How do I beat my brother?

[danniflava]

Okay, I have a twin brother named Anthony. We have been playing for the exact same time, and we're pretty much equal. We have extremely close matches, and it can go either way.

I was wondering how to beat him really bad. I know it sounds mean that I want to destroy him, but oh well...

Serve: I'm better.
Forehand: Eqaul.
Backhand: Anthony's better.
Volley: I'm better.
Slice: I'm better.
Drop Shot: I'm better.
Mental: Anthony's better usually.
Fitness/Movement: I'm better.
Lob: Equal.

I hope that helps.

Is there something I can do for him to make tons of errors or something?

[lildev0426]

321 inverted v zone offense.

[fedex27]

make him stay up allnight and feed him mexican food before the match and nachos.

[pchoi04]

Maybe mix it up? If you serve and volley better why not serve and volley... From the baseline just keep it consistent and open up the court...

I don't know... Just putting out ideas...

[AndrewD]

If he doesn't move as well around the court then try the very simple, very old-fashioned 'one short, one long' tactic. Bring him up to the net then send a lob over his head.

Still, hard to tell really. You could both be 4.0-5.0 then it really comes down to who is better on the day. Just remember, at the top level of tennis where the standards are relatively equal a win or loss often comes down to a few points won here and there. Even though you're at a lower standard, if you are both quite equal the only way to really flog him is to make sure you win the points that count. Dont give up free points, play him very tight on his serve and stay consistant.

[Camilio Pascual]

I was wondering how to beat him really bad. I know it sounds mean that I want to destroy him, but oh well...
Is there something I can do for him to make tons of errors or something?

Give Tonya Harding a call, she may have some pointers. LOL

[Kaptain Karl]

"On paper" you look like the better player ... mechanically. (Now you know why mental toughness is so important, huh?) Tony's got you there....

The two (serious) suggestions you've gotten are good. (And it's good to have a Plan A and B.) Here's a Plan C....

In addition to S/V and short/long variety with lobs, I keyed in on your Slice, Drop Shot and Court Movement being better. If you can give him lots of slices, deep in his court, he'll eventually give you a shorter ball to, (1) put away, (2) drop shot him -- for either a winner, or to run his butt, (3) slice another deep approach shot and take the net for the winning volley. (The key to this, in my mind's eye, is the slice groundstroke is not easily discernible from the drop shot. If you mix these well, good 'ol Tony will be "beside himself" with the uncertainty of "What's he gonno do next?" And ... you'll be exploiting his poorer court movement.

By all means, let us know what you try and how it works....

- KK

[Marius_Hancu]

1. make sure he doesn't know about this forum:-)

2. you're asking the question, thus I assume he's beating you on a regular basis. as there seems to be certain balance on shotmaking, I think you have to concentrate much better on the critical points. get Winning Ugly by Gilbert (and don't give it to him:-)), I guess this is where you're losing those matches.

3. if he's training more separately from you or with better coaches, you have to do something about it, at least in the quality of your training.

[backcourt]

I find playing my brother is a much more psychological battle than in other matches. Probably cause we hate loosing to each other. Sounds like you guys play about the same amount. But if not, my older brother and I used to split pretty evenly. But since I've been playing a lot more than him over the past couple of years, it is now a very rare occassion when he wins. Not rocket science just my .02

[danniflava]

1. make sure he doesn't know about this forum:-)

2. you're asking the question, thus I assume he's beating you on a regular basis. as there seems to be certain balance on shotmaking, I think you have to concentrate much better on the critical points. get Winning Ugly by Gilbert (and don't give it to him:-)), I guess this is where you're losing those matches.

3. if he's training more separately from you or with better coaches, you have to do something about it, at least in the quality of your training.

Well, no he's not beating me on a regular basis. In our indoor rivalry, I am leading him 8-7. But ever since her got his new n5, He is leading me 4-2.

[danniflava]

If he doesn't move as well around the court then try the very simple, very old-fashioned 'one short, one long' tactic. Bring him up to the net then send a lob over his head.

Still, hard to tell really. You could both be 4.0-5.0 then it really comes down to who is better on the day. Just remember, at the top level of tennis where the standards are relatively equal a win or loss often comes down to a few points won here and there. Even though you're at a lower standard, if you are both quite equal the only way to really flog him is to make sure you win the points that count. Dont give up free points, play him very tight on his serve and stay consistant.

This is a good idea, and thank you AndrewD. But my brother and I talk a lot about our games, and he would think it to be "cheap" if I beat him. I know it sounds like I shouldn't care, but my brother absolutely HATES when I hit short winners, because he thinks that if you have the ability to place short winners, why not hit them deep?

So I don't think I'll be able to use this one.

[danniflava]

Maybe mix it up? If you serve and volley better why not serve and volley... From the baseline just keep it consistent and open up the court...

I don't know... Just putting out ideas...

Thanks, this helps a lot. I do have a much better volley, but I'm not very good with approach shots, and my brother is AMAZING at hitting powerful passing shots. I'll try this more often.

[danniflava]

I find playing my brother is a much more psychological battle than in other matches. Probably cause we hate loosing to each other. Sounds like you guys play about the same amount. But if not, my older brother and I used to split pretty evenly. But since I've been playing a lot more than him over the past couple of years, it is now a very rare occassion when he wins. Not rocket science just my .02

Definitely. When I used to play my brother in previous years, he hadn't beaten me in about 3 years straight because I didn't go for much, I just waited for his errors. He would get extremely negative, and I would win the match.

[danniflava]

"On paper" you look like the better player ... mechanically. (Now you know why mental toughness is so important, huh?) Tony's got you there....

