Is hitting deep really that important?

[Golden Retriever]

When you are hitting deep are you actually making it easier for pushers to get to the ball? Are you not making use of the entire court to your advantage? Wouldn't a medium-paced sharp-angled short ball more deadly for pushers than a deep ball with a lot of pace?

[aznspongehead]

You can't hit those sharp angels all the time... if you try to your consistency would go way down.
Deep shots are better because they are harder to attack, so keeping the ball deep is necessary when you are just getting the ball back in a neutral rally.

[WBF]

I realize that a deep, powerful ball is very hard to attack, and that people are taught that any decent player can take a short ball and simply hit a winner... But when I see professional matches with balls landing right at, behind, or slightly in front of the servive line for several balls in a row... It's a bit harder to take this seriously. Maybe they mean weak short balls.

[Golden Retriever]

Thats what I noticed too. Even the pros don't hit that deep all the time.

[WBF]

You just have to consider that if you don't hit it deep, you better hit it with pace and/or heavy spin.

[dave333]

Pros put a ton of work and power into the ball.There is so much spin and pace they can afford to hit short.

Your average rec player doesn't put even close amounts of spin and pace, which is why you need to go deep In rally, contuningly dealing deep shots forces the other guy behind the baseline so he can't be aggressive (if he tries to be, he'll probably make a lot of UEs) and eventually, he'll either make an UE or give you a short ball which you can then take advantage of.

[The Dolphin]

you obviously haven't seen djokovic play then, the depth he get's on every shot is incredible, balls are frequently within one foot of the baseline, that's how he beat federer.

[es-0]

When the pros hit it service line length, it has so much pace and spin on it that it is going to go deep pretty quickly.

So if you have the groundstrokes of a pro then you can afford to hit a little bit shorter.

[ionutzakis]

I think at recr level hitting deep is a risky strategy, you can't gauge your topspin everytime and the ball can easily sail long.

I think it's better to aim just a bit over the service line.

[Andres]

There are other type of players than pushers, you know?

I was in the main page, I saw the title of the thread, and I automatically knew it was you who posted it.

[WBF]

I think at recr level hitting deep is a risky strategy, you can't gauge your topspin everytime and the ball can easily sail long.

I think it's better to aim just a bit over the service line.

That's no way to improve.

[ionutzakis]

Maybe not, but it sure helps with consistency if you hit with lots of topspin

[Andres]

The deepest you hit, the better. You can pin your opponent to the baseline, or beyond the baseline, and that way, he has less and less chances to attack. The furthest the guy's standing, the less damage he can do when you're at the net.

But of course, Golden Retriever, you hate the net, so you can take this advice.

But think about this:

Short balls are to attack, deep balls are to defend.

By hitting deep and closer to the baseline everytime, you're reducing the other guy's chances to attack you

[ionutzakis]

... and significantly increase statistically your chances to hit out. Just go for the 1st half of the distance between service line and baseline, no need to aim for the 2nd half, too risky

[WBF]

ionutzakis: Doing this limits yourself to being a bad player. How will you improve if you're settling for only going for poor shots??? I could see if you have an important match, and you don't have the capabilities to hit confidently/consistently hit deep shots, but any other time you should be concentrating on building this consistency so you can use it when needed.

Would you rather have good stats at hitting a ball any decent player can destroy, or so-so stats for shots that can win you a point or prevent your opponent from hitting a winner?

[ionutzakis]

I agree in theory is much better to aim deep, but I say if you aim close to the baseline you'll lose many points than if you aim crosscourt in the 1st half of the distance between serv line and baseline.

But yes, in the long run it helps hitting deep.

[AgassiFan12]

When you are hitting deep are you actually making it easier for pushers to get to the ball? Are you not making use of the entire court to your advantage? Wouldn't a medium-paced sharp-angled short ball more deadly for pushers than a deep ball with a lot of pace?

I agree with what you are saying. Against a pusher it is more prudent to use more of the court and get them out of their pushing comfort zone. Against solid all court player or a good agressive player the short, floating balls will get you into more trouble than if you hit solid deep balls.

[ionutzakis]

this reminds me of some pusher friend of mine that camps deep behind the baseline to retrieve my left/right shots and then gets upset when I give him some drop shot. WTF, he wants me to hit same way so he can get to all the balls?

What's up with this "drop shots are not real tennis"? I'm sure you heard that before.

[origmarm]

The deepest you hit, the better. You can pin your opponent to the baseline, or beyond the baseline, and that way, he has less and less chances to attack. The furthest the guy's standing, the less damage he can do when you're at the net.

Short balls are to attack, deep balls are to defend.

By hitting deep and closer to the baseline everytime, you're reducing the other guy's chances to attack you

I agree completely with this. I hit as deeply as possible to pin them into the back of the court and then try and attack their short balls either with angles or use them to come to the net.

[mucat]

One of the trick I do to create my deep groundstrokes is to adjust the tension of the string. I adjusted my string so my groundstrokes will go as deep as possible without going out. After I got the tension figure out, I can pretty much control the range (depth) of my groundstrokes. And I do paint the baseline a lot.

