Develop An Attacking Game!
In our 11th blog in this series of 12, I am excited to share 3 strategies to help players improve their “attacking” game and be more successful against stronger competition.
Attacking Strategy #1: Play on the rise!
Playing the ball on the rise by proactively moving forward to the incoming ball is an effective way to attack players who like more time to execute their shots. Such players usually have bigger swings and are forced to make several adjustments discussed below that can lead to errors:
- The compressed time causes swing length adjustments that can lead to miss-hits and miss-timed shots.
- To gain extra time, these players often move farther behind the baseline leaving the angles open and much court space to cover (see fig. 1 below).
Therefore, develop the skill to take the ball early on groundstrokes and return of serves (particularly 2nd serve returns) to attack players with big swings.
Attacking Strategy #2: Move to the net
Faster surfaces such as hard and grass courts will reward players who move to the net of well-placed and powerful groundstrokes as well as serves and returns. The benefits of moving to the net are:
- You are making your intentions to attack and finish the point clear to the opponent. This will support your attacking mindset and game plan.
- Similar to taking the ball on the rise, by moving forward, you will be taking away time and court space from the opponent’s next shot. This added pressure can lead to forced errors from the opponent’s racquet.
- Being closer to the net will widen the angles for a winning shot of a volley or overhead (see fig. 2 below).
Therefore, practice moving forward and executing angled shots at the net to effectively attack on faster courts.
Bonus tip: given that the game (at all levels) has become heavily “baseline centric”, your ability to move forward and play well at the net can be a differentiating factor in the outcome of a match.
Attacking Strategy #3: Compliment power with directional change and variation in strokes
Often, an “attacking game” is associated with lots of power. However, directional change and variation in shot making can be effective tools against certain opponents as highlighted below:
- If court speed is not a strength of your opponent’s game, look to change the direction of their incoming shots and to attack them in the open court spaces. In this regard, down-the-line shots that travel through a shorter distance relative to cross-courts, can be particularly effective.
- If your opponent doesn’t do so well against balls that are low or high (i.e. away from their preferred strike zone), look to attack with slice or heavy topspin shots such as “kick” serves. These shots can be followed to the net to add additional pressure.
- Against opponents who struggle to adapt to unpredictable patterns of play (i.e. baseline play mixed in with serve and volleys or drop shots etc.), look to attack by changing the structure of points. It pays to think like a baseball pitcher who throws a myriad of different pitches to keep batters from finding their groove.
Therefore, think beyond “power” to develop a broad set of attacking options that you can utilize against certain weak areas of your opponent’s game.
Summary
I encourage players to incorporate the strategies and tips shared in their practices to develop a well-rounded attacking game. Not only will it be a fun process, you will be enjoyable to watch!
All the best!
Harsh
The Tenicity — Enerzal Coaching Program is a partnership to support tennis player development with high quality instructional content. Tenicity is a tennis player development web and mobile app founded by former India #1 singles and Davis Cup player, Harsh Mankad. Enerzal is a balanced energy drink which can be consumed before, during, and after tennis to maintain optimum energy levels.
