How to improve your tactical tennis

[peRFecto]

I'm starting to get pretty consistent with my groundstroked and served but I'm very weak tactically. Always seem to be at the work side of the court, when I run to the net I get passed easily and I can't seem to find a way to end points. How do you guys actually improve your tactical knowledge when playing matches? I also seem to be pretty impatient (I'm 3.5 on the dot).

 

[junior74]

Key advice for improvement: Rehearse serve. It's a strong tactical improvement, because it has nothing to do with your opponent, it is 100% in your hands. Improve 1st serve placement and develop a dependable 2nd serve with a little action on it. You will find it becomes so much easier to hold serve, which in turn makes the return an opportunity.

 

[peRFecto]

Key advice for improvement: Rehearse serve. It's a strong tactical improvement, because it has nothing to do with your opponent, it is 100% in your hands. Improve 1st serve placement and develop a dependable 2nd serve with a little action on it. You will find it becomes so much easier to hold serve, which in turn makes the return an opportunity.

Thing is, my serve is hard and strong(I'm 6'8 so its my biggest strength). Its more about finishing the (sometimes) easy returns too.

 

[Dragy]

Thing is, my serve is hard and strong(I'm 6'8 so its my biggest strength). Its more about finishing the (sometimes) easy returns too.

Finishing is about practicing short balls - putaways and approaches. And solid net game - putaway volleys and overheads.

Tactics start with recognizing "green, yellow, red" balls - attackable, neutral, defensive for you. You should have clear vision:
- What you want to do to survive an neutralize when pushed - usually hit high and deep unless he's at the net
- What you wnat to do against neutral ball - hang in the rally waiting for opening, working him off the court a bit, or hitting to the zone where he doen't like it and tends to make UEs or give you attackable balls
- What you want to do when you earn attacking opportunity. Will you hit DTL and come to net? Or go for wide angle first? Or bash his BH with I/O FH?

Anyway, you don't think to end points from "red" or "yellow" balls. Even going for passing shot, you are ok to trouble him and get a pop-up volley or weak OH, not mandatory clean pass. If you don't want to hang in rallies, take serves and returns as setup opportunities, it's best moment to ramp it up and take control of the point - much easier and promising than trying to advance against good neutral rally.

To sum it up:
- Be mindful of what's your situation on every particular ball you get, act accordingly
- Use what he doesn't like to get attack opportunities. Use your strength to get attack opportunities
- Practice playing short balls, approaches and volleys a lot so that you are happy, confident and consistent every time you get an attack opportunity

Here's video, from 14:15 he calls out type of ball loud:

 

[peRFecto]

Finishing is about practicing short balls - putaways and approaches. And solid net game - putaway volleys and overheads.

Tactics start with recognizing "green, yellow, red" balls - attackable, neutral, defensive for you. You should have clear vision:
- What you want to do to survive an neutralize when pushed - usually hit high and deep unless he's at the net
- What you wnat to do against neutral ball - hang in the rally waiting for opening, working him off the court a bit, or hitting to the zone where he doen't like it and tends to make UEs or give you attackable balls
- What you want to do when you earn attacking opportunity. Will you hit DTL and come to net? Or go for wide angle first? Or bash his BH with I/O FH?

Anyway, you don't think to end points from "red" or "yellow" balls. Even going for passing shot, you are ok to trouble him and get a pop-up volley or weak OH, not mandatory clean pass. If you don't want to hang in rallies, take serves and returns as setup opportunities, it's best moment to ramp it up and take control of the point - much easier and promising than trying to advance against good neutral rally.

To sum it up:
- Be mindful of what's your situation on every particular ball you get, act accordingly
- Use what he doesn't like to get attack opportunities. Use your strength to get attack opportunities
- Practice playing short balls, approaches and volleys a lot so that you are happy, confident and consistent every time you get an attack opportunity

Here's video, from 14:15 he calls out type of ball loud:

many thanks for this response. I like tennisnerd so I'm going to be watching that whole video tonight. practicing short balls is a good idea too

 

[Slicehand]

learn to take the ball at the correct moment, learn to play in the upper part of the court, turn your forehand into a punishing weapon, at your height you should be able to

 

[Tranqville]

Learn Wardlow Directionals, that will solve 99% of your tactical problems.

 

[forzmr_b]

This book was recommended in another thread. Great read and will provide a strong tactical foundation.

 

[LuckyR]

Learn Wardlow Directionals, that will solve 99% of your tactical problems.

