Middle Balls For Dummies

[Cindysphinx]

In my last singles match, my opponent figured out that I could hurt her if she gave me an angle but I would pretty much hand her the match if she pushed everything deep up the middle. I just could not figure out how to move her around if she pushed everything deep up the middle, and I missed when I went for the corner or shorter angles.

Topaz, a more experienced 3.5 singles player, confirmed that 3.5 pushers can kill you with that junk-up-the-middle stuff.

Well, today I had a lesson and as usual I started out with a huge Whine-fest in which I explained my difficulties with these deep pushballs up the middle. And my pro told me the secret.

My new strategy for these players is hit nothing but inside out FHs against them when they do this to me. Run around that paceless ball up the middle and smack it hard crosscourt to opponent's ad court (bonus -- this is usually the BH). The next ball will be a miss, a short ball, or a lob.

He even gave me some simple rules I could apply in the heat of the moment.

First, I was not to ever try to take that inside out FH DTL unless I was very close to net -- too risky at this point. Just keep pounding the BH unless I could take my BH up the line at medium pace for a winner.

Second, I was only to do this for balls that were well and truly up the middle -- no farther to my left than a couple of feet. If it's wider than that, I am supposed to hit a BH and use the angle I've been given.

By George, this really did work! What fun! Just make sure you've given yourself plenty of room and have at it.

How about it, experienced singles players. Have you ever been able to make this strategy work?

 

[decades]

I would turn the tables. I would send the ball back exactly the same way. I would wait for a short ball and then hurt her with it. Don't try to gain the initiative if she has a hit a good deep shot down the middle.

 

[gameboy]

I do two things.

If I get a short ball, I hit a medium pace ball with a heavy topspin to the service line T. Even if the person gets to it, I should be able to hit a winner of the return.

Second, I just move him around as much as possible. You don't have to hit hard or that close to the sidelines, you just want your opponent to have to work a lot harder than you. It will pay off in the long run during the match.

 

[ProgressoR]

if its a good pace ball that is deep and at me in the middle, its hard to be aggressive from it safely, so i would play a high % rally shot back, either BH or step around it and play FH, and if i get bored of that i might put a bit of zip in it in order to get a ball that is either slow, or short, or gives me some angle to then press the attack.
If your opponent played this shot and you can regularly slap it for a winner and just win all the time, then you wouldnt be playing in the same league ranking.

 

[ProgressoR]

If I get a short ball, I hit a medium pace ball with a heavy topspin to the service line T. Even if the person gets to it, I should be able to hit a winner of the return.

you expect your opponent not to be able to reach a medium paced shot that bounces on or near the service line T??

maybe i am mis-reading this.

 

[bodieq]

Your strategy can be effective in the sense that it allows you to hit a relatively high-percentage shot via cross-court over the lower center part of net and naturally creating some angle with the inside-out FH. Plus, by doing that you probably force this pusher to have to hit shots on-the-run. But the problem is some pushers are very comfortable throwing paceless junk off their backhand-wing side which might make your strategy less effective in those situations. But regardless, I think you should at least try to rip a few down-the-line FH shots in your situation if you see that your opponent is starting to camp-out on the Ad-side of the court during rallies. Even if you miss the shot, it sends a message that you might go there, so your opponent might think twice about edging over on their court positioning.

 

[bodieq]

If I get a short ball, I hit a medium pace ball with a heavy topspin to the service line T. Even if the person gets to it, I should be able to hit a winner of the return.

Huh?....unless you're Nadal, that shot is probably not going to be the most effective play when you get a short ball.

 

[dParis]

Well, today I had a lesson and as usual I started out with a huge Whine-fest in which I explained my difficulties with these deep pushballs up the middle. And my pro told me the secret.

My new strategy for these players is hit nothing but inside out FHs against them when they do this to me. Run around that paceless ball up the middle and smack it hard crosscourt to opponent's ad court (bonus -- this is usually the BH). The next ball will be a miss, a short ball, or a lob.

He even gave me some simple rules I could apply in the heat of the moment.

First, I was not to ever try to take that inside out FH DTL unless I was very close to net -- too risky at this point. Just keep pounding the BH unless I could take my BH up the line at medium pace for a winner.

