"Shrinking" the Strike Zone
by: Dave Winship @ On The Line

When you're hitting groundstrokes, you'll find it easier to control the ball if your contact is somewhere between mid-chest and knee, a comfortable arm's length away from you and just slightly in front of your body. This is your ideal strike zone.

When your opponent hits the ball, it arrives with gradually diminishing speed. It rises after the bounce and then levels off for a moment as its speed dies.

If you can adjust your footwork so that the levelling-off moment occurs in the middle of your ideal strike zone, you've cracked it! Tennis is a breeze!

But it isn't always that easy. Although most balls level off somewhere between shoulder-height and knee-height, sometimes the ball bounces too low or too high. You may have to hurry forwards to short balls and you may have to bend your knees to cope with low balls. High-bouncing balls travel through your strike zone twice - once on the way up and again on the way down, so you have the luxury of a choice.

The face of your racket must be square to the ball at contact. Swing it up through the strike zone from below the level of the ball, finishing above it.

A common mistake is getting in line with the ball, with the result that you get jammed by it. It's okay to position yourself on the tracks, but remember to dodge aside before the train arrives!

The strike zone is important in baseball, too. Rules committees frequently argue over its definition. When the umpires "shrink" the strike zone, there are more home runs and the hitters (and the fans) are happy. But when they allow a larger strike zone, it favors the pitchers and the home runs start to dry up.

Let's apply a baseball analogy to tennis. Let's say you're hitting balls at all different heights, one ball up around your armpits and the next down below your knees. Well, clearly this is the equivalent of a baseball umpire allowing a large strike zone. And your opponent - the pitcher - is just grinning all over his face.

Use anticipation and footwork to shrink that zone and start scoring!

Regards.

Dave Winship