Proper Mechanical Adjustment to Slower Pace??

[mnttlrg]

TLDR: How do you adjust your shots mechanics to punish slow shots at the baseline (without missing / over-hitting)?


I do most of my hitting with a few monster hitters. I have gotten very good at using their big pace and spin against them... so my standard shots are focused on redirecting / stabilizing / keeping some racket head speed through the ball and adding to what they give me.

Ignoring the strategy discussions, I have been running into trouble when I play against slower hitters who move well. I find that focusing on those fundamentals from the last paragraph starts working against me:

Stabilizing doesn't help me with power. Racket head speed leads to more overhitting / mis-hitting. There's nothing there to redirect. Even the heavier swing weight that helps against the big boys seems to disrupt what I'm doing against a slower shot.

Sometimes I'm just not sure exactly how to adjust my shot to apply maximum pressure without messing up my form. I end up either hitting flatter or trying to just-spin, both of which still seem sub-optimal.

 

[LeeD]

Better footwork, be ready and waiting for the ball, use your normal stroke, don't choke swingspeed OR go for bigger shots.

 

[Gyswandir]

Aside from what Leed said, crucial is proper spacing (horizontal and towards the ball) and weight transfer into the shot, with the proper timing of the transfer along with the swing.
unless your opponent is out of position, go for angles to open up the court, before either an approach or an attempted winner. Effectively, your shot should put him under more pressure and allows you to increase the pressure on the following shot

 

[McGradey]

Timing is key for these balls. It starts with acknowledging the fact that the timing for a slow, floating ball is totally different to a ball that comes through the court and onto your racquet.

The slow ball will be in your hitting zone only for a brief moment as it drops after the bounce, so the timing is actually more difficult. You need to stay calm, watch the ball and maintain your spacing from it.

By watching the ball closely you will be able to see when it is in your comfortable hitting zone. It might require waiting a little longer to swing than your regular groundstroke timing.

You need to hit through the ball with a smooth, relaxed swing, and extension towards your target to add a little pace. Don’t try to accelerate/spin this ball too much or you are likely to shank it. At the same time, you need to add some pace of your own as the incoming ball has none. A smooth (not slow) swing. Hit your shot somewhere where the other guy isn't.

Grab a bucket of balls and feed yourself this ball until you get the timing. Try the “bounce-hit” method — I found this helped me to lock in the timing and make me much more comfortable returning the slow, floating ball.

 

[eah123]

A slow ball allows me to get into the perfect position for a forehand. I try to take it at the top of the bounce or on the way down at shoulder level. Then hit it flat with as much racquethead speed as possible. The normal swingpath will give the ball sufficient topspin to keep it in the court.

 

[socallefty]

High racquet head speed will lead to over-hitting only if you are not generating enough topspin to keep the ball in. Take a lesson or two to generate more topspin.

 

[LuckyR]

High racquet head speed will lead to over-hitting only if you are not generating enough topspin to keep the ball in. Take a lesson or two to generate more topspin.

Best post in the thread.

 

[ChaelAZ]

Better footwork, be ready and waiting for the ball, use your normal stroke, don't choke swingspeed OR go for bigger shots.

This.


I have learned that for me, the biggest adjustment is how I move and set up to the ball. Too many times I would get to the ball and set up too early causing an awkward delay, odd adjustments, and then the feeling I needed to inject pace to get things going to my liking. Took me completely out of rhythm. To help myself I pace my footwork to make sure I am in place and able to make adjustment steps without a long pause, then the stroke mechanics are exactly them same for me. I don't think that changes at all

So more about adjustments to footwork and my mental tension/attitude towards the pace since I am more used to the faster/heavier pace like you.

 

[user92626]

set up too early

This.

 

[zaph]

I don't really struggle against these balls, I actually prefer playing against the slow stuff, unless it is a good junkballer who can tie me in knots with wicked slices near the net.

The trick is not to try and crush these shots and just concentrate on form. They are nice to play against because the lack of pace means you can set the shot up perfectly everytime. My guess is you are making the mistake I use to make, trying to crush paceless balls and then sending them into the backfence. You don't need to do this, if you just keep you eye on the ball and concentrate on hitting the ball with the right technique, the pace will come by itself. Don't try and force it.

