Reality Check:  An Overhead Is Rarely A Put-Away Opportunity

Mai and I got a not-so-pleasant dose of reality last week at the National Husband-Wife Grass Court Championships in Palm Springs at the Mission Hills Country Club.

In the semi-finals we found lots of ways to lose to the eventual tournament winners.

You probably know that feeling where it’s as if they didn’t really win the match by playing great winning shots, you just found one or more ways to lose it.

We pretty much got lobbed to death and frankly didn’t handle that situation as well as we could have.  I must have had to play a minimum of 75 overheads while Mai had to handle at least that same amount and probably more.

Yep, count em up.  21 total games with most games going to deuce a couple of times.  I haven’t done the math yet, but per point, uggghhh, it wasn’t a pretty picture.

We were not as patient as you have to be, especially on the grass, where you really don’t have great footing leverage (as you do on a hardcourt) to be able to get a little extra pop on your overhead.  Consequently we began to go for overhead winners on lobs that just didn’t really present themselves as clear put-away opportunities.

So, what’s the answer to the lob queens and lob kings?

A couple of things that have to happen.

With George Proctor, a long time WebTennis subscriber, at the National Husband-Wife Grass Tournament at Mission Hills

#1 – You have got to practice your overhead with the thought in mind that you’ll eventually have to face a team that uses this strategy to try and break you down.  Practice hitting in-play approach shot style overheads from behind the service line, reclaim your good net position, and then hit a ton more.  Practice being patient, having good footwork to help you quickly set up behind the lob so you can easily and efficiently move back up to your net position.

#2 – Usually one of the opponents doesn’t lob as consistently deep as their partner.  Put the pressure on that one player to have to hit yet another good lob.  Turn the tables on them by showing them that you have no problem playing approach style overheads until the weaker lobber finally puts up a short one.

#3 – Always try to position yourself during the point so that the partner with the better overhead has that stroke in the middle of the court.  So, for example, if you have the better overhead on your team, and you’re a righty, then you’d want to be on the ad side of the court when you and your partner are up at net.  That way your overhead is always in the middle of the court, and that’s right, most lobs end up in the middle of the court.

#4 – Assuming #3 above (stronger righty overhead on the ad side), play most of your overheads back to the ad side of your opponent’s court.  Why?  Because the geometric angle of their lob coming back to you is much easier to handle than if the lob comes from an angle from your opponents’ deuce court.  That angle for rightys is tough.  You need exceptional footwork to get into a position where you can maximize good overhead stroke technique.

Check out this video… (Video not playing for you?  Go directly to the YouTube feed over at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rqEO1jE2ntY )

Video not playing for you?  Go directly to the YouTube feed over at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rqEO1jE2ntY )

So guess what I’m working on the next couple of weeks?  You got it.  Developing better patience for in play overheads and hitting most of them to the opponent’s ad court.

Pick up your copy of one or more of the lessons listed below.

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This Tip’s Related Tennis Lessons by Brent

- Doubles:  Why & When To Be Where On The Court

- Overhead Technique Fundamentals

- Discover How To Get Up To A 40% Discount On All Of Brent’s Current & Future Downloadable & DVD Lessons

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One of the biggest challenges I have with my game is when I create choices for my next shot…

You know, should I play this shot cross court, up the line, drop shot, approach shot, and on and on.

And the more time I have, the more choices I seem to have and the longer it takes to decide which one I’m to play.

For my game, choices = low confidence which = inconsistent shot making.

If I can trust that first thought that comes into my mind, that very first instinct of where I should play this next shot, what type of shot, etc., if I’ll allow myself to trust that initial instinct, guess what, I play much much better.

The sooner I can commit to the shot I’m going to play, I tend to be a much more confident player.

But I have to practice being aware of that initial instinct.  And I have to make sure I’m getting in at least one practice session a week of at least 30 minutes of really being consciously aware of what my instincts are and totally committing to them.

