In need of advice...lost to a 4.5 today

[Coach Chad]

I am a solid 3.5 who has beaten 4.0 players at times. My strengths are: good first serve, good % of getting first serves in. Great kick serve (lefty). Strong forehand, good pace and topspin. Do not make many unforced errors. My weakneses: only use slice backhands (one-handed)...topspin backhand basically does not exist. Not an agressive volleyer. Today, a visitor came to our court and wanted to hit; he was a 4.5. We played; I took the first set 6-4 and thought he may be a weak 4.0. He took the final two sets 6-2 6-1. He got better and I got weaker as the match went on. Here is what I noticed: He seemed so very relaxed, and he hit the ball at the very last second (in my mind!) I think the ball was barely off the court when he hit it! He also had tremendous spin and forehands and backhands. QUESTION: do most high level players wait until the ball is only inches from the court to hit a return? This vexes me. Thanks for your responses...and how can I improve? Yes, I am a little jacked up!

 

[Larrysümmers]

most high level players make adjustments so they can hit the ball in their strikezone. perhaps his strike zone was a few inches off of the ground.

 

[rkelley]

Generally no, they wouldn't wait until the ball is about to hit the ground to hit the ball from my experience. Balls that are that low force you to hit a lot of topspin to keep them in and generally you'll still have to keep them low over the net, so they steal margin. Also, you generally want to play as close the baseline as comfortable because the further back you are the more you open up angles for your opponent and close them off for yourself.

If the ball's that low generally you're inviting a better player to step in and either take the ball higher inside the baseline and be aggressive with it or hit an aggressive approach and come to net, depending on the person's style.

 

[mightyrick]

I'm not sure if you are talking real NTRP ratings or not. Assuming you are...

If you beat him 6-4 in the first set... he isn't a 4.5. 6-4 means that he couldn't break you once and you broke his serve once. No way. Maybe if he was playing with one leg. All things being equal, if you are a solid 3.5... and the line was 6-4, 2-6, 1-6 at the end of the match... then your opponent sounds like a low-to-mid level 4.0.

Many 4.0s have problems with patience (not so in 4.5). So it sounds like he had little patience with your 3.5 strokes... and lost the first set by taking impatient swipes at your balls. Then, he woke up, and played his game.

 

[The Wreck]

To answer the question about taking the ball low: no that is far from normal. The higher levels you reach, the more likely players are to actually take the ball on the rise, not as it's falling.

 

[USERNAME]

He coulda been messing around. I play lower level players a ton during the summer cause I go out to serve quite a bit and I've lost a game or two here and there to 4.0-4.5 players just cause I was messing around.

 

[BobFL]

6:4 in first set means nothing. He was maybe trying to 'feel' your game. If the difference is 1 full point - relax, there is no way to beat the guy. He saw in the first 30 seconds that you cannot hurt him on bh side. Solid 4.5 can hit you there all day long and beat you easily. Slice only won't cut it against 4.5+ especially if it is coming from 3.5...

 

[mikeler]

I'm not sure if you are talking real NTRP ratings or not. Assuming you are...

If you beat him 6-4 in the first set... he isn't a 4.5. 6-4 means that he couldn't break you once and you broke his serve once. No way. Maybe if he was playing with one leg. All things being equal, if you are a solid 3.5... and the line was 6-4, 2-6, 1-6 at the end of the match... then your opponent sounds like a low-to-mid level 4.0.

Many 4.0s have problems with patience (not so in 4.5). So it sounds like he had little patience with your 3.5 strokes... and lost the first set by taking impatient swipes at your balls. Then, he woke up, and played his game.

My unofficial rule of thumb is that the player who is 0.5 lower will win approximately 4 games. A player who is 1.0 lower will only get a game if they have a big serve.

 

[jdubbs]

There are no absolutes here, guys. Maybe he saw you had a terrible bh so hit everything to you fh to make a game of it. Maybe it took him a while to warm up, maybe he was hungover or just tired.
Even Nadal or Federer can lose or drop sets to guys ranked well below them.
I played a 4.0 a few weeks ago with a bizarre type of game and beat him only 3 and 4. Sometimes you just get thrown off.

