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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
