INTERMEDIATE: Tennis Serve – Tactics and Strategies

FIRST SERVE

At this level, also, it is very important that you consider getting a high percentage of first serves in. Note that the returner plays further back waiting for your first serve, so that puts you at an advantage right away. Don’t waste this opportunity – get the serve in even if that means you take some pace off of it sometimes. But don’t do it all the time; mix up the pace so that your opponent does not move to attack your first serve. 

Variation is key: hit it toward the returner’s weak side but consider attacking him on the strong side from time to time too. 

Pace: Hit the ball hard with a little spin (preferably slice) to bring the ball down earlier. 

Placement: consider the following targets – wide (close to the sideline), into-the-body, and down-the-T (intersection of service and center lines). (see graphic below)

At the intermediate level, placement is a little more developed so you can start aiming your first serves. 

Serving from the Deuce side:

– Serve wide to get your opponent moving toward the sidelines. To do so, use the slice which, from a right-handed player, curves to the left pulling the ball closer to the sideline. 

Aim close to the singles sideline giving your serve about 2 feet for a margin of error.

This is one of my favorite tactics because if my serve is successful then I have the opponent rushing to cover the open court right after the return. That gives me the following options: either hit it aggressively to the open court or hit the ball behind the recovering player. (see graphic, below)

Either way, you’ll have the player hitting the ball on the run and off balance. You’ll be in control of the point and eventually, your opponent will make an error or you’ll win it with a winner. 

Once you get the player running and defending, keep the pressure on him by hitting either to the open court or to his weakness. Step inside the baseline and take the ball early, on the rise. Don’t over-hit the ball. Apply about 80% power to maintain good consistency.

– Serve into the body to induce a weak reply. Use flat serve to do that or slice the ball aiming closer to the center which will curve the ball into the returner’s hips. 

The body shot makes the returner defend by putting the racquet in front of him and pushing the ball over the net at a slow pace. Set up the attack by moving up and taking the ball early. Use your strong side (forehand) to put pressure on your opponent from here on. 

– Serve down the T. It can be efficient considering that it is the backhand side for right-handed players and also does not give the returner too many angles of return. Use the flat serve which is easier to execute since the net is lower when the ball goes down the T.

Serving from the Ad side:

– Serve wide to get the returner off the court and if he is right-handed that means that the serve goes to his backhand (weak side in most cases). 

If the backhand is his weak side then the wide serve is double trouble for the returner: handles the ball weakly and must open the court in his return attempt. 

Watch for the cross-court return. If the return is slower and you can run around your backhand and set yourself up with the forehand, do it. 

For the wide target, use the topspin serve to clear the higher net that guards the lines.

– Serve into the body to produce a weak return. To do so, you can serve slice (aim to the returner’s left hip), flat, or topspin. 

– Serve down the T occasionally if that is the opponent’s forehand (if he is right-handed) and it is his strong side. The only advantage is that the player does not have too many angles to work with so his return will be most of the time down the middle of the court. Use an aggressive flat or slice serve since the net is lower at the center.

SECOND SERVE

It is considered, by smart returners, as being a short ball into their court. So prepare to be attacked if you give away your first serve. But there is hope… Since your opponent will attack your serve, you can consider serving toward his weak side and deep. 

Hitting the second serve closer to the T can be a smart choice too. By doing that you keep the returner from hitting aggressively with an angle. 

And the most important tip in making your second serve hard to control is… to spin it. When you spin the serve, the ball is more difficult to be controlled by the opponent. In fact, I prefer to hit my second serve in the middle of the service box most of the time with heavy spin (I prefer the slice). That is hard to return and attack. And less pressure on me.

If you can throw a topspin (kick) serve to the opponent’s backhand, do it – very effective when playing against a one-handed player.

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INTERMEDIATE: Return of Serve – Tactics and Strategies

Returning the First Serve

Typically on the first serve, you will be facing a fast-paced ball coming at you. Prepare to make contact out in front by shortening your backswing. In fact, no backswing would be even better. Just lean into the incoming ball with the racquet in front of the dominant shoulder and push through it and continue with a long follow-through. 

