Is Deeper Always Better?

Recently I had the opportunity to witness some high level junior tennis played in my area. There really is no better way to come up with great writing topics than by witnessing junior tennis at its best (or not its best). So, with this in mind, I headed out to watch one of my friends play his first match. Before making it to the back row of the main site, I passed by a parent/coach giving his student (PLAYER X) some last minute advice before stepping on the court. This is what I overheard: "no matter what you do, HIT-THE-BALL-DEEP. If you want to win [argh!!!], you must hit the ball deep." I knew the name of the player (and coach/parent) because I had watched the player play against one of my students. I continued on my way and made a mental note to look at the result of that particular match for amusement purposes only. On the way back from my friend's match I stopped by and watched a couple of points - nay, make it a couple of games - of PLAYER X's match.  Here's what was going on: PLAYER X was hitting the ball deep alright (3 ft from the baseline) but the score was lopsided - not in PLAYER X's favor. Later on, I learned that PLAYER X had indeed lost the match (not close). 

So I thought to myself regarding the coach's advice to PLAYER X: is hitting the ball deep always the best strategy? I seem to hear it all the time (maybe it's something that gets passed around from player to coach, from coach to parent, from paren to player and so on - like seasonal flu) and I've been known to give this advice myself (with a twist). With respect to hitting the ball deep, here are the benefits: hitting the ball deep is, usually, a good initial strategy because it pins the opponent deep (forcing him/her to hit shots from further back) and tends to elicit more mistakes from the other side. In addition, a ball that spends more time in the air gives the "striker" more time to recover and get in position for her next shot (since shots slow down and tend to be hit back relatively quickly after the bounce). However, unless you're playing a very limited player, hitting the ball deep - by itself - is only a rudimentary tactic.

Often times, the opponent will back up 10-12-15ft and continue sending the balls back in your direction. If you don't do anything else at this point, you're nothing more than a general who orders an artillery attack (oh brother! here come the war references again) but doesn't send the ground-troops in order to envelop the opposing army. You keep battering the opposition with every missile under the sun but it has shifted its defense backwards. So the initial shock and damage is ameliorated by your opponent;s adjustment in a defensive posture. Furthermore, there's a chance that you will, at some point, "run out of cannonballs" - that is, get tired (since you are generating all the pace and the opponent is only adding a little bit of hers/his to yours). At crunch time, your opponent may have just enough gas in her tank to cruise to a victory. You'll be left wondering "what happened?!" 

In addition, there are some players who, rather than backing up, will "hug the baseline" their entire match. If you hit the ball deep to them, they move in position quickly (take 3-4 steps to the left or 3-4 steps to the right), get in balance and take your shot on the rise (i.e., "off the ping-pong table") - again using most of your energy and little of theirs. Again, more deep shots will probably not have an effect on this type of opponent since they are not forced out of their comfort zone and not forced to generate their own pace (to hit the ball and recover to the middle).

As a result, it is important that you develop some dimensions in order to understand HOW to use a deep ball when playing against a player who either (a) backs up and absorbs your pace; or (b) steps in and uses your pace. If you find yourself playing against a player who backs up, figure out the point in the rally when the player has in fact gone as far back as you can push him (10-12ft) with your normal strokes. At that point (i.e., once her shirt is green from the windscreen rubbing up against her back), you've done your job with respect to the initial prong of the attack. Start yanking the player side to side with angles and make her cover as much ground as possible. In the first diagram above, a player will run more if you hit shorter angles (red lines) than if you continue to aim for the deep corners (blue lines). Again, it helps a great deal to develop this dimension of your game. To summarize: push back; yank side-to-side. 

If, on the other hand, you find yourself playing against a player who holds his ground (i.e., stays on top of the baseline), it is important to have developed a good, heavy, high topspin that lands a couple of feet past the service line (diagram two; blue line). This ball will explode upwards forcing the player to move either (i) to the side and in (diagonally forward) or (ii) to the side and back (diagonally backwards). In other words, in order to take the ball "on the rise" (as is this opponent's gamestyle) he will really have to move (not just take one or two steps to the side). Initially, he might be able to manage it a few times. Eventually, however, he will run out of gas himself (and, perhaps, so will you). If you manage to tire your opponent, he will either step back (waiting for the ball to come to him) - diagram 1 - or he will change his game (be it going for winners, pushing or coming to the net). Either way, you will have a much better chance to win against a tired opponent who has been taken out of his comfort zone. To summarize: move your opponent diagonally (with high, heavy topspin). 

