Playing a lefty

[Sintherius]

So for my semi-final match tomorrow, I have a lefty who hits flat groundstrokes and runs around his backhand any chance he gets.

How different is it playing a lefty from a righty? What should I do against him?

First time playing a lefty... lol

 

[SoBad]

Rally your loopy FH crosscourt, finish with flat BH winner crosscourt.

 

[Sintherius]

Rally your loopy FH crosscourt, finish with falt BH winner crosscourt.

So you're saying just keep hitting to his BH and driving him off the court?

 

[SoBad]

So you're saying just keep hitting to his BH and driving him off the court?

Yes, most guys defend BH side better, so if you want some open court, you need to outwide him sideways into deuce side to open up the ad side. But everyone is different, so adjust based on your game and his. If your BH is good, just hit BH crosscourt and psyche him out that way.

 

[Sintherius]

Yes, most guys defend BH side better, so if you want some open court, you need to outwide him sideways into deuce side to open up the ad side. But everyone is different, so adjust based on your game and his. If your BH is good, just hit BH crosscourt and psyche him out that way.

Well as I was watching him play (I had a bye first round so I got to see his match) he ran around it as MUCH as he could. He hits his backhand very flat and early, didn't seem he could hold a long rally, he would get too excited and try to end it with a winner rather than construct the point.

 

[SoBad]

Well as I was watching him play (I had a bye first round so I got to see his match) he ran around it as MUCH as he could. He hits his backhand very flat and early, didn't seem he could hold a long rally, he would get too excited and try to end it with a winner rather than construct the point.

Don't worry about his game too much, just do whatever you do best. Forget about his leftiness, just focus on moving to hit the ball at the top of the bounce and hit agressively and move in to finish off whenever you are inside the court.

 

[KenC]

Don't worry about his game too much, just do whatever you do best. Forget about his leftiness, just focus on moving to hit the ball at the top of the bounce and hit agressively and move in to finish off whenever you are inside the court.

+1. I am a lefty. Most lefties don't exploit the small advantage they have. The only thing different about a lefty is the direction of sidespins, which jump out of court instead of in. If you keep your eye on the ball and read the spin coming at you, you shouldn't have any problems.

If he hits his serve with slice/sidespin you can bet he will hit to your backhand 90% of the time and almost always on the ad court for important points.

Since he runs around his backhand you already know one of his weaknesses. If you have a strong forehand you want to keep the ralleys wide CC to his backhand.

 

[ProgressoR]

I played against my first left hander some months back (am a one year hack), and I was wondering how come his backhand was so strong, i couldnt break it down.

i was losing 2-3 by the time I realised he was left handed. I lost the set.

I rock.

 

[Larrysümmers]

okay, now people tend to overthink this stuff a little too much. the only REAL advantage a lefty has is he can pull that lefty out on the AD side and you can get pulled off leaving the court wide open, and this helps him get out of 30-40 jams or AD outs and give him the extra oomph he needs to hold his serve on 40-30s or AD ins. I mean if he was a righty what would you do? you would find his weaker shot and exploit it, correct? It's the same with the lefty, except now when you get thrown off court towards your forehand and you throw up a high looping CC defencive shot, it will go to his BH and maybe the loopy ball will throw off his BH, so think about playing the lefty as your advantage.

 

[Comet Buster]

Don't give him time for him to run around his BH. Hit your best angles on your forehand side CC. If he is actually stupid to actually try and run around his BH in this case, then hit the easy shot DTL. These questions are difficult to answer because you've left out information about your game, and weaknesses of his game.

 

[Sintherius]

I lost 6-4, 6-3. It was a really good match though. I guess he just liked hitting his forehand more than his backhand, because he actually had MORE errors from his forehand side. It didn't seem awkward at all playing him either, but he did outplay me today.