The Basic Strategy of Tennis

The Basic Strategy of Tennis

I once asked a great college tennis coach, Jim Verdieck, what would happen to his tennis knowledge if he died. He responded, “If I die, it dies.” Consequently, I would like to share the knowledge I’ve compiled about tennis freely here on my blog. The subjects covered will include singles and doubles strategy, coaching instruction, and insights from 40 years of coaching alongside Dennis Van der Meer, Welby Van Horn, Chet and Bill Murphy, Jim Verdieck, and my mentor, Jim Leighton.

I’d like to start with the basic strategy of tennis, based on Wayne Sabin’s “Inside Tennis.”

1. Keep it In. Beat your opponent with concentration, hustle, and steadiness.
2. Find a Weakness. Most often, your opponent’s backhand will be their weaker side.
3. Keep it Deep. Your objective is to move your opponent from side to side.
4. Attack Short Balls. Learn to hit accurate approach shots from inside the baseline.
5. Volley Away from the Source.

Four of five points are determined by unforced errors, not by great shots. The next best thing to an error is a short ball from your opponent. The short ball is the green light to attack. You transfer yourself from a baseline defensive player to an at net offensive player with an approach shot. It is often an underspin shot, and should be directed down the line and/or at your opponent’s weakness. Close in on the net, and bisect the angle of your opponent’s best two passing shots. Volley away from your opponent towards the open court. A deep, aggressive approach shot often results in an easy volley. Practice your approach shots (and your passing shots).

The Next Level of Men’s Tennis

Novak Djokovic

Novak Djokovic’s win over Rafa Nadal in the 2011 Men’s US Open Championship showed tennis fans a new level of play in the history of the sport.  I’ve discussed Nadal’s “Circle” strategy to defeat Federer and the rest of the men’s tour consistently. But Djokovic has taken the baseline game to a new level. He has perfected deep, heavy shots that keep Rafa out of his circle.

Djokovic and his team have engineered their rise to the top of the men’s game much like Andre Agassi’s team did. A rigorous fitness regimen and diet have amplified his natural counter-punching style, and he is returning serve and hitting passing shots as effectively as any player ever.  I can’t remember a Grand Slam final (grass, hard, or indoor) where the first service percentage carried almost no statistical advantage.  Neither Nadal nor Djokovic benefited from their normally deadly first serves. It makes you wonder if Pete Sampras could have held service while serve-and-volleying against Djokovic.

This also makes me wonder about the upward evolution of the game, and who will achieve the next level. Djokovic has almost perfected “corner to corner” baseline strategy.  One thing that does seem to be growing in effectiveness is the drop shot.  The old adage that “you can’t drop shot on a hard court” is being tested more at the top level.

There are four corners on each side of the court.  Two are up at the net. The only player I have seen who could hit a un-returnable drop-shot from the base line was Charlie Owens.  Many watched Charlie dismantle quality players with a disguised, feather like drop shot that confounded even great players. Maybe there is someone coming along with this unique touch, who combined with the other tennis skills needed will produce the next level in the never ending evolution of tennis.

Women players might be well advised to note this possibility.  And to be aware that not only should she be able to hit drop shots, she must be able to defend against them.  My guess is that many players and teachers have realized there are four corners on each side of a tennis court.

Speaking at Awards Banquets

1. While this is a special time for you, your time is limited.

2. Rehearse your speech and try to finish 2 minutes under your allotted time. Brevity is the soul of wit.

3.  Respect your audience.

4.  If you speak for too long, you infringe upon the other speakers’ time, and create the potential for audience discomfort.

5.  Many speakers “get in and can’t get out” — it’s okay to just stop telling a story and move on. Practice it.

6.  Some speakers are surprised by their emotions.  Talking about parents, family, team mates, coaches and schools can trigger deep and powerful and surprising emotions.

7.  The monitor runs the show. It’s essential that the moderator make the ground rules for speakers clear in the rehearsal. If you should exceed your time limit, the monitor will rise.  This is the signal to wrap it up quickly.

After many years and events, I believe the moderator has the right to protect his or her audience. Too many times I have heard “he talked too long,” or “she ruined it for others,” or “I’ll never go back to another one of those.”