Second, I was only to do this for balls that were well and truly up the middle -- no farther to my left than a couple of feet. If it's wider than that, I am supposed to hit a BH and use the angle I've been given.

Cindy, your pro's advice seems like the best so far. When I read your scenario, stepping around the shot for an I-O FH, to the opponent's BH presumably, was my first thought.

Continued success.

 

[North]

My new strategy for these players is hit nothing but inside out FHs against them when they do this to me. Run around that paceless ball up the middle and smack it hard crosscourt to opponent's ad court (bonus -- this is usually the BH). The next ball will be a miss, a short ball, or a lob.


How about it, experienced singles players. Have you ever been able to make this strategy work?

Yep, I use this as one of my antidotes for those paceless balls up the middle. As long as I realise I've got plenty of time to set up, I keep moving my feet in case there is some chop-shot spin on the ball, and I hit the ball cleanly (creating my own pace and all) it works nicely. For even more variety, I sometimes come to net on the shot, though I make sure I am positioned to cover the lob.

See - isn't singles fun?!

 

[kylebarendrick]

As others have said, once they clealry see that you are going to hit to the backhand everytime, they will start to expect it. At that point, it becomes much easier to hit the DTL winner - since they'll be moving the other way.

 

[Cindysphinx]

I would turn the tables. I would send the ball back exactly the same way. I would wait for a short ball and then hurt her with it. Don't try to gain the initiative if she has a hit a good deep shot down the middle.

Decades, this is what I tried in that singles match. Trouble is, she was better at it than I was. Also, I thought I had the edge in footspeed and stroke mechanics, so there was little to be gained by allowing her to camp on the middle of her baseline. I needed to make her move -- she often missed when hitting on the run -- but I couldn't move her from the middle of the court.

Now maybe I can.

The other thing I like about this strategy is how it is likely to tire the opponent. I also like how I am not expected to do lots of tricky things, like change direction while aiming for the corners. If I miss one of those IO FHs, well, all I have to do is make the next one and hopefully get in a nice groove.

 

[LuckyR]

In my last singles match, my opponent figured out that I could hurt her if she gave me an angle but I would pretty much hand her the match if she pushed everything deep up the middle. I just could not figure out how to move her around if she pushed everything deep up the middle, and I missed when I went for the corner or shorter angles.

Topaz, a more experienced 3.5 singles player, confirmed that 3.5 pushers can kill you with that junk-up-the-middle stuff.

Well, today I had a lesson and as usual I started out with a huge Whine-fest in which I explained my difficulties with these deep pushballs up the middle. And my pro told me the secret.

My new strategy for these players is hit nothing but inside out FHs against them when they do this to me. Run around that paceless ball up the middle and smack it hard crosscourt to opponent's ad court (bonus -- this is usually the BH). The next ball will be a miss, a short ball, or a lob.

He even gave me some simple rules I could apply in the heat of the moment.

First, I was not to ever try to take that inside out FH DTL unless I was very close to net -- too risky at this point. Just keep pounding the BH unless I could take my BH up the line at medium pace for a winner.

Second, I was only to do this for balls that were well and truly up the middle -- no farther to my left than a couple of feet. If it's wider than that, I am supposed to hit a BH and use the angle I've been given.

By George, this really did work! What fun! Just make sure you've given yourself plenty of room and have at it.

How about it, experienced singles players. Have you ever been able to make this strategy work?

The strategy you describe is a great start to running the pusher ragged (which is the key to defeating them). Though I don't see the improvement in the advice you got over the bolded part. That is, hit CC into the outer third of the court. Either side will suffice.

 

[Cindysphinx]

The strategy you describe is a great start to running the pusher ragged (which is the key to defeating them). Though I don't see the improvement in the advice you got over the bolded part. That is, hit CC into the outer third of the court. Either side will suffice.

If I understood correctly, the advantage of hitting the IO FH is that it puts me into position to hit a weighty crosscourt shot. I'm supposed to step into it, right toward that back corner.

It sure *felt* better when we practiced it.

 

[gameboy]

you expect your opponent not to be able to reach a medium paced shot that bounces on or near the service line T??

maybe i am mis-reading this.

