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Tactics to beat the Offensive Baseline Player (OBP) Tactics to beat the All-Court Player (ACP) Tactics to beat the Serve-and-Volley Player (SVP) Tactics to beat the left-handed player (lefty)
Win Your Doubles Matches Using the One-Up-One-Back Formation: One-Up-One-Back vs. One-Up-One-Back One-Up-One-Back vs. Both-Up
Page One-Up-One-Back vs. Both-Back
It is very hard to outplay this type of player because every ball you hit usually comes back. It does not come back hard it just comes back. Whenever you think you got him and you are about to finish the point, you find yourself getting back in the battle again.
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The pushers are very comfortable in moving side to side along the baseline, so get him out of his comfort zone by making him move forth and back: drop shots and moon balls.
Move the ball at short angles side to side to have him chase it down and open the court on his side. Look more for opening the court and tiring him out then trying to finish the point when you get a shorter ball and an opening. Once you move him off the court with an angled shot don't give him time to recover - step inside the baseline and take the ball early. Don't over hit the ball when trying to finish the point; hit it just hard enough so you can control the placement of it.
Going for winners might be a frustrating task for you because you will find most of your best shots returned with very little effort. So save your energy and do not over hit.
If you feel comfortable at the net, move up any time you can. Attack with a low slice or whenever you can make him reach for the ball. Those are times when he will not be likely to pass you easily. In fact, attacking the net against the pusher, could be one of the best tactics if you feel comfortable playing there. Once at the net, you can put the ball away easier either with aggressive volleys, drop shots or overheads. He'll likely lob you most of the time if you attack the net, so prepare to put the overheads away. Hit your volleys at short angles or drop them short to bring the pusher closer to the net or make him reach forward.
Mentally, go into this kind of battle being patient and ready to have a possibly very long match. Even though you might think that the pusher's style of play is below yours (underestimating him), I'd suggest that you change your mind. Take it as a great challenge that you will find very satisfying to overcome. They present, in fact, very serious competition to any player. They might not be technically great but their perseverance and athleticism will compensate by proving them very worthy opponents.
I like to welcome playing pushers in practice because they help me become a more patient and consistent player and they improve the mental side of my tennis personality too.
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When returning against him, find ways to make him move to the ball: short and angled returns or slice deep to keep the balls low. When hitting balls on the run, his balance affects his body and ball control preventing him from being such a big threat. During the rally phase, keep the balls deep and at medium pace - the OBP loves the pace; so give him more slice shots that he has to get low for, hit up and deal with a lower speed of the ball.
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The aggressive players like rhythm, they prefer the ball at a certain height and pace. So varying your shots' depth, height and spin can work great against them. Exploit their weakness: Since the aggressive baseline players hide/protect their weak wing very well, it is hard to attack that side. Sometimes you will have to hit a couple of shots to their strong side to open up the court on the weak side. E.g. hit a couple of balls to their forehand then attack the backhand right away.
Bring them up to the net: You can do that either on the return of serve or during the rally using drop shots. The OBP is not very comfortable playing up at the net so once you bring him there, don't try to pass him by over hitting - just give him low, medium pace shots at his feet preferably cross-court so that you have a better chance to attack right after.
Mentally, go into a match against the OBP prepared to defend a lot. You will constantly be challenged physically (quickness, reaction, ball control). Therefore try not to match his power by hitting harder or at least that hard. After all, the OBP likes pace - so avoid matching him at this game. Instead try to outsmart him: stay with what you do best.
Keep staying positive even when things don't go your way. They are not going to keep the pace at a high intensity all the time because of the risky nature of their style. Stay calm and wait for your opportunity. The opportunity can be either your opponent losing some of his intensity, mental composure or whenever you can take advantage of his weak side (net game, backhand or whatever you can detect as weakness in his game).
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When returning their serve, be aggressive on the second serve. Take charge of the point by hitting the ball early and angle it to make the opponent hit on the run. The all-court players like to move the ball around inside the lines and make you run; eventually they create a nice opening for their winning shot. So you will be chasing the ball a little until you find ways to avoid it.
Prepare for a long and tactically challenging match. They are like chess players where they can figure you out and exploit your weaknesses. Expect to adjust and come up with creative ideas to keep the ACP from controlling the points.
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The overall mentality with which you should approach this match is to be patient first (it can be a long tactical challenge for you), consistent with your confidence (don't give up if you find yourself frustrated with his clever attacks) and willing to believe that momentum can turn either way (hoping that at some point his strokes might fail him and you can begin playing better).
Some of the ways to prevent your opponent (ACP) from taking charge of the point are: hitting more cross-court, mix up the shots' spin, height over the net and placement, court position variety: alternate between staying back and moving up to the net.
And, after all this, you should know that even though the ACP seems to own all the shots, there are actually some that are not that strong. Figure out which ones they are and use them to your advantage.
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Serve deep to keep the SVP from attacking; especially on the first serve. By hitting more first serves in, you will keep your opponent back. Prepare to have your second serve attacked. He'll love to take it on the rise and place it to your weak side with, probably, a slice ground-stroke. To avoid an attack, hit the second serves with slice (makes the ball stay low), or a topspin into the body. Either way, the placement of your serves must be deep.
If he attacks you with a slice and moves up to the net, try to hit slice right back at him. Hopefully he'll have a hard time blocking your spin shot back and you will get a short slow ball in return. If his slice bounces a little higher (2-3 feet at least off the ground) you can try an aggressive topspin drive down at his feet. That will make him hit up setting you up for attack.
When you return his serve, keep it low, aiming at the service line. In this way, as he moves up behind his serve, he'll find the ball at his feet. Once he pops the ball up, attack it. Since they prefer to move side to side and angle their volleys, give him the opposite - hit right at him. Try to pressure his serve delivery by moving your position (side to side, back or forth) making him feel nervous about your intentions.