[slice bh compliment]

this reminds me of some pusher friend of mine that camps deep behind the baseline to retrieve my left/right shots and then gets upset when I give him some drop shot. WTF, he wants me to hit same way so he can get to all the balls?

What's up with this "drop shots are not real tennis"? I'm sure you heard that before.

What? Drop shots are not real tennis!! Neither are short angles, lobs, slices, soft topspins that land at someone's feet, underhanded serves or moonballs.

Tennis is: hitting hard, just inches over the net, right at a guy, maybe sometimes from corner to corner (that is considered variety in tennis). Volleying is for guys who can't play real tennis, by the way, and same with dubs.

Naturally, I'm kidding, but sadly, I see more and more 'competitive juniors' make eachother look pretty sharp by playing only the bashing style. You watch them and you're like, hmm, wow, those guys can pound!

But then they're not so impressive to actually play against. They tend to lose to complete/more experienced players who have a better understanding of contrast and the all-court game....who can pull and push them around with different stuff at the right times.

[smoothtennis]

Deep balls - should a key foundation of your basic rally ball strategy. There are many reasons, but a few key ones are:

1. It most definately reduces their chance to attack you or be offensive consistently.
2. It keeps the court position advantage in your favor, if they can't do the same back to you as well.
3. Your chances of getting weak or short ball, dramatically increase, if you not only hit deep, but make them take a few steps to get there.
4. They have to cover more court per rally returning deep balls...assuming you can move the ball from side to side at least some.

Against pushers? The kind that can't put away short balls or pass right? Hit soft chips inside the service line, THEN hit the next one DEEP crosscourt. Watch them not only run, but ran at a 45 degree angle 'backwards' into the court. Then hit deep to the other corner (maximum running distance for them), then hit that short chip again, repeat until they collapse.

You get the idea on pushers. Mix it up yes...but use the deep ball to grind 'em into the court over the course of the match.

Short balls against good players on purpose, as in your rally ball?.....good luck with that strategy against anybody beyond 3.5.

[In D Zone]

When you are hitting deep are you actually making it easier for pushers to get to the ball? Are you not making use of the entire court to your advantage? Wouldn't a medium-paced sharp-angled short ball more deadly for pushers than a deep ball with a lot of pace?

I agree with SMOOTHTENNIS!

Hitting angled shot is a good tactic but you must have strategy to employ it -time your shots (setting up the point).

For starters, will you be able to continually to hit medium-pace sharp angles short balls on both sides of the court? You are increasing your % of error, you are playing into the hands of the pusher.

The advantages of hitting deep:
- ball control : pin the pusher back to a corner, then change ball direction
- able move the ball side to side
- change the speed and spin of the ball; it hard to control the shot of a long ball that is spins out rather than a short angled shot; the opponent is player behind the ball (long balls), not in front of the ball (short angle)

You need to get the pusher on the run before your hit those sharp angled shots, otherwise, you are going to be the victim of your success. Pushers are good ball retrievers and they can hit soft control shots basically to push you around at their will.

One thing I learned when playing 3.5 and higher ranked players - don't feed them short balls just because.... hit it on purpose (pace) and be ready to do battle when you bring them closer to the net!

[shindemac]

I think for the most part, yes. At higher levels, it becomes more and more important. At lower levels, u can run across players that don't know how to take advantage of the short ball. Or they always overhit it or they have no net skills. Even then, it's usually not a good idea to purposely draw the guy into the net.

[Steady Eddy]

Against relatively weaker players all that is necessary is to hit it back alot. When you face better opponents you must do more than that, you must hit it deep. This increases the chance that it will go over the baseline, but it's a risk you must take. So you've got to learn to hit it near the baseline consistently. Some people say you need topspin for this. That isn't necessarily so, if you have good feel you can put it within a foot of the line, not many players will be able to hurt you from back there.

This doesn't mean that you shouldn't try dropshots. But against good players they can be risky. If your opponent can reach that short ball, he will likely put it away. So drop it when you want to end the point.

But you're right that by consistently hitting it deep you can be making it easy for your opponent. Esp. if you hit down the middle and deep. Then he isn't forced to run much at all. Hitting deep is more about defense than offense. But it's good defense. Think of being a hockey goalie. Wouldn't you rather face a shot from the red line than from 10 feet away? When baseball became too defensive, they moved the pitcher's mound back. You might play pat-ball, but if you can consistently keep it deep, you'll be able to defend against some very good players. (And they'll hate you for it. :) )

[Rickson]

When you are hitting deep are you actually making it easier for pushers to get to the ball? Are you not making use of the entire court to your advantage? Wouldn't a medium-paced sharp-angled short ball more deadly for pushers than a deep ball with a lot of pace?
Hitting deep and with heavy pace is a deadly combination, but if you're hitting deep moonballs, you're entering the pusher's paradise. Hitting deep is important for volleyers because creating distance between you and your opponent gives you a better chance to get to the ball. A sitter that reaches the baseline gives your opponent a lot more options for passing so deep and with good pace is the key, not just deep.