Hitting a Proper Approach Shot

[Thanatos]

When I get a ball that lands behind the service line (ie.FH side) I would bring my racquet back early while moving forward towards the ball. When making contact with the ball, I would reduce the pace and try to aim for the corner of my opponents service line (next to the alley) depending on where my opponenet is at the time. This would pull my opponent wide while I get closer to the net. I used to whack my approach shots for winners, but have learned to used approach shots as placement shots to setup for a winner.

How does everyone else hit their approach shot? What would you reccommend for different approaches (slice, flat, topspin, speed, placement) to be successful?

[v998988]

For me, the biggest issue I used to have was I would simply use power, and not focus enough on placement. So an opponent standing in the middle of the other side of the court would not have to move very much. To correct this problem, I went over my technique for the shot, and adjusted my footwork. When I turned my shoulders and feet to hit the shot, I angled them more towards where I wanted to hit the shot, almost exaggerating the technique. I still hit my approach shots relatively hard, but now are placed much better and I either hit a very aggressive/offensive shot setting up an easy volley, or after a set or two when the opponent is worn out, a winner.

[finchy]

my approach shots (before i was injured) were fast, with ALOT of topspin, and very wide crosscourt forehands. they always pulled my opponent wide. that and a deep backhand slice then i follow up to the net.

[kevhen]

I am still not too confident on what to do with approaches from my backhand side where I approach with topspin. I usually hit a moderate pace shot with medium depth 2 feet from the line but that is not a very attacking shot. Sometimes I will hit it harder to force errors but mostly I don't approach from the backhand side.

One the forehand side I will hit low slice up the line usually with depth but sometimes intentionally short to get them in off the baseline where they tend to hit long on short low balls. Sometimes I will hit hard approach but usually more at a moderate pace so that I am in good position to volley but hard enough that they have to run to get to the ball and will struggle with hitting the crosscourt pass. If you hit a slow approach shot then you pretty much better hit with good depth or your will be passed or lobbed or however you opponent feels like winning the point. But a slow approach will work as long as there is depth since it gives your opponent no pace to pass you with so you just have to be ready for the lob.

Crosscourt approaches are trickier but can work too but you have to hit a little bit harder and then cover the crosscourt pass and force them to change direction and hit DTL which is open for them but still a tricky shot. I don't approach crosscourt much though as you have too much court to cover then.

Down the middle approaches can work too if you keep the ball low with slice over the low part of the net. You opponent has no angle to pass you with but he will have time to setup so you will have to make a good volley or overhead. I approach down the middle more on fast surfaces where I don't feel as comfortable placing the ball near the sidelines but need to get to net more to take advantage of the fast surface where vollies are tougher to run down and the quick surface makes it hard for long groundstroke rallies so you might as well get your butt to net ASAP and take control of the point.

[Camilio Pascual]

Crosscourt approaches are trickier but can work too but you have to hit a little bit harder and then cover the crosscourt pass and force them to change direction and hit DTL which is open for them but still a tricky shot. I don't approach crosscourt much though as you have too much court to cover then.


I tend to hit my Xcourt approaches more softly to give me the time to cover the court. Not approaching Xcourt a lot is a good idea. I think hitting aproaches too hard is the most common mistake. People don't give themselves enough time to get in position and pace is being given to the opponent that can be used to hit a harder passing shot.

[Thanatos]

So wait..are you guys saying that it's better to hit a FH approach (I'm right handed) shot DTL then cross court? I always thought cross court was a high % play.

[tennisplayer]

I've got my behind whipped zillions of times on approach shots, and this is what I've found out the hard way. True, all of the advice on what kind of a shot to hit are right. But there is one additional factor - you have to make it really hard for your opponent to return the ball. You should get him on the run so he barely gets to the ball, with just one option in front of him - get the ball back! If you give him options, then unless he makes a mistake, or you are able to cover all his options, you are toast. Or, if you have a really good, hard slice - one that you can make skid so it doesn't bounce more than a foot - you can use the classical ploys that have been discussed here. If your slice sits up and he gets there on time, lord help you!

The shot that does the trick can be any shot - cross court topspin, d.t.l. slice, a drop shot - that gets your opponent into a state where the only thing on his mind is "get it back!"

[kevhen]

I hit maybe 80-90% of my forehand approaches down the line and that is where I have my success approaching with a forehand slice approach shot.

It's harder to cover the court when you hit crosscourt because if you move all the way over to cover the line it makes the crosscourt pass for them very easy and you not even have enough time to move all the way over to cover the line anyway. If you approach up the line you keep the ball in front of you and force them to change direction and also for them to beat you with their backhand. Now it they have good backhand passing shots then you may want to go crosscourt but most people have good forehand passing shots too.

[Kobble]

I typically try to hit the ball to the farthest distance from my opponent regardles off spin or pace. However, I have a tendancy to go hit my shots crosscourt because I can create much more topsin on those shots. When hitting forehands from the far left corner I feel equally comfortable going inside out or down the line, since the increased topspin reduces the propblem of the higher net. There is one circumstance that I will go to the person's backhnad as much as possible, and that is when they slice everything. It is almost too easy knocking off volleys from slices. Also , the fact that they cannot generate sufficient topspin on the backhand further reduces the threat of a topspin lob winner. Another good strategy is to hit short crosscourt angles to people with bad movement. They don't have much success passing you on the run.

[Kobble]

NoBadMojo has absolutely right about the approach down the middle. It especially helps to keep it low and short. Keeping it low and short almost eliminates the attempt of a lob, and they have to be careful of not overhittng on the passs attempt.

[djbrown]

So wait..are you guys saying that it's better to hit a FH approach (I'm right handed) shot DTL then cross court? I always thought cross court was a high % play.

Assuming you are charging off a short ball after an exchange of cross-court forehands, DTL would be what the Wardlaw Directionals suggest. Plus, DTL forces the opponent to hit a backhand, which is usually the weaker of the two sides.

If you are getting a short ball from the opponent's backhand, I just rip it into the open court and forget about the approach altogether :) If it sits too low to hit a winner, I'll either slice the backhand deep DTL into the deuce court if the short shot was out wide or hit a top spin FH into the open deuce court and charge from there.

[kevhen]

On a short high ball to my forehand I will just rip it topspin crosscourt for winner, but on low short ball will hit slice approach DTL.

[ma2t]

So wait..are you guys saying that it's better to hit a FH approach (I'm right handed) shot DTL then cross court? I always thought cross court was a high % play.

I agree with previous posters that approaching cross-court is very dangerous because you have too much court to cover. Slicing approach shots up-the-line is a time-proven classic strategy that works (especially at the club level). Driving the ball up-the-line is also effective but if you can keep the slice low, your opponent has to hit up. Also, slicing the ball slows it down which gives you more time to get into proper position to volley. It's similar to hitting a slow kick serve when serve-and-volleying instead of a hard flat serve so that you have more time to get in to the net.

[prince]

lots of slice spin, deep , down the line most of the time , the rest of the time in the middle .

[Camilio Pascual]

Keeping it low and short almost eliminates the attempt of a lob,

Kobble - Sshh!!! Quit telling people that! You're ruining my game! LOL