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TennisOne Lessons 
How to Beat a Better Player Joe Dinoffer If you play a better player, can you win most of the time? It’s a simple question, but the real answer may surprise you. The answer is YES as long as your strength is better than your opponent’s weakness and you can force your opponent to hit enough balls with their weakness while you hit enough balls with your strength. Ashe vs. Connors
Here’s an example from a famous professional tennis match: Jimmy Connors versus Arthur Ashe in the Wimbledon finals in 1975. Connors was number one in the world at the time. Ashe was close to falling out of the top ten in the world, but was able to pull off one of the biggest upsets in a major match of all time. Here’s how he did it. Ashe exploited Connors’ relatively weak low forehand and came to the net. Ashe also took away Connors’ angles to make it hard for Connors to pass him and kept coming to the net … again and again. Ashe won the first two sets 6-1, 6-1. In recent previous meetings, Ashe had never even won a single set against Connors and Ashe came into the match at 32, about ten years older than Connors. Ashe ended up winning in four sets. Tactically, this is one of the best examples in tennis history of a clear underdog player tactically dissecting the stronger player’s game with such consistent precision that he came out on top. You can do the same thing Ashe did. After all, one thing is certain for each of us. There are always going to be players who are stronger and weaker than each of us. Another truism is that the most satisfying matches to win are when we are the underdogs. Winning when we are clearly stronger than our opponents and expected to win is nowhere near as satisfying as upsetting the apparently better player. The process centers on learning to develop your understanding and recognition skills. Let’s start with a simple question.Have you ever lost a match and afterwards a friend asked you if playing against a lefty made things more difficult? Then you realized you hadn’t even noticed that your opponent was playing left-handed! Of course, that’s an extreme and humorous example, but it’s about the same thing as not clearly realizing your opponent’s strengths and weaknesses. The first step is to know what to look for. In each of the following categories, we will share just one or perhaps two tips on how you can improve your tactical skills. See if you can think of others and let us know if you would like to see more articles on this topic that discuss further examples of possible weaknesses to look for in your opponents’ games and how to exploit them tactically.
Grips Let’s look at two out of perhaps a dozen grip limitations that you can exploit. First is to consider the player who hits forehand groundstrokes with a continental or hammer grip will experience a major limitation on high bouncing balls due to the open racquet angle produced by that “old school” grip that used to be commonplace a few decades ago. To exploit that weaknesses hit with more arc over the net to create higher than normal bouncing balls, commonly called “moonballs” in today’s game. The second example of a common grip limitation is for the player who serves with an eastern or frying pan type of grip. Their serves will generally be flat with little or no spin. The first serves will typically be hard so back up if you need more time. Their second serves will often be powder puffs (because of the inability using that grip to create enough spin to bring the ball down into the service box, these players have to rely on gravity to get the ball in play). So be sure to move forwards before they serve in order to be in better position as well as put a little psychological pressure on your opponent. Just be careful not to make the most common mistake in returning those slow soft second serves. As tempting as it is to try and nail a winner, be careful not to overhit and miss too many of them. If you are not confident putting that first shot away, try opening up the court with controlled angle shots and even dropshots, right off the return of serve.
Shot Preferences All players have their preferred shots. For many players, it is the forehand groundstroke. But beware of the recreational players who not only run around their much weaker backhand groundstrokes, but who also are in fantastic condition and can seemingly run all day long. As a 14-year-old competitive junior, I remember playing in the finals of a local club tournament against a school teacher in his mid-thirties. If the guy hit 100 groundstrokes in an average set, he probably only hit 1 or 2 backhands! The guy had a great forehand, a worse than awful backhand, and could run all day long! He loved long rallies, and being a hard-hitting, impatient junior player, he was my worst nightmare to play. Lucky for me on that particular day, I actually used my brain (not always common for junior players) and figured out that I had to counter-intuitively hit to his strength, his forehand side, in order to open up his far weaker backhand. Style of Play We all know the three basic playing styles; namely, the person who mainly plays from the baseline, the attacking player who gets to the net to try and finish points at every opportunity and, lastly, the player who can competently work points both ways, the all-court player. And, in recent years, there are a handful more hybrid styles and tactics that complicate the mix even more. But, for the purpose of this article, the question is how to tactically defeat each of these styles of play. Here are two examples to try on your upcoming opponents.
