Court Position And Stroke Selection

Good article from Mr McLennan
..please note what he says about “no man’s land”…I think many coaches out there wrongly tell about not being in this zone, but of course you have to be there when either moving forward to attack or going back to defend, so it reaaly is important to KNOW how to play from this zone.

There are styles to choose from when playing our game, patient retrieving, bold serve and volley, double handed hitting, drop shot and lob artists, and more.

But players using the ball machine often practice from well behind the baseline, allowing the incoming ball to drop to a comfortable level of contact.

There is another alternative.
You could practice those same shots from on if not inside the baseline.
*Agassi played the ball early
*McEnroe played the ball early
*Roger Federer will often take incredibly deep shots from his opponent with half volleys.

Call it holding your ground.

Preparing early, taking the ball either on the rise, or sooner than that, playing it on the short hop.
The art lies in the simplicity and the timing. No huge backswings,no preplanned winners, and no massive topspin hits.
Rather allow the depth of the incoming shot and your court position along the baseline to dictate the tone and tempo of your shot.

Jazz musicians improvise and you can learn to do the same. But for this you must step out of “the box” and beyond the normal “playing well behind the baseline as the ball descends with long flowing strokes” point of view.
Court position may be as if not more important than the nuts and
bolts of your forehands and backhands.

Crafting a half volley.

Playing this shot is difficult, perhaps the term “no man’s land“simply arose to describe player’s inability to time and execute the half volley.
But avoiding this area of the court obscures the need to convert these same shots if you are a net rusher.And at the end of the day there is little difference between this shot on the short hop from the service line or from the baseline.
these same shots if you are a net rusher. And at the end of the

When it comes to the actual stroke, you must simplify, simplify,and simplify again
Keep your hands low and near the contact zone, and place the weight on the back foot, and the waiting/weighting is now about timing a quick step and hit.

Too often players struggle with this shot by stepping in to assume the ready position, but truly preparation and stepping in are two completely different issues.The stroke will be short and firm, more a block than a blow, but the power will occur from momentum of the incoming ball.

So what is the big deal about court positioning anyway?

Good question. Borg played well behind the baseline. Rafa plays well behind the baseline.And there are 18 Grand Slam titles between them that attest to this particular style of play.

But (as always there lurks a “but”) when playing deep and well behind the baseline if you do not possess the legs oof Borg or the will power of a Nadal, you will be running back and forth, giving your opponent more time to react, and you will be playing to a smaller hitting angle – meaning you will be working much too hard…remember how early Borg retired!

Moving forward reduces the opponent’s reaction time and increases your nagle of play – but that only occurs if in fact you can and do move forward.And to me, players who routinely practice from behind the baseline on descending incoming balls, rarely move forward with skill, confidence, or with winning results.

At the end of the day we are simply playing a game within a box.And the more you know about the nuances of this box (rather than just the nuances of the swing) the better you will play.

Have fun!