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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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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Having played with the Wilson K Zen, the heavier version at 10.5 ounces, for 2 years it was time for a change. The 2009 version of the K Zen came only in a lighter version (9.5 ounces) and I was having difficulty making the transition for match play.

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The K 4 played heavier than it’s weight and provided power and maneuverability as well as delivering a solid hit. It was easy to teach with as well as easy to play with in rallying against my better students.

After having my students try out the K 4 and tracking the responses of players from 3.0 to 4.5 NTRP levels, I have found it fits the needs and likes of most all players. This is the response I look for in selecting my choice of racquet for the year. I like one that suits my teaching needs and my competition feel but also the acceptance of a wide range of my students.

The Wilson K 4, grab a demo and see how it fits your game. My choice of strings for the K 4, the Wilson Hyperlast Spin. This 19 gauge kevelar main string with 16 gauge synthetic gut cross strings offers great power and spin in your new K 4.

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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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