Getting aggressive, hard hitting inside the baseline.

[MoxMonkey]

Been playing three years, I've developed good groundstrokes, and often will be content just doing that all day, whether in practice or competition. I've been told by people to step into the court and take balls earlier. Id practice it half hearted for a while, and then fall back and just hammer high spin from the trench. I was good back there, and against my peers it's good enough to often have an advantage.

Except for one guy, this hard flat hitting older guy that will keep advancing into the court and pushing me back. Most people I hit with don't do well taking the balls I hit early, but this guy just gets in there and pushes me around, whether it's coop or competitive.

A couple days ago, instead of retreating to take a full swing 3-5 feet behind the baseline, I started stepping into his attacking shots and trying to push him back, which he did not do, he stood his ground. This resulted in an outbreak of tennis fisticuffs.

We were not playing points, we were hitting right at each other, but aggressively, often both inside the baseline, in a trading punches kind of way. Each trying to push the other back. It was a blast. we've gotten into waves of this duel a few more times since then. It took me some time to get the shot trajectory dialed in, but this is definitely something for me to work on. I couldn't help but notice how when I pulled or pushed a ball, how effective winner/pressure angles are from inside the baseline. I am aware this is obvious to most people but I never really tried to take initiative to hit from inside the baseline, Id generally only come in after a short, weak ball came from across the net.

So this is my new tennis self development project, stepping into the court and hitting aggressive groundstrokes effectively.

Any advice/drills/YouTube videos etc. would be appreciated.

 

[Mark-Touch]

I don't really have any advice, but if you've been able to figure this all out with just three years of play
my hat's off to you!
This is pretty sophisticated stuff that usually takes players many years to grasp and pull off.

 

[McGradey]

I spent far too long trying to hit hard from behind the baseline before I realised that it’s much more fun — and effective — to press forwards as much as possible. Kudos to you for figuring it out so soon.

I think trying to hit on the rise is a great way to develop more damaging strokes in general, because it teaches you that producing a good shot is more about rapid and tidy preparation than it is about taking a huge swing.

 

[tlm]

Been playing three years, I've developed good groundstrokes, and often will be content just doing that all day, whether in practice or competition. I've been told by people to step into the court and take balls earlier. Id practice it half hearted for a while, and then fall back and just hammer high spin from the trench. I was good back there, and against my peers it's good enough to often have an advantage.

Except for one guy, this hard flat hitting older guy that will keep advancing into the court and pushing me back. Most people I hit with don't do well taking the balls I hit early, but this guy just gets in there and pushes me around, whether it's coop or competitive.

A couple days ago, instead of retreating to take a full swing 3-5 feet behind the baseline, I started stepping into his attacking shots and trying to push him back, which he did not do, he stood his ground. This resulted in an outbreak of tennis fisticuffs.

We were not playing points, we were hitting right at each other, but aggressively, often both inside the baseline, in a trading punches kind of way. Each trying to push the other back. It was a blast. we've gotten into waves of this duel a few more times since then. It took me some time to get the shot trajectory dialed in, but this is definitely something for me to work on. I couldn't help but notice how when I pulled or pushed a ball, how effective winner/pressure angles are from inside the baseline. I am aware this is obvious to most people but I never really tried to take initiative to hit from inside the baseline, Id generally only come in after a short, weak ball came from across the net.

So this is my new tennis self development project, stepping into the court and hitting aggressive groundstrokes effectively.

Any advice/drills/YouTube videos etc. would be appreciated.

That’s good to practice with a hard hitter and try to take the ball early. But it’s much tougher to do under point pressure. I’ve watched a lot of guys that while just hitting look like very good players, but when playing a real match did not look near as good and usually made a ton of errors.

 

[MoxMonkey]

I think trying to hit on the rise is a great way to develop more damaging strokes in general, because it teaches you that producing a good shot is more about rapid and tidy preparation than it is about taking a huge swing.

I have felt the effect of this. Being late and or loose on prep, makes hitting a good ball back feel more a like a lucky strike than a good stroke, especially when the window to prep is smaller.

 

[user92626]

Been playing three years, I've developed good groundstrokes, and often will be content just doing that all day, whether in practice or competition. I've been told by people to step into the court and take balls earlier. Id practice it half hearted for a while, and then fall back and just hammer high spin from the trench. I was good back there, and against my peers it's good enough to often have an advantage.

Except for one guy, this hard flat hitting older guy that will keep advancing into the court and pushing me back. Most people I hit with don't do well taking the balls I hit early, but this guy just gets in there and pushes me around, whether it's coop or competitive.

A couple days ago, instead of retreating to take a full swing 3-5 feet behind the baseline, I started stepping into his attacking shots and trying to push him back, which he did not do, he stood his ground. This resulted in an outbreak of tennis fisticuffs.

We were not playing points, we were hitting right at each other, but aggressively, often both inside the baseline, in a trading punches kind of way. Each trying to push the other back. It was a blast. we've gotten into waves of this duel a few more times since then. It took me some time to get the shot trajectory dialed in, but this is definitely something for me to work on. I couldn't help but notice how when I pulled or pushed a ball, how effective winner/pressure angles are from inside the baseline. I am aware this is obvious to most people but I never really tried to take initiative to hit from inside the baseline, Id generally only come in after a short, weak ball came from across the net.

So this is my new tennis self development project, stepping into the court and hitting aggressive groundstrokes effectively.

Any advice/drills/YouTube videos etc. would be appreciated.

Do you know any pro's playing like that? Like you describe? Have you found any highlight of pro's doing that?

I haven't.

If pro's don't play like that, there must be good reasons for them not to.

 

[tlm]

Do you know any pro's playing like that? Like you describe? Have you found any highlight of pro's doing that?

I haven't.

If pro's don't play like that, there must be good reasons for them not to.

I think it’s good to practice like that and try to get better at taking the ball early and attacking. But it’s much more difficult under point play as opposed to just practice hitting.

 

[user92626]

I think it’s good to practice like that and try to get better at taking the ball early and attacking. But it’s much more difficult under point play as opposed to just practice hitting.

It's good to practice anything, even something that we rarely use in matches, if you have time. Keyword here is if you have time.

A couple things about recreational players, 1 they usually lack time due to life's other priorities, 2 there's a lot more lower hanging fruits that haven't been picked yet.

 

[Slicerman]

I'm actually a bit of a headcase when it comes to taking balls early. I'm probably the opposite of most people. I hate backing up, I tend to hug the baseline and take most balls early or on the rise, regardless of the ball height.

One tip from my own experience, is that you need to hit the ball lower over the net the closer you are inside the baseline. That's the trick to keeping the ball in when taking it early.

 

[TennisCJC]

I prefer to take balls at the peak of bounce or just after the peak but don't back up very often unless it is a high loopy and deep ball and sometimes I will even take those on the short bounce. Having said that, my preference is still to take the ball at or just after the peak of the bounce. I also like to attack the net so I am step in and take a ball early, I usually will follow it to net. I learned to play in the 1970s and attacking the net was taught a lot back then. I suggest learning to step into the court whenever you get a chance but not necessary charging in on your opponents deepest best shots. I wait for a shorter and/or slower ball before I move in. I also suggest learning to be a good net player so you can take more advantage of moving in. Learn to hit approach shots, volleys, 1/2 volleys and overheads, and learn basic net positioning.