Understanding the game of tennis is usually not the problem. The problem is that too many try to make it more complicated. It is really very simple. You either have to hit a ball while in a defensive position, an offensive position or in a neutral position. Decide quickly what situation you are in and then hit the type of shot that is of the best benefit from that position to either win the point or get back into the point.
Once you are in a defensive position you need to slow down the response to ball so that you can neutralize what your opponent has done to you. Often we refer to this as “Panicing Softly” (usually players panic when in trouble and that is okay, just accept it and move on) so that you are able to hit a controlled ball back that might put them in a similar difficult situation. This is called neutralizing. Once you relize you are going to be put in a defensive position it is very adventagious to keep your backswing very short, if you take any at all. This will allow you to have a greater amount of control and adjustment shots to combat your situation.
After you have gained a neutral ground then attempt a more forcing shot to move them to the defensive position, rather then going for an all out offensive shot. If you were to take an average rally of 10 balls, one or two might be offensive shots, two to three might be defensive shots and the rest, 5-7 shots would be neutral. So playing the neutral shots really consistently will help you win a lot more points as you can see that most of your shots are played in neutral situations. So don’t force the action too quickly, but play smart placement shots and maybe try to move in a little to gain angle advantages and this might force your opponent to go for too much or to hit up higher to you.
Next time in volume III we will talk about how to set up more opportunities to force opponents into a defensive position.
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