I can't drop shot! Please help me...

vex

Legend
I got you fam (credentials: ~5.0 dupr):

- The most important thing is to have your feet PLANTED and knees bent when you are hitting your drop. Hitting moving drops is 10x harder than stationary platform drops. So this means you see them hit the return (or any shot where your stuck at the back and trying to move in) and you calculate “ok, I need to hustle to point X, come to a complete stop before the ball gets there and hit a stable drop shot.” Getting better at this ^ and removing almost all moving drops is step one.

- Second most important thing: swing with your shoulder not your wrist. This is a pinpoint accuracy shot, not a power insane topspin shot. Do not wildly flick your wrist. Bigger, slower muscle actions (shoulder not forearm/ wrist) control this shot. Lock in the angle to hit your spot with your wrist and swing smoothly THROUGH contact. So many people do this herky jerky garbage where they decelerate at the last second and screw the whole impact. You want smooth consistent power THRU the point of contact with NO DECELERATION until your swing is up at/above ur chest.

- Target the “coffin corner” - when facing two RH players this will be the far right corner in front of you. The only spot you are guaranteed to force a BH response to your drop. At higher levels this starts to wane in effectiveness because people will have great 2hbh off the bounce/out of the air speed ups, but this is still a great shot when in doubt. Once your mechanics are super solid you can start slowly working some more spin into your drops, but it’s never gonna be Nadal ****. This is an accuracy check not a spin check.
 
There are endless drop shot videos on YouTube and I think it’s easiest to learn visually and/or by kinesthetic means so I’d advise finding a few vids.

I can offer help w why this shot is so important — the drop is helping us to:

Neutralize an opponent who has better court position than we do. It can help us to improve our court position. Buys us a lil time. Having an arc and height over the net is ideal. Tennis players often come in way too flat and low. Increasing errors and lowering consistency and robbing us of the main objective - buying time.

Drops can apply pressure and be aggressive too. But the main objective is to give us time.

I’m a 5.0 level teaching pro. Zane Navratil has been my primary coach and he puts out a lot of high quality videos. He is a former world #1 player. You can try that or Jordan Briones.
 
The advice that improved my drops the most is to hit the ball "later". Wait for the ball to be coming down from it's apex, don't try to hit it at its highest point.
The purpose of the drop shot is to slow down the point and give yourself time, there's no benefit to trying to surprise your opponent by hitting the ball earlier.
 

Solo-Tennis

New User
I haven't been playing for a while. Last time I tried, I had trouble keeping my feet planted. I think it's cause I play tennis, but I keep finding myself moving and split stepping as I'm volleying.
 

Youngheart

Semi-Pro
I haven't been playing for a while. Last time I tried, I had trouble keeping my feet planted. I think it's cause I play tennis, but I keep finding myself moving and split stepping as I'm volleying.
It's come to the attention of the panel of experts here, that you are holding
the racquet by the head, instead of the handle. Please turn it around immediately❗
 
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