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.