Once you’ve figured out what your opponent likes to do, the key is to find out what they do NOT like to do. If you are playing a steady baseliner, the thing you don’t want to do (unless it is your strength) is to try and out-steady him or her. On the other hand, steady baseliners are much less comfortable at the net, hitting volleys and overheads. So, at your first opportunity, hit a short low ball to bring them forwards. On the other hand, if you’re playing an attacking player, your goal is to keep them off the net by keeping the ball deep. Just remember that this doesn’t mean your shots have to land within inches of the baseline. Rather, you can hit with more arc (and ideally with topspin as well), which will keep them back without risking hitting too many balls long. And, if your opponent does get to the net, remember to test their overhead by hitting a nice high and deep lob. Most recreational players seldom practice their overheads, and you might receive a few free points that way as well.
Serving Ability One of the biggest mistakes that recreational players make is being predictable. Here’s an example. You serve at a speed that allows your opponent with a strong forehand to run around the backhand to return serve aggressively. What do you try to do? Hit to their backhand, of course. It’s a logical response, but it can be tactical suicide. You will find that your opponent is forcing you to hit to a smaller and smaller target and you will start making an increasing number of mistakes, plus you are being predictable. Here’s an example when serving to the deuce court. Assuming you are right-handed, stand a few extra feet to your right to get more angle to your opponent’s forehand. Of course, do not only serve to their strength, but mix it up. You may find that they are very good at moving to their left to run around their backhand (assuming they are right-handed), but are awkward moving wide to their forehands and will be surprisingly ineffective hitting service returns from that position. Return of Serve
Another common mistake that recreational players make is to stand in the same position to return serve regardless of the opponent. The second most common shot hit in tennis is the return of serve. Make sure to be flexible and adapt your waiting position to make your returns as consistent and effective as possible. If you're not sure where to move, just realize there are basically four possible adjustments you can make and just use your common sense. If your opponent is serving a little too hard for you to handle, back up. If your opponent is serving a little soft and the ball is dropping, move forwards. Then consider whether you need to move to your right or left. There is one caveat with this approach to keep in mind. Few returners hit their returns consistently well in the first game they are returning serve. You may have to get a feel for the server's rhythm and serving style to get in your own best rhythm to hit effective returns. Be patient and give yourself a couple of return games before doing anything drastic. Then make slight adjustments. And, just like the pros, if you are facing a very hard serve and your opponent is literally blowing you off the court, don't be afraid to block your returns back, aiming down the middle of the court. You are better off getting the ball back in play than missing most of your returns while attempting to take a big cut at the ball and missing 75% of your returns. Overhead and Volleys Your tactical planning on how to best compete against a new opponent begins in the warm-up. Some players will warm up their groundstrokes, hit a few serves, and say they're ready to play. No volleys, no overheads. What does this mean? At the very least, you need to test whether they can volley or hit overheads at all. Bring them to the net and test them out. You may find they are totally afraid of moving forwards and you've exposed a major weakness. If they do warm up their volleys, look for the players who take big swings. It may sound devious, but give them slow balls when they hit their volleys in the warm-up. This will encourage them to take a big swing at their volleys. Then, in the match on big points, bring them to the net and don't worry about trying to hit passing shots. Instead, hit with some pace right down the middle. Chances are your opponent will take the same large backswing he or she did in the warm-up and miss their volleys. Summary What we just covered are the basics of tactical competitive tennis. I hope you’ve gained some insights into how to think about competition and are now less intimidated by a player who seems to be better than you are just because they have a reputation of being a better player. Being “better” does not always convert into winning a tennis match against a specific opponent. It may also help to remember what Arthur Ashe was able to accomplish against all odds in 1975. And, reputations at the club level are often built around the way someone looks on a tennis court. A player can have smooth strokes but make more than their share of unforced errors. There are also players who are consistent but they also have a weakness or two that just have not been properly exploited. Either way, success on the recreational level is as much about tactical awareness as anything else. Your comments are welcome. Let us know what you think about Joe Dinoffer's article by emailing us here at TennisOne. |