Great advice if you can hit the ball, but don't know where to hit it.

 

[ptuanminh]

Build a shot tolerance, as high as you can. I find even 4.0 players have this problem. Most of them can't string together 3 or 4 shots in a row.

 

[socallefty]

This book was recommended in another thread. Great read and will provide a strong tactical foundation.

I recommend this book also.

 

[fuzz nation]

A couple years ago I picked up a copy of Think to Win by Allen Fox. It was terrific in terms of offering fundamental concepts of how to work the court's geometry to our advantage. Probably useful for everyone at every level.

I also think that the Wardlaw Directionals are worth a look. I've been coaching high school teams for several years and a couple of Paul Wardlaw's observations have been really valuable for some of the stronger kids who are playing tougher opponents.

 

[ngoster]

At the 3.5 level, don't overwhelm yourself too much. Keep your tactics simple stupid...find their weakness and keep, figuratively, pounding it. For example, at 3.5 and even 4.0, the BH is usually the target. Ideally, you want to get your exchanges such that you're in a FH (yours) to BH (theirs) exchange. If you haven't developed a reliable finishing shot against short balls then keep targeting their BH until they make an error.

 

[Morch Us]

It is a lot simpler than what you think. This is not chess.
Even at pro levels, the tactics are relatively simple (only handful of "variations" planned for the specif opponent).

And of course at rec level it is super simple (even if you come up with many complicated tactics, you won't have the skills to put it together and execute anyway). You comments definitely indicate to your major tactical issue, and possibly the ONLY adjustment you have to make. Patience....

In general, it seems like you "think" you have opportunity to finish, when you really don't have (basedon your skill and execution percentage). Play to make the rally "hard for the opponent" and not really to hit "outright winners". You said you are "consistent" on your ground strokes, then prove it.... hit at least 4 deep balls (pace or spin or placement does not matter) in a row, before you try to do ANYTHING else, and see what happens.

Essentially the tactics is "depth"......"consistent depth" .... choke your opponent, no need to shoot him... (pressure your opponet... no need to finish the point on the first chance)

I also seem to be pretty impatient

I'm starting to get pretty consistent with my groundstroked and served but I'm very weak tactically.

 

[eah123]

The thought process described in this video is what I go through.

Basically, at this point, I strongly believe at the lower rec levels through 4.0, the match is won during the warm up. Try to learn what your opponents‘ weaknesses are during the warm up, and work to exploit them during the match. Sometime you don’t learn what your opponents weapons are until the match, and then you need to figure out how to avoid it. Recently I played a guy and saw that his best shot was flat, low, almost slice forehand down the line. I knew he had a weak backhand from the warmup. So the while match, I focused on hitting inside-out forehands and DTL forehands to his backhand. When I needed to hit a CC forehand, I made this either a forehand to the center hash or short and wide. I won 6-0; 6-1 so I think my strategy worked pretty well!

 

[ngoster]

The thought process described in this video is what I go through.

Basically, at this point, I strongly believe at the lower rec levels through 4.0, the match is won during the warm up. Try to learn what your opponents‘ weaknesses are during the warm up, and work to exploit them during the match. Sometime you don’t learn what your opponents weapons are until the match, and then you need to figure out how to avoid it. Recently I played a guy and saw that his best shot was flat, low, almost slice forehand down the line. I knew he had a weak backhand from the warmup. So the while match, I focused on hitting inside-out forehands and DTL forehands to his backhand. When I needed to hit a CC forehand, I made this either a forehand to the center hash or short and wide. I won 6-0; 6-1 so I think my strategy worked pretty well!

Right on!

 

[peRFecto]

Thanks everyone for the great detailed responses!!! I'm going through it all now, I'm 100% sure that patience alone will help greatly but the Wardlow Directionals are also a nice thing to follow I think

 

[ballmachineguy]

when I run to the net I get passed easily and I can't seem to find a way to end points.

You managed to contradict yourself in one sentence. Well done!

J/k

 

[Bagumbawalla]

It may seem obvious, but tactics are one thing, execution is another. If a person's
game is limited to one concept, bashing winners, retrieving and wearing down
the opponent, serve and volley, whatever. If the best tactical execution calls for
something you don't have, then knowing what to do is just not enough. So, in
addition to "tactics", I advise also developing a well-rounded set of skills- then when
the best reply is a dropshot or a topspin lob or low, skimming slice, well then,
It's in your bag.