Facing a fast incoming ball, you can position yourself a little further back – just behind the baseline. 

Placement of the serve return – consider returning the ball deep toward the server. You want to avoid giving the opponent a short ball to take control of the point. Returning deep to the server and in the middle closes his angles and you will be in a better position to start the rally. Avoid hitting the first return hard. It takes a large amount of control to counteract a fast serve. 

Returning the Second Serve

Step inside the baseline to attack the second serve. When your opponent sees you stepping forward to return, he’ll feel pressured and go for a too-difficult serve. He might miss as well in his attempt. 

Vary your position when returning second serves… Sometimes just stand more to the left (make the server think you want to attack with the forehand) or too close to the service line to add extra pressure on the server. You will be surprised how many free points you will get by just changing positions sometimes. 

Prepare to take the ball on the rise and hit it aggressively to the server’s weak side, without overhitting. By doing so you will take control of the point from the start. 

Another tactic would be that you attack the second serve aggressively cross-court. That gives you a bigger margin for error and makes the opponent hit the ball on the run.

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INTERMEDIATE: Playing from the Baseline – Tactics and Strategies

Tactically, playing from the baseline, you can find yourself attacking, rallying, or defending against your opponent. 

Attacking from the Baseline

Attacking opportunities occur during a rally when your opponent gives you a shorter ball (one that lands inside the service line or just beyond it at a medium pace) and you take a few steps inside the court to hit it aggressively. 

Attack the open court or if your opponent is recovering after a wide ball you can hit the ball in the direction from where he has just hit it (behind the player). This causes him to lose his balance momentarily to make the sudden change of direction in movement. 

When hitting an aggressive shot to your opponent’s weak side or open court, if you get a high/floating ball in return don’t let it bounce. Step into it, closer to the net, and take it in the air with a swing volley. Many times, inexperienced players who attack their opponents make the mistake of waiting for the return ball to come to them and then bouncing it. By doing this, they allow their opponents to recover and get in balance… Instead, if you attack and you get a high ball in return, take it in the air (as close as possible to the net) and hit it to the open court. 

It is always tempting to over-hit the short ball attack. Hit it with control though – 80% of your maximum power and just enough spin to bring the ball down into the court.

How much spin?… it is a matter of feel that you will develop in practice through trial and error (lots of errors :).

Another way to attack is… to hit a drop shot. You will have to do it on a short ball and when your opponent is a little off-balance (recovering) or too much behind the baseline. The drop shot has to be executed well and timed properly otherwise it can turn into an easy sitter for your opponent. If the drop shot is effective (short and lots of underpin), then move a little closer to the service line (behind the ball) and prepare to close the angles of return for your opponent. By stepping closer to the service line (about halfway in no man’s land) you will be quick to cover either the eventual drop shot or the angled shot that your opponent might come up with as a reply. 

Rallying from the Baseline

Your main intent when rallying from the baseline is to prevent the player from attacking you and to drive him into giving you a short ball. 

To keep your opponent deep behind the baseline hit your groundstrokes high over the net (2 – 5 feet), landing them beyond the service line. 

Use a variety of spins (alternate between slice and topspin), ball height (moon balls, drives)… basically, anything to make the player hit the ball from behind the baseline or on the run.

Also keeping your shots going cross-court, down the middle, or to the other player’s weakness are good ways to avoid getting attacked. Hitting your groundstrokes cross-court gives you more time to get ready for the next shot, they travel longer and if your opponent makes the mistake to reply down-the-line then you can attack the open cross-court. But if your opponent is a tactically smart player he’ll keep rallying with you cross-court until either you or he will manage to get the short ball. 

If he gives you the short ball, then attack it by stepping inside the baseline and hitting it either down-the-line or to his weakness. Attack the ball cross-court only if the player is running to cover the open court and in this way you hit “behind him”. If you hit your rally strokes down the middle that gives your opponent little room to angle his shots and make you move too far off the center. 

Hitting to the weakness is also very effective since you will mostly get medium-paced shots that eventually land short and invite you to attack them again. 

