--- PACIFIC COAST SENIORS TOURNAMENT UPDATE ---
Well, it certainly wasn't a beauty contest out there the past several days at the 2009 Pacific Coast Seniors tournament (National Category 2) at the Berkeley Tennis Club, Berkeley, CA.
Lots of rain, lots of interrupted matches, lots of sitting around for days, the doubles events eventually got cancelled, etc., ...
And then came the referee's decision to make all the singles matches use the No-Ad scoring system with a 10 point Super Tie-Breaker for any matches that went into a 3rd set.
Talk about tense... It really unsettled me. And even though I eventually won the 60s singles, I never really felt comfortable with the No-Ad scoring system knowing that at any moment if I played a couple of loose point s I could be in a world of hurt.
No-Ad is such a different mindset. The perception is that every point becomes so important that it's really, really easy to go into a much slower and less free swing mode with your strokes in hopes that you don't miss.
It wasn't necessarily a sense of pushing, but swing freedom wasn't happening all that much.
But what finally worked for me was the realization that my opponent was feeling the same thing and that I simply had to stay true to moving forward, getting up to net, and make him play passing shot after passing shot.
It worked. That combination of putting that pressure on your opponent where they know they can't miss AND they now have to hit a perfect passing shot can result in a lot of unforced errors (missed passing shot attempts).
And let's add one more element of pressure on your opponent for upcoming points.
If you have shown that you can frequently approach the net and force a passing shot attempt, guess what, for future points your opponent is going to make sure they don't play shots to
you where you can approach.
Their attempts to keep the ball away from you, even just trying keep their shots deep to keep you back on your baseline, can lead to more unforced errors from them.
There's lots of residual benefits in future points from playing approach shots now.
And really, let's define an unforced error in this situation.
Usually we define an unforced error where your opponent plays a shot to you where you have the ability to get set up within a reasonable amount of time to where you should be able to play a simple high percentage shot back to your opponent.
And yet, we find a way to miss that shot. That's a classic unforced error, almost like a gift to your opponent.
So what if you add one more dimension to that situation.
You play a simple approach shot that doesn't "force" your opponent to run, isn't a particualrly deep shot that requires your opponent to have to perfectly time "picking up" your shot right after the bounce, but almost just sits there waiting for him/her to execute their forehand or backhand groundstroke.
But the added element is that you're now up at net, inside the service line, basically saying, "here I am, pass me, AGAIN...".
And that added element of your court position can create lots of "forced" errors despite the fact that your approach shot wasn't what anyone might define as a really great forcing type of shot.
If you play that shot as an approach shot, and actually come into the net area, then you're forcing your opponent into a possible error simply because of where you are on the court.
You can apply lots of perceived pressure onto your opponent with where you are on the court as they have to play their shot.
Practice your approach shots, practice your volleys, practice your overheads, and practice thinking that if you do get passed from time to time that you haven't failed.
This is a pure numbers game. The more pressure you apply with court positioning, the less you'll get passed.
So if you approach a couple of times, get passed, think that you've failed, and then stop coming in to net, then you're right, you have failed.
Lots of players fear getting passed. I don't. I believe that my opponent realistically in any given match has only so many clean passing shot winners available to them on that day.
Everyone has a finite number of passing shot winners in their bag for any match.
My job (your job too) is to empty their bag as soon as possible...
I've got two new lessons being videotaped this week that will help
you with your ability to approach the net and take charge of that point and the match.
Approach shots and drop shots...
If you can add a drop volley to your selection oif available shots when you're up at net, you'll be armed and dangerous!
Look for those new lessons by the end of this week or the start of next week.
In the meantime, if you haven't already done so, claim your copy of my detailed lessons on the forehand & backhand volleys, the overhead, and the forehand & backhand half volleys.
- Forehand & Backhand Volleys - Click here
- Overhead - Click here
- Forehand & Backhand Half Volleys (Comes with a bonus lesson - The Return of Serve) - Click Here
Claim all 3 lessons and get a 30% discount - Click here
Brent
