Successful tennis tactics when playing against left handers

by john f shannon
(ireland.)

When playing lefties I generally try to deprive them of angle on the forehand side. In other words when rallying I hit more shots down the middle of the court, this reduces their angle of return on what is presumably their stronger groundstroke. It also prevents you from being pulled out wide on your weaker backhand side.

If I go wide it will generally (but not always be) to their backhand side, this can sometimes open up the court and allow you to hit your return to their (now open) forehand side. It is imperative that you keep your opponent guessing and not to be too predictable in your strategy.

Likewise on the serve do not give them too much angle when they are returning from the advantage side. Serve down the "T" to their backhand or use the body serve which if executed correctly automatically narrows the angle of return. When serving to the deuce court I usually serve out wide (to their backhand) or use a body serve to tie them up.

When lobbing (particularly with topspin) lob crosscourt to their backhand. This gives you more court to hit into and you are playing their weaker side. Remember a high backhand smash is difficult to execute.

A number of years ago I was losing a match 3/6, 1/4 against a left hander who I had never beaten previously and in desperation decided to play everything crosscourt or down the middle. The flow of the match changed because of these tactics and I won 7/5 in the third.

I used to dread playing "lefties" but since adopting this approach I have a greater success rate against them. Hope this advice is useful for somebody.