To get your lobs deeper, lob over the service line not the net player.
How to lob the net man
If your lobs are consistently landing short, focus on making the high point(apex) of the lob happen over the service line.
Most people focus on lobbing over the net man. This makes the high point of the lob happen over the middle of the service box, or roughly, where the net man is standing. With a couple of steps, the net man can move back and hit the overhead from the service line. Not a desirable out-come for you.
By lobbing with the service line as the apex, you make the net man shuffle back to almost the base line to hit the overhead, or better yet, chase the lob and hit a defensive shot back.
So remember to lob against aggressive net players, use the service line as the focus.
As the pros are about to start the clay court season, this seems like a good time to talk about some of the particulars of playing on the surface. Making the transition from hard courts to clay courts can be a challenge. Here are a few simple rules to help you succeed quickly on clay.
Red clay tennis court
You must get a high percentage of first serves in. Second serves are much easier to take advantage of on this slower surface. Use more of a kick serve or a slice to help your percentage. See previous tips Kick(serve) some Butt!/Kick(serve) some Butt(2)!/
Always hit behind your opponent in a ground stroke rally. In other words, don’t hit to the open court unless you can hit a winner. Also hit higher over the net with topspin for consistency. See tips Hit “de fence”, stay on offense/ One more ball
Lastly, once you have control of a point and can hit a winning volley, make sure you move forward through the shot. On clay, the ball doesn’t penetrate like it does on a hard court, so it’s important to keep you body weight going forward to add power to the shot.
Practice these techniques on the clay and watch your winning percentage go up!
Last week we mentioned focusing on the ball like a dog to help you move your feet. I’d like to use the dog analogy a little more this week to help you see how to live in the moment on the court.
What do I mean by “live in the moment” and why is that important? I’m glad you asked.
“Living in the moment” means not worrying about past or future mistakes or outcomes and playing each point confidently and fluidly
Why is this important? Because you play your best tennis when your mind is unhampered by negative thoughts or expectations
Back to the dog analogy. Have you ever seen a dog chase a squirrel? Sure. Have you ever seen a dog catch a squirrel? Probably not. But every time they chase a squirrel, you can tell they fully expect to catch him this time. And they do it with free abandon. It’s obvious that they aren’t thinking “I’m so slow!..He always beats me to the tree!..What do I do if I catch him?”..etc..All that dog is thinking is, “That squirrel is mine!!”
Now compare that to what goes on in the average tennis player’s mind…”My backhand sucks (today)!..Her serve is too much for me..I always choke!..I can’t hit anything in today!..I’m letting my partner down.”..etc. There are a million negative things that go through your mind. I’m sure you can recall some of your own.
So now you see what it means to play like a dog. Doesn’t it sound like fun? Believe me, it is. So how do you push the negative thoughts out and “live in the moment?” For starters, see our previous tip Mental Focus for Tennis. You can also check out our page on the mental game of tennis for some more on the subject. Have fun and I hope you play like a dog from now on!
One of the most important aspects of your tennis stroke is foot movement. Every shot you hit will suffer if you fail to get into proper position. How do you get into position? Move those feet! There are two types of foot movement:
Moving to the ball- obviously you have to get to the ball
Adjustingto the ball- small adjustment steps to help track the ball
Unfortunately, foot movement is one of the first things to go when you are playing badly or tentatively. I’m sure you’ve had this feeling during a match….You can’t react fast enough to get to the ball or the ball gets to you too fast for you to hit the shot properly. That’s because your footwork has stopped.
To keep those feet moving, focus on the ball like a dog does. Have you ever seen a dog waiting for it’s master to throw the ball? They can’t wait! And they are totally focused on the ball. If you could hear what they were thinking, I’m sure it would be ball!, ball!, ball!
Adopt that mindset and active waiting style. Bounce on the balls of your feet, focus on the ball and be ready to go after and adjust to it as soon as it comes off your opponent’s racket. This mindset will give you the fast start to get to the ball.
golden retriever running after a ball
Once you get to the ball, channel that same anticipation to your feet as small adjustment steps. This will keep you balanced and allow you to adjust your hitting position up until the ball arrives.
In doubles, attacking the net is a good strategy. When your opponents are serving and volleying and/or poaching, it can make it hard for you to get to the net. You want to make aggressive net rushers think twice about coming forward or poaching. Here’s how. (It’s a good idea to do this early, like in your first return game)
Hit a lob return down the line (over the net man). The server will have to get this and can’t serve and volley.
