TennisOne Lessons
Help Your Opponents Beat Themselves Greg Moran In my recent article, "Walking Up From Your Worst Nightmare," I asked you to make a major shift in the way you approached tennis. Every day we're bombarded with the message that winning tennis in the "modern" era is all about hitting big shots and winners. Open any book, magazine, website or turn on your television and you'll undoubtedly be fed a menu of techniques designed to give you a bigger game. The message is clear: winners hit winners. But that message is wrong! The truth is, tennis is much more a game of errors. As I've written in the past, over 80% of all points played, at all levels, are decided by one player or another committing an error. That being the case, when I work with my students, I move them away from big shot tennis and instead focus on the error aspect of the game.
Last month we looked at unforced errors and the recently completed U.S. Open clearly illustrates the part they can play in a match, even at the highest level of the sport. In the table on the right are the unforced error statistics from the Men's and Women's semi-final matches (each player's number of unforced errors is in parenthesis). In the ladies final, Zvonareva handed over 24 free points as Kim Clijsters committed just 15 unforced errors and successfully defended her title. For the men, Djokovic committed 47 errors while the newly crowned (career Grand Slam) champion Rafael Nadal committed 37. Yes, sometimes the difference in the number of unforced errors isn' t great and certainly there are many other factors that go into determining the winner of a match but the statistics don't lie: whether you are playing in the town park, local club, or center court at Flushing Meadows, unforced errors play a significant role in the outcome of every tennis match played. In my article "Waking Up From Your Worst nightmare," I gave you some techniques to help you cut down on your number of unforced errors. I hope you took those tips to the court and are seeing a difference in your results. It's not complicated: as you become a more error-free player you will win more matches. Now, I'd like to shift to the other side of the net and offer four of my favorite strategies guaranteed to help your opponents self-destruct. Hit Five Balls Down the Middle of the Court
This strategy is fantastic against the many macho men and women we have stalking the courts today. Not only will it help you cut down on your own errors (because you're hitting over the lowest part of the net and have plenty of room on each side), you'll also take sharp angles away from your big-hitting opponent. They'll find this frustrating and often try to hit even harder and create their own angles, both of which can and will lead to errors. Plus, in today's fast-paced, multi-tasking world, the ability to deeply focus on one thing for an extended period of time is something of a lost art. Many recreational players today have a serious case of, what I call tennis ADD. After two or three balls cross the net, their focus is shot and their minds drift elsewhere: school, work, kids, you name it. By making these players hit three or more shots, you'll take them out of their focus comfort zone and it won't be long before they drown in a pool of unforced errors. Andre Agassi recently said that Brad Gilbert helped him learn to "accept his opponent's gifts." By "gifts," Andre meant errors. The next time you step on the court, set a goal of hitting five balls in the court on every point. I think you'll be surprised how many "gifts" this simple strategy will bring you. Get in Their Face and Come to the Net I know, I know. In today's game, everyone's got such powerful games and fabulous groundstrokes that coming to the net is suicide. I disagree. Unless you're facing a player named Rafa, Roger, Serena, or Kim, attacking the net is an extremely effective, error inducing tactic.
When your opponent sees you advancing to the net, the pressure inside of them will build. They know they must come up with a quality shot or you'll be in a position to end the point with a volley or overhead. That pressure often leads to panicked shots that hand you the point. Now, I'm not saying hit the ball, charge the net, and hope your opponents wilt under the mere pressure of your presence. Though some will, against real players you'll need to be selective as to when you move in, particularly when playing singles. When you've hit, or are about to hit, a forcing shot that puts your opponent off-balance, move forward. Hitting consistent, quality shots, when facing an opponent at the net, is a difficult thing for any player to do consistently throughout a match. I feel this is true even at the professional level. In fact, I'll bet my last over-grip that, when Roger Federer and his new coach, Paul; Annacone, sit down to talk strategy, Annacone is going to push hard for Roger to spend more time at the net in 2011. Shoot for the Moon A moonball is a topspin lob that travels 10-15 feet over the net and lands 3-5 feet from your opponent's baseline. When hit properly, the moonball pushes your opponent well behind the baseline and forces him to hit a ball that's above his shoulders, and still rising. Believe me, there's not a player in the world who, when positioned six feet behind the baseline, facing a ball four feet above his head, on the backhand side that says, "Oh, good. I love this shot."
The moonball can be an effective tactic against all styles of opponent. It's great against "pushers" who like to feed off an opponent's power. Without your pace to work with, the pusher is forced to generate her own power which can lead to over-hitting errors. It also frustrates impatient big hitters who will try to put it away. By the way, you can also use a moonball as an approach shot. Roll one high to your opponent's backhand, move towards the net and watch your opponents wilt. The Third Passing Shot As I watch club players across the country compete, I notice that when their opponents advance to the net, nine time out of ten, they try to blast a passing shot past them.
As I've already mentioned, hitting quality passing shots throughout a match is not an easy thing to do. It's even more difficult when playing doubles against high level players. Experienced doubles teams are constantly moving, shifting and positioning themselves so that passing them, either cross-court or down the line, is virtually impossible. The next time your opponents take the net, choose finesse over power and hit the third passing shot: a lob. Yes, real tennis players do lob and it wins them many, many points. The overhead smash is the most physically demanding shot in the game and forcing your opponents to hit them can bring about many errors and exhaust them in the process. Sure, big shots and winners are the sexy shots of the game, the one's that make the highlight reel on the six o'clock news. They feel good when you execute them and the praise they bring feels great. However, they seldom decide who wins the match. Tennis is, and always has been a game of errors. Become an expert in error management (yours and your opponent's) and, more often than not, you'll find yourself on the winning side of the net. Your comments are welcome. Let us know what you think about Greg Moran's article by emailing us here at TennisOne.
Tennis Beyond Big Shots presents a bold back-to-the-future approach. A new game that moves away from power and big shots yet is more lethal to opponents than any booming serve. Greg Moran shows players of all ages and abilities that, with simple and small changes, you can not only maximize your tennis wins and play longer, but also have much more fun doing it. Click link to purchase Greg Moran's book, Tennis Beyond Big Shots. |