Vary your shots as far as height over the net – throw some “moon balls” (very high over the net) sometimes to push the opponent deep behind the baseline or, if he is daring, to take them on the rise (tough to control). He might not have room to move back and he’ll try a desperate shot by taking the ball above shoulder level (less control and power). 

Remember not to aim too close to the lines leaving a good 2 – 3 feet of room. Be patient, and set yourself up with your strong wing as often as you can until your opponent gives you the short ball (a ball that lands inside the service line at a medium pace). 

Defending from the Baseline

When defending from the baseline you will have two major objectives:

– find a way to get back in the rally (buy time),
– prevent the opponent from attacking again.

When your opponent attacks, he can either: move up to the net or stay back (at the baseline).

1) When your opponent attacks and moves up to the net:

– If he attacks down the middle and moves up, then try to set yourself up with your strong side (forehand) and hit a topspin ground-stroke short at his feet (aim for the center line). That will make him hit the ball up which you should quickly attack. 

Just in case you don’t have time to set up your strong side then you can also defend by throwing a lob high and deep to buy some time. The deeper the lob, the better for you. 

– If he attacks your weak side, then lob him. Lob flat, high, and deep in the middle of the court to push him back from where he came. 

– If he attacks down-the-line and you defend with your strong side (forehand) then hit the reply aggressively cross-court. You can obviously try the down-the-line passing shot but it is a risky shot: the net is higher; the court is shorter and in order to hit it in you will have to put more spin on the ball which slows it down. You have very little margin for error, and more importantly, if you attempt the down-the-line and your opponent gets his racquet on the ball he will be able to finish it with a cross-court volley. (see Court Geometry lesson) 

2) When your opponent attacks and stays back (at the baseline):

– If he attacks your weak side, then slice it or block it back deep. Open the racquet face to send the ball higher and deeper, preferably down the middle or cross-court. 

– If your opponent attacks the open court, then hit a slice or a moon ball cross-court which will give you more time to get back in play. Just open the racquet face as you run to the ball and push it over the center of the net, high and deep cross-court.

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INTERMEDIATE: Playing at the Net – Tactics and Strategies

A good play at the net starts with a good approach shot. 

The way you transition to the net will dictate whether you will be attacking or defending once you get there. Therefore pay particular attention to the depth, spin, and placement of your approach shot. 

Ideally, you should approach down-the-line. Use a slice to keep the ball low into your opponent’s court. Slice gives you more time to move up and it also stays down forcing the other player to hit it up. 

You can also approach down-the-middle to close your opponent’s angles of return. 

Approaching cross-court is an option only if it is to an open court or your opponent’s weak side. I would do it occasionally, hitting aggressively with my strong wing. I would hope for a winner but if not I’d expect a weak floater from my opponent. 

Another way to make the transition to the net would be after hitting a drop-shot. Just make sure it is short and has good underspin otherwise you set up the opponent for a put-away shot. 

In either case, once you get up to the net, try to stay behind the path of the ball you hit. This is so that when your opponent hits the ball back, you will be on the same side as him. That means if he is on his left side of the court, you should position yourself just off to your right side to cover the down-the-line first. 

I’d say, prepare to cover the down-the-line (since this is a quicker way for the ball to pass you) but be aware of the cross-court since a lot of players like to give themselves a good margin for error and get better court coverage in case you hit the ball back.

So, to go back to the approach shot, hit it so that your first volley is a high-contact one. As I said, the slice approach can do wonders to set you up for a high first volley. 

Hit the first volley to the open court or your opponent’s weak side. Make him hustle to return it and hopefully you can get a higher ball to close in on and put away. The closer you manage to get to the net, the better angles you will have for a put-away. Make sure you don’t wait for the ball to come to you. Always move forward on incoming balls. Just back up a little bit right after that in case your opponent gets your shot and decides to lob. 

In his defense, your opponent might throw a lob. Hit the overheads aggressively preferably into the open court or toward the weak side. Do hit them hard and look for them to be winners or at least to make your opponent block it back. 

Don’t take it easy on overheads… hit them hard – even if you miss them. Let your opponent know that he will expect a “cannonball” from you if he lobs…