 

[LuckyR]

It may seem obvious, but tactics are one thing, execution is another. If a person's
game is limited to one concept, bashing winners, retrieving and wearing down
the opponent, serve and volley, whatever. If the best tactical execution calls for
something you don't have, then knowing what to do is just not enough. So, in
addition to "tactics", I advise also developing a well-rounded set of skills- then when
the best reply is a dropshot or a topspin lob or low, skimming slice, well then,
It's in your bag.

You're right that stroke consistancy is a prerequisite to tactics.

 

[slipgrip93]

I'm starting to get pretty consistent with my groundstroked and served but I'm very weak tactically.

There's that "singles playbook" by fuzzyyellowballs.com that's been released and advertised (for $67) around some youtube tennis videos the past year or two.

( https://www.fuzzyyellowballs.com/salespage/the-singles-playbook-2020/ )

I hadn't got it, but had been thinking about it.

Meike Babel's channel also has a bunch of learning tactics with strokes videos on her youtube channel, ( search link ).

 

[Hit 'em clean]

Are you asking about how and when to get to the net and play from the net... or how to improve your tactics? If you're having trouble finishing points at the net or getting passed a lot... that can be multiple issues.

Net play/approach (simplest truths)
- You have to pick the right time to come into the net... only approach on short balls bouncing around service line or shorter, you can also approach behind a big shot or serve when you are hurting your opponent and know they are going to be very defensive.
- Follow path of the ball/shot you hit. I deal is to split they angles they have to play 50/50
- Split step (extremely important) - you must split step no matter where you are on your approach into the net when opponent is making contact with the ball. This is to put you in the most balanced position ready to move in either direction. You must come into net quickly, but balanced and under control.
- Don't feel like you have to put the first volley away for a winner. Make the volley and if you have to make a second one chances are you'll have an even easier put away. Too often people miss the first volley trying to be too perfect.

If you are looking to improve tactics overall... that's a much bigger question. Coming into the net is a tactic. If you want to improve your play tactically the most important thing you have to do is understand what you do well on court and what you don't. If your opponents are friendly enough... ask them what they find difficult about playing you and what you might improve on. We often think we know our own games, but truthfully we can often be quite wrong. What you might think is a strength your opponents might think is a weakness. It can be quite the experience to hear how others perceive the strengths/weaknesses of your game.

If you have a clear idea of your strengths... ask a club pro what tactics or hitting patterns might work best for you and drills to work on those.

On your own when you go into a match... have a plan. It doesn't have to be complicated... keep it simple, but try to have a specific few things you want to do and see how it works. For example... I have a good forehand so my usual plan is to hit cross court to the ad side and then bully my opponent with inside out forehands to control the point. Some opponents that I might plan to hit higher balls over the net with lots of topspin to work them back and off the court to get a short ball I can attack. You can always change the plan... but have a focus helps provide some clarity in your play and if it's working or not. From there you can start to see how different plans play out and work for you... and then understand what tactics you like.

 

[nyta2]

I recommend this book also.

This book was recommended in another thread. Great read and will provide a strong tactical foundation.

omg, these posts made me think, "let me go buy those books"...
turns out i already did, on kindle, in 2022, and forgot about it...
lol, thx for reminder

 

[nyta2]

my $.02..
how i got from 3.5 to 4.0...
* be able to consistently hit (topspin & height) to weakside of opponent (eg. bh) (serve&gs - eg. cc bh, fh inside out, fh dtl)
* no df's (heavy spin serve... i learned topspin, but i think slice is an easier path, and tends to land deeper in the box), doesn't need to be fast

 

[ngoster]

my $.02..
how i got from 3.5 to 4.0...
* no df's (heavy spin serve... i learned topspin, but i think slice is an easier path, and tends to land deeper in the box), doesn't need to be fast

Get the 1st serve percent up! It doesn't have to be fast or spinny. It just has to go in more often. Strategically, from my experience, at the 3.5-4.0 level, a low percentage of players attack the 2nd serve. An even lower percentage attack the 1st serve.

 

[nyta2]

Get the 1st serve percent up! It doesn't have to be fast or spinny. It just has to go in more often. Strategically, from my experience, at the 3.5-4.0 level, a low percentage of players attack the 2nd serve. An even lower percentage attack the 1st serve.

yeah, i used to hit a topspin serve for both first & second, aroudn the time i got bumped to 4.0.
my "first" topspin serve... was practice for my "second" topspin serve