3rd Edition Books are now available

Play Is Where Life Is

“Play is Where Life Is” collects the memories of a North Carolina native over the past 67 years – stories range from the shenanigans of a preacher’s child, to the adventures of a freewheeling 1950s teenager; from a small college athlete to a National Hall of Fame tennis coach. Topics include crossroads, inventions called the automobile and television, tragedies, accidents, and plenty of drama from a cadre of small town characters.

The author covers topics from his 40 year career in college athletics including integration, Title IX, television’s impact, and internationalization. He also gives his thoughts on children and parenting in sports and, for high school athletes, he covers how to select and get in the right college athletic program. Other chapters include : how to successfully coach team tennis, highly skilled athletes, girls and women; levels of play; giving advice to players, parents, coaches, and organizations that govern tennis; and the behavior of players.

A special chapter investigates music’s affect during a personal crisis that included two failed back surgeries, a hip replacement, quintuple bypass surgery, and a “respectable” addiction to alcohol. All of these ups and downs in a career of coaching that matured into an appreciation for “play” and those willing to join the arena at any level.

If you are interested in purchasing a book (soft cover, 400 pages, 3rd edition), please send a check for $27.95 with your return address to :

Play is Where Life Is
c/o Tom Parham
202 Blue Crab Court
Emerald Isle, NC 28594

or email the author at : ethomasparham@gmail.com

Football at the Crossroads

In the late 1960’s an orthopedic doctor, concerned about the health of his football playing sons, wrote his observations.  Dr. O. Charles Olsen’s book, “The Prevention of Football Injuries,” made note of the adverse and pronounced effects of “spearing” or head gear to chest tackling. While this technique was effective and caught on quickly, the number of deaths and severe injuries rose as a rapid level never before witnessed before in football.

Dr. Olsen concluded that energy equaled one half of the mass times velocity squared. (e=1/2m x v squared).  The bigger, stronger, faster players were creating a force that couldn’t withstand head gear to head gear, or head gear to knee contact.

The consolidation of schools eliminated many of the smaller players.  African American footballers were added to the talent pool, along with weight programs, better diets, and better coaching, and in many instances steroids.  Tremendous contact ensued. And, while efforts have been made to control this violent hitting, football is at a crossroads.

The question of the long term effects of head contacts have forced the questions of (1) are we dealing with concussions properly,(2) are we legally liable if we turn our backs on the problem (3) are the linemen more vulnerable than we thought and  (4) can you “take the head out of football?” and on and on.  These questions have been around.  Perhaps no one has done more research than UNC Chapel Hill.  Dr. Carl Blyth and Dr. Fred Mueller have done yeoman’s work in an attempt to protect our young players. This effort was begun a long time ago. Dr. Mueller still pursues the data at the National Center for Catastrophic Sport Injury Research.

Pro football features a real ballet each game day.  The receivers and defensive backs are making plays that are at a new level of brilliance. Truly a work of physical, human art.  At the same time Olsen’s theory of force is hardly better exemplified than when a receiver crosses the field and is hit by a defensive back.  And, while a defensive back may be penalized for “head hunting”, he knows if he jars the ball loose, and or intimidates the receiver, his game rating goes up. While this risks tragic injury possibilities (his own included) is his job security a factor that urges him on?

The crossroads football faces include some other variables.  The more violent the hitting, the more the injury.  Yet the more violent the hitting the more market appeal the game experiences. Are we getting to the “gladiator” level of violence? And while college and professional football are in the crosshairs of violence, perhaps high school footballers are even more vulnerable. And here is why: the weak and small and slow are eliminated at the college level.  But in many high schools, small players may face tremendous opponents. These guys hitting the “canon fodder” can create catastrophe.

“You can’t take the head out of football” might become “you must take the head out of football.”  How to do this is the crossroads question.  I fear the 2011 season will make this even more apparent. “I would let my son play football, but I would not encourage him to play football.” James Michener, Sports In America 1976.

Golf Putting and Free Throws

Shaq

Hall of Fame basketball coach Jerry Steele told this story. When tryouts were allowed, he had a young man in the campus gym, demonstrating his shooting ability.  Showing very limited success, the young man stopped and commented to Coach Steele: “I’m sorry I’m doing so poorly coach, but you make me nervous.” Coach Steele replied, “Well, my intentions are to be at every one of our games.”