 

[mikeler]

There are no absolutes here, guys. Maybe he saw you had a terrible bh so hit everything to you fh to make a game of it. Maybe it took him a while to warm up, maybe he was hungover or just tired.
Even Nadal or Federer can lose or drop sets to guys ranked well below them.
I played a 4.0 a few weeks ago with a bizarre type of game and beat him only 3 and 4. Sometimes you just get thrown off.

The OP is a lefty as well. That can take a set to adjust to if you are not used to playing lefties. I play 'em all the time so it does not bother me anymore but I remember it did take some time to get used to the spin difference.

 

[Coach Chad]

Thank you for the responces! After thinking about the match almost all night, I believe my opponent was thrown off a bit by me being a lefty. My kick serve to the ad court was very effective yesterday...he adjusted and closed that door. I do believe that he was "feeling" my game in the first set...also, honestly, I do not believe he was giving it his best tennis...after dropping the set, he changed rackets, put on a hat, and put alot more spin on the ball for the second and third sets. He did hit to my backhand much more often. I honestly do not think I would have won a game in the second and third sets if it hadn't been for the fact that it was a very humid day in Orlando, and he seemed to have trouble getting a good grip at times because of the sweat. I want to thank you all for your input.

 

[Coach Chad]

Can someone please tell me, for the love of all that's decent, why I could not volley against that much spin? I tried every technique I knew of....and the ball just left my racket wildly...very depressing, but I know this was a learning moment...I even tried just pushing the darn volley and I still could not return it with any accuracy! I am glad that hitting as low as he did is normal btw...thanks for everything!

 

[Coach Chad]

To answer the question about taking the ball low: no that is far from normal. The higher levels you reach, the more likely players are to actually take the ball on the rise, not as it's falling.

Glad to hear that! It looked sort of awkward to me!

 

[Coach Chad]

Can someone please tell me, for the love of all that's decent, why I could not volley against that much spin? I tried every technique I knew of....and the ball just left my racket wildly...very depressing, but I know this was a learning moment...I even tried just pushing the darn volley and I still could not return it with any accuracy! I am glad that hitting as low as he did is normal btw...thanks for everything!

Meant to say NOT normal....sorry.

 

[BobFL]

Can someone please tell me, for the love of all that's decent, why I could not volley against that much spin? I tried every technique I knew of....and the ball just left my racket wildly...very depressing, but I know this was a learning moment...I even tried just pushing the darn volley and I still could not return it with any accuracy! I am glad that hitting as low as he did is normal btw...thanks for everything!

I cannot see what grip you use to volley but 2nd most important thing is to CUT the ball down. You cannot just block the ball because it comes with torque. So cut the ball down with a brief and sharp movement...

 

[Coach Chad]

Thank you BobFL. I use eastern to volley...racket "vibrates" with conti on a volley...thoughts?

 

[yemenmocha]

1. People's estimations of their NTRP can be all over the place.

2. NTRP varies by region. In some places, 4.5's can be ex-college players. Sometimes 4.5's in low population areas are no better than 3.5's in others.

 

[psYcon]

I'm not sure if you are talking real NTRP ratings or not. Assuming you are...

If you beat him 6-4 in the first set... he isn't a 4.5. 6-4 means that he couldn't break you once and you broke his serve once. No way. Maybe if he was playing with one leg. All things being equal, if you are a solid 3.5... and the line was 6-4, 2-6, 1-6 at the end of the match... then your opponent sounds like a low-to-mid level 4.0.

Many 4.0s have problems with patience (not so in 4.5). So it sounds like he had little patience with your 3.5 strokes... and lost the first set by taking impatient swipes at your balls. Then, he woke up, and played his game.

agreed . there is no way a 3.5 can take a set off a 4.5 just like that. A 4.5 is one full point above a 3.5 and that means an easy bagel or breadstick win.

I played two 3.5s on a couple of occasions and the score had been 6-0,6-0 on both occasions.