tennis_hack
Banned
*Applies to right-handed players only
Hitting aces and winners is not a strategy. It's like saying that a good strategy for winning in chess would be 'make sure you opponent's king can't move without being captured'. Geez, I could be a coach if it were that simple.
The way to beat Nadal is, if you're tall, hit flat, powerful, but high percentage shots to the middle. This is the approach Del-Potro takes. I'm not sure if Soderling did this as well or he went more for broke. For 1hbh players, Brands is big enough to make this approach work.
For shorter 1hbh players, for a start you need to change your mentality to the backhand. Instead of thinking to yourself "oh no, he is breaking my backhand down", think "GREAT - he is playing my deadly backhand into form". Doesn't matter if you're deluding yourself - that's part of the reason to being a confident and successful tennis player.
Do not make the mistake of running around backhands too much, as Nadal will either hit forehands DTL or forehands behind you as you try to recover.
Hit your backhands against Nadal's forehand deep, spinny and high percentage to the middle of the court. This takes away very wide and high crosscourt angles from Nadal, and push him back deeper. But if you've broken down Nadal's forehand in this rally (unlikely but players like Gasquet, Kohlschreiber and Almagro do it quite frequently) and get a short ball to your backhand at this stage, obviously hit a forcing flat shot.
However, the real value behind this tactic is that you're not pushed too wide from Nadal's hooking forehand, therefore it also makes it more likely that you will be eventually able to hit a moderate-fast pace backhand DTL - too fast for Nadal to run all the way around it and hit yet another forehand. Or a real quality slice DTL - the key being, again, that it's too fast for Nadal to run all the way around and hit a forehand off it. Nadal will be forced to hit a backhand. Nadal hitting a backhand. Imagine that.
If, at this stage, Nadal is so dogged on maintaining the Nadal forehand to your backhand rally that he tries a backhand DTL, bear in mind that Nadal cannot put nearly as much spin on his backhand than on his forehand, so step in, take this one early and go for a hard CC angle, or hard DTL back into the Nadal backhand. You should be in control of the rally now. Don't rush the net like a mad-man, but do go in to put away easy balls. (Exactly as Nadal does).
If Nadal hits a great backhand DTL that pushes you back, merely revert back to hitting deep spinny backhands into the middle to take away angle, work on setting up this play again.
BUT, if Nadal foolishly hits his backhand crosscourt, this is now your opportunity to go completely Nadal on Nadal. Bomb his backhand with topspin and height to get the short putaway.
Look out for these really lofted backhands DTL that Nadal will always try to employ so that he can start hitting forehands again as you hit it crosscourt. Spot them early as they happen so often, and when he hits them, go for a mix of surprising Nadal by hitting back DTL, and hitting hard, flat (yet high percentage) forcing shots crosscourt to Nadal's forehand.
Off season work should include raising the contact point of your 1hbh. Lots of drills hitting at least shoulder height backhands, preferably head height. Work on a mix of looping them back deep with very heavy topspin, and even killing them off flat (but maybe only Almagro can do that). The higher you can raise your strike-zone, the less you are pushed back in Nadal forehand to your backhand rallies, so the more effectively you can employ the 'spinny backhands down the middle' strategy.
Work on shoulder and rotator cuff strength. You need to get the lateral and rear deltoids, lats, wrist extensors and external rotators of the shoulder as strong as possible. These are the 1hbh (especially the high 1hbh) muscles. Heavy seated rows, heavy weighted chin ups, handstand press ups, dumbbell lateral raises, dumbbell wrist extensions, grip work, face-pulls. Work on strength and strength-endurance, so a mix of low and high reps (if high reps, ensure short rest periods so you get used to handling the lactic acid).
Work on general cardiovascular fitness, because this is a long-term and consistent strategy to employ - not a 'go-for-broke' unreliable method.
One of the main things is mentality. Always think: "he is playing my backhand into form" when Nadal starts pounding on it. But as soon as you get the chance to pound Nadal's backhand - use Nadal's own tactics against him.