Pressure is emotional.  Controlling your emotions is part of getting positive results. Just as you have to master the physical part of the game (conditioning, skills), and the mental part of the game (strategy, rules), you must train yourself to control your emotions. In sports your two primary negative emotions are fear and anger, and both are self directed. The only way to learn how to play under pressure is to play the game competitively. The game is the best teacher.

Pressure affects momentum in sports.  One of the hardest things to learn is how to play when ahead.  “Killer instinct” may sound mean, but playing well while you’re ahead prevents having to deal with momentum and pressure shifts. Nevertheless, all elite athletes get into pressure situations. Some love pressure, but my guess is that they have spent years preparing themselves for these moments.  Every backyard basketball player has mentally placed himself on the free throw line, with the score tied, and the clock set to expire. All good tennis players have had to hit a second serve defending match point.

It is astounding how many pro football games end with a field goal attempt. The same is true of basketball: the lowest percentage shooter on the line with the score tied, and 2 seconds left on the clock. While field goal attempts vary in length and field conditions, free throws are the same distance universally.  And, indoors, they are not affected by weather.  They are not immune, however, from pressure.

Finding golf late in life, I had already experienced the carry over of skills and ideas from sport to sport. Dave Pelz is golf’s short game guru.  His book “Short Game Bible” is a must for learning golfers.  Pelz notes that conversations between pro golfers and their caddies don’t center around tens of yards, but yards themselves.  They want the approach shots within 8 feet of the cup, where putting odds drastically improve. He reveals the term “omigods” which refers to golfers hitting putt too hard with their hand muscles.  These hand muscles, plus pressure, can affect putting distances in amazing distances.

Pelz’s solution is to take the omigods out of putting by employing a “dead hands” technique.  The length of the putt, or pitch, is determined by the length of the stroke.  While golfers who are good putters have a good touch, Pelz scientifically shows how “pendulum putting” comes from the shoulders, not the hands.  Others suggest length of putts comes from varying body rotation lengths, rather than the hands.

My suggestion for basketball coaches is to explore the success of “dead hands” golf putting as it applies to basketball free throw shooting. Even in pro basketball I see all kinds of hand actions, affected by nerves and pressure.  These poor shooters with jerks, flips, or omigods in their shots are sought out and fouled at games end.

There are at least three main variables that control free throws: the legs (how far to bend, how far to rise.), the arms (how low to take the ball), and the action of the hand and the wrist. Shooters should use a cupped shooting hand with the ball placed in tips of their fingers and thumb. The real key to success is learning the proper wrist action in the shooting hand. Here the great coaches will be able to convey just the exact “dead hands” release by the shooting wrist. All good free throw shooters have a pre-shot routine, like golfers, or tennis players, or field goal kickers.  Experts say 8 seconds is maximum for a pre-shot routine.  Any longer and you will lose your mental target.

Bjorn Borg’s comments upon winning on of the greatest tennis matches ever, 1980 Wimbeldon final over John McEnroe, were essentially these: “I was very nervous inside. I thought surely I will lose this match. I told myself I must put these thoughts out of my mind.” And, most importantly, “I will not quit under any circumstances.”

Made in the USA

The Bryan Brothers

I was a small college tennis coach most of my career.  In the 1970s, international players took over college tennis and the scholarships awarded for tennis.  It started with the small college men, spread to small college women, and then on to NCAA Division 1 men and women.

There was much discussion about this issue.  Those favoring the argument for limiting foreign scholarships lost, myself included. Forty years hence, observing a progressive downward spiral of American’s professional tennis rankings, I wonder if there is a connection between the two.

Did American families, parents, and players, realizing the drastic change in supply of college tennis scholarships, redirect would be top players? The financial commitment from a family that’s needed to produce a world class player is staggering.  Those who commit have only two possible financial paybacks: the rare professional success, or a college scholarship.  Eliminate scholarship likelihood, and the bet is questionable at best. Shouldn’t American tennis organizations support parents in their commitment?  College tennis scholarships (or the lack thereof) send a powerful message in America.

If it is in the best interest of American organizations, a reservation of college scholarships for Americans seems to be a start.  Note that I am not unaware, or unappreciative, of the many fine internationals who have helped colleges, universities, and their tennis programs.  How about a goal of 50% of tennis scholarships reserved for Americans?

