Follow The Bouncing Ball (Attack The Weaker Side)

Fernando Gonzalez is known for his good looks, his monstrous forehand
and his pretty bad backhand

It’s a strategy as old as time and you can apply it as soon as you learn how to aim the shot! First you determine the weaker stroke (backhand or forehand) then you hit all the balls to that stroke. Once a player notices a clear difference between the strokes, they will be very obvious. This rally is usually the first game plan you should try because it will make your life really easy some days.

At the beginner level all you have to do it direct the balls to that side. You don’t even have to hit them hard. Just get them there.

At the intermediate level you do it in a way that suits your game. Some people are better at mixing the shots up. Some people are better at top spin. Whatever your most consistent stroke is, is what you want.

Advanced players are much more challenging. If a player still has a weaker stroke, it has been beat up on for his/her whole career. So he/she is probably ready for this rally tactic and has some sort of answer. You could either ditch this plan completely OR try a few different tactics.

1. If you determine early which side is weakest. Play like you don’t know. Play a good match. Then when the points get really serious, you attack the stroke. They won’t be very warmed up on it. It might take them by surprise.
2. Move them around. Some players actually get good at hitting a ball standing still but not on the run. So if you break the patern, go to their strength and then go back to the weakness, you might draw an unforced error.
3. Find out a weakness within the consistent stroke. For example, if the guy slices all his backhands then you can hit him some soft balls, some deep balls, some high balls. All of which are difficult for a slice.


Federer and Gonzalez have killer forehands and bad backhands in comparison. You can't see the ball to well but you will notice that Federer is taking advantage of having a better backhand by sneaking into the net after a few strokes, running around his backhand to dictate the points with his stronger forehand and only going to Gonzo's forehand when he thinks that Gonzalez will not be able to set his feet to his his forehand (in other words....Gonzo is off balance).

Good luck.

Follow The Bouncing Ball (Old Man Tennis)

It is a strategy for beginners like the punisher. But instead of running people from side to side, you run them forward and back. I don’t know who made this strategy popular but it is a very frustrating strategy. On lower levels, it works great. What you do is you hit a drop shot (if you don't remember how to hit a dropper, click here) Hopefully your opponent is off balance when he gets there. If he gets it back, you lob over his head. If he runs THAT down, you hit another dropper and repeat until he can’t run anymore.

Aggie Radwanska (rad VAHN ska) is not the strongest player.
But she makes up for it by keeping the other player from being comfortable.

Radwanska hits comes to the net on this one.

It is a great pattern to have in your arsenal when you aren’t very strong. Exploiting someone’s weakness at the net is a great way to win matches.

So the pattern goes:
1. initiate a normal rally
2. hit dropshot
3. hit lob
4. repeat from 2

If you want to end the rally, come to the net after the lob and put the ball away.


At the beginner level, this is quite effective because opponents don’t aim the ball so well and they are afraid of the net.

At intermediate to advanced, you have to organize a good time to hit a drop shot in a normal rally.

Follow The Bouncing Ball (The Punisher)

One of the most popular tennis players ever was Andre Agassi (Aa guh see). He was a very colorful player and was known as the most fit player of his time. Because he was fit, he based his game on wearing people out. So they called him "The Punisher." So, in honor of him and the millions of people that emulated him, I call this pattern "the punisher"

Roger Federer and Nikolay Davydenko
are very good at punishing with groundstrokes.

On the beginner level, you just want to go from side to side. Hit a ball to the forehand and then the backhand. Keep track of which side your opponent makes the most mistakes off of.

At intermediate, you want to start to confuse them a little more. If they understand the pattern and are anticipating your strokes, mix in an extra stroke to the weaker side and then go back to the pattern.

At advanced, you just stand closer to the baseline and be more agressive. Hit the balls early after the bounce (on the rise) and give your opponent less time to react. Anything that speeds up the play is good for you.

A few things that make this pattern work.

• Try to be equally as good at your backhand and your forehand. If your opponent hit toward your backhand and you push it back slowly then your advantage is gone.

• Pace is your friend. The faster the speed of the rally, the better this pattern works. If the person slows down the rally by pushing the ball back, take your time and go for placement.

• Boss them around with your forehand. If you are hitting the ball at the middle of the court, go ahead and hit a forehand. Don't try to choose...no time.
  

Follow The Bouncing Ball (Intro)

There are three types of points: short points, fluke points and rally points. Short points are finished by 4 hits or less (ex big serve, big forehand, volley). Fluke points are forced because of an unexpected occurrence like a mishit shot. Rally points are points that can last forever and long as no one commits an unforced error. For more on rallies, please refer to this blog I made earlier.



Rally Blog

In rallies, you would want to know what pattern you are going to do beforehand so that you have less to think about. So in this series of blogs, we will discuss different patterns that professionals use and that you can use to as soon as your groundies (groundstrokes) become consistent enough.

Specialty Shots (Squash Shot)

I did this picture myself. I'm proud of it!!!

This person you are playing LOVES to hit the ball in the corners. But can’t do it ALL THE TIME. It is really important to get the ball back because you are confident that he will make enough errors for you to win the match. He pushes you out wide and you don’t have enough time to do a full stroke. So you flick your racket out and get the ball back. The rally continues and you win.


Kim Clijsters made the squash shot a signature. But you don't have to slide when you do it. Just flick your wrist!

The squash shot is great to have as a last ditch effort. Make your opponents play one more point.

1. continental grip (hammer grip)
2. mostly wrist
3. forehand slice
4. backhand wrist flick

Dudi Sela, Israel's top male tennis player, is known for his scrappy play
and his quickness on the court.

When you do the squash shot, make sure you get back to the middle of the baseline. There is not point in hitting that shot if you aren’t going to stick with the point until the end. Since it is a pretty energetic shot, you might want to save it for when the points matter more.