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Great tactics for an aggressive baseliner

by Sondre
(Oslo)

Hello,
I am wondering if any of you know about some great tactics for an aggressive baseliner.

I have really great ground strokes, with a lot of topspin and power on both forehand and backhand. I love hitting especially forehands, but my backhand is no weakness.

I am really bad at lobs and drop shots, and my slice is NOT consistent. I like to volley, but I think I hit them with way too much slice, since they are often floating long.

Which strategy and tactics should I go for?

Thanks! (maybe) :)

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Great tactics for an aggressive baseliner

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May 22, 2009
Rating
starstarstarstarstar 		Being an aggressive baseliner is not enough
by: Anonymous

I am an agressive baseliner, too, and I just played a match that I lost in a third set tiebreaker but I feel OK about it because I had a break through, in part to reading Tomaz's manual about hitting a good shot, being courageous, going for winners, and hitting preventive shots. If I had been courageous sooner in my match, I think I would have won. Here's what happened: I hit some amazing ground strokes and serves--hard shots left, right, left, right. My opponent was a little jack rabbit and got everything back. Her strokes were ugly, ugly, ugly stabs at my "great" shots. She moonballed me to death. For the first set, I stayed back and kept trying to hit a better, more penetrating grounstroke. Unfortunately, some would go a little long or a little wide. In the second set I was down 2-5. I conjured up the courage to get to the net on her "stab" attacks and volley her returns and hit overhead smashes. I am not comfortable doing this but lo and behold, I started to win points and I won that set. The third set tie breaker could have gone either way. I went for winners and missed a few shots, losing 8-10, but I swear I will never be just an aggressive baseliner again. From this point on, I will trust that my ground strokes are so good that I will get a weak return and be ready to take advantage of it. Hope this gives you some ideas. I learned that being just an agressive baseliner is not enough.
May 22, 2009
Rating
starstarstarstarstar 		only good if it's a wins the point
by: John

I am a old school player, and learned a long time ago that a well hit ball does not have to be hard. In fact the best shot is is one you can hit with your eye's closed. Not literally, but when you are in trouble and the ball is in your zone you can be agressive. Does that mean hitting hard. No! Federer in his last match where he beat nadal had to very aggressive shot. one was the drop shot he hit to nadals forehand whenever he was inside the court. the second was his slice backhand down the line when he had nadal outside the court bountries. It's good to be aggresive but temper it with control and winning from the baseline will come easy.
May 23, 2009
Rating
starstarstarstarstar 		Key points for baseliners (part 1)
by: Nick

Here are a few key points for being an aggressive baseliner with flat-topspin groundstrokes:

---If you want to be an effective aggressive baseliner the #1 thing you have to do every time is to pick a target.

There are 6 targets to go for with groundstokes (assuming your a righty)

1. "The middle of the court"
you only want to hit here if your hitting neutralizing shots. In order to be more offensive you need to hit here as little as possible

2. "Crosscourt"
This is somewhere within the pocket where the each of the two sidelines meets up with the baseline. A higher percentage aggressive shot with a good angle.

3. "Down the line"
This is generally a lower percentage shot, but if your forehand is aggressive then you can run around and hit an "inside out forehand". this shot travels closer to the middle of the net (since the net is lower = higher percentage play)
Also this shot goes to your opponent's backhand which is usually the weaker side.

This shot is extremely important if you want to pin your opponent down. Whenever you get a middle ball you should take your strength (forehand) to your opponent's weakness (backhand).

I can't stress this enough if your opponent has a weaker backhand then attempt to make the most of your groundstrokes by going to that side with the down the line/inside out forehand until they miss or you get a short ball.

4. "Sharp crosscourt"

This shot passes crosscourt towards the respective sideline a bit behind the service box.
This shot is tough to hit hard, in order to be aggressive one needs to be hit slower and/or with more topspin to compensate.

This shot does wonders for opening up the court. Allows you to follow up with an aggressive angle into the open court.








May 23, 2009
Rating
starstarstarstarstar 		Key points for baseliners (part 2)
by: Anonymous

---The next most important aspect to having aggressive groundstrokes is being able to hit on the rise.

Hitting on the rise, on the short hop, half vollying etc. allows you to hit a more aggressive shot without losing your court position (which should be snug right on the baseline).

The timing is difficult to master but the results are well worth it. Once your able to hit this shot it feel great, I promise =).

The key to strategically hitting good groundstrokes is to move your opponent farther back and away from the court. This puts you in control of the point by being in a better position, thus dictating play.


---The last important point is being able to neutralize your opponent's offensive shots so you can go from offense to defense.

