As promised, I’ll go over six distinct scenarios you can find yourself in on the tennis court. Last week, I mentioned that the most important thing is for each of them to build consistency.
The six-game situations are:
1. Serve
This is likely the most crucial game situation, at least in match play. Why? Because every point begins with a meal. Unfortunately, it is generally the stroke that is the least practiced.
2. Returns the course
This is also a crucial stroke for obvious reasons. If you can’t think of anything else, make sure your returns maintain the ball in play. In that manner, you’ll offer your opponent a chance to make a mistake.
3. Baseline raises
When newbies were first able to hit 5, 6, 7 times on the internet with me, I told them: “You see, it’s not that difficult! You’re playing tennis game now!” Usually, this happens during the first lesson, and their faces always light up when I tell them. I think the basic idea of tennis (to hit the ball over the net on the opponent’s court) is stated so clearly in this situation.
4. Get close to + play volleyball
When you get to the net at the right moment (you get a shorter ball, and your opponent is [slightly] out of position), you can play decent volleyball, which makes tennis a lot more fun. Playing can become more interesting and unpredictable when one or both players appear on the internet from time to time.
5. Hit passing shots + lob
Most people initially tend to ‘panic’ when their opponent appears on the internet. (Some people never leave this stage. Once you realize you can go for the winner, or first play a subtle ‘dinky’ shot and then blow it up by your opponent, or choose to lob, this can be fun and challenging.
6. Lob recovery
You can’t save with a smash when your opponent hits a lob. You can often run after that and keep the ball in play, for example, with your lob. You will see the craziest shots in this situation. People would use the ‘pancake method’ and try to flip the ball over their shoulders, holding the racket with both hands, or they would go for the ‘Sabatweeny’ (named after Argentine Gabriela Sabatini, who would sometimes hit the ball between her legs. with their back to the net), some people will try to smash the ball either keeping their back against the net or trying to turn around while hitting.
So the six-game situations are:
1. Serve.
2. Returns to the course.
3. Play a basic rally.
4. Get close and hit the volleyball
5. Hit passing shots and lob
6. Lob recovery
So what should you do in a situation like this? Let’s talk more about that in our next weekly tennis tip.
That’s all I’ve got for now. Play the game and see if you can spot these six scenarios.