Playing in "no man's land"
by Mark
(Indy, IN, USA)
I'm a male 3.5 level (on an average day) to 4.0 (on a good day) club player. I hit decent groundstrokes, serve decent, return decent, can hit a decent volley and overhead, and am pretty mobile.
The guy (actually a couple guys) I have trouble with doesn't usually hit deep groundstrokes. He mostly stays between his back T and center T, which I call "no man's land", and he tends to hit the ball short, forcing me into the same area on my side, between the back T and center T.
He's good at counter punching since he never takes much of a backswing, he just punches at it and it comes back with no spin or some backspin, and it doesn't bounce very high.
I can get him moving side to side, but since he keeps placing it in the center of the court, I can't get much of an angle, so I can't make him run as much as I want. Since I'm not used to be in "no man's land" (and don't feel comfortable there), I have trouble keeping the ball in play without hitting him a puffer, which he has the ability to put away.
My "standard" baseline groundstroke that works from 3' behind the baseline, doesn't work from 3' inside the baseline because I hit it long. It's hard to get enough topspin because his ball doesn't bounce very high. So, I have to try to add more topspin by snapping my arm up, and I'm usually the one who makes an error first.
I'm a little too far back to hit and effective drop shot (I can hit good ones from around the service line, but not from 3' in front of the baseline). Sometimes I can hit a topspin approach shot and come in, but I pretty much always get lobbed, and he's good at hitting high deep lobs.