If you are hitting that ball from just inside the baseline and hit the T, that is going to pull the opponent out wide by 4 or 5 feet. If you hit it so that it kicks to the left, it may hit the curtains (if you are playing indoors) before he can get there.

At that point, the only safe shot for the opponent is to hit it weakly towards the middle, which you should be able to easily put away.

 

[1stVolley]

Another supplemental tactic is to take that slower paced shot up the middle and return a fairly slow but high ball to your opponents BH. You want to get it deep but you don't need much pace on it and you don't need to go for the lines, jut to their BH side. It will force them to hit a high bouncing BH which is a shot most club players can't do much with.

You could come to the net behind this shot because you're liable to get a weak return or a lob. If they return up the middle again, give them another taste of that high bouncing BH. I think their return shot will go errant before yours will.

If they manage a few returns this way, you can further complicate their life by hitting a slice to their BH. It will bounce low and jar them out of any rhythm they might have been able to hang on to.

 

[LuckyR]

If I understood correctly, the advantage of hitting the IO FH is that it puts me into position to hit a weighty crosscourt shot. I'm supposed to step into it, right toward that back corner.

It sure *felt* better when we practiced it.

If the ball is truly in the middle (say crossing the hash) and slow, most would choose to hit a FH over a BH. Personally I would hit the ball CC into the deuce side outer third, though hitting into the ad side is just as good of a shot. My reason is that I have more natural topspin hitting a CC FH than an IO FH. My IO FH has a modicum of IO sidespin, which makes it a devastating shot when it lands in, but cuts the consistancy a bit as it can fly long and needs tighter net clearance when struck with pace. Your experience may be different in which case go for what works for you.

 

[ProgressoR]

If you are hitting that ball from just inside the baseline and hit the T, that is going to pull the opponent out wide by 4 or 5 feet. If you hit it so that it kicks to the left, it may hit the curtains (if you are playing indoors) before he can get there.

At that point, the only safe shot for the opponent is to hit it weakly towards the middle, which you should be able to easily put away.

Ah, I see, traditionally the service line T relates to the middle of the service line, eg serving at the T, but here you mean where the service line intersects the singles side line. Fair enough, pulling opponent out wide in that scenario can work if you can hit that shot with a high %.

 

[jrod]

Classic tennis....match your strength up with your opponents weakness. The recommended strategy is smart since it is relatively low risk and reasonably high reward (with righties). This strategy is employed all the time by the best players in the world. Often they will use this inside-out FH to open up the court and solicit a short(er) ball where they will step in and take it inside-in for a winner. You are starting to sound more and more like a singles player Cindy.

 

[AndrewD]

In my last singles match, my opponent figured out that I could hurt her if she gave me an angle but I would pretty much hand her the match if she pushed everything deep up the middle. I just could not figure out how to move her around if she pushed everything deep up the middle, and I missed when I went for the corner or shorter angles.

First problem is that in calling your opponent a 'pusher' you're blaming her for you deficiencies instead of accepting that she played a sensible, high percentage, tactical match and you never forced her to do anything more than just 'place' her shots.

 

[Cindysphinx]

First problem is that in calling your opponent a 'pusher' you're blaming her for you deficiencies instead of accepting that she played a sensible, high percentage, tactical match and you never forced her to do anything more than just 'place' her shots.

She was a pusher. Period.

I won, BTW.

 

[pyrokid]

First problem is that in calling your opponent a 'pusher' you're blaming her for you deficiencies instead of accepting that she played a sensible, high percentage, tactical match and you never forced her to do anything more than just 'place' her shots.

Pusher's a playing style, bud. Do you see people getting all pissy when they say they played an aggressive baseliner? No. Descriptions of style are not insults, especially on here where we have to know what type of player it was to understand the context of the match.

 

[skiracer55]

That's pretty much Wardlaw's Directionals...

In my last singles match, my opponent figured out that I could hurt her if she gave me an angle but I would pretty much hand her the match if she pushed everything deep up the middle. I just could not figure out how to move her around if she pushed everything deep up the middle, and I missed when I went for the corner or shorter angles.

