Q&A - Tennis Strategy
How to play smart tennis tactics...

Read questions and answers related to tennis strategy part of the game. The questions were sent by readers as a bonus for buying TennisMindGame.com ebooks, were sent through the email or I answered on tennis forums.

The grammar and spelling of questions from readers were left in their original form...

How to beat a "better" player?

Anyway, as we started the match, he held serves EASILY and I struggled with every single point in my service games. At 3-2 he got a lucky break and I thought the set was over then. The next game, however, he double faulted twice and made a couple of silly errors. So, the score was back even again. Since then, I held my serves EASILY for the next 2 service games.

At one point he was swearing at his end and I was dictating every single point. So I thought I might actually win this set. Then he started to slow down his serves, I thought that I might want to be a little moreaggresive. As the result of my aggressiveness, I failed to convert 2 break points and eventually lost the set 5-7.

The second set started with both of us holding one easy service game. Then he became a lot more consistant on his groundies and serves. On the other hand, I totally lost my rhythm on services as I failed to convert three game points. In the end, he won the match 7-5, 6-1.

Although it was better than I expected, but I was frustrated by the fact that I could have won at least a set... The problem with me is that I couldn't return his serves. I know for a fact that he had trouble with my first serves, but sometimes I can make four first serves in a row and other times I can slam five of them into the net.

I guess my loss was partly b/c of my mentality and also b/c of my skills.

So...if you are patient enough to finish my story, any suggestions on how to play and beat a player that is "better" than you?

A:
Beating a player "better" than you is a contradiction. If he is better then you can't beat him BUT if you can make him play not so good or wait for his level of play to drop that's another story.

Many "good" players can play really well only "part time". They play good and then they might lose focus, get upset, ... and then their level of play drops.

If you keep your level of play and focus at your maximum, then in this time period YOU are the better player. Keep up the pressure and play your best tennis.

If that upsets your opponent a lot, then his level of play will probably stay low because they will play from emotion.

Recap: How to beat a better player? You can't. BUT you can play your best tennis as long as you possibly can and wait that your opponents level of play drops. Then you are winning.

If he raises his game again you are losing.

This match is not under your control but his. If he knows how to control his mind and his level of play then you will lose. If not - you have a chance.

How to improve your "percentage" tennis game?

A1:
Hi,

I see some typical situations here:

1. You are not fit enough so you want to shorten the point since you are getting tired

2. You cannot sustain the increasing pressure that is building from long ralies

3. You are impatient and want to make things happen NOW

When you find which one or more of those points you can relate to, you will also know what to do.

Q2:
Mr. Tomaz, I see your 3 points and needless to say, I am afflicted by all of them. I know I can improve my fitness, but I still don't know what to do with the other two. I am a quite fit player, playing about 2 1 1/2 hour matches everyday, however I guess there's more to getting better than just playing matches and practicing.

A2:
Hi,

All right, here's what you need to do - set a goal.

Next time you play a match where you expect long rallies decide that you will stay in the point for 15 shots or more. (which is a LOT!)

Decide, that you will test another approach and never try to escape the point. You know, tennis is about one thing - who is prepared to suffer more. That's the main point of it. Who is ready to pay the higher price for that win.

That price may be mental - increased pressure and loss of concentration and physical - fatigue and muscle pain.

So play aggressive tennis, stay in the points and try to force a mistake from your opponent rather than hit a direct winner. I don't suggest waiting for a mistake from your opponent but rather "helping" him make it. ;)

If you do this, you will play longer points which will improve your fitness, your ability to concentrate for longer time and teach you that patience is really useful in tennis.

"Help! How do I beat a pusher?"

A:
If try to get through this messy :) email we see two questions:

1. How do I beat a pusher (he plays a lot of angles)

2. I freeze when I play against him – I lost to him before

The first question is about tennis strategy – how to play against pushers.

Here’s how:

The first and the biggest trap that you can fall into is thinking that pushers don’t know how to play, because their strokes don’t look nice and their shots seem nothing special. You can immediately see that they lack good technique and that they won’t hurt you with powerful winners.

The second trap you fall into when you underestimate pushers is that you forget about the game. Tennis is challenging even without a tough opponent. You start thinking only about hitting good shots consistently and producing more winners than errors. Unfortunately, you are trying to do this while playing someone who’s nick name is “The Backboard.”

If you underestimate your opponent, you don’t give your best effort. You aren’t fully focused. You don’t put enough effort into movement, and your intensity isn’t high enough.

So first rule, give 100% effort in this match. (check the article…)

So let’s move onto strategies:

1. Pushers, of course, “push” the ball, which means that their ball has no pace. If you have solid volley and overhead skills, then your best tactic is to try to get to the net. There you have the best chance of finishing the points and keeping the pusher under constant pressure.

2. Pushers are emotionally :) attached to the baseline — or, better said, to the area up to two meters behind the baseline. Get them out of there! Get them into their uncomfortable zone — midcourt or even better — make them play at the net.

You can achieve this with drop-shots, drop-volleys, and low and short balls. But always be honest with yourself about whether your skills are good enough to pull off these shots with good percentage.

These are just few strategies on how to beat a pusher. I just opened the ebook Tennis Strategy Encyclopedia and copied these two. There are many more ways to deal with pushers:

• how to take their time of recovery away without hitting harder
• what is the importance of your own rhytm
• how to force them to play short
• how to use their speed to your advantage
• and more…

The part on playing the pusher is just 8 pages of 103 pages of Tennis Strategy Encyclopedia. How much more smart tennis information is in there...

Getting lobbed in doubles? Not sure how to play fast players? Let the readers help you out in the Tennis Strategy Tips page!

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