 

[fuzz nation]

One of those tips in the back pages of Tennis magazine that always stuck with me was an idea that I think was floated by Stan Smith. Because those slower balls aren't coming at us with as much pace that we can redirect compared with faster incoming shots, it's easy to over-swing, lose our natural swing tempo with those slower balls, and lose control. The other problem is that those slow balls don't come to us at the same rate as faster ones, they can trick us into reaching for them. If that happens, contact occurs in the wrong spot, the racquet is at a different point of its swing, and we can scoop the ball or spray it.

The solution that was offered to help with keeping things under control was to remember to never try to add more than 5% pace to any ball. That might not help with punishing a slower incoming ball, but it can be a big help with boosting consistency.

I think the trick with teeing off on a slower ball is to only do it when that ball bounces up higher so that it can be driven without needing an ocean of topspin to turn it over and land it in bounds. When a slower ball is down low, that's an easy ball to sail long if we go for too much.

 

[nyta2]

my small adjusting step footwork needs to increase (speed&frequency) inversely proportional to the speed of the ball

 

[socallefty]

Some checkpoints are:

- Take bigger steps initially and then smaller steps closer to the ball to make sure spacing at contact is optimal.
- If you are going to take a bigger, faster swing at the ball than in the past, you need more spacing and so stop further away from the ball to setup.
- Good players run to the ball the last few steps with racquet already in takeback position with body already coiled - less to do when you get to the ball. Also, ensures that spacing is proper when you set up.
- Load back hip by bending back knee (front knee will follow) and getting your body low - this will ensure that you drop your racquet lower into the slot and start your swing low. A low-high swing ensures more topspin to keep the ball in.
- Since you have less court to work with (less distance from opposite baseline), you need more topspin to keep the ball in when you hit harder. Apart from low-high swing, you might also need to brush up on the ball more than usual to get the extra spin needed - many players therefore adopt a more wristy shot with a more compact followthrough (finish across the body rather than high over the shoulder) on short balls.
- I like hitting closed or semi-open FHs on short balls rather than open stance to make early contact and drive the ball harder - I hit open stance only on inside-in FHs off short balls where the ball is contacted a bit closer to the middle than the sideline. Since I have a 1HBH, it is mostly closed stance off short balls.
- Slice is also an option off short balls if you are good at finishing at the net. Then you don’t need to go for an aggressive topspin drive and can hit a slice approach instead.

 

[most_exhausted_player]

Don't ever stop moving, and find a motivation for that. Even if you are in position, try to optimize the height of contact point.

 

[babar]

In addition to all the other excellent points made here, I've noticed that for most of us rec players, footwork mirrors the speed of the ball.
In other words, we get slow and lazy with our feet when the ball coming in is hit slower.
A slower arriving ball requires us to take more small steps to address the ball whereas a faster ball usually requires us to take one to 2 quick adjustment steps and hit/redirect.
As others have mentioned here, keep your swing speeds in-check to not overhit, rather take your small adjustment steps and hit the angles to pull your opponent off the court and hit to open space.
Since you mentioned that these guys you are playing move well, expect and relish having to hit multiple shots to get them out of position to open up your final shot or elicit an error.

Not that I do any of this myself. . .

 

[ubercat]

Thanks @socallefty Taken notes

I had a little bit of a hit around after my match with my pusher nemisis. Nice guy but close to being the ultimate pusher nightmare.

He is so damn steady. I hit 4 shots into his backhand and then he managed to loop one right into my back hand corner that got me.

The other scary thing was how hard it was to generate pace without putting the ball out. I was playing with my brand new big bubba for the first time which is a powerful racquet. I could really only hit at half speed no matter how much topspin I tried to put on it.

It really would come down to a battle of fitness and patience.

Because we were only rallying the only good thing is he doesn't know that my service is now basically twice as powerful with the new racket. Although I do have to stand 2 metres behind the baseline to serve otherwise it goes out.

The big adjustment in singles I would make against this guy is hang around a little bit inside NML and use my brand new crossover step 2 retreat if he hits a deep one. He doesn't hit fast shots and he hits a lot of short slices so that is the best option.

He is also the perfect guy to use my improved slice on so I need to remember that

 

[FiddlerDog]

Slow ball that is deep is hard to attack due to no pace to redirect.
That is a rally ball.

Slow ball that is short should be hit into the corner