Topaz, a more experienced 3.5 singles player, confirmed that 3.5 pushers can kill you with that junk-up-the-middle stuff.

Well, today I had a lesson and as usual I started out with a huge Whine-fest in which I explained my difficulties with these deep pushballs up the middle. And my pro told me the secret.

My new strategy for these players is hit nothing but inside out FHs against them when they do this to me. Run around that paceless ball up the middle and smack it hard crosscourt to opponent's ad court (bonus -- this is usually the BH). The next ball will be a miss, a short ball, or a lob.

He even gave me some simple rules I could apply in the heat of the moment.

First, I was not to ever try to take that inside out FH DTL unless I was very close to net -- too risky at this point. Just keep pounding the BH unless I could take my BH up the line at medium pace for a winner.

Second, I was only to do this for balls that were well and truly up the middle -- no farther to my left than a couple of feet. If it's wider than that, I am supposed to hit a BH and use the angle I've been given.

By George, this really did work! What fun! Just make sure you've given yourself plenty of room and have at it.

How about it, experienced singles players. Have you ever been able to make this strategy work?

...among other things. It's an easy concept, but it's harder to execute than it sounds on paper. If you can make this kind of stuff work, then I think you're in business.

 

[Cindysphinx]

I don't know it's Wardlaw's. But I could be wrong, so let's see.

Opponent hits a ball to the baseline that bounces one foot to the left of my center hash. If I take this ball as a BH, Wardlaw's says take it back crosscourt (to opponent's ad court). If I took it as a FH, Wardlaw's would say I should change direction and go DTL to deuce court.

Right?

 

[OrangePower]

In my last singles match, my opponent figured out that I could hurt her if she gave me an angle but I would pretty much hand her the match if she pushed everything deep up the middle. I just could not figure out how to move her around if she pushed everything deep up the middle, and I missed when I went for the corner or shorter angles.

Topaz, a more experienced 3.5 singles player, confirmed that 3.5 pushers can kill you with that junk-up-the-middle stuff.

Well, today I had a lesson and as usual I started out with a huge Whine-fest in which I explained my difficulties with these deep pushballs up the middle. And my pro told me the secret.

My new strategy for these players is hit nothing but inside out FHs against them when they do this to me. Run around that paceless ball up the middle and smack it hard crosscourt to opponent's ad court (bonus -- this is usually the BH). The next ball will be a miss, a short ball, or a lob.

He even gave me some simple rules I could apply in the heat of the moment.

First, I was not to ever try to take that inside out FH DTL unless I was very close to net -- too risky at this point. Just keep pounding the BH unless I could take my BH up the line at medium pace for a winner.

Second, I was only to do this for balls that were well and truly up the middle -- no farther to my left than a couple of feet. If it's wider than that, I am supposed to hit a BH and use the angle I've been given.

By George, this really did work! What fun! Just make sure you've given yourself plenty of room and have at it.

How about it, experienced singles players. Have you ever been able to make this strategy work?

When you get a deep paceless ball up the middle / slightly to the BH side, hitting it back deep to your opponents ad court (backhand side) is a good strategy.

From your perspective, whether to make this shot by running around your BH to hit an inside-out FH, versus just hitting a crosscourt BH, really just depends on your relative strengths.

Personally, I prefer to mix it up in this situation - sometimes hit the BH crosscourt and sometimes the inside out FH. Probably I tend to hit the BH more, although my FH is a better shot. Reason is that I have a pretty good down the line backhand. So once in a while, instead of hitting the crosscourt BH, I will go for an aggressive DTL backhand. Now you could do the same with your FH (go DTL), but then you are leaving yourself in poor court position (leaving your wide FH side exposed), in case your DTL shot is not as good as you intended.

 

[skiracer55]

Not true...

I don't know it's Wardlaw's. But I could be wrong, so let's see.

Opponent hits a ball to the baseline that bounces one foot to the left of my center hash. If I take this ball as a BH, Wardlaw's says take it back crosscourt (to opponent's ad court). If I took it as a FH, Wardlaw's would say I should change direction and go DTL to deuce court.

Right?

