Raqccident Coverage

Marcus Paul Cootsona

Have you recently been the victim of a raqccident?  You know, a short, off-the-frame squirmer that your opponent shanks uncontrollably into your near court, that then spins crazily and drops just out of reach for a lost point?  The kind of unintentional winner that can bring match momentum to a crashing halt.  If you think that you or a loved one or a doubles partner are at risk of a raqccident, proper coverage can help.

Asphalt Jungle

You see, you just never know what’s going to happen out there.  And you need to be prepared and protected.  Maybe you or a friend has witnessed something like this.  You’re in the midst of a hard, deep groundstroke rally and for no good reason; your opponent’s response to your solid, well executed crosscourt backhand is a short, sidespin mishit to your ad court service square.  What the heck?  You can’t exactly charge in, flail mightily and smack this one back.  It may go out.  Instead, you need to move forward quickly, set up solidly and early, bend your knees and execute a backhand up the line to your opponent’s forehand.  Then reset for a volley and be ready to move across to your right to cut off and reach your opponent’s follow up.  If there is one.

Low, spinning lobs.  Mishit groundstrokes.  Framed volleys.  Mid-court floaters.  Deep floaters.  Wobbly groundstrokes.  And more where those came from. 

They’re rarely on purpose.  But that still doesn’t make you safer.  Most of the time, the other driver of the ball doesn’t mean to hit this junk and probably wanted to hit something much better, but didn’t.  If you wreck, you’re not succumbing to superior stroking, superior power or even superior strategy, but instead to dumb luck and trouble.  It’s easy to let yourself off the hook for not seeing calamity coming, and yet a lost point is still a point lost.

Playing Under the Influence

So, when a raqccident occurs, here’s what you need to remember–

You didn’t create this mess.  You just happened to be in the way of it.  It’s not your fault and it’s no reflection on you or how good your game is.  But You Still Need To Return These Shots To Win Points.  Without the ability to protect yourself against reckless stroking, you can hit will, serve well, and return well and still have a difficult time winning sets and matches.

A student once observed this about the game.  Tennis is one of the only sports where your playing level can directly depend on your opponent’s level.  Exactly.  So don’t let a sudden drop in their level bring a well-played point to a sloppy end.  Remember, it only takes a second.  But the results can last the whole match.  You need good coverage.

How Much Coverage Should I Get?

As much as you can, and as early as you can.

How?

Get to the scene early.  When your opponent chunks one over, don’t wait until you’ve figured out exactly what shot they’ve hit.  That takes too much time.  If the opponent’s ball is going to land short and crazy, you need to act.  And quickly.  But don’t panic.  Move to the ball early, set up and then keep your feet light and move some more if you need to.  And you’ll often need to.  It’s easy to make these ad lib squib shots more difficult by setting too early.  So, get there as soon as you can, but keep your options open.

Bend your knees and get serious.  Many flubs are flubbed back into the net or blown past the opposite baseline because they aren’t taken seriously.  Hitting these shots back can be more challenging than trading crosscourt forehands or returning fast serves.  Be patient.  Be intent.  Respect each shot.  These uncertain, squirrely framers take more concentration and respect than good, regular strokes.

Stroke the shot smoothly.  It’s tempting to try to blast your way through those dinkers and weirdies, but more speed is rarely the answer.  You cannot usually successfully add more than 50% to the incoming ball’s pace on your return shot and still keep control of it.  So, you can accelerate these shots some, but concentrate on placement and depth more than pace.  This applies to shots picked up deep too.

So, for best coverage and protection:

• Be Alert
• Get There Early.
• Bend Your Knees And Get Serious.
• Keep your feet light and moving.
• Set up in your final position.
• Smooth The Shot.

Then, get ready for another one.  And even if there isn’t another one, you will look strong, ready and purposeful.  And secure.

Limits and Deductibles

The best way to practice safe and controlled set ups is with matchplay.  Lots of it.  Against a variety of opponents.  Find out how you respond to these situations by putting yourself in them repeatedly.

However, since you can’t always play matches, you can construct drills too.

• Corner — Have your instructor or hitting partner feed you one shot to your deep forehand and then one deep to your backhand and then cover whatever short, weird or spinney shot they feed you for the third ball.  And play it out.

• Swerve — Start a rally and have your instructor or hitting partner randomly feed in weird shots short or deep.  Cover them and play them out.

• Maneuver — Stand in one specific area of the court and have your instructor or hitting partner feed you a range of the most creative junk they can concoct and smooth these shots back.  This last drill also helps you when you’re the one feeding junk shots.  Because by creating them, you will be learning how and why they are the way they are.

Do You Have Good Hands?

Though these are all good ways to practice responding to raqccidental shots, learning how to properly execute volleys, half volleys, high volleys, low overheads and off-spin bunt-backs will complete your coverage.  So, take some time off from the strokes you always want to practice and spend some time on the ones that will help you score in difficult times too. 

One way to be more alert and ready at all times on the court is to put some all-court elements into your own game, even if you’re a diehard baseliner.  The very act of purposely coming forward and playing a variety of shots in the forecourt puts you in a frame of mind to be ready to respond to shots at different depths that you didn’t plan for.  It also improves your quickness and response in all areas of the court.

Good coverage and loss protection aren’t flashy, but they win points, games and matches.  Watch a pro bout and notice that even there, making the most of these strange, unintended gifts always helps.  Even at high speeds.

So, please, play safe.

And as always —

Practice Often. Play Well. Have Fun.

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Marcus Paul Cootsona

Marcus Paul Cootsona is a teaching professional and author of Occam’s Racquet – 12 Simple Steps To Smarter Tennis. Contact him at: marcuscootsona.com.