Throwing out all the tricks from the bag

[Steven87]

Please name all the tricks you can do to win in a match against someone better. Im going against the 4th seed in a huge tourney tomorrow and I REALLY REALLY want to win (if I win, I will finally be noticed as one of the big players). Name all the tricks I can pull and advice I can use.

[str33t]

Drop shot lob combo.

[OrangeOne]

Training.
Practice.
Skill.
Experience.
Talent.
Hard work.

[Nellie]

Lob every shot deep. You will feel foolish with the moonballs, but everyone struggles to hit overheads over and over.

[TokyopunK]

Poison
His
Gatorade

[The Home Run Kid]

Scream... a lot... for no good reason. No explitives or anything, just yell for the hell of it.

[Solat]

if you are one of the big players then you shouldn't need "tricks"

[5263]

challenge their shot tolerance by making them hit a lot of balls to win the point. Seek to give them no free points. If you can stay in the pt long enough, you can figure pretty close to how many balls he will hit before errors creep in.
Avoid going for the winner in the first 4 balls and then only attack if you have the big edge you need to be pretty sure of closing it out. If you stroke the ball cleanly, this is not pushing, but just quality tennis.

When you are willing to work the point pretty hard, then take advantage of their mistakes, it can really throw off most players. Most go for too much, too early, then when u play consistent, they are surprised when you do attack on ball 9.

[TENNIS_IS_FUN]

Power up for a very hard groundie, and at the point of impact, give out the pansiest scream you can muster up. It's hilarious and I guarantee it'll make your opponent laugh.

[Chauvalito]

Power up for a very hard groundie, and at the point of impact, give out the pansiest scream you can muster up. It's hilarious and I guarantee it'll make your opponent laugh.

LOL...great post. :) NOT what i was expecting when I started reading the sentence.

[tennis_hand]

Lob every shot deep. You will feel foolish with the moonballs, but everyone struggles to hit overheads over and over.

lob every shot deep and not out?

even pros can't do it. forget about this.

[quicken]

Keep the opponent on his ass. keep his ass moving from side to side, deep to short, high to low.

[Vision84]

Depends what level he is. If he is 4.5 or less, especially 4.0 or less then moonballing can be good. I like to moonball then rush the net and get the easy volley, or I will delay and look for a short reply which I will take out of the air or approach off of.

Slicing everything can also be effective. This works on some players. Many players with extreme forehand grips will struggle to return sliced balls to that side.

Drop-shot lob combo. basically drop shot the guy then hit a lob off his approach shot and then either look for the weak reply or follow up to the net for the volley.

[Vision84]

Training.
Practice.
Skill.
Experience.
Talent.
Hard work.

I agree with you but he is looking for a gameplan to beat someone who can outhit him from the baseline from the sounds of it.

[Ash_Smith]

Tell him his mum is hot...


It worked for Del Potro (for a bit anyways!!!)

[Supernatural_Serve]

There's a boatload of items that you can engage in, if gamesmanship is part of your game. I don't, but I feel like I've seen them all.

I do a lot of things with my serve. One gimmick I do that's surprisingly effective:

once a set or maybe twice if my opponent is tight and overhitting in general, I hit the softest slice serve possible or a reverse slice without advertising, they aren't vaguely expecting it and often overhit it into the net or off the court. They just can't resist, especially the big swingers.

I'm doing it for psychological reasons more than I am doing it to win the point because I really intend the point to be a serve and a return, point over.

If I lose the point (they hit a big return), they have to say to themselves "where did that come from, this guys been banging huge serves all day"

If I win the point (their return is an error), they get to walk to the other side cussing at themselves.

and of course, I always follow it with a huge relatively flat 1st serve into their body.

Don't underestimate the value of the occasional paceless ball from nowhere causing problems for big swingers (4.0 and under).

[r2473]

There's a boatload of items that you can engage in, if gamesmanship is part of your game. I don't, but I feel like I've seen them all.

I do a lot of things with my serve. One gimmick I do that's surprisingly effective:

once a set or maybe twice if my opponent is tight and overhitting in general, I hit the softest slice serve possible or a reverse slice without advertising, they aren't vaguely expecting it and often overhit it into the net or off the court. They just can't resist, especially the big swingers.

I'm doing it for psychological reasons more than I am doing it to win the point because I really intend the point to be a serve and a return, point over.

If I lose the point (they hit a big return), they have to say to themselves "where did that come from, this guys been banging huge serves all day"

If I win the point (their return is an error), they get to walk to the other side cussing at themselves.

and of course, I always follow it with a huge relatively flat 1st serve into their body.

Don't underestimate the value of the occasional paceless ball from nowhere causing problems for big swingers (4.0 and under).

OK. 4.0 and under. Makes sense.

[Nellie]

lob every shot deep and not out?

even pros can't do it. forget about this.

Deep, i.e., pass the service line.

If you go to a junior tournement, you will see a lot of this tactic because it works.

[NotAtTheNet]

Consistently hammer only his backhand...

[tbini87]

mixing up your shots should help. mix up pace, spin, height, all of that. on serves too. i agree with SS that big hitters will often times hit the ball out on a weak serve that they just want to crush. keep the ball deep, but mix it up!

[kv123]

Hit the ball as high as you can into the sky and have it land in on his side. That will be sure to piss him off and draw errors but the downside is that its a very cheap way to win and doesn't look to good.

[Bagumbawalla]

There is really no trick to winning.

If the opponent is really better than you he will win the match (that's how we know he's better).

If you already had a compete game and could vary it to suit the occasion then you wouldn't need to ask this question.

So, here's what you can do.

Buy some books on tennis tactics and drills, and THEN practice them so they are available to you when you need them in a match.

Begin to improve your game- become more consistant, develop your complete game- volleys, overhead, lobs, dropshots, passing shots, serve, return of serve, topspin drives, slice... the whole gamut of shots-- done correctly, with good form.

Work on stamina. Work out with light weights. Work on balance and footwork.

Work on hitting each ball for a definite purpous to a specific shot.

Do all those things and you might beat the guy the next time.

[Japanese Maple]

You have probably played your match-how did you do? If a player is better than you-how so, in what way? It really helps to have all the shots and the ability to hit these shots in all parts of the court from all parts of your court. Most players like to play with a particular rhythm and from certain areas of the court, and make contact at their ideal height. Make a point of disrupting their timing and space-high loopy topspin, low short slices, chip and charge, drop shot/lob combos, serve/volley, drop shot returns, approach/volleys,ect. Never let them get comfortable or grooved-disrupt their comfort zone and rhythm. If they are serving real well, during changovers compliment something about their serve to activate their subconcious/conscious-"your wrist snap is amazing", "you keep your head up so well", "I love the way you push with your legs" If people are talking on your side of the court outside, tell your opponent on the changeover to say something if the noise bothers him! If he likes to play fast, slow down particularly when you are serving. I don't like to use tricks in actually matches, but I do like to have fun with my practice partner using tricks just for fun sometimes. Read Brad Gilberts, "Winning Ugly"-great book on legal tricks!