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TennisOne Lessons
Doubles Strategies for Senior Players by David Smith Senior tennis is sometimes thought of as ‘tennis in slow motion.” That is, many senior players can hit the ball skillfully, yet the ravages of time and the aging consequences simply limit the quickness, agility, dexterity and overall speed of the senior player. While such limitations are inevitable, many senior players “mentally” limit themselves from both the enjoyment of personal improvement, but also from the ability to compete at higher levels of competitive skill even while they continue to age. It is always interesting to watch senior tennis players compete. Many of these older players still compete with relative vigor and competitiveness. Often, I find myself thinking that if I look or play as well as many of the senior players in our area when I am their age, I would feel most fortunate! On the other hand, many of these senior players could play far better, even within the age-restrictive handicaps many possess. There are three areas that can be discussed when examining senior improvement. The first area is conditioning. Improving the flexibility, cardio output, quickness and overall strength of senior players are areas that should be considered in terms of both playing better tennis as well as improving a player's overall health. The second area is stroke production. No different than younger players, senior players can make improvements in the strokes they use to hit a ball. The difference is, senior players ‘believe' they can't make significant - or even subtle - changes in their techniques. While this pervasive belief is common, it is far from accurate. One of the most difficult students to teach (or ‘convince'!) is the senior player who, while recognizing limitations, refuses to explore new techniques that will reduce such limitations!
The third area of improvement is simply learning better playing strategies. Obviously, senior opponents might have age-associated handicaps that can be exploited with the right shot at the right time. (I am not referring to ‘mean-spirited' shots…I mean simple strategies that can lead to well-earned points.) On the same vein, understanding what limitations you have and knowing how to keep opponents from exploiting them is equally valuable. And that is what this article is about to present: How to play strategically smarter tennis! Offensive Strategies Offensive strategies deal with ways to get your opponents in trouble. Defensive strategies deal with keeping your opponent from hitting offensive shots or being able to exploit weaknesses or player limitations. (Offensive shots do not necessarily deal only with hard hit balls. Offensive shots are any shots that can put opponents in a defensive situation.) While there are a multitude of strategies that can be executed when playing, (especially based on individual player strengths, ‘favorite shots,' and familiarity), the strategies I am presenting are exceptional for most all senior players. In fact, for most recreational players to highly competitive players, these strategies can be most effective in their use. The Right Lob at the Right Time Many senior players, and those who may not be confident in their ground game, tend to lob often. But, the lob used at the wrong time can be detrimental to a player's score and even a player's health! However, there is one lob that is almost always an offensive shot and usually results in an easy winner. When returning serve in doubles against two right-handed players, the lob down the line on the deuce side is very effective. This is because the lob is, a) usually going over the backhand side of the net player, and b) the server has to cover the shot with a backhand. One of the most difficult shots, especially for seniors is hitting a high bouncing ball (for example, off a lob as in this illustration), on the backhand side. The returning team that just hit the lob, should move to the net (if the lob passes the net person!) and then expect a weak lob or an easy volley that can be put away. For senior players, don't crowd the net in this or other examples where you have your opponents in a defensive situation. 8 out of 10 times, your opponents will lob. However, since they are hitting the lob off a high bouncing ball on the backhand side, the lob is seldom hit well. Because the return off the lob is coming from your opponent's deep part of his court, you should have time to move in on a short lob. Yet, by not crowding the net, you can cover the rare case of a good lob coming back.
One of the best times to hit this down the line lob is on a second serve when your opponents may be expecting an offensive groundstroke return and the slower serve speed allows you to place the lob effectively deep and away from the net man. Also, if you happen to play those seniors that love to rush the net, this lob is deadly against them! Drop Shot and Follow In Oftentimes, senior players accidentally hit a short ball that ends up being an outright winner. Logically, an intentional drop shot can be used extremely effectively against senior players for the obvious reasons. The problem is, few senior players know how to execute the drop shot well, or, they are hesitant to attempt the shot because of low confidence. Yet, the shot is one of the most effective strategies in senior tennis and should be practiced. Most senior opponents, especially those who like to stay back and lob or simply hit groundstrokes, don't move well to the net. And, if you do hit a good drop shot, you opponent, if they get to the ball, must hit up to get the ball over the net. If you follow any decent short ball to the net, you are more likely to get a fairly easy volley to hit and a large, open court to hit the winner into. A note on the drop shot is that when players meet opponents who do indeed love to lob, the drop shot often takes those opponents out of their game plan and force them to volley or at least come up to the net where they might not be comfortable. The drop shot is best hit when you get the ball short of the baseline, usually on a second serve or a weak shot hit during a rally. In many cases, the drop shot does not have to be perfect; any short ball hit against players who tend to stay back will usually be effective. Come in behind your drop shot with your racquet head up and be ready to volley a quick, but easy, volley.
