Strategies for beating certain players

[LightningZI]

Alright so I saw a similar thread, and I though I'd make one just similar to it because it had a really good structure and question.

I've got the same question except its for a wider group of players, since tennis just started today, and I played last year for the team, I know a lot of the players and their weaknesses/strengths, and then there's a new player who seems decent as he carries around a huge bag, tons of racquets, but he could be a j0llyroger. I'd just like to know a basic strategy against these players, I'll try to elaborate as much as I can on them, It'll be good for me too because then I'll be able to pick out what you said and then apply it myself later hopefully lol.

Alright so to the main point of the thread -:

First Player - Righty - Baseline basher
1st Serve - Decent slice serve
2nd Serve - Just a regular jv toss the ball in serve
FH - Really good, extremely consistent, sometimes even just extremely lucky
BH - He hits a 1 hander but always tells me he has problems with it, but hard part is he runs around the BH so much it's hard to get him to hit the BH
Volleys - Again pretty decent
Overhead - Really good
Mentally - He knows what to do in the mental side of tennis so he's pretty good at that
______________
Second Player - Righty - Baseline Basher
1st Serve - Pretty good flat serve
2nd serve - Again another good serve, consistent slice/kick
FH - Good, but not excellent like the other player, this person hits inside out too
BH - exploitable 2 hander
Volleys - Horrible
Overhead - Never seen him hit one
Mentally - Has no stand, nothing you say really affects him..
______________
Third Player - Lefty - All Court
1st Serve - Amazing flat serve, the kid is 6'7 so its really good
2nd Serve - Best kick serve, not much else to say
FH - Consistent
BH - One hander, consistent too
Volleys - Pretty good
Overhead - Good
Mentally - Gets angry easily, if he starts playing bad he gets mad and he'll shout during the match and whatnot but he hates to run, thats the only thing i have on him
_______________
Fourth Player - Righty - All Court
1st Serve - Kick Serve really good at placement
2nd Serve - Kick Serve same
FH - another really lucky forehand as when you see him hit it your like, thats not going in, but it lands in, Otherwise it's pretty good
BH - It's there just because he needs one, otherwise he'd probably never use it
Volleys - extraordinary
Overhead - Pretty good
Mental - I would say he's good in a match, as he's quiet outside of school but hes really arrogant, and hes known to cry if he loses a match
_______________

Me
1st Serve - Was originally a kick serve, but now it's a flat serve which is 50% consistent, and very high paced
2nd Serve - Kick serve, Probably as good with the kicker as the 4th person
FH - I can hit it to sides and whatnot without worrying, it's just I tend to lose control on power sometimes, its not really consistent unless i focus on it though
BH - One hander, and its as good as my forehand, a lot more consistent
Volleys - Above Average
Overhead - Horrid
Mentally - Probably a 7/10, It's just that though I tend to think the "good shot" thing doesn't get to me, it really does, subconsciously it just affects my play -.-

If anyone has any tips, It'd be highly appreciated, Thanks.

 

[dozu]

my head is spinning.

just hit the ball.

 

[tennisnoob3]

you cant beat jv players?

 

[forehandshanker]

Me
1st Serve - Was originally a kick serve, but now it's a flat serve which is 50% consistent, and very high paced
2nd Serve - Kick serve, Probably as good with the kicker as the 4th person
FH - I can hit it to sides and whatnot without worrying, it's just I tend to lose control on power sometimes, its not really consistent unless i focus on it though
BH - One hander, and its as good as my forehand, a lot more consistent
Volleys - Above Average
Overhead - Horrid
Mentally - Probably a 7/10, It's just that though I tend to think the "good shot" thing doesn't get to me, it really does, subconsciously it just affects my play -.-

If anyone has any tips, It'd be highly appreciated, Thanks.

I think from the level of players you're competing with you should focus mainly on getting better. Focusing on your game rather than other's means less games to keep track of.

From your description of your own game:

(a) improve your overhead. Since the stroke is a barebones serve on the move which you don't have to put in the service box, all you need is a continental grip, spot the ball with your non dominant arm/hand, get into a racquet drop to get some racquet speed and contact the ball like your flat serve.

(b) Work on your footwork and movement. Since you have a hard time getting some consistency off the ground and given your problems with the overhead, I'd make a bet it's your footwork that is hurting you not your groundstrokes. Make sure you split step on every shot of your opponents. As soon as the ball leaves your opponent's racquet, read where the ball is going and decide immediately what shot you want to hit back. Make sure you've taken all the tiny adjustment steps to get to your ideal spacing from the ball. When you contact the ball, try to learn some dynamic footwork so that you can use your momentum from moving to the ball to hit a heavier ball. Try to never lunge for the ball. It's the kiss of death because it hurts your recovery and slows down your ability to read the next ball.

(c) For the vast majority of the players you'll ever meet, exploit the backhand. Running around to hit forehands is the meat and potatoes strategy of high level tennis because hitting an inside out forehands into a backhand is high percentage tennis. In that kind of rally, your forehand just has to be better than their backhand.

 

[jacktyler627]

I have to play kids like this a lot as well......
You need to exploit their weaknesses, but don't let your game fall apart by doing so.
If he has a good forehand and a crappy backhand and is running around everything, hit him one to his backhand......and chances are if he runs around it the whole opposite side of the court will be open depending on left/right handed player.

Hope this helps,
Jack

 

[salsainglesa]

If you are capable of adjusting your style of play to many types of opponents you don't need help from this boards.
If you don't know what to do, you have to develop your own game.

good luck, be brave

 

[Bagumbawalla]

If you want to beat different sorts of players, you have to start by being hard to beat, yourself.

You need to have command of all the shots. That means when you hit any particulat shot- you hitit with the confidence that it will do exactly what you intend-- because you have practiced those shots thousands and thousands of times.

If you do not own every shot in the book a good opponent will find your kryptonite and exploit it until you are done.

Learn all the types of serves and learn to place them exactly where you want.

Get in shape. Be able to get to every ball and be there in position so you hit every stroke as near perfectly as possible. You need to be consistant. Keep sending the ball back until you have created an opening for a winner.

Read books on tennis and learn court tactics, angles, percentages. Get together with a friend and work on drills so that the shots come effortlessly in a match. Find a personal instructor/coach if you are really serious.

 

[Mick]

on tv, they always say if you want to beat someone, you have got to take them out of their comfort zone. the problem is with the very good players, their comfort zones are very wide. sometimes, you don't have the ability to take them out of their comfort zones.

 

[halalula1234]

i have no trouble with hard hitters/aggressive ppl but i have this annoying thing when im playing against tricky players,, they make me turn into marat safin when playing santoro.

 

[GuyClinch]

How do you have good hard serves and kick serves but a 'horrid' overhead. It should take like ten minutes to straighten out your OH if you have a good serve.

 

[goran_ace]

keep the ball in play and move the ball around. patience and consitency.