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TennisOne Lessons
Strategy: Mixing
Up The Pace
Strategy Question
"We have trouble in doubles when a team is mixing up the pace of the
ball. Sometimes they hit it hard, sometimes a floater, then a dink - we
can't react to the pace and we hate it. What do we do?"
Answer
There are three major solutions.
1. Keep a consistent point of contact
The first solution is to maintain your stroking fundamentals by maintaining
a consistent point of contact. When playing the type of opponents who hit
hard, then soft, your game is often thrown off because you're hitting the
ball too early on soft shots and too late on hard shots. Meet the ball the
at same spot every time.
2. Act as though each ball were coming to you
A team that mixes up the pace can lull you and your partner to sleep. In
doubles you want to be thinking every ball is going to come to you, not
to your partner. So you must react as though every ball is going to come
to you. To do that, take a small hop to unwieght yourself the instant BEFORE
your opponent strikes the ball. It does not matter where you are on the
court, do a small hop so you can react quicker and get setup quicker.
3. Don't play at the speed of the ball
The third solution is don't play at the speed of the ball (this is a lot
like the baseball prohibition of not allowing the ball to play you). When
the speed of the ball is medium or slow, players fall into the bad habit
of setting up s-l-o-w and m-o-v-i-n-g s-l-o-w. Always move faster than the
ball to set up early. This way you are ready for anything and everthing
that they throw at you.
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