Be The Anti Banger

 The toughest opponents are the ones who never hit a ball out, or in the net, or over the fence or even hitting the back fence on the fly -- which should merit a loss of a point, IMHO.

To become the toughest opponent you can be, you must strive to not make mistakes.  I could just stop there and say thanks for reading, but it wouldn't be much of a blog if I didn't provide some instruction as to how to do that.

The shot I see missed most frequently is the smash at the net.  I'm guessing that this is missed easily 30% of the time and frequently by  good players.  There are a number of reasons for that miss.  The swing is usually faster, the pupils are dilated expecting ecstasy, the pulse is up, well, you get the picture and it's almost sad when the shot goes awry.

With that smash shot in mind, is it "more better" to hit it into the net or just hit a deep controlled shot into the court -- maybe the middle, or a corner?  And while hitting ball hard might seem to be a good trade off for a missed shot, your partner might not see it the same way.  You should already be feeling good as you've forced your opponents into hitting a pop up.  You've gained the advantage in the play, and throwing it away with a bad smash?  Really?  Come on...

I am not immune to this miss.  And I recognize that this is a big error.  I've been in a couple of games recently where dinking was the way of the group.  And when the dinks are good, speeding up and hitting rolls from low positions is not a good shot choice.  Once I realized that and became much more selective on which shots I would speed up (none), I became more consistent, scored better and found the play much more relaxing.  

A pretty good philosophy is that you should strive to hit solid shots with purpose and always in.  When you get into trouble, dink, don't hit the ball harder.  And finally be very selective when attacking.  You want to be assured your attack is going to stay in the court -- (or hit someone, that works too).  A big shot does a couple of things.  One it might win the point, or go out.  In both of those cases the rally is over and that's usually a sad moment.  We are there to rally and hit the ball well.

Which leads to the next question...  Why are a lot of players/teams unhappy to rally?   I see many shots designed to end the rally.  And they usually do, but they lose more than they win, so I'm thinking that trying to win a point is a good way to lose it...  Should not the goal in play be to "play well?"   Will your partner ever complain if you don't put a ball away, but get it in?  Long rallies are fun, we want to have fun, more fun, be happier!

Which leads to the next question, where is the best target to keep the ball in play?  Simple answer is, the middle.  Hit them all there.  Don't worry that an opponent is there (probably rarely!), just hit a good shot and keep playing.  The longer the rally, the more fun it is.  The game was designed to favor rallies over serves and volley, I think it's a fine idea to embrace that philosophy and play on!