Why are there a lot of aces at Wimbledon? It is a faster surface, right? Yes, but that is not the only reason for the aces. What is the most effective serve on grass? Is it topspin, flat, slice? Watch the players and see how often the try to pull the players out wide on the slice. Grass is a softer surface and so it will give a little when the ball slams into it on a serve. The surface is also slippery and so it will skid more. So a slice serve is very effective to pull the player off the court and an easier serve to create an ace. Even if the player gets to the serve out wide, a grass surface is harder to change directions on. A returner has a difficult choice to either stand closer to the baseline to cut off the serve angle and take their chances on a hard, flat one right at their body, or they take their chances on the slice wide and stand back further to protect themselves from the hard flat one right at them. So watch how often the good servers hit a slice to start the point. Enjoy the matches, but learn from them to by watching how often they use certain shots.
Now that Wimbledon has now started you will be able to see the pros in action as they compete for one of the most prestigious events in tennis. You will find the touring pros trying to finish points sooner and many that don’t normally come to the net will do so to try and finish off the point. You will also see some additional drop shots with the softer surface as they try to force their opponents into defensive positions. The grass as improved over the past few years so that baseliners have a chance with the new slower surfaces. You will still see servers that are able to angle the ball out wide through either direction and/or spin gain some advantages on their serve. A slice serve can be very effective on this fast and slippery surface and it is difficult to change directions very fast. Watch how the players set up the point, slide on the grass and defend on tough points. You can learn a lot by watching. What many observers fail to watch is how the players change the angle of the racquet face to work the ball. Good luck these next two weeks as you enjoy learning more about the players on grass and see brown, worn spots start to show up as the tournament moves to deeper rounds.
The pros on the tour also make various changes to their equipment to help them achieve the maximum success on the grass surface. The surface being faster and more slippery generally makes you play a little different then on other surfaces. Usually they will string their racket tighter to gain more control over the ball on the fast surface, when before on the clay, they might string it looser to get more power off their strokes with the long points. Also when they serve and volley it is important to control the ball and place it where you want it to go and would also be benefitted by the tighter strings. Some players even go to a different shoe with better traction on the grass surface allowing them to change directions easier. Next time we will discuss what types of strategy they may employ to succeed on grass. Don’t forget the Wimbledon Championships at the All England Club starts on Monday, June 22.
We have seen in the lead up tournaments to Wimbledon that some of the players who achieved great results at the French have struggled when switching to the grass courts. Because the grass surface is much faster a players backswing might have to be shorter to account for the extra speed of the ball off of the surface. You may find more players coming to the net to volley more. However, just because the surface is faster, it does not mean that you can just stand further back to return the ball as they find themselves unable to reach certain wide shots as they skip off the surface towards the stands. If a player has the ability to hit angles, you must stay closer to baseline to cut the ball off before the angle accellerates away from you. Come back again when we talk about equipment changes that might have to be made when playing on grass.
What do the pros need to change to play successfully when switching to a different type of court surface? Grass court season is coming up and it is faster surface to play on than clay. Some of the changes that the pros make include: shoes; strings; string tension; style of play; plan of attack; quicker preparation and others. You will notice this year at Wimbledon and the other grass court tournaments that the tour players will continue to have longer points than in past with the grass courts now playing slower. This has opened up the opportunity for more types of players to do well in these events. You will still see many big servers and aces as well as shorter point than at the French Open and during the clay court season. Come back soon as we break down how some of the players use various tactics to succeed on the grass.
Congratulations to Roger Federer who won the 2009 French Open on Sunday, June 7. He is now tied with Pete Sampras for 14 singles grand slam wins and has a Career Grand Slam by winning a major in all the four events in his career. Well done. He is a great ambassador for our game.
Often when hard tennis courts are wet from misting and light rain the clay courts are still playable. This is the case today so come on out and Play the Clay and have a great time. Remember to allow yourself to slide on the clay so that you can ease into your shots, making it better on your joints and back. See you on the courts.
So the courts are wet outside, what should a tennis player do? This week with the French Open on TV take a look at how the players prepare for their opponent’s shots. Pick out something they do well and watch them for a few games and then switch and watch the other player and how they prepare. You may pick up some great tips.
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