Chinks in the Armor
Attack your opponent’s weaknesses. Sounds logical, simple
even. It can be.
The problem with attacking your opponent’s weaknesses
is that your ability to be effective is dependent on how well your strengths
match up with his or her weaknesses. If your opponent has a poor volley
but you have poor passing shots it is hard to take advantage of your
rival's weak net game.
There is also a danger in being distracted by paying too
much attention to your opponent's weaknesses. This can cause you to
lose focus on what you do best. The 1989 French Open semi-final match
is a good illustration. When Micheal Chang, despite being hobbled by
cramps, beat Ivan Lendl to advance past him. Ivan came out of his game
to try to move Micheal around with cute touch shots that were not part
of his game and made unforced errors that handed Chang the match.
You can solve both of these challenges by deliberately
practicing shots that play into what I like to refer to as "Universal
Weaknesses" that most players possess.
Those weaknesses are:
1.) High Backhands
2.) Second Serves
While most players possess these weaknesses, few players
practice the shots that will expose them. That is the key. You must
take the time to practice specific shots in order to take advantage
of specific weaknesses.
Learn to hit a high arcing, looping groundstroke to take
advantage of the weak high backhand.. It is more important that it be
accurate than to have excessive topspin. Take the stroke you have and
learn to deliberately lay the ball high and slow into your opponent’s
backhand. Make your opponent reach up and hit out of their comfort zone.
If you hit the shot well, they will be behind the baseline with their
weight on their back foot. All of these factors will encourage your
opponent to hit the ball short or better yet make an unforced error.
The second serve is the perfect shot to attack but many
players do not do it in a methodical, high percentage way. Learn to
slice while moving forward off both the forehand and backhand sides.
Do not try to blast your forehand at your opponent as hard as you can.
If the ball comes back, you will be in the middle of no man’s land.
Slice the forehand and backhand deep and come to the net behind it.
A sliced shot can be used to take a high bouncing second serve and lay
the ball down consistently within 3 feet of the baseline while giving
you enough time to put yourself in good net position before your opponent
strikes the ball. Putting your opponent immediately on the defensive
on their own serve is a devastating tactic that will often demoralize
a player. A smart player will let up on their first serve so that you
do not see as many second serves. A less experienced player will try
to do more with their second serve and increase their number of double
faults. Either way you win!
You might need to take some lessons, or practice on a
ball machine or hitting wall in order to make these shots a reliable,
consistent part of your game but it will be worth the effort. Why go
toe to toe with a player trading hard forehands when they will hand
you a short ball if you hit high slow backhands to them? Wouldn’t you
like to see the look on your rival's face when he tries to serve and
volley on his second serve and you get there first and make him eat
it?
Put some work into practicing these tactics, be patient
in implementing them, but most of all be relentless in executing
them and you will be amazed with the results.
