BetaServe
Professional
Player 1: Hit great groundstrokes but can't finish or put away short balls, suck at the net, can't volley, can't smash
Player 2: Fast, consistent, return every ball back
This is one of the most common match-ups at rec tennis level and player 2 is probably the worst opponent for player 1. Player 1 is known as "Dimitrov" of rec tennis - looks good but can't win - and Player 2 is known as "Rafa" of rec tennis - the ultimate pusher who wins ugly.
From my experience, this is what I think Dimitrov should do:
If you're playing a match that is not important to you, then go ahead and "play like Federer" (good for long term improvement)
But if you're playing a match that you can't afford to lose, aka match of your life, first you need to see if you're in the zone that day, if you are, great, you can play freely and you'd probably hit winners from the baseline
Else
There are several things you can do:
- Try to be more consistent than your opponent from the baseline if you think you can be as consistent as him. (if not don't bother)
- Make him attack you, basically reverse the role, you're now Rafa and he's now the Dimitrov.
One of the things you can do is test if he's good at the net, if he's not, draw him in with short balls then lob (yes it works 100% of the time).
- Don't try to hit "too good" shots because "too good" shots will lead to short balls, and short balls are the last thing you want, since you suck at putting away short balls (especially short balls at the service line)
- If you do get short balls, option 1 is try to hit right back at the opponent, forget about down the line approach. Believe it or not, hitting straight back at your opponent is probably more difficult for your opponent because often he won't have enough time to create proper spacing and mishit or hit a bad shot, which you can volley off of that. Option 2, hit it then move back to the baseline. You read that right. You might look stupid but that's your best chance to win the point. The only time you might attempt to hit a normal approach shot is when that short ball is super easy and not too far from the net.
- If you're at the net, notice his passing shots pattern, does he like to hit passing shot to your backhand or forehand? If you picked up his pattern, you can anticipate and move before he hits in order to compensate your lack of volley skills (you have more time to react and set up your volley).
- Drop shot occasionally if you can (if you can't, don't bother)
- If all above don't work, then sorry buddy he's better than you.
@TimeToPlaySets you will probably like this thread.
Player 2: Fast, consistent, return every ball back
This is one of the most common match-ups at rec tennis level and player 2 is probably the worst opponent for player 1. Player 1 is known as "Dimitrov" of rec tennis - looks good but can't win - and Player 2 is known as "Rafa" of rec tennis - the ultimate pusher who wins ugly.
From my experience, this is what I think Dimitrov should do:
If you're playing a match that is not important to you, then go ahead and "play like Federer" (good for long term improvement)
But if you're playing a match that you can't afford to lose, aka match of your life, first you need to see if you're in the zone that day, if you are, great, you can play freely and you'd probably hit winners from the baseline
Else
There are several things you can do:
- Try to be more consistent than your opponent from the baseline if you think you can be as consistent as him. (if not don't bother)
- Make him attack you, basically reverse the role, you're now Rafa and he's now the Dimitrov.
One of the things you can do is test if he's good at the net, if he's not, draw him in with short balls then lob (yes it works 100% of the time).
- Don't try to hit "too good" shots because "too good" shots will lead to short balls, and short balls are the last thing you want, since you suck at putting away short balls (especially short balls at the service line)
- If you do get short balls, option 1 is try to hit right back at the opponent, forget about down the line approach. Believe it or not, hitting straight back at your opponent is probably more difficult for your opponent because often he won't have enough time to create proper spacing and mishit or hit a bad shot, which you can volley off of that. Option 2, hit it then move back to the baseline. You read that right. You might look stupid but that's your best chance to win the point. The only time you might attempt to hit a normal approach shot is when that short ball is super easy and not too far from the net.
- If you're at the net, notice his passing shots pattern, does he like to hit passing shot to your backhand or forehand? If you picked up his pattern, you can anticipate and move before he hits in order to compensate your lack of volley skills (you have more time to react and set up your volley).
- Drop shot occasionally if you can (if you can't, don't bother)
- If all above don't work, then sorry buddy he's better than you.
@TimeToPlaySets you will probably like this thread.
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