Angle Volleys Senior tennis tends to be one-dimensional. That is, groundstrokes and volleys are usually hit deep; seldom do players attempt to open the court up with an angle volley or angling a return of service short and wide. While hitting deep is a good thing, when we play an opponent who stays back behind the baseline, they usually have minimal trouble picking up those returns. They camp out behind the baseline and throw up lob after lob until someone on the other team misses. Playing teams that lob a lot are oftentimes the most difficult for the senior player to successfully compete against. This is because of two general issues: a) senior players react improperly when the lob goes up, (they watch the ball instead of turning and covering the lob); and b) they don't have great mobility going back for the lob. Thus, it is important to take senior opponents out of the range to lob effectively. The drop shot discussed above is one way. The other way is using greater angles. Hitting angle volleys and slice or topspin angled groundstrokes is as much an element of attempting the shots as it is having proper technique. The biggest problem senior players and non-senior players have in hitting angle volleys is the grip. Notoriously, the eastern forehand and backhand grips encourage, among other detrimental tendencies, hitting the ball only deep. The position of the racquet to the forearm in using these grips causes players to push the volley away from the body. I will talk more about the proper techniques for this volley in the next article on senior tennis. The point is, if a player uses such form, the ability to develop an effective angle volley is difficult if not impossible.
If a player uses the more advanced continental grip on their volley, hitting angle volleys is incredibly simple! The problem even for those using this grip and form is simply attempting the shot. Since safety in tennis is to aim down the middle and deep, many players are programmed to not explore the angle volley or taking a groundstroke wider than normal. While one old-time tennis teacher used to say, “hit it down the middle and score,” this strategy while working at the 3.0 level works well, fails miserably when players want to improve and compete at higher levels of play. It must be understood too, that if the angle volley or groundstroke is not hit with sharp enough angles, the opponent will have an angle to use against you. However, since many senior players don't explore the shot, attempting the angles in match play won't necessarily hurt you—unless you play someone who too is working on this strategy! Defensive Strategies Being able to hit strokes that limit your opponent's ability to create the very strategies I have outlined above is obviously a way to prevent getting yourself or team into trouble. Such defensive strategies would include, (but are not limited to):
This last defensive strategy is one that involves doubles players moving to the right spots during a rally as well as understanding how to minimize the potential offensiveness of an opponent's shot. There are many situations, too many, really, to discuss completely here. However, there is one pattern that is common among senior players that I feel would be most advantageous to learn. Worst Case Scenario Preparation Anytime a ball goes back to a partner who is at the baseline, (and his partner is positioned at the net), the net player must prepare for a ‘worst-case scenario'. What are the two worst things that can happen when a ball is hit past the net man to a partner who is playing back? A) The back player hits a weak ball down the line to the opposing net man who nails this weak shot for an easy winner; B) The back player hits it crosscourt but the opponent is poaching. In both of these scenarios, the opposing net man will have a huge open court to hit a winner between the net man and his partner who is still at the baseline. (Or, the opponent will have a nice, sitting duck, the net man, to aim his easy volley at!) When we have a player who indeed stays back, the net partner of this player must be aware of these potential situations. The “pattern” as I call it, consists of preparing for this worst-case scenario through proper movements, followed by the recognition of being an offensive player once the ‘worst-case scenario' has past. (When the back player successfully hits the ball away from the opposing net player.)
This pattern is simple, but many players fail to execute it properly. The key is this: when a ball is hit past us to our partner back on the baseline, we must move back - usually to about the service line - and then bring our focus to the opponent's net man. This is the only player who can hurt us. By watching this opponent, you will have a clear indication of what he/she is going to do. (It also helps to glimpse back to see how much trouble your partner might be in. If he/she is trying to get a difficult shot back, chances are, your opponent's net man will be intercepting the ball. But, don't dwell on looking back! Too many players get caught watching their partner instead of focusing on proper movement and reacting to our opponent's volley.) By backing up, the net player occupies the large open area that would normally be wide open between themselves and their partner who is on the baseline. Also, by backing up, more time is created to react to an offensive shot by the opposing net player should he be poaching or if our partner hits a weak ball to him. If the back player hits a good crosscourt shot away from the opposing net player, the net player who had just backed up (in preparing for the worst-case scenario) then moves forward a few steps and takes an offensive position. (Based on the quality of his partner's shot.) This moving from a defensive position to an offensive position is one of the many aspects that separate mediocre senior doubles players from smart and experienced players. In any rally where one player stays back, the net player will have to repeat this exercise over and over. Players who are not necessarily as talented in the stroke department can play smarter doubles and defeat perhaps better ball striking opponents. Conclusion Senior tennis (and tennis in general!) is all about getting your opponent in trouble. This can be done, not with powerful strokes necessarily, but with cunning finesse and key positioning! The strategic tips I have offered don't require great power or fast hands, and they don't necessarily require making significant changes in a player's form or technique. (However, as I will talk about in my next article, making some changes in technique can help propel senior players even further!) But, by executing these strategies, players can improve their chances of winning. Also, these strategies are not relegated only for senior players. They are part of what I call the “Advanced Foundation” a system of learning that provides ALL players the best possible chance of reaching their ‘tennis potential.' Your comments are welcome. Let us know what you think about Dave Smith's article by emailing us here at TennisOne .
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