So, check out this rainy day video below, and then let me know by following the link below the video if you can think of your #1 shot or situation where you create shot placement / type choices, where you hesitate just enough, and/or where you don’t commit until the very last moment.

I Want Your Feedback: Click this link and let me know what’s that one shot or situation where your shot placement / type of shot just might be too late.

Brent
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Thanks in advance for your continued interest & support.  Brent

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Man o man, how crazy is this short forehand?

You play all the right shots from your baseline and eventually produce a short ball from your opponent that lands right around the “T” and just sits up there begging you to crunch it off for a glorious winner.

That’s right, you’re about to be the man (gals, you know what I mean)…

And you’re right, you hustle on up, your salivating at this put-away chance, and you completely bury your shot into the middle of the net.

Or way deep, or wide, or somewhere other than your intended target.

Big time unforced error and you feel like an idiot.

And that feeling carries over to future points and it’s a big time downward spiral.

And after an opponent misses that short forehand, I love it when I hear them say, “Oh man, I had you…”.

Uh huh, you sure did, but that’s game thank you very much.

Look, this short forehand is NOT an easy shot.  There’s a lot that can go wrong.

You’ve got no pace (ball speed coming into your racket) that you can work with, and so if you want to add any pace to your shot you have to perform two functions that take a lot of racket skill.

That’s providing racket head speed that produces shot direction and depth control.

What’s the #1 mistake we make on this short forehand?

It’s mostly with our feet as we play this shot.  We tend to stop and stay stopped as we swing through the ball, and it’s really tough to control that shot from a stationary position.

Most of us need incoming pace to be able to hit with pace and maintain control.

So, what’s the cure for those short no nothing forehands where we think we should be able to end the point?

It’s first of all a mindset, this is never a one shot opportunity.  It may end up that way, but you’ve always got to think that this is going to be at least a two shot sequence.

As set up to play an approach shot and then see what happens.

What do we do on approach shots with our feet?  That’s right, we get set up prior to contact to be able to move through our approach shot in order to have a good court position for our opponent’s next shot.

Even if you play a good shot without moving your feet, if your opponent anticipates where your shot is going and can then get there and make a decent play on your shot, because you haven’t moved through your shot, you’re still stuck slightly behind the “T”, and that’s not a great spot to be when your opponent is now receiving your so-called big time put-away.

Check out this short video clip and see if you can relate to some or all of it.

So, obviously we need to be thinking two shots to be able to have better stroke mechanics but to also be able to be in the right place at the right time just in case our opponent guesses where we’re going to play our shot off of that short forehand.

Speaking of forehands, if you haven’t done so already, pick up your copy of my detailed DVD & instantly downloadable lesson on the forehand groundstroke you can make sure you’ve got the perfect stroke mechanics to handle not only this short ball but also those forehands when you’re back on the baseline.

You can easily add this lesson’s instructional videos to your computer, video iPod, iPhone, and other portable video player.  That’s right, you can take this lesson to the practice and match court with you.

Grab your Forehand Lesson copy now – click here, or better yet, do what Mark S. from Milwaukee did today.  Here’s what Mark wrote to me…

“Brent,  I want to get the complete lesson portfolio.  I have been talking with many people here in Milw.  Giving out your webtennis.net information.  Hopefully some will sign up.

How could I pay and have the initial lesson fee go toward the complete lesson plan fee.  Any other discounts, possible would work for me, up to you, though.

The people I am playing with, see a dramatic difference in my play with just the serve & volley and 1/2 volley lesson work I have done.

Thanks,   Mark.”

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So, I’m happy to make the same offer to you that I did to Mark today.  If you’ve recently bought one of my lessons, I’ll be happy to refund that lesson if you want to pick up an All Lessons Package at a 4o% discount.

Once you purchase your All Lessons Package at the 40% discount, just send me an email to remind me to refund your recently purchased single lesson.