Shhh! Here's A Secret Way to Guarantee Stupid Playing

The origin of clapping as part of public performances is hard to trace. Some believe that clapping originated in the Middle Ages with the increase of public performances by traveling bands of actors and musicians. Others trace clapping far further - to Roman gladiatorial contests and, perhaps, even ancient Biblical times. Since even babies clap, it is possible that this instinct of expressing joy goes even further than that. It is, almost universally, associated with praise, pleasure and approval

As parents, you are expected to support your child's endeavors. However, often times, even innocent, positive actions can have far-reaching negative consequences. Take, for example, clapping during your child's match. "Now, come on, CAtennis.com, you can't expect me to show up at my kid's match and not be supportive! What's wrong with clapping?!" The answer is nothing - as long as you do it an appropriate time. Let's think about this for a second. When, exactly, is an appropriate time to clap: when the player hits an Ace? When the player hits a winner? When the player hits a shot that forces an error from the opponent? After all, you wouldn't clap if your kid played a point that drew an unforced error from his opponent, would you?! That would be unsportsmanlike. Right?!

Well, here's the thing: if clapping is a form of praise or of signaling approval, in many ways it has the same effect of giving the child an increase in allowance for doing her homework extra early, getting him a new car for finishing his senior year with all A+ grades, or taking him to Disneyland for winning a tournament. It's a form of rewarding certain behavior and motivating similar future actions. I can only speak from annecdotal evidence but I have witnessed HUNDREDS of matches lost and, consequently, many careers ruined by parents who simply "clapped at the wrong time". For example, do you find yourself clapping at a drop-shot winner at 15-40? Do you find yourself clapping at your kids' second serve aces? Do you find yourself clapping at your players' return winners? Do you find yourself clapping and cheering when your kid hits a between-the-legs winner? Well STOP IT! There's one certain way to ensure that the player will continue hitting stupid, low-percentage shots and that's to acknowledge such shots in the first place. Forget about what goes on at ATP/WTA tour events - people clap and cheer for any reason or no reason at all. However, those players have the ability to block things out. Even at those levels, however, the player's box cheers/claps loudest for well-played points; for points were the player gritted out a tough play; where he showed guts and smarts. They are more prone to acknowledge heart and smart-playing as opposed to flashy, low-percentage shots. So learn from these levels and encourage the player - and here's the key - WIN OR LOSE to the extent they accomplished their desired objective. By clapping winners you're encouraging him to go for winners. Same with second serve aces and low-percentage drop shots at key points. Instead, strive to emphasize the process.

The best advice that we could outline for you is to communicate with your player's coach in advance and ask him/her what the player has been working on. If the player has been working on being steady - clap/cheer for long points that show heart (again, WIN OR LOSE): "way to fight"; "way to stay tough"; "good hustle". If the player has been working on certain groundstrokes, acknowledge those strokes after the point (WIN OR LOSE): "nice forehand"; "beautiful serve"; "nice stick on that volley". By clapping/acknowledging the things that player has been working on, you will send the player the message that (a) you are 100% behind his development; and (b) your primary concern is not winning/losing. If the player has been working on certain patterns - acknowledge those patterns. It's useless to clap for winners during the match and then, after a loss, tell the kid that "it's not the result that matters." You are sending her two contradicting messages. In addition, you risk undermining the player's relationship with the coach because, where one is focusing on developing the game (i.e., the coach), the other (player) is concentrating on results. How is the coach supposed to focus on getting the player to the mid- and long-term level if the only thing that's on the player's mind is the immediate past and immediate future result?! This type of behavior leads to Band-Aid practices where the parties are focused on covering up past mistakes instead of emphasizing long-term growth and development. So, in a way, telling the kid one thing and exhibiting a different kind of behavior is not just useless is downright harmful.

The same lesson goes for being overly excited after the match for wins but being depressed after losses. What message are you sending your player? It doesn't matter what you say - it's how you act that sends the clearest message (remember: only about TEN PERCENT OF COMMUNICATION IS VERBAL). During the development stages it is EXTREMELY important to stay even-tempered regardless of result. The message that needs to get across is that learning and improving is of foremost importance. Results are simply the outcome of hard, passionate, driven and focused work.

The Score: 4-1 Up A Break

Here is the deal, you are up a break 4-1 in the first set. Your opponent is at a comparable level to yourself and the match can swing either way. Thankfully, all your preparations heading into the match have panned out, sprinkled with just enough unforced errors from your opponent at inopportune times. The nerves of your opponent were not as sharp as yours, thus causing more unforced errors than they would usually make. The good news is you are up a break 4-1.

Then your opponent does the unthinkable and STOPS MISSING! (I hate when that happens!)

