Ever fake a weakness?

[TwistServe]

When I warmup with a guy before a match, I sometimes fake a bad backhand.. I let him hit to my backhand and then I'll frame the ball here and there, and net them.. just so they think to attack the backhand..

And also on the practice serves I usually just get the arm loose and do nice and slow kickers.. then when it comes to the first serve I drop the biggest bomb my arm will allow lol..

sometimes they are so hard set on a strategy they wont stop beating a dead horse that was never hurt!

[eLterrible]

HAHA i tried to do something along those lines...

During warm-up i pretended my 2hb was my strongest shot, and i had a push-back forehand. BUT the plan backfired and my forehand wasn't warmed up as much as i wanted it to be and the backhand was normal (but wasn't strong).

The plan sort of worked for the serve though, but who really does their first serve in warm-up?

[Phil Daddario]

It's a tactic many people use.

But seriously, if you're doing it like that, you're not warming up the stroke at all. Warmups are intended to get a player used to the ball, and making any last minute minor technical adjustments that day.

So you're not getting any benefit at all out of it.

If you warmed up enough prior to the "official" match warmup, it's a possibility. But really, I believe it's best to just use the warmup to it's fullest. Most of the time, you're often going to hit some bad balls or framers there anyway. That's fine. If you don't do that normally, the warmup is the point where you fix it.

Dead horse that was never hurt? It has to be somewhat hurt to be dead. ;)

[Mahboob Khan]

It is a ploy which can work in couple of games. But as the match progresses your opponent will find out what you were faking in the warm up.

[x Southpaw x]

When I warmup with a guy before a match, I sometimes fake a bad backhand.. I let him hit to my backhand and then I'll frame the ball here and there, and net them.. just so they think to attack the backhand..

And also on the practice serves I usually just get the arm loose and do nice and slow kickers.. then when it comes to the first serve I drop the biggest bomb my arm will allow lol..

sometimes they are so hard set on a strategy they wont stop beating a dead horse that was never hurt!
LOL hahahah! I can't do that because I need a proper warmup =( if I fake a bad stroke during warmup, that stroke would be bad during gameplay...

[nyyank7]

If you really want to get your opponent, try complimenting a specific part of there game ie. "You have a great first serve!" This will get them thinking about that resulting in failure of that particular stroke.

[Bungalo Bill]

When I warmup with a guy before a match, I sometimes fake a bad backhand.. I let him hit to my backhand and then I'll frame the ball here and there, and net them.. just so they think to attack the backhand..

And also on the practice serves I usually just get the arm loose and do nice and slow kickers.. then when it comes to the first serve I drop the biggest bomb my arm will allow lol..

sometimes they are so hard set on a strategy they wont stop beating a dead horse that was never hurt!

Just warmup Twistserve, get your strokes warmedup. Like Mahboob, says it is pretty easy to tell which are the strokes to stay away from. There are no magic tricks. :)

[AngeloDS]

I always start off my warmups with two handed forehands, and two handed backhands first. Then one handed forehand, then a one handed backhand. Then forehand slice and backhand slice. I then go onto serves heh.

It really weirds my opponent out. They can't pinpoint what I hit with at first, unless they've played with me before. I try to level it to my crappiest hit which is my two handed forehand. So, I take it easy on my forehands and backhands. There's hardly a difference. The difference shows when I'm in game but I don't think my opponents ever notice.

[x Southpaw x]

I always start off my warmups with two handed forehands, and two handed backhands first. Then one handed forehand, then a one handed backhand. Then forehand slice and backhand slice. I then go onto serves heh.

It really weirds my opponent out. They can't pinpoint what I hit with at first, unless they've played with me before. I try to level it to my crappiest hit which is my two handed forehand. So, I take it easy on my forehands and backhands. There's hardly a difference. The difference shows when I'm in game but I don't think my opponents every notice.
Strange enough I don't know how to do a proper forehand slice, except a drop shot a FH slice lob or a beginner-like slice. Pros barely use it too.

[Kyo.Phan]

My brother use to warm up using his opposite hand to show that he was weak and right handed

[RiosTheGenius]

hahaha.... I've thought of this, but I couldn't do it. I really need to warm up and focus on my own stuff. I don't even analyze much my oponent during warmup because I lose focus on my own game. unless it is really obvious that his bh or fh or whatever shot is noticeably weak. but it still can backfire.

[Tennis_baller]

Yeah, I once warmed up left handed. It was against a push over though. plus, I was already warmed up so it didn't really hurt my game.

[Camilio Pascual]

It is a ploy which can work in couple of games. But as the match progresses your opponent will find out what you were faking in the warm up.

I agree with Mahboob, it is worth trying if it works in a couple of games.

[kevhen]

Of course you don't hit your best shots in warmups. I play much better when the match is on the line so warmups are usually so so but I try to get alot of balls back to have consistency confidence going into the match, but don't worry much if I do miss a few balls. I don't crank up the spin and power as much in warmups either but just like to establish a consistent baseline pattern during warmups I can fall back on if I need to.

If my opponent showed a weakness in warmups, I might probe it some but I would still focus on his backhand mostly and then check out the consistency of the forehand if his backhand was there. Usually I can tell more about an opponent's volley than his groundstrokes in warmup because often players hit groundstrokes well in warmup but not so well when under pressure.

[TennsDog]

That isn't really a good thing to do, since part of warm-up is to get used to your opponents shots and feel them out. Also, like you said, you don't get a proper warm-up that way. I do, however, sort of unintentionally do a similar thing. I warm up my serves (a little lighter than match-play, as you should), but I only hit one speed in warm-ups. This lets my opponents assume I am only practicing my first serves. However, my first and second serves are nearly identical, so I am actually practicing them both, but people will assume they haven't seen my second serve and it will be weaker. BTW, I am not so sure that at most levels people even pay attention to looking for strengths or weanesses in warm up. Maybe at like 4.5 and above (perhaps a few 4.0) would do it, but below that people are just trying to actually warm themselves up and not thinking so much about their opponent.