (deuce or ad court).  Like the old system of volleyball scoring, this situation teaches the players how to win while serving.  *Regular games and sets are played using this scoring or you may use some of the altered scoring scenarios from “Playing the Score” above.
2. Players must serve and volley both first and second serves.
3. Serves can only go to the backhand in both the deuce and ad courts, only to the forehand or into the body for a designated numbers of games to work on placement of the serve
4. Players only get 1 serve per point – no second serve.
5. All players must serve from the sunny side of the court each game.
6. Serving from the sunny side of the court, the servers must serve underhanded, side arm or some below the shoulder type of serve.
7. Servers must play with only a specific type of serve: slice, topspin or flat for a specific number of games.  This helps the players get lots of experience in practicing a particular type of serve.

Photo Credits: 1

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