I thought I'd make a list...
Ground strokes - includes drives (5):
top spin, flat, cut spin, side spin, inside out
Half Volleys/Short hops(1)
Dinks (21)
Cross court, middle, straight ahead
cut, flat, side spin, top spin, body shot, lob, push
Overheads (1)
Drop shots (3)
From baseline, middle ground, resets when at the KL
At the kitchen line, when punishing opponents longish shots (3)
flat slap, chop, roll
Well, that adds up to 34 distinct shots and when we suggest that having them from forehand and backhand is a good idea, we're over 60. Hmm, lots to learn. How many of these shots are on your Christmas list?
Good thorough list! The only addition that I’d have is the serve.
ReplyDeleteStandard drop - top spin, flat, cut spin, side spin,
Backhand drop -top spin, flat, cut spin, side spin,
New Bounce - top spin, flat, cut spin, side spin, inside out
Chainsaw - top spin, flat, cut spin, side spin, inside out?
But then, maybe the serve is best left as a new topic on another day ….
A good point in re serves. There are a few of our local players who work on hitting serves that are difficult to return. I also see a lot of the pros, even in gold medal matches, and all they do is get it over the middle of the service square. That's true for men and women. Look at Smith on the men's side and Koop on the lady's.
ReplyDeleteThanks for suggesting that people watch me serve. Ha ha.
DeleteAbove from Karl Smith.
DeleteYou are not the only one. :-)
DeleteAny chance you could do an article on the nee “Chainsaw” serve?
ReplyDeleteI've tried doing it and have had moderate success. There are YouTube videos with instructions if you want to learn it. The rumor is that it will be outlawed in a couple of months, so it might not be worth the effort. I played against a guy at Downs who was using it. It didn't seem that hard to return. I think fast with little top spin is more effective. Thanks for the comment.
ReplyDelete