Transitioing my game from defensive to offensive

[aadi007]

Hi All,

A little bit of background about myself - i have been playing for 1.5 years.
I don't know my level but it seems to be 3-3.5 (looking at some videos here - I am from India).

I play in my club where most players are recreational but there are 3-4 players who have played at the competitive level (state level) earlier.

Whenever I play with any other player (apart from the top 3-4), I end up winning the match (at least 90% success rate). Though I win the match, it's not very satisfying because I am not dictating the points. I end up getting pushed around and since my stamina and defensive skills are pretty good, I win the points because the other players make mistakes.

When I played with the top 3-4 players, I lost 6-1,6-2 kind of scorelines.
The difference I found was that these players were able to hit 2-3 good shots with power and placement and that resulted in a winner (there is only so much retrieving one can do).

So, I know that if I have to improve, I need to develop my offensive game.
I think I have a mental block ..when the ball comes deep and a little hard, I seem to take a few steps back and end up way behind the base line which opens up the entire court. I like to take a full swing at the ball and I guess I am not preparing early. Can you guys tell me - what I can do to improve on this?

I am thinking from tomorrow, I will tell myself before every shot to prepare early and hit through without any fear.

Any comments/suggestions?

 

[torpantennis]

Maybe you initially position yourself too close to the baseline, and then you have to take the steps backward and hit a loopy stroke from the back leg?

If that is the case, then I would back up a step or two more behind the baseline before the opponent hits the shot. Then you can more easily move forward during your stroke initialization footwork, and then more easily be aggressive with your stroke. And remember that if you want to be aggressive, you often need to hit a lower trajectory shot, not a loopy shot.

 

[aadi007]

^
Thanks. I think that's true. Sometimes I am moving backwards and hitting the shot. I will try that option. Take a step or 2 back for my initial stance.

Another thing I have noticed with myself is that I have a generally tendency to allow the ball to drop a bit from the high point of the bounce in case of deep shots. While this helps me to send the ball back, it gives the opponent more time and pushes me back or wide.

I guess I need to start taking the ball on the rise a bit more??

 

[aadi007]

I have a question on the swing..when we are taking the ball inside the baseline, do you guys shorten your swing and kind of hit thru the shot?

 

[heninfan99]

I think it's great to become more offensive with the focus on consistency and few errors. Obviously you don't want to try hitting winners from 2 feet behind the baseline, you have to carefully choose your moment to strike.

Learning to shorten your swing when you have less time is huge but it's kind of advanced. I tighten my core on the forehand side for this and it helps, I figured that out by trial and error.

 

[LobService]

Try to lean forward into your shots and mentally pick a spot where you want to hit it. You also need to get your footwork active and move to a good spot really early.

I think it's easier to give tips with video material, but that's up to you.

 

[dordor]

my 2 cents. how is your serve and return of serve? a good % first serve,and ability to attack second serves can also help a lot in determine the rhythm and be more offensive.

 

[Bigfoot Fault]

Without knowing more, my guess would be that you don't yet have the offensive weapons to beat better players.

You can be in the match a bit because of your defensive skill, but you probably struggle to hit winners or force your opponents to be on defense much.

I say all this because your story sounds very similar to mine. I could beat bad players easily, but couldn't do much against players just a bit better than me.

The reason why was because they had the ability to put away some of my weaker shots, but I didn't. So my weak shots got punished, and theirs would not (because I was too weak of a player).

How I overcame that was to put in a lot of practice time learning how to hit shots I previously couldn't. Now I have a powerful forehand, and some of the players that used to dominate me are more like equals. I still have many weaknesses, but developing just one solid weapon helped me change my game completely.

That's the short of it, really. At lower levels like 3.0 and weaker 3.5s you can win by just keeping the ball in play. But vs. strong 3.5s and 4.0s you're going to have to be able to have offense of your own.

The only way to get that is to practice your shots until you have at least one or two reliable weapons, whether it be forehand, serve, backhand, whatever.