...go back and reread Wardlaw. If you take the ball on the backhand, yes, according to Wardlaw, go back where it came from, which is crosscourt. If you take it as a forehand, Wardlaw says you *can* change direction, but you don't have to. So go down the line if you want, personally, I'd go inside out crosscourt 9 times out of 10.

 

[skiracer55]

Let me just...

...take this situation to talk a little about tactics, generally. What I believe your coach is telling you is sound, and it's not all that complicated. What he's basically saying is "Fine...she wants to push down the middle. Hit a clean, safe ball back to her backhand every time, and eventually, she'll give up the ghost." So to simplify the "inside out forehand cross court backhand" issue, wherever the ball comes, just send it back to her backhand...pretty good advice for a whole lot of levels of tennis.

Vic Braden, whose work I greatly admire, always did his research and got underneath what was really going on with the game, as opposed to all the horse hockey a lot of people make up based on their predisposition to believe whatever it is they're locked into. Braden spent some time talking to 3.0 level players, and he found that they often had incredibly complex strategies in their heads. As in "First, I'm going to serve wide to her forehand. Then, I'm going to rip a cross court, topspin forehand deep to her backhand corner, followed by a delicate backhand drop volley just over the net. Next..."

And what Braden used to think, at that point was "Great...if you can do all that, what are you doing playing 3.0 doubles? You should be at Wimbledon!"

One of my former coaches, Sam Winterbotham, who is the coach of the Tennessee Vols, this year's NCAA Div 1 runner-up team, told me to start a match very conservatively. What he said, specifically was "Start by getting a lot of balls back in court. Hit deep, heavy, safe shots down the middle. If they don't come back, that's all you need to do."

The other side to that, of course, is if the balls do come back, then you do have to do something more. Just start off simple, and cross that bridge when you come to it, which is Situational Tennis.

An example: my steady hitting partner is about 60, a good, strong athlete, and has worked his butt off to develop his strokes and stragegy. I used to own him, but he's significantly jacked up his serve and return, and it's a dog fight whenever we play. Yesterday, I had my serve cooking. High percentage of first serves in, good pace, moving the ball all over the box, which opened up the court and gave me an easy volley or a big opening to hammer a heavy ball through for a winner or an easy winner on the next ball...or an error on his part. All I had to do was focus on the first serve, move quickly and get lined up for the next shot, and I was in control.

Last week, I had a day where I wasn't serving well, he was serving very well, and returning unusually well. I was getting tatooed by just try to play simple, meat and potatoes tennis like I was yesterday. I realized the only thing I could do was serve and volley as aggressively as possible. Go for a huge, aggressive, can-opening serve, move in, and try to close out with a winning first volley. I made a bunch of errors, but I wound up winning the battle, which I wouldn't have had I just played safe and waited for the easy opening.

So what's my message? Start with the simplest, most easily executable plan that you think you can win with. If it works, pat yourself on the back. If not...well, notch it up, but don't start by feeling like you have to do a Pete Sampras impersonation."

 

[anantak2k]

Whatever you choose to do make sure you mix up your shots. Throw a bit of variety at them while giving yourself a good margin for error. Be patient and when you get that one short ball, you can either go for an outright winner or hit a shot that will get you in the position to hit a winner on the next shot or a shot good enough to force an error.

Just play smart tennis against players who wait for you to feed them UEs.

 

[skiracer55]

I totally disagree...

Whatever you choose to do make sure you mix up your shots. Throw a bit of variety at them while giving yourself a good margin for error. Be patient and when you get that one short ball, you can either go for an outright winner or hit a shot that will get you in the position to hit a winner on the next shot or a shot good enough to force an error.

Just play smart tennis against players who wait for you to feed them UEs.

...at this level, all you have to do is pound the backhand, over and over. Anything else is a waste of time, and an invitation to a bunch of unforced errors...

 

[Spokewench]

I'm not sure stepping around and hitting an inside out forehand would have any benefit for me; my backhand is my go to shot and is so much more stable. But, I do practice drilling with my pro sending down the middle and practice changing the direction and angle so that I get the other person moving on the other side even if they keep giving me everything down the middle It's really not that hard since I'm literally not having to move too much; all I have to do is commit to a backhand or a forehand and hit the ball. Moving them makes it harder and harder for them to control their shots.