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TennisOne Lessons 
Modern Directionals, Part II Doug Eng EdD, PhD Dominate the Ad Court With Variety and Power Most players today practice forehand crosscourts and backhand crosscourts which are considered basic rallying skills. For a right-handed player, that means playing forehands from the deuce court and backhands from the ad court. These skills, although essential, are not the sole baseline tactical skills required. Most players have better forehands than backhands. On the pro tour, we see players like Roger Federer, Juan Martin del Potro, Sam Stosur, Rafael Nadal, or Ana Ivanovic clearly favor their forehands. These players will often run around the backhand to hit their more aggressive stroke. Other players including Novak Djokovic or Serena Williams are equally good off both sides so they are not as likely to run around the backhand to play a forehand.
If you favor the forehand, it makes sense that you will want to play more forehands than backhands. That means you will need to develop solid inside-out and inside-in forehands and a good down-the-line forehand in addition to the forehand crosscourt. Although we think the crosscourt is a safer shot, it is only true in terms of consistency. Because the court is longer and the net is lower on the crosscourt diagonal, we tend to make fewer errors. However, If we consider winners, the down-the-line often produces similar results to crosscourts in actual value to a player. The down-the-line as a winner is often used in conjunction with a good crosscourt as a set-up shot. In risk analysis, I called the term payoff or P = (number of winners – number of errors) / total number of shots. So if you played 10 forehands and hit 3 winners and made 2 errors, your payoff on the forehand was 10%. Of course, payoffs increase if you play your best shot against your opponent’s worst shot. Hence, even an erratic down-the-line forehand — if big enough — will produce positive payoffs against a weak backhand. If you have a strong forehand and are quick enough, you might cover 2/3 of the court with the forehand and increase your payoff. If your opponent has a weaker backhand as most do, you will try to play primarily forehands to your opponent’s backhands. If your opponent has a strong forehand, you may try to avoid the forehand or reduce the forehand-forehand rallies since that may not provide you with an advantage. Many ATP players use this basic strategy.
On the pro level, the crosscourt forehand rally isn’t as common a tactic as it is at the club level. Preliminary statistical results show the ad court crosscourt rallies (for top ATP right-handers) may outnumber the deuce court crosscourt rallies by as much as 9:1. That is a shocking number which most people don’t realize. Top ATP players are generally avoiding prolonged deuce court forehand rallies (for right-handers). Keep in mind, this statistic is for the ATP pro. A typical club player won’t have as strong a forehand. But if you and your opponent do have better forehands, then developing ad court rally skills is important. For most players, the deuce court has a simple set of baseline rallying shots: forehand crosscourt (including an angle and flattening out the ball), a down-the-line and occasional slice. The ad court has a more complex set of baseline rallying shots: backhand, backhand slice, backhand down-the-line, forehand inside-out, and forehand inside-in. So tactically, there is greater variety with the ad court skills. It is important for you to practice the ad court rallies more often than the simpler forehand deuce court rallies for two main reasons: it develops your ability to attack your opponent’s weaker side, and second, the greater variety of shots available on the ad court side demands more time and deliberate practice. One drill you may find useful is what I call the Lobster Ad Court Drill. In this drill, you hit your inside-out forehands, slice backhands and regular backhands to your opponent who hits primarily backhands. First, you are trying to use the inside-out forehand as the big shot to drive your opponent off the court. Second, you are using variety to prevent your opponent from settling into a comfortable groove. Third, when you are comfortable and the court is open, try to hit a down-the-line into the open deuce court.
The Lobster Drill might be too difficult for some players to practice. If you don’t have a solid backhand slice or an inside-out forehand yet, I suggest first practicing those shots alone. Even for better players, you may choose to isolate certain shots to practice. For example, you and your friend can start just hitting only backhand slices crosscourt for a few minutes and then only inside-out forehands for a few minutes. Try to develop rallies rather than all-out pace, especially with the inside-out forehand. Next, you may go inside-out forehand to backhand. Then add those two shots and practice the Lobster Ad Court Drill. Notice in the video, the far player has to cover the deuce court and the ad court, but you can start with only the ad court. Then if you are comfortable and quick enough, add the deuce court coverage. Here’s a summary of drills for the ad court. Remember, go for consistency first. The first four drills only use the ad court diagonal. The Lobster Ad Court Drill puts the ad court against almost a full court.
Remember, dominating the ad court may be the key to winning. Next time you get on the court, be better prepared to dominate your opponent’s weaker backhand with your variety and big forehand. Good luck!
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Doug Eng
In addition, Doug has written over 70 tennis articles and has been translated into several languages. He consults in mental and physical training and researches in technical and tactical analysis. He has received many awards including most recently the 2012 US Olympic Committee Doc Counsilman Award for his work in tennis. Doug is a member of HEAD/Penn National Speakers Bureau. |
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