What do you think? Could this approach work?
Hitting aces and winners is not a strategy. It's like saying that a good strategy for winning in chess would be 'make sure you opponent's king can't move without being captured'. Geez, I could be a coach if it were that simple.
The way to beat Nadal is, if you're tall, hit flat, powerful, but high percentage shots to the middle. This is the approach Del-Potro takes. I'm not sure if Soderling did this as well or he went more for broke. For 1hbh players, Brands is big enough to make this approach work.
For shorter 1hbh players, for a start you need to change your mentality to the backhand. Instead of thinking to yourself "oh no, he is breaking my backhand down", think "GREAT - he is playing my deadly backhand into form". Doesn't matter if you're deluding yourself - that's part of the reason to being a confident and successful tennis player.
Do not make the mistake of running around backhands too much, as Nadal will either hit forehands DTL or forehands behind you as you try to recover.
Hit your backhands against Nadal's forehand deep, spinny and high percentage to the middle of the court. This takes away very wide and high crosscourt angles from Nadal, and push him back deeper. But if you've broken down Nadal's forehand in this rally (unlikely but players like Gasquet, Kohlschreiber and Almagro do it quite frequently) and get a short ball to your backhand at this stage, obviously hit a forcing flat shot.
However, the real value behind this tactic is that you're not pushed too wide from Nadal's hooking forehand, therefore it also makes it more likely that you will be eventually able to hit a moderate-fast pace backhand DTL - too fast for Nadal to run all the way around it and hit yet another forehand. Or a real quality slice DTL - the key being, again, that it's too fast for Nadal to run all the way around and hit a forehand off it. Nadal will be forced to hit a backhand. Nadal hitting a backhand. Imagine that.
If, at this stage, Nadal is so dogged on maintaining the Nadal forehand to your backhand rally that he tries a backhand DTL, bear in mind that Nadal cannot put nearly as much spin on his backhand than on his forehand, so step in, take this one early and go for a hard CC angle, or hard DTL back into the Nadal backhand. You should be in control of the rally now. Don't rush the net like a mad-man, but do go in to put away easy balls. (Exactly as Nadal does).
If Nadal hits a great backhand DTL that pushes you back, merely revert back to hitting deep spinny backhands into the middle to take away angle, work on setting up this play again.
BUT, if Nadal foolishly hits his backhand crosscourt, this is now your opportunity to go completely Nadal on Nadal. Bomb his backhand with topspin and height to get the short putaway.
Look out for these really lofted backhands DTL that Nadal will always try to employ so that he can start hitting forehands again as you hit it crosscourt. Spot them early as they happen so often, and when he hits them, go for a mix of surprising Nadal by hitting back DTL, and hitting hard, flat (yet high percentage) forcing shots crosscourt to Nadal's forehand.
Off season work should include raising the contact point of your 1hbh. Lots of drills hitting at least shoulder height backhands, preferably head height. Work on a mix of looping them back deep with very heavy topspin, and even killing them off flat (but maybe only Almagro can do that). The higher you can raise your strike-zone, the less you are pushed back in Nadal forehand to your backhand rallies, so the more effectively you can employ the 'spinny backhands down the middle' strategy.
Work on shoulder and rotator cuff strength. You need to get the lateral and rear deltoids, lats, wrist extensors and external rotators of the shoulder as strong as possible. These are the 1hbh (especially the high 1hbh) muscles. Heavy seated rows, heavy weighted chin ups, handstand press ups, dumbbell lateral raises, dumbbell wrist extensions, grip work, face-pulls. Work on strength and strength-endurance, so a mix of low and high reps (if high reps, ensure short rest periods so you get used to handling the lactic acid).
Work on general cardiovascular fitness, because this is a long-term and consistent strategy to employ - not a 'go-for-broke' unreliable method.
One of the main things is mentality. Always think: "he is playing my backhand into form" when Nadal starts pounding on it. But as soon as you get the chance to pound Nadal's backhand - use Nadal's own tactics against him.
What do you think? Could this approach work?