The two (serious) suggestions you've gotten are good. (And it's good to have a Plan A and B.) Here's a Plan C....

In addition to S/V and short/long variety with lobs, I keyed in on your Slice, Drop Shot and Court Movement being better. If you can give him lots of slices, deep in his court, he'll eventually give you a shorter ball to, (1) put away, (2) drop shot him -- for either a winner, or to run his butt, (3) slice another deep approach shot and take the net for the winning volley. (The key to this, in my mind's eye, is the slice groundstroke is not easily discernible from the drop shot. If you mix these well, good 'ol Tony will be "beside himself" with the uncertainty of "What's he gonno do next?" And ... you'll be exploiting his poorer court movement.

By all means, let us know what you try and how it works....

- KK

This post is wonderful. This has helped me. I'm making notes right now. Thanks a lot!

[danniflava]

Just on a side note, even though our groundstrokes are equal, Anthony is way better at hitting one of those Serena-damn-looking-good forehand or backhand blasting winners down the line.

[AndrewD]

danniflava, if he's able to talk you out of playing certain shots and playing a certain way then he's already one-upped you. Its kind of like telling you that you can't make him run LOL. You did say you wanted to beat him badly so the best way would be to hit the shots he doesn't like. If you have to win 'his way' its going to be an awful lot harder because he'll be waiting for those shots.

Oh, and if your brother does hit great passing shots and you dont approach that well think about throwing in some approach shots down the middle. It will give you some more margin for error and wont give him any angle for his pass. Not as effective as down the line but worth a try. If he likes the ball coming at him hard then put a bit more spin on the approach, keep it deep but dont give him pace to feed off.

[ChrisNC]

danniflava, if he's able to talk you out of playing certain shots and playing a certain way then he's already one-upped you. Its kind of like telling you that you can't make him run LOL. You did say you wanted to beat him badly so the best way would be to hit the shots he doesn't like. If you have to win 'his way' its going to be an awful lot harder because he'll be waiting for those shots.
I agree 100%

Stop trying to win within your brother's rules. The only rules that count are the rules of tennis. Keep it within those, and who cares if your brother thinks it's cheap. You gotta play to his weaknesses, especially if you two are that closely matched. I like to say "a W is a W". I don't care how I have to get it (short of cheating).

[Marius_Hancu]

Well, no he's not beating me on a regular basis. In our indoor rivalry, I am leading him 8-7. But ever since her got his new n5, He is leading me 4-2.

That's still pretty balanced. What do you want, beat him everytime? That might be tough, knowing each other as you do.

The simplest advice is remind yourself how were you able to beat him in those matches. Analize what happened in each. Keep a tennis journal. And just do it again.

[danniflava]

That's still pretty balanced. What do you want, beat him everytime? That might be tough, knowing each other as you do.

The simplest advice is remind yourself how were you able to beat him in those matches. Analize what happened in each. Keep a tennis journal. And just do it again.

Very interesting. I'll look into keeping a tennis journal.

[danniflava]

I agree 100%

Stop trying to win within your brother's rules. The only rules that count are the rules of tennis. Keep it within those, and who cares if your brother thinks it's cheap. You gotta play to his weaknesses, especially if you two are that closely matched. I like to say "a W is a W". I don't care how I have to get it (short of cheating).
I know, I know. But if I hit short, he gets all annoyed and pissed, and he ruins the match for everybody. I'd rather just blow him off the court and get his respect.

[Rickson]

Fix your weaknesses and turn them into your strengths without letting him know. If your backhand is weak, you can do a couple of things to him. You can work on it naturally, but the other thing you can do is to hit and inside out forehand on him.

[dAgEnIuS]

quietly sabatage his racket when he's sleeping....
that always works for me.....

[goober]

I know, I know. But if I hit short, he gets all annoyed and pissed, and he ruins the match for everybody. I'd rather just blow him off the court and get his respect.


He's is winning the gamemanship battle with you. If you don't hit short winners because it gets him pissed than start doing it all the time. If I found out something like that pissed my brother off I would start doing it all the time. If he refuses to play with you say no problem. Don't worry he will come back to playing you and he will have to learn to deal with the short ball.

Up until about a year ago my brother beat me about 80-90% of the time. I decided to get serious about tennis. I started taking lessons, practicing more and playing as many good players as possible. I also got into better shape. In the last 15 sets we have played he has onlyt taken one and that was when I switched to a new raquet and played with it the first time. Funny thing is he is no longer eager to play me anymore like he was when he was beating me all the time :)

[Kaptain Karl]

If some particular style of play bugged my brother ... that's all he'd see! Ever!
__________

danniflava - What have you tried? How's it going?

- KK

[ibemadskillzz]

why are you asking this? only person that exactly knows your brothers game is you. just attack his weaknesses

[danniflava]

why are you asking this? only person that exactly knows your brothers game is you. just attack his weaknesses

He doesn't really have many weaknesses.

His serve is good. I could attack it well, but it's not like I'm able to hit return winners off of every serve.
His return is spectacular. When I don't get my first serve in, he dominates me. It's a lot easier for him to break me than for me to break him because my return isn't nearly as good.
His groundstrokes on a regular basis are probably better than mine.
His volleys aren't that great, but he doesn't come to the net much.
His movement isn't as good as mine, but it's not a glaring weakness in his game, so I wouldn't be winning a lot more points by running him side to side.

[K!ck5w3rvE]

Put laxitives in his breakfast.

[OldSchooLTennis]

I suggest you pretend your him and you purposely loose and tell everyone you one. ;)