This is a guest post from Arturo Hernandez sharing his experience playing on clay courts. Thanks Arturo!

The Balancing Act – Playing Smart Tennis On Clay Courts

For the last two months I have been struggling in tennis.  This was a combination of factors.  My strokes needed some more tuning up.

I played on clay all summer after 9 months on hard courts.  And I was in Germany playing a bunch of clay courters who had at least one less major issue to deal with: adjusting to a clay court game.

Over the past two summers I have struggled on and off with when and how to attack on clay.  It has served as a real eye opener with keys even for the hardcourt player.

Last week, I played a very defensive player who drives others nuts because he gets everything back.  (more…)

The Sun and Heat
Dealing with the sun will take you out of your game and leave you losing to players you’ve trained to beat.

The one positive is that most tennis courts are laid out north to south, so neither player must stare directly into the sun, but occasionally this will be the case.

If this is the case, you and your opponent will be staring into the sun finding yourselves self-blinded.

Then, if you and the heat factor on a hot or humid day, the results can be devastating.

1. Start your match with conditions in-mind. Let your opponent begin the slow, torturous match by serving in the sun. Your opponent will start off the match with a negative attitude, setting the groove for the match. (more…)

Are tennis retrievers driving you crazy? Learn how to get them out of their game and make them fear yours.

Everybody hates retrievers. They require a great amount of patience and skill to get even close to beating them.

In fact, you might be one yourself. If so, don’t feel bad.

A retriever’s style is just as good as any other, even if “it’s not even tennis” or “they have no skill whatsoever”.

At times, we have all just got the ball back in play to win a match.

But still, many people have no idea what to do when their opponents get every single ball back. What do you do? (more…)

Hi Tomaz,

I am back in the US and back to hard courts. Last year when I came back I had a really hard time adjusting from clay to hard courts.

This year it has been less difficult. Hard courts are really fast. Everything seems to happen in fast forward and there is little time to think about what you are going to do. That being said I think all the hard work I did this summer is finally paying off. (more…)

I was playing a really good player yesterday from the club. He seemed (like many people seem to do) to move me from side to side.

He did this even hitting shots which are relatively lower percentage (but quite safe).

His basic strategy seemed to hit to the forehand. Open up the backhand. Then hit a shot to the backhand.

I chased down a lot of balls but lost the first set 6-3. It wasn’t all bad news. I played some really tight games and one a few of them.

In the second set, he quickly got up 4-2 but then I came charging back. I started to hit more down the line backhands some of them for clean winners. But in the end I lost 6-4.

In re-reading your strategy ebook, I realized that he was employing a basic strategy, move your opponent. He was hitting relatively lower percentage shots to achieve it but he was doing it safely.

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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.

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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?

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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.

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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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