Just a question, are you able to move your opponents around using angles and wrongfooting them, but can't really easily end points with a big flat shot...because if so...I seem to have the same problem.
Okay... If you can use angles and wrong-foot your opponent with angles and STILL can't get a winner, there's a severe problem with your game or your concept of angles and wrong-footing.
Just keep doing it until they make an error or get a short ball. Once you get the short ball, hit deep to the open court and finish at the net. Simple as that.
Hey RoddickAce, that pretty much sums up my game... I can usualy maneuver them around with my backhand or forehand cc, but cant seem to pound out a winner unless i get a short ball. Its frustrating not being able to crank up my strokes that extra notch like some people I have played.
Okay... First off, focus on getting those short balls. Winners from the baseline (or worse, from BEHIND the baseline) are very low percentage shots. Work the point until you get an error or a short ball, then approach deep and finish at the net.
Tennis isn't about hitting winners, it's about getting one more ball into the court than your opponent can.
As for those people that can hit harder on demand, that comes from accelerating the racket through the ball.
Now to analyze your stroke...
First thing I notice is that you either send the ball uncontrollably high or short with no pace. The reason for this is your poor footwork. You can never set yourself properly to allow yourself to fully utilize your whole body into the stroke. Look at your feet when you hit a shot. I frequently see your feet coming off the floor when you hit a stroke. Also, you end up with your weight on your back foot most of the time. Your opponent isn't hitting any forcing shots, so you should be able to keep both your feet on the ground and get your weight moving on to your front foot. When you hit a shot, you want to be balanced and have both of your feet on the ground and rotate your hips through the shot. The quicker you rotate your hips, the more pop you can get without losing control since your base remains stable. It becomes far easier to hit cleanly through the ball. Of course, sometimes you can't keep both your feet on the floor (when you're backing up really quickly or deal with an incredibly high ball you didn't have enough time to properly set up for), but you should make an effort to keep your feet on the floor and move your weight forward.
Next, if you want a bigger shot, take a bigger swing and swing faster. Also, rotating your hips through the shot helps a lot and helps you move your weight forward.
Finally, hit straight through the ball if you want to hit flatter (making sure that you still have control over your racket face).
As for tactics, you should really focus on keeping the ball deeper. First off stop trying to blast the ball, and try to maintain your balance and hit through the ball, aiming for good depth and placement. After a few minutes, slowly speed up your swing speed and add spin. If you can keep your opponent behind the baseline, they can't really do anything to hurt you. If they do, then their shot was too good. If they do it throughout the day, then they're too good for that day. If they do it every time they play you, then they're too good for you and you need to keep practicing before you get to their level.
And although I said going for winners from the baseline was a big no-no, I guess I'll let you in on how to hit them. There are many ways to do it. The obvious down the line, the crosscourt bomb, the crosscourt angle, and the dip drive.
For the down the line shot, you simply hit through the ball and sort of place it down the line and deep. Swing as fast as you can where you can still control the shot. You want to use this when you pulled your opponent wide or have them off balance. If you hit it well and they are on the full run, you can charge the net behind this shot. If not, expect a short ball. Also, if you can, hit this shot on the rise and when YOU are on balance. Same goes for that short ball. Try to catch it early, but on balance.
For the crosscourt shot, either they gave you a down the line shot and you had the opportunity to hit a running forehand deep into the corner, or you're trying to pull this off in a crosscourt exchange. If the former situation, it's like hitting it down the line. Focus on depth and placement and make sure you get it in because you're on the run. Don't try to pull a Sampras. You'll either go back into a neutral rally, get a short ball, force an error, or get the winner so chill; things are in your favor.
If in a crosscourt exchange, you want to back your opponent up or put them off balance. To do this, you have two options. A deep shot that pushes your opponent back (a hard, deep crosscourt shot near the corner or a heavy topspin semi-lob into the same location) or a solid topspin angle that pulls them off the court. They will want to run back to the center of the court to cover the rest of the court. So with their response (likely either lacking in pace or depth), you quickly move up and take the ball on the rise and deep into the corner with a flat shot. You're still playing the percentages (though you take some risk by playing a flat shot), so you should make this shot most of the time. Keep in mind that since you're hitting the ball on the rise, you don't need to hit the ball as hard, just make clean contact and hit through the ball. Chances are they won't be able to recover to the corner in time, or you took it so early that you hit behind them. Even if they do get it back, you can easily repeat it constantly until you draw an error, short ball, or a winner. Obviously, you don't want to force yourself if they hit a good shot back.
The crosscourt angle winner is pretty self explanatory. Heavy spin towards the sideline.
For the dip drive, the concept is simple, but requires practice. What you require is a high ball that lacks pace. You can hit this shot from ANYWHERE on the court. Though you want to hit it from as close to the net as possible. If you're like 5 feet behind the baseline, unless you have a laser for a forehand and machine-like precision, I suggest lobbing it back or hitting a topspin drive. Anyways, your contact point is between shoulder height to the top of your head (you can also consistently hit it from chest height if you're inside the baseline). When you recognize where the ball will bounce, you need to measure out how far away you need to be so that it will bounce into your strike zone. For the setup, you need to start the racket above your contact point (usually above your shoulder). From there, you hit straight through the ball towards your intended target point with a slightly closed racket face. If cleanly hit and well placed, you can hit this at 70% and still draw a short ball without any problem. The reason you start with the racket above the ball is because you want to hit the shot with as little spin as possible. Starting below the ball will naturally force you to hit up, and you will either slow the shot down with heavy spin, send it long, or send it into the net to try and compensate. I prefer to hit this shot crosscourt, since it's the percentage shot and I can still get a winner just by placing it well and how hard I hit it. But the down the line will always be open, so that's cool too, just avoid going down the line from behind the baseline. From what I've seen, Nadal is one of the few players that doesn't use this shot too frequently. He always starts from under the ball and uses heavy spin. Agassi and Federer frequently use this shot.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u_oenWftWCc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zqSp_U1Un2U (last forehand)
As you can see, you just need to put it off to the side. You don't need to tag lines or hit corners. Give yourself a big area to hit to and just pick a side. The pace will draw an error anyways.
Overall though, you should just look to work the point and get the short ball and work from there. Draw errors, don't go for winners unless it's an easy put-away.
