Yes, I used to be terrible there as well. Until one day, I was not. Doubles helped a lot.
Understood. A good slice is extremely irritating to deal with. We use a drill in my club where children play to 10 points. No serve, one only slices, the other can only hit topspin. 90% of the time, the slice wins.
There is at least a Dual Objective perspective to the problem of playing pushers. Probably the first and primary reason is related to the mid-ct ball.
Actually that was the issue, he has a good net game.
Yes think I just have to get better at putting away them balls. Practice is the only solution, I just have to get betterFor the rec player (me) the mid court sitter has to be a shot you practice over and over. Trouble is many rec players really don't practice/drill. Find someone who will feed you mid court sitters, hi lo and in between, doesn't matter. At my age 65+ I find practicing mid court sitters tiring because I have to have my feet "right" and the right spacing to be able to hit through the ball without decelerating, lunging, reaching or gasping
A player who plays like a pusher but has a very good net game may not be what he seems.
Maybe not hitting so much harder but being more aggressive has a place. The D1 coach I pair with in doubles has told me to just be more aggressive with my shots as I tend to look at playing for points not much more bother than casual hitting. One pusher was giving me problems late last summer, a few years younger than me but could BH slice from anywhere to everywhere. Why did I keep hitting to his BH? Once I started hitting harder to his forehand I started winning the ground game. I was sort of amazed how much trouble he had with a crisp deep forehand. Also it is hard to BH slice effectively from low inside the service line. He used to call me to come up to our city for a hit, once I figured some things out and executed he quit calling.
I like the idea to hitting to his forehand, will try that next time to see if it makes a difference.
I tried to make sure every forehand I hit to him made him take several steps and I upped the pace and tried to put the rally to an end quickly. But if I got complacent on the baseline and just started to trade shots letting him hit those low deep slices I was in trouble. Once I figured it out I would purposely hit to his backhand because to watch him BH slice is a thing of beauty and deserved appreciation. But it appears he was a one-trick pony.
1a. short high ball, on the rise
He sounds like he may just be better, just curious about what level of play are we talking about? Is he a pusher or just a defensive player?
In addition to that, know how to play the net. For example, when you warm up do you just hit groundies and skip the net entirely? Try this, hit groundies for 1 third the time, volleys for another third, and ask for some short lobs to practice your smash.
The answer again is two-fold with the practice on the Dual Objectives I mentioned. Learning how to how to attack well with the arcing & topspin is key to handling the dropping ball. We call the bending topspin, dipper the 4th dagger and the key to using it well is to respect the net clearance and dip, while using it to move the opponent more instead of going for winners. It is primarily a way to pull the opponent into worse and worse court position, which will force their errors and give better finishing opportunities for you. It is a bit more patient approach.
A lot of doubles-focused players develop doubles physiques that are specialized for doubles but not so good for singles.
High quality analysis there, no sarcasm. I've been that guy, I'm not fat, but played a pusher in a singles tourney this summer, almost lost. I was heavy breathing for minutes at a time, would just dump points when tired. My opponent said in 2 sets and a tiebreak that his step counter was about 14,000 steps, he ran all over to get everything. I could have easily lost too, just a lucky 10 point tiebreak decided it.
Classic lines ‘not get bored’ and ‘I know I’m better than him’. If you weren’t playing tennis would what would you be doing? Skydiving? You can hit different shots back if you want to mix things up.
I thought he was implying that doubles players are out of shape
I agree and disagree at the same time. From the follow-up posts by OP in this thread, it definitely sounds like he was just outmatched. Constantly having to say things like well he's good at net, his lobs are good, etc...Overall it just sounds the opponent is a smarter player. However, it also needs to be said that losing one match to somebody doesn't indicate who's the better player. If OP is constantly on the losing end against this opponent, sure, we can say it.
Learn to contruct a point and use various approach shots. Examples: 1) Hit them wide to forehand then to wide to backhand then wide to forehand - this will start to tire them and make them question their anticipation, when you've hit them wide to forehand after one of these constructions - hit a slice forehand to their backhand if possible, and attack. 2) vary your spins and placement, rarely give them the same thing twice, then ramp up the pace and continually attack their forehand so that they lose confidence in their atticipation of running back to cover backhand at this point consider slace to their backhand.
