Playing Against Southpaws

Lefties are tough to play against simply because you have less opportunities to play against them in practice (so you tend to run into them in tournaments). In addition, the mental block really starts out when you're little and they tend to have the geometric advantage on you because their cross-court forehand goes into your backhand (which may, initially, be the player's weakest shot). Of course, your forehand can go to their backhand but not if you spend a lot of time playing to beat righties (i.e., focusing on inside-outs). So here are some tips for playing against lefties that you might find useful.

A. When returning on the deuce side, stand just a tad closer to the middle of the court to take away their slice serve down the T. Remember that a well struck lefty slice will curve away from you so you have to be just a little closer to the ball. Also, it may sound a bit counter-intuitive but I would recommend returning (with the backhand) towards the ad side of the court. Normally, this opens up the lefty-forehand, but remember that you are moving towards the middle yourself so they don't have that much of an advantage. Aiming cross-court (inside-out backhand) from the deuce side is somewhat risky because your face of the racket is angled outwards and there is chance that the ball will ricochet wide off your string bed. If in doubt, pound the middle of the court. 

B. When returning on the Ad-side, position your left foot (and, consequently, your left shoulder) further out in front than normal. That is, you should be at a slight angle in order to intercept the slider. If you wait with your feet/shoulders parallel to the baseline, the slice serve will move away from you. You want the ball to come into the strike zone. Unlike returning from the deuce side, in this instance I recommend sticking the return cross-court. This way, you don't have to change the angle of the ball (i.e., you're basically returning the ball towards the location from where the serve is struck) and your opponent will be forced to either hit a forehand down-the-line (relatively risky) or right back to you. As mentioned before, I am really not in favor of giving the opponent cheap points. And although going down the line (towards the lefty backhand) with the return seems to be the obvious choice, this is somewhat of a risky play due to the geometry and physics (i.e., angle of refraction; vectors) but also because you're probably not all that used to returning down the line against righties (where they burn you with the cross-court forehand). As stated above, again, pound the middle when in doubt and neutralize the lefty advantage. 

C. When it comes to being in an actual rally with a lefty, try to utilize the cross-court slice with the backhand in order to neutralize the lefty forehand. Most of the time, they will prefer to hit it right back cross-court rather than opening up down the line (where they set up your forehand). So, if you're ready for the return to the backhand, you can set up the down-the-line backhand (or inside-in forehand) and hit an aggressive shot to their backhand. In this regard, I recommend stepping inside of the baseline as a follow up in order to cut off the reply with another forceful shot. 

Practice With Players of Opposite Sex

Although girls seem to be a bit more open-minded when it comes to practicing with players of the opposite sex (or, perhaps, they prefer to not practice with their "frenemies"), boys are often loath to practice against girls. They don't see the benefit of playing against someone who might not have the same amount of power or spin as them. However, that's exactly what makes good and serious women players such good practice partners. Because they may lack power, women are often steadier than men. The use the steadiness to push the opponent around the court and to put their opponent off balance. In addition to doing "steadiness" drills (like cross-courts), boys can practice playing points against girls where the object is not to blast winners but to work the opponent around the court. Both players will benefit from this practice.

In addition, girls often (BUT DEFINITELY NOT ALWAYS) use less pace than boys. Perhaps due to wrist/forearm strength or other factors, girls generally hit the ball flatter than boys. For this reason, it us useful to practice against girls because a flatter shot takes less time to cross the net (i.e., due to lesser arc) than a heavy topspin. In addition, a flatter shot often skids and lands deeper into the court (forcing the player to move to the ball and prepare quickly). A lot of times, playing against a girl is like playing on a very fast court where you have less time to prepare.

Furthermore, although their serves may be weaker, girls are usually better returners (since their game revolves a lot more around breaking than holding serve). Therefore, boys can practice playing points against girls where the boy either doesn't go for his first serve or gets only one serve to begin with. This should make for a competitive practice for both players. 

Learn To Lose?

Coaches (and some parents) often advocate playing in higher age divisions in order for the player to become accustomed to more pace and a "higher level of tennis". Sometimes, they justify the poor results by claiming that it's good for the player to "learn how to lose." Nothing can be more detrimental for a developing tennis player than a losing record. What does this player have to look forward to in life?! Bust her butt in practice, work hard in the gym and then get thrown into an age divisions where they stand no (or little) chance of succeeding. Listening, winning is an addiction; winning begets winning. If winners win, then those who lose are....well you get the point. 

What is important for a player to learn is how to DEAL WITH LOSSES. This is not learning how to lose; it's learning to handle the results and utilize them to propel forward to a different level. Take for example a junior player who has just lost in the morning match of a tournament. This player will mope around for a bit, find consolation in the words of some friends, family coaches, eat a snack and then jump in the car for the ride home. What is his opponent doing? Well, most likely, the opponent will have to play another match. So where the losing player spends 1.5 hrs on the court, the winning player spends 3 hours on the court. Who benefits more from that Saturday? The winning, player, obviously. First, she learned how to pull off a tough match. She has figured out a strategy, devised various tactics to implement the strategy and executed those tactics at the right time. Second, she now has to step on the court (maybe 30 minutes, maybe 45 minutes later) and have to toughen out a second match. All this time, the player who lost the first round is driving home. If the goal of this player is to improve, she would be better served by (a) having a practice right after the match (wipe the slate clean; work on some things while they're fresh); (b) play a practice match against someone who may have also lost; AND/OR (c) have a fitness workout (to "punish" herself for losing). Follow any (or all) of these paths, and the defeated player will keep up with the rest of the pack. 

