The Tradition Continues – Segura – Connors – Djokovic
Novak Djokovic captured his third consecutive Australian Open title. Crushing David Ferrer 62 62 61 in the semifinals, and wearing down and then beating back the challenge of Andy Murray 67 76 63 62. The end the fourth set of the men’s final showcased a dominant and domineering Novak Djokovic and a dispirited but…
ETI 021 | Deep and Up the Middle
Time and Angle. Tactics – plain and simple.
If you move the opponent well behind the baseline – you will have more time to respond, and their angle of play becomes smaller.
If that opponent is as deep but in one corner or the other, their angle remains the same but their cross court shot will cross the sideline at a steeper angle.
The famous Jack Kramer was known to play the ball deep and up the middle, whenever he had not gained control of the point with his serve or volley.
The same will work for you.
ETI 020 | Power Lines
Ours is a game of managing errors, of keeping the ball in play, and with each and every shot always playing the percentages.
Play the ball close to the line, you encounter the risk of an error. Play the ball close to the line when the opponent is out of position, now the reward may outweigh the risk.
But worse, sometimes it is possible to lose points simply because you are never truly taking any risks.
With this in mind, consider the line of the incoming ball, and whether you return the ball back along that same line – and this play will always minimize errors. You are playing essentially as a wall. But if you change the line, such that you take a cross court and return if up the line, or you take an up the line and return it cross court – in those instances you are changing the line of play.
If the opponent hits the ball much harder (setting up a power line) then your decisions become much more important, said another way certain decisions expose you to much more risk.
I recommend always play back along incoming cross court power lines – minimize risk, let them change the line.
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