Hit a hard return right at the net man or down his alley. He’ll remember that and think twice about poaching.
Hit low and cross court at the net-rushing server’s feet
When one of these tactics works, keep using it and keep moving forward. Use these tactics to throw off your opponents’ attacking style, put your team on the offensive, and take control of the net first.
Letting your momentum carry you through your tennis match is like riding a wave.
Ride your wave in a match
Australia is renowned as one of the world’s premier surfing destinations. Right now you can watch players in the Australian Open surfing their own waves. In a tennis match each player has waves of good and bad play. You may run off a string of good games and then have a string of error filled games. The trick is to get through the bad wave quicker and be ready to ride the good wave. Here is some help on how to do that:
recognize the wave (in your game and your opponent’s) and realize it won’t last forever
stay positive and up-beat during the bad wave, keep your head up and your feet moving
stay loose and keep going for shots during your good and bad wave
above all else, have fun out there and enjoy the process not just the outcome
That last one can make your good wave in tennis last the rest of your life.
Last week we talked about footwork and preparation for the overhead. This week we exam the options based on what type of lob you’re given.
A high and short lob that drops straight down – let the ball bounce and use your quick feet to get in position to hit an angled overhead put away
A looping/topspin lob that’s also short – take this ball out of the air, if it bounces you may not catch it
A well hit lob going over your head – just try to get under it enough to tap the ball back deep and stay in the point, or if you are athletic – jump and hit the overhead a la Pete Sampras
A very deep, high lob – let the ball bounce, move into position and hit a slice overhead similar to a serve, or even hit an aggressive ground stroke to gain control of the point
Fast feet, early preparation, and proper shot selection will improve your overhead. As a matter of fact, those 3 things will improve pretty much every shot in tennis.
Do you find yourself hitting the overhead late, and therefore, out? Preparation and shot choice make all the difference in a successful overhead. Today we look at preparation.
Footwork is the first key to executing the overhead. Move your feet quickly, with short adjustment steps to get into position to hit the ball.
Turn your body sideways and move with shuffle steps, or grapevine steps for longer distances.
Point at the incoming ball with your opposite hand and get your racket in the ready position..like you are scratching your back with it.
Just like the serve, reach up to hit the ball, don’t pull your head down.
Practice fast feet and early preparation to improve your overhead. Next time we’ll make more overhead improvements with shot selection based on the lob.
One of the best ways to beat opponents is to take them out of their comfort zone. They may be hitting one very consistent shot or have a particular weapon. People play best when their strokes flow and they don’t have to consciously think too much about the shot they are hitting. You need to give them something different coming from your side of the court that makes them think a little more. How you ask? By mixing up your shots.
For example…if your opponents are constantly lobbing you to pull you off the net, use the drop shot. It’s very difficult to lob a ball that you are running forward to get.
Another example…your opponent is pouching frequently and cutting off your return, hit the return down the line, right at them, or lob them.
If you don’t feel comfortable hitting a big variety of shots, you can still mix it up. Vary the height of your shots, alter your spin, come to net, take a high ball out of the air, or change the pace.
Mix it up and do something out of the ordinary and you’ll surprise your opponent, break their mental rhythm, and keep them off balance.
Stay focused and mix up your shots to break your opponent’s focus
In many areas of the country the fall tennis season is over and the frequency of play is slowing down for many players. In other areas, winter will soon have it’s grip, and players stop playing all together or are forced to play less and indoors.
Whatever stage your weather or tennis season is in, everyone can benefit from off court fitness training.
There are many different ways to exercise to increase stamina and speed and to prevent injury. Elliptical machines, treadmills, jumping rope, jogging, etc. Whichever you have access to, or prefer, the important thing to remember is…train in intervals.
Interval training is simply, short bursts of high intensity exercise followed by short periods of lower intensity. For example, you might jog on the treadmill at a pace that makes you breathe too hard to talk to someone easily for 1-2 minutes and then slow to a brisk walk for about 4 minutes. Repeat for a minimum of 10 minutes. That’s right you can make a difference in your fitness level in just 10 minutes a day. (See Men’s Health article below)
Interval training mimics the patterns of exertion in a tennis match and has been proven to be a more beneficial way of exercising in general. (Bonus: it also produces more fat loss in less time than exercise at a constant exertion level)
Off court, interval training helps your tennis game and your health
Here are some more resources for interval training information.
This winter (and all year) find an exercise that you can do off the court and use interval training to get your body in shape before and during tennis season.
