I read through your Strategy Encyclopedia and found some very useful information.  I watched the Agassi-Federer final from 2005.

I thought it was a great match but did notice how much they use very basic strategies.

The three most useful pieces of advice were:

1) Always defend deep to the middle. I had never thought about doing that but it worked very well.  Playing to the middle is a great strategy in order to keep the angles closed and keeping others from abusing you by opening the court.

Yes, but be careful with the word “always”. Agassi and Federer used that a lot, but they also defended cross court. Nadal often defends down the line against Federer to avoid his forehand… (more…)

Hi Tomaz,

In your Tennis Strategy ebook in the section on pushers (special bonus report of your ebook) you mention that there are pushers on the ATP, too.

Who are they?

Thanks very much for your time, and for the effort you put into writing the Tennis Strategy Encyclopedia!

Michael Chang and Arantxa Sanchez were the ultimate pushers at the start of their careers.

They would bring the ball back million times until the opponent got frustrated and started to attempt winners from impossible situations.

Later they both adapted their game and became more aggressive.

(more…)

Hi Tomaz,

I bought your Tennis Strategy Encyclopedia and just wanted to ask you a few questions about aggression in tennis which you mention a few times.

On page 30 of TSE, you say, “You can still be aggressive though, just to send the message of aggression to your opponent.”

On page 32, you say, “Your shots must be aggressive, yet safe and consistent.”

On page, 37, you say, “Don’t be aggressive without precision.”

On page 39, you say, “Play aggressive baseline shots, but at a big target…”

I’m having a little trouble feeling and visualizing an aggressive shot, in particular as it relates to your advice on pages 30 and 32.

My first thought is to hit it harder, but then there’s a greater chance that it will go out or into the net. Could you explain this a little more, please?

(more…)

When I am under pressure I return the ball short as if somehow I was paralysed.

This is not the norm but occurs more frequently with my backhand.

How can I overcome it?

The most probable cause for freezing is again the lack of decision. Perhaps you are not clear on what to do under pressure.

I assume that under pressure you mean that you are in a defensive position – far behind the baseline or out of the court or on the run.

(more…)

I am an A Grade Junior player and I have some big matches coming up in the next couple of weeks, which I was hoping you might be able to help me with.

My game involves solid (not fast) first and second serves and a big forehand. My opponent’s weakness is that his footwork can sometimes be all over the place, and he does have a temper. What can I do to take advantage of his footwork?

About your opponent’s poor footwork - make him use it.

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I have been playing tennis for a long time.

My problem is this: in the practice I have very good shots & also play matches well, but there are some people that I always lose against.

I feel nervous and out of control. What can I do to prevent or overcome this?

Let’s first try to understand why this nervousness happens and why you lose matches to the same people and what are possible solutions. (more…)

Hi Tomaz, I am a 4.0 baseliner, and occasionally move into the net.

My volley skill is not that bad but I feel more comfortable in the baseline.

I hit with a semi-western forehand, with a slice back hand. My opponent is an old man, with a continental forehand.

He had no pace on the ball, and I make a lot of errors trying to hit his ball.

My power forehand seems to be very effective sometimes, but most of the time, he had a soft touch and lure me into the net or move me from side to side with short ball.

He used a lot of old-man game, drop and lob and I feel my baseline game is slipping, and eventually I found myself volley with him at the net and he always had the advantage of that.

Unlike other old man, he had a lot of stamina and move very well.

How can I stick to my baseline game when he can always bring me to the net with one stroke?

(more…)

Wimbledon saw yesterday 3 exciting and surprising matches where top ranked players lost their leads. 2 of those lost the match, 1 managed to win.

First, Andy Roddick was two sets and a break up against Richard Gasquet and lost this lead and the match 4-6, 4-6, 7-6 (2), 7-6 (3), 8-6.

Second, Justine Henin was a set and a break up against Marion Bartoli and lost the lead and the match 1-6 7-5 6-1.

And third, Novak Djokovic was two sets and a break up against Marcos Baghdatis, lost the lead and eventually managed to win in the fifth set 7-6 7-6 6-7 4-6 7-5.

(AFP/Adrian Dennis)

So why do such experienced players lose a lead? Why does this happen? (more…)

Tomaz, I enjoyed reading your manuals and newsletters.

Your description of the psychology of understanding tennis is especially insightful in the tradition of “The Inner Game” which I read years ago.

I play doubles two or three times a week at a 4.0 level. I’m an average player, in not bad condition for my age. (more…)

What is the best game tactics a lefty could use to raise his game to full potential?

Do left-handers have an advantage in tennis?

Yes, and the main reason is that in most cases player’s forehands are better than backhands and this makes a left-hander’s forehand go cross court to your weaker backhand.

And because of court coverage and higher percentage shots everyone needs to play a lot cross court; so the forehand - backhand duel is inevitable.

You might think that it’s the same for the right-hander since their forehand goes to lefty’s backhand and that’s true, except the right-hander doesn’t practice this very often.

There are approximately 8-15% left-handers so the right-hander may practice their “forehand against backhand” tactics in about 15% of the matches, while a left-hander practices this in 85% of the matches.

So in general, the left-hander finds it easier to control the point with their forehand than a right-hander.

The other advantage is that the left-hander serves out wide to right-hander’s backhand on crucial points like 40:30, 30:40.

And since left-handers play at lot of right-handers, they keep serving their wide serves time and time again and become very good at them.

Right-handers on the other hand play mostly right-handers and don’t serve many wide serves out to opponent’s forehand.

So when they play a left-hander they are not that good with a wide slice serve.

Your main goal as a left-hander is to try and gain advantage in the point with your wide serve and occasionally surprise your opponent with a serve to their forehand.

There is a whole chapter in the Tennis Strategy Encyclopedia on how to deal with left-handers and that might help you discover new tactics that you never considered before.