To keep the SVP deep, close to the baseline, hit the balls aggressively and landing far beyond the service line during the rally; avoid hitting passively and just getting the ball in - you need to put a little pace on your shots so that he cannot attack them. Soon he'll lose patience and start making errors because the serve-and-volley player does not like staying back.
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Once he is at the net, look for a weakness. It could be his forehand is weaker than his backhand. Use this piece of information when you are defending - defend toward his weak side.
Lob him. See if he responds well to it. Disguise your delivery as much as you can. Aim deep and preferably to his backhand. As you know, the backhand overhead is one of the weakest shots; that makes it the best choice to place your lob. Also, you can lob cross-court since you have more court to pass the ball over his head.
Here's a surprise tactic: move up to the net following your serve or attacking his short ball - the SVPs are not too good at passing shots.
Mentally, since they prefer quick action and to pressure you, try to give them the opposite: make the points long and boring. Be alert and ready to react quickly if they manage to come up. Don't try to put the balls away on the first shot; hit the first one back to him. Sometimes it is enough to just make him volley (hit it back at him) until you find yourself in a better position to go for a winner (shorter ball or when the SVP is a little stretched out).
When being attacked by a lefty on your weak side (backhand), sending the ball cross-court to defend (like you should do most of the time) meets his strong side (forehand). Defining a left-handed player's weak side is a tough task. He definitely has a strong forehand and wicked spin that he puts on the ball but you should consider that, since his past right-handed opponents have attacked the lefty's backhand by going cross-court, the lefty's backhand is likely to be at least as strong as his forehand. It is very often that you see a left-handed player who literally has no weakness from the baseline. Not only that his serve is one area that really must be provided particular attention to.
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The infamous lefty's slice serve can be very damaging not only because it can push the opponent off the court on the ad side but it goes to a right-handed player's weak side (backhand). From my experience playing lefties, I have always admired their great "touch" on the ball. They are masters at angling the balls in the opposite court, at drop shots and slices. They can make you uncomfortable and confused better than any other type of player. If you are an aggressive baseline player and prefer to run around your backhand and use your inside-out forehand to attack cross-court, you will find the ball going to your lefty opponent's strong side (forehand). So you'll have to change your placement - the inside-out should become inside-in, then run quickly to cover the open court to avoid the cross-court aggressive return. So basically, when playing the left-handed player, you will have to re-think your whole strategy, which, let's face it... it is like learning new strokes, putting you on the defensive by using a style of play that you are not familiar with.
Mentally, welcome the challenge and recognize that you will experiment with a new set of stroke tactics and you'll have to deal with different kind of ball bounces (than you are used to) and spins coming from the other side of the net.
The leftys biggest weapon is the serve, especially from the ad side. It helps to position yourself a little to the left while waiting for his serve. By doing so, you will not only protect the backhand but you will invite the lefty to aim to the open court which means a serve toward your strong side (forehand).
Left-handed players are famous for their wicked slice serve that curves a lot to the right-handed player's backhand. To avoid being pulled off the court, step into the ball and take it early trying to cut the angle of it. Move perpendicular to the ball's trajectory instead of wide (which can make you go too far off the court).
Attack the serve aggressively to counter-act the spin. Aim more toward the center of the court until you get to feel more comfortable with the spin and eventually start placing it accordingly.
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Same tactics that you use against a right-handed player apply when playing a lefty; just reverse the placement: return deep and toward the middle on the first serve, see if you can attack the second serve by setting yourself up with your strong side, hit it to his weakness (which you should figure out during the match by observing his tendencies), vary your placement, spin and height over the net, experiment with your return and see what works for you. when serving, apply the same tactics as you do against a right-handed player with respect to the fact that everything is like playing with a mirror: whichever side your forehand is, that's where his forehand is too. One of your advantages when serving is the deuce side delivery - using the slice serve against the lefty not only sends the ball to his backhand but you can pull him off the court. So basically you do to him from the deuce side what he can do with his serve from the ad side Use the slice low or kick into the body as second serves. They work on right-handed players as well as on the left-handed ones.
During the rally exchange prepare to hit a lot of backhands. Since you are used to attacking the opposing players' backhands that means you will be tempted to hit to the lefty's forehand a lot. They will love to return it back aggressively to your backhand (and add on top of that a spin that is somehow new to you - "the lefty's spin").
Having said that, if you want and welcome challenges, seek out left-handed players to compete against and practice with. It would be a great idea to improve mentally and tactically by welcoming left-handed players in your practices.
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1. The net player should try to poach on every shot possible coming from his opponents
You might think this would be too exhausting, but think about how long a tennis point lasts You see, you can be active for such a short time. Often we see the net players acting as spectators watching the baseline players exchanging cross-court rallies. Instead, they should put pressure on the opposing baseline player by getting closer to the net and center in order to close the angles of the return. If the ball passes the net player he should back up to open the court for his baseline partner to play his shot.
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So the net player's first job is to close the angles of the opposing baseline player by moving closer to the net and center; second, to poach whenever he can; and third to move back and a little to the side to open up the court for his baseline partner when this one has the ball. As you can see, the net player should be constantly moving during the point: back and forth and side to side. It only takes a few seconds while the point lasts; no excuses :)
2. The baseline player should cover any shot that the net player cannot intercept
His main job is to keep the ball away from the opposing net player. If he happens to hit the ball towards the opposing net player, it is his responsibility to get to the next shot which will most likely be sent between him and his net partner or toward the net partner.
4. Serving
Should be done down-the-T most of the time since this puts the net player in a perfect position to poach. (see Court Coverage - doubles)
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