Tennis Tactics : The Circle Stinger

Here are a few observations of singles tennis strategy, some conventional and some new.  Strategy can be defined simply as how you plan to win.  Great teachers deliver memorable sound bites: “attack the short ball” (Dennis Van der Meer); “get in a position to volley away from the source” (Jim Verdieck).  A very successful high school coach once told me, “Hit it at his backhand and go to the net.”  Jack Kramer boiled it down to “Find out what your opponent can’t do and make him do that.”

Tactics are the tools you use to implement your strategy.  Coach Jim Leighton defined the “basic unit of play” as:  (1) the approach shot, (2) the passing shot, and (3) the first volley.

Figure 1 - Attack the Short Ball

In Leighton’s book “Inside Tennis, Techniques of Winning,” Coach Leighton pointed to Wayne Sabin’s ABC’s of Tennis Strategy: (1) Hit it in, (2) Hit it deep, (3) Hit it to your opponent’s weakness, (4) Move your opponent side to side.

While there is truth to the old suggestion of staying out of “no-man’s land” on a tennis court, mid court shots (approach shots, service returns, balls hit on the rise, etc.) must be mastered.  These shots establish an aggressive court position.  Given two right handed players, Leighton & Sabin suggest a firm approach down the line at the weaker backhand.  This is intended to force a weak passing shot, to be volleyed to the opposite corner.

One of nine players is left handed.  The two handed backhand is often your opponent’s better passing shot.  Differing opponents dictate different approaches, as do your own abilities.  However, there is a common thread in all of these suggestions — tennis players are statistically vulnerable to firm attacks on their backhand.

The success of the Spanish players, most notably Rafa Nadal, is reason to examine a new version of a conventional attacking approach shot. Witness the wear of the grass at Wimbledon. No longer is there a “serve and volley” alley of brown on the court.  There is a new pattern of wear.  There is a “Circle” of wear just inside the base line that indicates a shift in post-service attack.

Figure 2 - The Circle

Once the server serves, he takes an extra step into the court. Not to serve and volley, but to establish an aggressive position inside the Circle. What is hoped for is a defensive return.  A shortened whipping, topspin ball taken inside the baseline can put more pressure on the opponent, than the conventional, underspun approach shot. The modern player’s ability to hit “on-the-rise” has created a new game.

A trump card, based on this idea, is the shot Nadal uses so effectively against Roger Federer.  Nadal’s shortened, topspin, crosscourt attack  from the Circle on Federer’s backhand is a very effective tactic.  As great as Federer is, the relentless pressure from Nadal’s stinger from the Circle eventually yields “unforced” errors, a short ball, or an open court.

An on-the-rise approach from within the Circle can produce more pressure than a volley from behind a serve, or a traditional underspin approach shot.  The reason, of course, is that most volleys and approach shots are underspun and lack the speed of an aggressive, stinging, topspun attack.

What about right-handers and the Circle?   The answer is the “inside-out” forehand, turning 3/4 or more of the court into forehands.

Figure 4 : Inside Out Forehand from the Circle

Running around your backhand is nothing new. While some frown on it, given a much better forehand than backhand, many players use their footwork to turn marginal backhands into more potent forehands. The most effective of these forehands are hit from within the Circle.

One may argue that a forehand from the Circle leaves one vulnerable to the down-the-line passing shot, and that’s true.  It’s much like the left hander’s hooking serve to the right hander in the ‘add’ court. When McEnroe leftied his hooking serve there, a few players including Bjorn Borg had an ability to pass him, threading the needle to a very difficult down the line spot to hit.  But the percentages were in McEnroe’s favor, as the percentages favor the stinging pressure of the Circle attack.

Figure 5 : Borg's return of McEnroe's hooking service

There seems to be a battle for position in the Circle in many of  today’s strategies. If a good coach teaches a player to implement the Circle tactic, they should also teach how to defend it.

Deep, well hit service returns can force the attacker back. Ground strokes are now required to be heavier, and deeper. These shots run the opponent out of the Circle, and now you have a chance, with better ground strokes and returns, to get yourself in the Circle, thus turning  defense into offense.

Figure 6 : Defense Against the Circle

So, you now have some more shots to perfect: (1) the Circle attacking shots, and (2) the inside-out forehand from the backhand side. Remember you have to have good leg and foot work to do this, and you must hit more balls on the rise.  Your goal is the “Circle Stinger,” which now has the advantage of being cross court and at the backhand.