If you want to be in the top pack when it matters (U18s), you have to spend just as much on court (or doing fitness) as your better peers. You cannot allow them to get an extra 3-4 hrs of tennis/week. You have to be right there with them. They may have beaten you but they have not DEFEATED you (unless you let them). So, get knocked down seven times, get up eight times. If you lose, no big deal. Grab a basket and a back-court and work on the things that you feel need improving at that time. Show your opponents that you are tough to beat. 

Own The No-Man's-Land

There are a few pieces of advice that get passed down from generation to generation and one of them happens to "don't play in no-man's land" or "don't get stuck in no man's land". Although I agree with the theory behind these concepts - after all, the closer to the court you are, the faster you need to be and the better your balance (in addition to the risk of being struck "in the shoe-laces) - I completely disagree with the concept that one should not know how to play from inside the baseline entirely. 

No man's land is a transition area and if you're no comfortable in that part of the court, the chance that you will be comfortable coming in (to the net) is very small. One of my pet peeves is seeing players practice from 2, 3, 5 or 10 feet behind the baseline where they look like world-class tennis players. Then, they move in and practice volleys from 6 feet from the net....completely ignoring the 400 square feet of court in between. Let me dispel one myth right off the bat: the chance that you are going to hit a shot (bet it serve or groundstroke) from behind the baseline and then be able to make contact with the volley 6 feet from the net is extremely small...either the opponent isn't very good or you hit a very fortunate shot.

The vast majority of first volleys are really encountered around the service line (maybe a bit behind it). But if you're not confident that you can handle this no man's land zone, the likelihood that you will be confident in making the journey to the net is very small. That's primarily because if opponents don't hit outright winners, they can usually dip the ball with heavy spin or hit a slice that grazes the net (forcing you to make contact from further back than you're used to).

As a baseline player (which most players happen to be), it is important to become comfortable in this transition area (from 1 foot inside the baseline to 1 foot behind the service line) because you never know when the play calls for coming in and you don't want to hesitate or second guess yourself. It is sometimes amusing to see coaches yelling at players (with proverbial steam coming out of their ears) for not following the ball in. They never bother asking the question why the player did not do so. Often times the answer is "because I'm not confident in the mid-court", You can practice volleys until you're blue in the face, but if you don't know how to handle the transition area, you will simply not come in at all the right times...and God forbid that the opponent happens to pass you the first time out. That's when junior say "check please" and keep on staying back, pounding groundies.

Listen, if you want to improve your net game, you have to start it one step at a time. In a previous tip, we mentioned how you should see the court as a chess-board with 3x3ft squares. In reality, try seeing it as a Rubiks cube that is made up of smaller 3x3x3ft cubes. These "cubes": are on your side of the court as well as your opponents. You should strive to master hitting any "cube" on your opponent's side of the court FROM any cube on your side of the court where the ball happens to be...and a lot of these "cubes" happen to be in the mid court. Therefore, swinging volleys, regular volleys, pick-up/half-volleys, abbreviated swing groundstrokes, bunts, high backhand "overheads", skyhooks, etc. all have to be practiced. Any player who is comfortable hitting these shots from mid-court will have more confidence in going in "all the way". It's really the fear of missing or getting passed (something that doesn't happen a lot from the baseline) that holds the players back.

Therefore, do drills where you are mixing baseline shots, with swinging volleys, with pick-ups and regular volleys so that you know what you have to do if you don't happen to hit your first volley from on top of the net. In other words, get comfortable coming in in stages, and then try to have fewer and fewer stages. In your mind, you should have the belief in yourself that if the ball bounces a foot from the baseline you can handle it ("I got this") and know exactly where and how your shot should be hit.

Chip-N-Charge

An oft-forgotten strategy is the chip-and charge play. Currently, when players do decide to come in on the opponent's serve, they tend to do so by thumping the return and sprinting in (and even these plays are few and far between). The chip-and-charge way is one of the cleverest ways to put pressure on the opponent when she is already serving under pressure. Unlike a "belt-and-bolt" (i.e., where you crush the return and then sprint in), the chip and charge, if executed correctly takes time away from your opponent since you are executing the stroke WHILE moving in. In addition, instead of risking that the opponent sticks her racket out to block your massive forehand return, against a chip she actually has to (1) move, (2) get down low, and (3) generate her own pace in order to pass you. All the while, you're rushing in and closing down the angles where she can go. 

To execute a good chip and charge play, it helps to be proficient at the slice. In this regard, it is important to understand that the chip (or the slice) is NOT A SWINGING stroke. That is, you don't try to swing at the ball as if you're cutting down a bamboo tree. You want to split forward, generate only a little pace with your shoulders (utilizing mostly the pace coming from the opponent), make contact out in front by leaning against the ball, and continue to follow the ball in a natural fashion. Practice this while your playing partner is working on her serves. Or, if you're working with a coach, practice this by having the coach serve to you and then feed a dipping volley. Remember, this is a shot that will pay huge dividends in pressure situation and you don't have to be a classic serve-and-volleyer to execute it correctly. It's the element of surprise that will win you the point. As long as you hit the ball deep (2-3 feet from the baseline) you will be in a great position to win - whether by putting the next volley away or by drawing outright errors from the opponent. Even if the opponent gets lucky and squeezes a passing shot by you, in her mind, she will always think that you're going to repeat the play and, as a result, put more pressure on herself next time around (and maybe you'll get a double fault). 

Initially, try to work on this play against weaker opponents in order to get the feel for how the ball should be struck and how you should follow the ball in. Then, against a better opponent, find a pressure situation where you can take advantage of her second serve and charge in "like the Russians to Berlin" (i.e.  FULLY COMMITTED to the cause; "d**n the torpedoes").