Need help beating "The Wall"

[OldFedIsOld]

Just yesterday I played a match with a friend of mine, who I haven't played in few months. He's a solid baseliner and amazing net man, only real weakness is his inability to hit winners off the baseline and smash high balls that land half court.

The score was 3-6, 5-7. Last time I won 7-6, 6-4. I stuck with my usual game plan of serve and volley the first few points, then play more on the baseline until the game was over. I couldn't hit through him, he got every ball back and lobbed me whenever I tried to approach the net with my cross court slice.

He has gotten better from the last time we played, and now I don't know what I have to do against him. Any suggestions?

 

[Chyeaah]

There is no simple way to beat someone without getting better, You might have tactics but it takes skill to execute them, not to mention you will be under pressure half the time.

 

[1HBH Rocks]

Just yesterday I played a match with a friend of mine, who I haven't played in few months. He's a solid baseliner and amazing net man, only real weakness is his inability to hit winners off the baseline and smash high balls that land half court.

The score was 3-6, 5-7. Last time I won 7-6, 6-4. I stuck with my usual game plan of serve and volley the first few points, then play more on the baseline until the game was over. I couldn't hit through him, he got every ball back and lobbed me whenever I tried to approach the net with my cross court slice.

He has gotten better from the last time we played, and now I don't know what I have to do against him. Any suggestions?

Let's see how you play tennis. I need a few details on which shot you enjoy playing and feel the most confident about... then, we can start talking about what your opponent doesn't like and see how matching both could give you an edge.

 

[skiracer55]

Hard to tell...

Just yesterday I played a match with a friend of mine, who I haven't played in few months. He's a solid baseliner and amazing net man, only real weakness is his inability to hit winners off the baseline and smash high balls that land half court.

The score was 3-6, 5-7. Last time I won 7-6, 6-4. I stuck with my usual game plan of serve and volley the first few points, then play more on the baseline until the game was over. I couldn't hit through him, he got every ball back and lobbed me whenever I tried to approach the net with my cross court slice.

He has gotten better from the last time we played, and now I don't know what I have to do against him. Any suggestions?

...first off, both matches were decided by close scores, which means just a few points made the difference. It looks like he got a break in each set, or at least was ahead of you on breaks, and it also looks like you had difficulty breaking his serve, if at all. So...what happened when he broke serve? Why was it harder for you to break serve? Was it just a few points that could have gone either way, no particular reason?

Second, go back and take a look at your strategy. You do some S&V, then back off and stay on the baseline...why is that? Either S&V is working or it isn't. If it is, why back off from it? If it isn't, either figure out how to make it work or figure out how to win from the baseline.

Third, if he can't hit winners from the baseline, what does this mean to you? You kind of have two choices: (1) Stay on the baseline and try to outrally him until he makes an error (not my choice), or (2) Come to net (my choice), because if he can't hit winners, maybe he has trouble with passing shots.

Fourth, he can't put away high bouncing balls in the middle of the court, but what does he do with them? You said he's good at net. If he takes these balls and moves in to win the point at net, this is not a flaw in his game, it's just playing smart...

 

[DolgoSantoro]

I'd just experiment around, throw every kind of pace, spin and angle you can at him. If there's some combination he doesn't like then throw it at him until you win or he adapts. I'd scrap the S&V, it sounds like he knows how to deal with it. If you have to use it make it unpredictable and only after a well placed serve

 

[TennisProdigy]

Very easy to beat the wall, just drop shot then when he comes to the net peg him in the eye... Game, Set, and Match.

 

[MarinaHighTennis]

You can practice against a "wall"

 

[ATP100]

Just yesterday I played a match with a friend of mine, who I haven't played in few months. He's a solid baseliner and amazing net man, only real weakness is his inability to hit winners off the baseline and smash high balls that land half court.

The score was 3-6, 5-7. Last time I won 7-6, 6-4. I stuck with my usual game plan of serve and volley the first few points, then play more on the baseline until the game was over. I couldn't hit through him, he got every ball back and lobbed me whenever I tried to approach the net with my cross court slice.

He has gotten better from the last time we played, and now I don't know what I have to do against him. Any suggestions?

Probably a bad habit.

 

[LeeD]

Probably need to see you play, but your basic strategy is flawed.
Approach slice CC is a sure proposition for failure. Look at AndyRoddick.
So with that flawed strategy, we can assume you have other flaws.

 

[Fedexpress94]

You can never beat the "wall"...just saying.

 

[Limpinhitter]

Just yesterday I played a match with a friend of mine, who I haven't played in few months. He's a solid baseliner and amazing net man, only real weakness is his inability to hit winners off the baseline and smash high balls that land half court.

The score was 3-6, 5-7. Last time I won 7-6, 6-4. I stuck with my usual game plan of serve and volley the first few points, then play more on the baseline until the game was over. I couldn't hit through him, he got every ball back and lobbed me whenever I tried to approach the net with my cross court slice.

He has gotten better from the last time we played, and now I don't know what I have to do against him. Any suggestions?

First, FYI, the score of your loss is correctly stated as 6-3, 7-5. Once a set or a match is completed, the winner's score goes first. Second, a cross court approach shot is a tactical error. Approach shots should always be hit down the line. Third, if, as you say, he can't hurt you from the baseline, then, I would engage him in cross court rallies until he hits a weak/short shot that you can attack either by hitting an approach dtl, or if it's a high sitter, a winner in the open court. You might want to work on your smash to handle his lobs.

PS: BTW, when you hit an approach dtl, the high percentage play is to cover a dtl pass and force him to try to pass cross court. If you position yourself correctly, unless he hits with massive topspin, your opponent will only have a window of about 2-3 feet to get the ball by you cross court and keep the ball within the sideline. If he can, he wins. But, those percentages are in your favor.