Month: March 2017

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March 9, 2017 BY

Service

Service and Return

The service is the only stroke where everything is dependent on the player who implements the stroke, and it includes the choice of position. Below you will find an analysis of where to best position the serve in order to allow yourself time to get into your next position.

Tennis rules restrict the serving player to be between the center and the sideline. The player’s movement from the center to the sideline leads to a change of the ball’s direction by only 1.0 m. The distance between the ball’s direction is always constant, that is to say the distance between the player’s position and ball’s directions is constant. The position at the court’s corner has to be excluded. Why?
Because:

  • from there the player can not take the advantage since the opponent will change his position. There is no element of surprise. After every 1.0 m movement toward the sideline of the player that serves the receiver has to must move 0.25 m (1 foot) towards sideline as well.
  • when the server is at the court’s corner, his court is “open” and practically the server does not have time to reach the ball if his/her opponent directs it to the other side of his/her half of the court.

Where is the best position for service implementation?

Everywhere you will find recommendations to direct the ball in the way that the ball is the most difficult for your opponent return or implement a winning shot. However, I have added one more recommendation. When all the ball’s directions have the same advantages, place the ball in the direction that best allows you to be closest to the next position you want to be in after the stroke.

In this case, the position which is located about a meter from the court’s center is the recommended position for the service implementation.

Where is the best receiver’s position?

In order to make a correct choice, you must consider the following:

You have to make your choice for court position in two directions:

  • before the baseline, on the baseline or after the baseline, and;
  • how far from the court’s corner on the direction to the court’s center or out to the sideline.

The choice of the position with regards to the distance of the player to the net is individual because it is dependent on:

  • the opponent’s performance and speed reactions;

When the player moves 1.0 m (about 3 feet) forward from the baseline, the distance to the ball’s direction is 0.2 m (about a foot) less and the reaction time is less as well (depending on speed). When the player goes backward 1.0 m (about 3 feet) from the baseline, the distance from the player to the ball’s direction is 0.2 m (about a foot) more than when the player was on the baseline, and the reaction time is more, too.

The analysis shows that the best receiver position is about a meter away from the court’s corner towards the court’s center when the server is about a meter from the court’s center.

 
March 9, 2017 BY

Recommendations for Zone C

Zone C

Volley zone

Conditions:

  1. The ball is at X1
  2. The opponent is at Y1

Recommendations

1. Play a stop volley when you are close to the net;

2. Try to always reach the ball in shortest possible way;

3. When you play cross court, place the ball on the same or shorter distance from the net than your current position;

4. When the ball is low and close to the net never try to implement a top spin stroke.

Go to zone B

There are many different possible situations related to the  ball’s speed, direction, and bounce connected to your opponent’s position. The given recommendations are universal.

The ball’s speed for the volley stroke is less than the ground stroke but the reaction time of your opponent is about two times less. That’s is the advantage of using such strokes.

The varieties of the situations related with ball’s speed, ball’s direction, ball’s bounce as and opponent’s position are very much. The given recommendations are quite universal.

The ball’s speed of volley stroke is less than the ground stroke but the ball’s way and the time for reaction of your opponent is about two times less. That’s is actually the advantage of such strokes.
March 4, 2017 BY

Recommendations for Zone B

Zone B

This is a transitional zone because after the stroke from there the players move to Zone A or C.

Subzone B1

First Case (see diagrams below)

The player implements a volley. From here generally the player hits a “first volley” when s/he moves to the net.

Recommendations

1. Play a deep ball because:
- if you play a drop shot, the speed of the ball is slow and the distance to the net is long (between 7 –11 m.) and it is easy for player Y to reach such balls.
- normally the speed of the ball coming to player X is high and therefore it will be difficult for the player to shorten the ball very well. Generally, an attempt for the player to play a short ball can lead to the loss of the point because the ball goes in the net or is not short enough and it is easy for the opponent to reach the ball.
2. If player X implements a low volley, player Y has to make 1-2 steps forward to the net. Doing that, player Y can easily reach the short ball. If the ball is deep, won’t be very difficult for player Y to reach the ball because the ball in such cases is slow.
3. When player X can attack, the direction of the ball has to be cross court.
4. In some cases when player X is next to the service line, at positions X1 or X2 and can not implement a wining shot, s/he can play in the center because after the stroke the player can easily close the court by moving forward.

Second Case (see diagrams above)

Conditions:

1.The ball is at position X1.
2. Player Y is at the center.

Recommendations

1. Player X has to move towards the net when s/he implements a drop shot because:

- after such stroke the ball's bounce is low and opponent Y can not hit the fast ball;
- player X has enough time to get into the best position while his/her opponent runs for the ball;
- player Y can not play a drop shot because player X will be close to the net.

2. Player X should play the drop shot ball cross court in order to maximize the distance the ball is from the opponent after the bounce.

Subzone B2

Conditions:

  1. The ball is at X1.
  2. The opponent is at Y1.

Recommendations

1. When you are close to position X1, the best decision is to play down the line rather than cross court because after the stroke you can get into the next best position faster and at the same time the opponent has to cover a longer distance in order to reach the ball.
2. If you play a drop shot, the best decision is again straight because the distance of the ball is less than if you play cross court and your opponent's distance to the ball is farther.
3. You can implement a winning shot cross court but the speed of the ball will be slower.
4. When the ball is at X1 the recommended opponent's position is at Y1 about 0.9 m (3 feet) from the center shown in the diagram above.

Subzone B3

First case (diagram below on the left)

Conditions:

  1. The ball is at X1
  2. The opponent is at Yp

Second case (diagram below on the right)

Conditions:

  1. The ball’s position is at X2
  2. The opponent’s position is at Yp

Recommendations

First case
1. When the ball is in a position close to X1 the best decision is to play down the line rather than cross court because after the stroke the player can get into the best position faster and, at the same time, the opponent has to go farther in order to reach the ball.
2. If you you play a drop shot the best decision is again to play down the line because the distance of the ball to the net is less than ball's distance cross court.
3. The recommended position of player Y is about 0.9 m (3 feet) from the center
Second case
1. When player hits the ball cross court it is better to go back than to go forward after the stroke because:
- the distance from position X1 where the ball is, to the next position on the net the player must move is almost 1.5 time farther than it would be to move to a position on base line;
2. From X1 the drop shot is better to play down the line.
3. The position of player Y2 is about 1.8 m from the center.
4. When the player can't implement a fast shot, when the ball's position is at X1, the best decision for him/her is to play a drop shot ball, because the distance of the ball is short, the distance to his/her next position is short and the distance to the opponent's next position is longer than his/hers.
5. The down the line zone is small and if the player prefers to play here he/she has to be sure that s/he will win the point directly.

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