A few more tactics

Pros should play more  balls cross court. Cross court balls are safer. Hit one more cross court ball before you try a counterpunching, two handed backhand down the line.  It is more difficult to change the direction of the ball from a timing perspective.  Those backhands are often late, sliding wide off the sideline. Watch for yourself and you’ll believe.

As Yogi Berra has said, “You can observe a lot by watching.”  I spent another great week at the US Open this year.  Even against the world’s best approach shots, passing shots hit soft enough on an angle create errors or vulnerable volleys.

Figure 7 : Passing Shots

And while conventional wisdom says, don’t drop shot on a hard court, Federer, Nadal, Verdasco and other top professionals now use a forehand drop shot, hit with disguise from the Circle to the open court.  Once you establish the dominance of the Circle Stinger, this shot becomes another weapon.  It takes great touch and a lot of practice.

Women and junior girls should develop use of the short corners on your opponent’s court.  If I had any advice to young girl players, it would be to make your opponent move up and back.  Most girls don’t practice these shots enough.  Learn how to move up and back yourself.   Practice the footwork, and force your opponents to prove they’ve done the same work.

The week before the US Open, Mardy Fish beat Andy Roddick in a memorable match in Cincinnati.   Mardy played excellent defense with a cross-court, looping, forehand “flop” shot. When an attacker with Roddick’s strength is hitting a forehand at 90%+, the flop is effective, yielding fewer mistakes.  You can’t outhit some players’ best shots.  A deep, looping topspin crosscourt ball can’t be easily attacked.  Great players like Fish, or Gael Monfils, swing the racket head at different speeds.   They don’t “pull the trigger” until they’re in the Circle and ready to fire.  Be patient.

The hardest time to play is when you are ahead.  I watched a top 10 men’s player get up 30-0, 40-0, or 40-15 in several key games.  But he didn’t play those points tough, and eventually lost the games. Don’t play loose points when ahead.  And don’t play loose games when up a service break. When you do, pressure shifts from them to you.  Stay hungry when you’re ahead.

A closing thought

The point penalty system and Cyclops line calling machines have helped control the poor sportsmanship that once damaged the reputation of tennis as a ladies’ and gentleman’s sport.  Innovation in the rules and technology has returned respect to the game.  That is a positive change for a great game that is still evolving strategically, and as fun to watch as it has ever been.

Summer Update

Hooked

Over the past three months, there has been some good news and some bad news. Feedback centers around errors, mostly typos, although I did name the Ritter’s mule Nell, when it was actually Kate. There have been some valid questions about the 1st edition of the book. For example, did I have to use the bad language ? I knew it would be controversial when I did it, so that’s that. Another critique has been that this edition is really a combination of two books — one about my childhood, and one about tennis and coaching. That’s true, and anyone interested specifically in the tennis, especially kids, should start at Chapter 9. These chapters can help young tennis players, their coaches, and parents.

The good news is that I’m glad I took the time to write and publish the book. The emails, letters, and phone conversations that have resulted from this project were worthwhile. Many readers cited the humor as entertaining, and several offered appreciation for both the openness of the memoir, including stories of some of the tougher times in my life.

Having always been a coach, the writing world has surprised me. I’ve reunited with many old friends. My high school reunion was made much more meaningful by my classmate’s acceptance and interest in the project. Most books have been bought by someone I know or was connected to personally. Maybe writing is about connecting. I’ve enjoyed reconnecting.

I am especially thankful for a recent book signing at Barton College. Three and a half hours flew by, and yet I still wanted to continue the conversation with longtime friends in attendance. I appreciate all of the people that have helped build interest in the book with signings, reviews, and hostings – Our State magazine, Elon’s The Pendulum, The Islander (of Emerald Isle), The North Carolina Tennis Foundation. Thanks also to Jack Webster, a friend from my hometown of Madison, NC, for spreading the word.

Our State » Quick Lit

Our State Magazine June 2008

Play is Where Life is covered briefly in the June issue of “Our State” magazine. Here’s the quick blurb – “A collection of memories from Parham’s 67 years, Play is Where Life Is includes antics from his childhood as a preacher’s son and his career as a National Hall of Fame tennis coach, which included nearly 20 years at Elon University.”

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