Singles tactics

Hi I am early 50's but still play a good game.
An aspiring younger club player, very aggressive forehand, relatively weak backhand is giving me problems.
I am very fit as is he, I used to win at least 50% of our games now I find I rally away until he knocks me off court.
He is very quick to cover his backhand, so on hRd courts it is hard to hit it past him.
I tend to play offensive, just rallying which is not working
His serve is only average, he is 4.5-5
What tactics do I now look to
 
To open up his backhand, you have to hit to his forehand. Swing him wide to his forehand and then you can attack his backhand. If your net skills are good, hit your forehand down the line after you swing him to his forehand and follow it up to the net. This will force him to make a hard shot off his backhand in order to win the point (assuming that you have the same handedness?). If you are comfortable at net then you could also place your return of serve towards his backhand corner and follow your return up to the net.
 

McLovin

Legend
I'm in a similar boat. However, this happens to me every year as my modus operandi is to hit w/ the juniors at my club, and eventually, after a couple years of college, they come back from break and simply hit me off the court.

I've found the only way to compete with the young guns is to not give them anything consistent. Mix up style of play throughout the match, and most important, mix up shot selection within the point. Throwing in a few slices, then a few off-pace high loopers, then a nice flat shot gives them no rhythm. Easier said then done (I know) when you're dealing w/ ground strokes screaming by you, but it is very effective.

Also, try to move up in the court, maybe on or a foot off the baseline. There's really only two ways to take time away from your opponent: Hit the ball harder, or reduce the distance the ball travels. At your age, you're not going to suddenly start hitting he ball harder, so the next best thing is to step up and try to shorten the court.
 

Lips

Rookie
Try hitting short slice...just a guess but he probably has a western forehand, and isn't too comfortable at the net
 

anubis

Hall of Fame
Hi I am early 50's but still play a good game.
An aspiring younger club player, very aggressive forehand, relatively weak backhand is giving me problems.
I am very fit as is he, I used to win at least 50% of our games now I find I rally away until he knocks me off court.
He is very quick to cover his backhand, so on hRd courts it is hard to hit it past him.
I tend to play offensive, just rallying which is not working
His serve is only average, he is 4.5-5
What tactics do I now look to

I think there's three parts to your tennis game:

1. Rally ball
2. Defense
3. Offense


Your rally ball is what keeps you in the game. Hit deep, keep the ball out of the middle of the court, keep your opponent from having too easy of a time playing you.


Your defensive game is all about running down balls. Shots the clip the net, or fall behind you, or are such an extreme angle that they're likely going to be a winner. You've got to make an effort for those shots so your opponent knows that his margin for error is smaller with you.


Your offensive game gets you the win when you're trying to hold serve. It also breaks your opponent's serve. On key points, you're hitting more aggressively with more spin and more pace. Go for the angles. When both feet are in the court, go for a winner. Get to the net, put pressure on your opponent to hit perfect shots to beat you.



I'd start off there and see how that affects your game. If you only hang out in one or two of those areas, then your game will be lacking against tough opponents.
 

TennisCJC

Legend
Open up his BH by:

1. hitting wide slice serve in deuce court. then you can hit next shot to his weaker BH. Preferrably, follow your shot into net and make him pass off the BH.
2. during rally if you get a good look at a ball, smack it hard CC into his FH and look to take the next ball DTL into his BH and attack the net.

As others have said, mixing spins and pace can help too. Low slice and loopers may draw some errors. Big hitters tend to like pace to work with.
 

Bigfoot Fault

New User
If what you've been doing isn't working, do something else. I know that's obvious, but in reality you need to just keep in mind:

--what you're doing makes it so you lose anyway.
--so the worst that can happen is you try something else...and still lose.
--so trying a bunch of new things might help, and it can't hurt.

For me, I'd try to avoid the things that lead to rallies, since you say that's where he hits you off the court. Like other people said, change the spins, change the direction, lob, dropshot, anything EXCEPT rally balls. Or at least mix those things in with the rally balls.

You don't want to get into a slugfest with a slugger, and it sounds like passing shots aren't the way to go either since you say he gets to many balls.

I'd go with trying to junk it up myself.
 

Fedal2008

New User
Hi I am early 50's but still play a good game.
An aspiring younger club player, very aggressive forehand, relatively weak backhand is giving me problems.
I am very fit as is he, I used to win at least 50% of our games now I find I rally away until he knocks me off court.
He is very quick to cover his backhand, so on hRd courts it is hard to hit it past him.
I tend to play offensive, just rallying which is not working
His serve is only average, he is 4.5-5
What tactics do I now look to

OP,
Did you try any of the tactics given above? I'm having a similar problem myself! Thanks.
 

Overheadsmash

Professional
Yonextillidie,

What these guys are trying to say is that it's time to start playing what I like to affectionately call "Old Man's Tennis":mrgreen:
 

Bionic slice

Semi-Pro
Are you holding serve? if not you might look at serving smarter or mixing up speeds and angles, throw in a few kicks. Can you serve and volley? Maybe serve wide and go in on those serves. That helped me last weekend.

I find it best to get a player out of their comfort zone, some people feed on those nice topspins you hit to them, so consider mixing in more slices, get more volleys and go for more movement on their side, hit and mix angles to get them going forward or back at times and go for some winners more than normal, ..im sure you know...you have the shots in your wheelhouse.. why not bring the heat and angles and go for it!!!
 

r2473

G.O.A.T.
His serve is only average, he is 4.5-5

Average as in attackable? As in, it is a liability for him?

Or average as in not overpowering but wins him games? If he's holding serve, his serve is not average.

Are you holding serve?

This is what 4.5-5.0 is all about. If you have a good "bread and butter" serving pattern, it takes a lot of pressure off the rest of your game (and lots of pressure on your opponent). Figure out effective serving patterns for you. Holding serve COMFORTABLY (especially in pressure games and moments) is key.
 

Jonboy

Rookie
Hi OP, Im betting he is a baseliner and feeding off any shorts balls. Like others have said, open up his BH and get him running. That gives him less time on the ball. Use slice and drop shots to bring him in to the net. Hit high balls to his backhand and get to the net as much as possible. Dont give him any rhythm and mix it up. He wont like that.
 

jls304

New User
If you have a good net game but you don't use it much I say start coming to the net more. Either serve and volley or hit a great approach. It seems like today's tennis player wants to slug it out on the base line. Especially younger opponents. People who are really good at the net can win because nobody is used to playing them.
 

Bagumbawalla

Talk Tennis Guru
My thinking is that if you used to beat him- and now he beats you- something has changed. I doubt you are getting worse, so he must be getting better.

The answer is that you cannot just coast along- you have to be constantly improving, as well. We have very little information to go on. You need to do a self-assessment and start on systematically improving your game. I realize this is a broad/vague answer, but such is life.
 

S&V-not_dead_yet

Talk Tennis Guru
...People who are really good at the net can win because nobody is used to playing them.

As my username suggests, I agree wholeheartedly. Not because I'm really good at net but because merely coming into the net can cause a lot of UEs. In doubles people still S&V but hardly at all in singles. ["The threat is stronger than the execution."]

I know a guy with a cannon of a first serve. He plays against a very consistent player and typically loses because Mr. Consistent can usually just block the serve and get into the rally. I told Mr. Cannon that if he just came into the net once or twice per game after a good serve, he could change Mr. Consistent's return game, even if he didn't win the majority of those points. It would make Mr. Consistent think twice about simply blocking the return.
 
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