The rookie mistake is to accuse your opponent of treeing (playing unbelievable, this can't be!). You begin to panic and overhit. The obligatory 2-3 unforced errors a game are cut down to 0 or 1. Your opponent has suddenly relaxed into the match and settled down. The person on the other side of the net desperately wants to claw their way back into the match. Points that were coming easily are becoming less frequent and rallies of 10 plus shots are becoming the norm. Your heartrate starts to accelerate and frustration starts to build because of their solid play. How can this be?

When they stop missing, THIS IS WHEN THE MATCH BEGINS. You have to be on alert for when this moment comes. It might come at 4-1 or 5-2 or 2-0 up in the second set. But against any good player who is mentally strong, they will eventually decide to put the ball in the middle of the court- over and over again. When you think about it, nothing bad has happened and you should be grateful you have a 4-1 lead. Now is the time to remain calm and be ready to wrestle into some long rallies.

It is very conceivable the rallies won't go your way and you find yourself up 4-3, losing 2 consecutive games. Again, nothing bad has happend, you are still on serve. You have to realize at 4-1 down, they had nothing to lose and maybe loosened up a bit. With the pressure off of them, lots of players can recover from a break down. However, once the score reaches 4-3 on serve, the pressure is back on for them. And as long as you have remained emotionally calm and not do anything drastic, you can weasel your way to another break. Being emotionally calm, not reacting or panicking to the 4-3 scoreline will only increase your odds of winning the set. If you panic, you have simply decreased your odds.

At 4-3, this is not the time to try fancy plays (interject new strategies), but this is the time to bring high percentage tennis. Lots of meat and potatoes and see if they can hang with you mentally (maybe they will crack). The rookie mistake at 4-3 would be to change strategies completely and be hotheaded. This is a sure recipe for losing the set 7-5.

The goal at the end of the day is to maximize your odds of winning. You want to stack all the odds in your favor (remember, your opponent on the otherside has problems too) and execute your strengths to their weakness. Towards the end of the set is when people begin to crack. Weak backhands at 1-0 are easy to make, but weak backhands directed to an opponent become increasingly difficult at 4-3 and 5-4. You have to work on their head and don't let them off the hook with cheap unforced errors. If they keep up the good tennis, atleast you played smart and didn't let go of the rope.

Good luck with your next 4-1 lead!

Build a Foundation - Practice Consistency

Andy Scorteanu is the Director of Tennis and Fitness at Monterey Country Club in Palm Desert, CA. He is also the head of ASTA - the Andy Scorteanu Tennis Academy ( www.astennisacademy.com ). As a player, Andy finished his junior career as #1 player in Southern California and attained a top-30 NCAA Division 1 ranking at Fresno State University. He has competed on the professional circuit and served as hitting partner for Pete Samras, Martina Hingis, Jelena Jankovic, Ana Ivanovic, Dmitri Tursunov and Jim Courier.

Do you find that you're practicing like a champ and playing matches like a chump? Is your coach constantly feeding you balls? Well maybe that's the problem. Leave the basket a home and grab a can (3 balls max). Perfect practice makes perfect, so hold yourself accountable and learn how to keep the ball in play. Many times, coaches feed balls to the players in order to work on very specific shots. These drills are tailored to elicit focused footwork, preparation and ball-strikes under narrow circumstances. However, in live-ball scenarios, the players find that their balls are going everywhere but in the court. What does this teach? No magic will bring the ball in the court. Often times, the mistake happens because the player was unable to adjust to a specific speed, spin or trajectory of a "live" ball. As a result, players, specifically juniors, need to learn how to hit against the "unclean" shots from their peers (the same ones they will face in a match condition). Doing so will not only make them better players but also better practice partners which in turn will make them a sought-after commodity for other players looking to improve (and more playing = better resutls). In addition, in today’s game, the ball is struck harder partly because of technology (racket/string) and more physical strength. At the end of the day Federer, Nadal, Murray & Djokovic have 20 ball rallies (repeatedly). Work on precision and consistency first; pace comes later in your tennis career. STOP trying to hit like the professionals when you're just starting out; control your impulses. When you get older, power is easier to come by than control. Remember that you are not a professional until you, in fact, are one. Pros have hit millions of focused shots and can control the ball at a high pace (or any pace, for that matter) and spin. By rallying against players your own age, you will learn to play within yourself and will manage to hit the ball at a pace that you can control CONSISTANTLY within a designated area (precisely, Watson).

ASTA Love it. Live it. Breathe it.

Video: Find Their Breaking Point

In this particular match, Djokovic was down a set and the match was slipping out of his hands. However, he went on to win this point and the match.  Sometimes the strategy to win isn't obvious, but if you can keep delivering body shots (like in boxing) instead of going for the knockout (1 in 5 shot), good things can happen. Soften them up.  In this particular match, Monfils gave in to the mental superiority of Djokovic.  Notice how safe the shots were traveling inside the lines and above the net.