Improve Your Anticipation and Reaction Time

Joe Dinoffer
USPTA and PTR Master Professional
President, www.OncourtOffcourt.com

We do many things in life automatically and effortlessly. Changing channels with a remote control is one of those things. We switch from CNN to Animal Planet in a split second. Then, with the press of a button, we are on the Weather Channel. It’s amazing when you think about it. As amazing as changing channels can be, the fact that our brains seem to change as fast as the remote is equally fascinating. Let’s look at how this happens. It’s really just common sense, but how it relates to tennis can improve your game significantly.

There are two ways your brain reacts to changing channels with a remote. First, if you are the one changing channels. And, second, if someone else is channel surfing .

You are changing channels — If you are the one controlling the remote, you have several things happening to help you feel comfortable. First, you are in control. Second, you generally have a feel for what's coming up and therefore your brain can adjust to the often drastic topic change quickly. Yes, when you are the one changing channels, it's relatively easy to keep up.

Someone else is channel surfing — On the other hand, pretend you are sitting on the couch and someone else is channel surfing. A few minutes of that, and you might have a headache. It's hard for the mind to shift quickly to absorb rapidly changing topics and themes when they are unpredictable.

How Does this Apply to Tennis?

Now, let's compare this to tennis. There are almost countless varieties of incoming balls and shots that you can hit in response to these balls. Serves of different types, forehands, backhands, chips, topspin, volleys, dropshots, lobs, overheads, etc. This doesn't even touch on the nearly infinite combinations of direction, spin, speed, arc, and depth that apply to every inbound and outbound shot. But don't get dizzy thinking about it just yet. Unlike the channel surfer sitting next to you, tennis gives you some "buffer" time. 

What is “buffer” time in tennis? This is the time between shots, the time that lapses when you are either recovering from the shot you just hit or running to hit the next shot on your side of the net. While one or two seconds (or sometimes less on harder hit balls) may not seem like a lot, it is actually plenty of time for an experienced player to prepare for most balls. This is one of the reasons why less experienced players take tennis lessons to improve. And, it is one of the three most common instructions shouted across the net by teaching pros and coaches: “Turn!” or “Racquet Back!” are instructions to urge players to prepare earlier. Coaches know how essential early preparation is to play better tennis.

This is also why the most buffer-friendly shot in tennis is the defensive lob. Recreational players in particular would do well to remember this point. All too often, weekend warriors try to aggressively punch their way out of extremely defensive court positions, especially if their opponent is at the net. Sometimes you just have to be humble and realize that hitting that Nadal-like running passing shot is just not worth the high risk. Hit a high lob, get your opponent off the net and back to the baseline. You will gain time to recover and that buffer will allow you to gain court position and valuable composure to continue the point.

Let's Talk About Doubles

This explains one of the reasons why doubles can be more exciting and fast-paced than singles. When players come to the net, there is less time for everyone to react. This reactive mode makes doubles more exciting, and it takes most of that “buffer” time out of tennis. This also explains a great deal about why the Bryan Brothers have the most winning doubles careers in the history of tennis. Their approach is aggressive and they move forwards in almost every situation. Moving forwards to finish points is their preferred approach on every single point they play! Their goal is to rush their opponents.

Singles Drills to Help Players See the Ball Early

Reacting to the ball quickly off the opponent’s racquet is one of the keys to earlier preparation, whether you are at the net or on the baseline. Here are a few drills to improve this skill. All three examples are “call out” drills and require you to verbally identify the incoming ball’s traits.

For these exercises, you will be on the baseline, but realize that since all singles points start with both players on the baseline, the transition to the net (except if serving and volleying) also starts with good anticipation and early preparation on your groundstrokes. In all three exercises, you and a partner are hitting baseline to baseline cooperatively for four balls in a row and then play out each point. If one of you makes a mistake before four balls in a row are hit, start the point over. The other requirement is that each of you needs to call a single word out loud on every single ball you each hit. From exercise to exercise, the only thing that changes is the word you call out. If either of you does not call out the word correctly OR loud enough for the partner to hear, then that player loses the point. ALSO, unless your opponent is inside the service line, you must call out the word BEFORE the ball crosses the net onto your side of the court. Play until one person reaches 11 points.

1. Call out “forehand” or “backhand” — This is a good starting drill for this series of exercises. The initial turn to move to the ball should correspond with calling out whether it is coming to your forehand or backhand. And, remember that you have to call it out BEFORE the ball crosses the net onto your side of the court!

2. Call out “in” or “back” — This exercise is all about making an early decision to move forwards or backwards to hit each shot. Many players make the mistake of primarily moving laterally (sideways) along the baseline and are late to realize the ball is also short OR is coming in high and deep. Move either in or back in a  diagonal direction for better court coverage.

3. Call out “topspin” or “backspin” — Topspin tends to be hit with more arc over the net and consequently topspin groundstrokes generally bounce higher than those hit with backspin. Not only can you eliminate the possibility of your opponent hitting a dropshot when they hit with topspin, but you have to also realize that topspin balls bounce further after they bounce on your side of the net and therefore you will often need to back up.

Be Proactive Rather than Reactive as Much as Possible

Being decisive on a tennis court is extremely helpful to your improvement. An example is coming to the net because your opponent hits a short ball. Many recreational players move forwards but forget that there is a good chance their next shot will be a volley. They move forwards and get into position at the net just fine. But they do not change their hand position on the racquet to a grip that helps them volley. It is during the time that you are moving forwards into your volley position that the grip change happens. Do not wait until your split step at the net to change your grip. And, certainly do not wait until after your opponent hits the ball. Advancing players should change to use a continental grip or something very close to a continental whenever they move forwards to volley.

Anticipate Better by Ruling Out Options

Experienced players can seem to regularly anticipate where the opponent will hit, so much so that it can appear magical. The question is, can recreational players who started playing later in life learn the anticipation skills of the experienced players who have hit balls since they were young children? The answer is yes, with some intelligent and focused practice. Here are a few concepts to keep in mind.

There are two ways to anticipate what your opponent will do next.

1. Play the odds — Here is an example: Anticipate crosscourt forehands if your opponent takes a very circular forehand groundstroke swing and you observe that they hit 90% of their forehands crosscourt. If you are at the net, anticipate most of their forehand passing shot attempts to be crosscourt.

2. Rule out what they can’t hit — An example: Your opponent hits a one-handed backhand. You approach the net and pressure them enough so you think they will be late. In this situation, you can anticipate that they will hit any passing shot attempts down the line. For them to hit crosscourt will be virtually impossible. Understanding this will make hitting that volley much easier!

Remember that it is more important to be able to prepare early and anticipate your opponents’ shots than it is to run fast. Of course, if you prepare early and anticipate well plus run like a deer, it would be ideal. But, since tennis is a sport you can play throughout your entire life, honing your anticipation skills will serve you well for the long haul. And, the good news is that anticipation is a developed skill and can be improved with focused practice.

Your comments are welcome. Let us know what you think about Joe Dinoffer's article by emailing us here at TennisOne.