Your court positioning indicates whether you are on attack or defense; if you are considerably pulled away from the court or significantly behind the baseline then you are on defense.

The two things needed for a good neutralizing shot are height and depth (preferably w/ topspin).

The height and depth gives you the time to get back into position into the middle of your opponent's possible angles and farther forward.

Direction is also quite important, if you can place you high deep shot to your opponents weaker side then they have less of a chance of them hitting an offensive reply.

By hitting a high deep shot your opponent either has to step back or take the ball on the rise (it's coming together ;D). By stepping back they give away their position and you can step into the court ready to hit your aggressive reply.


-Hope this helps all of you out, Nick
May 23, 2009
Rating
starstarstarstarstar 		A few points about baseline games, etc.
by: Anonymous

It's peculiar you say you are baseliner, but you "like to volley." The volley is an at-the-net shot, for the most part. Some excellent volleyers can hit nice drops from the middle of the court--but certainly volleying from the baseline should not be an option.

Work on your lob. If you are a baseliner and others are charging the net thinking they can take advantage of that, good lobs over their heads can neutralize that game.

If you really are an excellent baseline player with power, then you should be able to do all sorts of damage, a la Aggasi and others like him. Play up that style to the max--go for the deep shots with body, and shots toward the sidelines. The deep shot alone, hitting the baseline, can win point after point.

You should of course have at least a dash of an approach game. That needs to be worked on or you will be a one-trick pony.

And though this might seem obvious, don't forget that whole matches can revolve around how good your serve and serve returns are. You can win so many points before there is even a regular game in play, eliminating much of the need for either a baseline or charging game.
May 24, 2009
Rating
starstarstarstarstar 		Bash and crash
by: LP

Be alert to how your opponent responds to your aggressive baseline shots. If they tend to float back certain shots, wait a second after you hit your agressive shot then sneak in to the net and cut off their floater with a conventional or swinging volley. The pause before you sneak in is to let your opponent's attention focus on the ball so they are less likely and have less time to alter their shot. The swinging volley comes naturally to an aggressive baseliner and isn't as difficult as most people think, just keep your eye on the ball and let her rip. Make life difficult for the counter punchers and pushers that love to return all your well hit shots with little pace by cutting off their slow shots and force them to come up something else.
May 24, 2009
Rating
starstarstarstarstar 		those darn counter punchers
by: Barb

Thanks, LP. That is just what I needed to do in my match against a counter puncher that was driving me crazy. For baseliners, though, this is a scary maneuver. I kept thinking I would get a decent return and I would regret coming toward the net. But, each time I would get that darn floater back and be glad I approached. I blew it several times but won more points than I lost. This is why I swear to never be just a baseliner again. By the way, hitting a deep, penetrating shot (ideally to the opponent's weaker side that also pulls them off the court) is key in this is situation, to "guarantee" receiving that stabbing, floater return. Then, sneaking in, not too early and not too late was my next challenge. I got myself in the most trouble when I did neither and ended up in a moonball war waiting for my next opportunity to hit an offensive shot. You would think I would learn...I will get better at this with more practice and courage!
May 24, 2009
Rating
starstarstarstarstar 		Good points Barb
by: LP

I forgot that to use the tactics I brought up, one has to be comfortable hitting the overhead also and maybe that wouldn't be in the skill set of an aggressive baseliner. I suppose the aggressive baseliner would need to develope these net skills to avoid being tortured by the retrievers. See how Agassi's career blossomed when he became comfortable shortening points at the net. At some point they are going to hit a short ball and you would have to come forward so you need to get comfortable up there because to retreat back to the baseline is a bad idea on many levels.
It's either that or keep hitting good groundstrokes until they miss or get tired. That's tough cause the slow pace makes you generate all the power and gives you too much time to think ( thoughts being the # 1 cause of unforced errors )
May 29, 2009
Rating
starstarstarstarstar 		The angle you hit
by: Tennis.

Sometimes thinking about tactics we forget the basics and how important are they to prove our game.
Watching Michelle Larcher de Brito who is also baseliner I saw some changes in her game.
She was moving and trying to get the right angle to hit a winner.
Also the rotation of the body goes with the shot you want to hit.
All the basics sometimes we think we own them but not until that level of perfection, so we should pay more attention in order to hit great winners from baseline.
Hope I helped.
Sep 01, 2009
Rating
star 		Re Key Points for Baseliners
by: Gil Utanes

Re Key Points for Baseliners
by Nick, May 23, 2009

Item 3. "Down the line"
How then is the shot ”down the line”? Seems to be more of a cross court shot rather than a “down the line”. And how then is it a “lower percentage shot”?

I am confused. I want to learn more but I cannot imagine the shot. Sorry.

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