You are on the court. Boom!

     You just hit a deadly winner into the opponent's backhand, and it is matchpoint for you. But after a few points, your opponent makes a great comeback using the attacking strategy of pushing back and finishing the point at the net! You need to win this point because if you don’t, the opponent could win the next three points, and it would be game, set, match for him! You need a strategy in your head as well so that you can finish this match once and for all. 

     First of all, tennis is ninety percent a brain game and ten percent physical. If you want to win a match, you need to have a strategy. There are multiple strategies in tennis. In a tennis match, you need to mix up the strategies because if you do the same strategy for the whole match, the opponent will easily be able to receive all the balls and will eventually win the match, and you don’t want that; you need to win!

     The first strategy is about placement. Placement is important because your goal is to make the opponent move more than you. The strategy is to hit a few balls deep in the court at an angle, and then when the opponent is behind the baseline, sprint to the net and hit a short volley. This strategy is very effective because if the opponent is behind the baseline and you hit the ball short, you will most likely win the point because the chances of the opponent receiving the short ball are extremely low. This is a great strategy to use during a tennis match.

     The second strategy is a mix of placement and accuracy. The strategy is to bring the opponent to the net and try to lob him or to hit a passing shot. A lob is when you hit the ball high and over the opponent. The opponent doesn’t have to be at the net for you to lob them, but they can also be at the baseline. The lob is most effective when you hit the ball with a lot of topspin. Top spin is when the tennis racket string “brushes” the ball and the ball spins forward, hence its name top spin. The ball will go deeper in the court, and it will make the shot a lot faster and effective. A lob could be very high, and you don’t win the point, but the shot that the opponent hits after the lob will be very weak. A passing shot is when the opponent is at the net and you angle the ball to the sides. You want the ball to be away from the middle and closer to the singles line. The lobbing and passing shot strategy is a very popular and effective strategy to use.

     The final strategy is a mix of timing, power, placement, and accuracy. Lobbing is a great strategy, but the opponent could also lob you. You need a strategy that will help you receive those balls without them bothering you. The strategy is to hit the ball out of the air. That means that you would hit a forehand, backhand, or an overhead without letting the ball bounce. A lob helps the person who hit the ball to gain time to recover. But you want to take away time from the opponent. And when you hit the ball out of the air, you hit the top of the ball, which gives extra power to the shot. Hitting the ball out of the air takes time away from the opponent instead of letting the ball bounce and giving time to them. You can hit the ball out of the air even if you are not being lobbed, but hitting the ball out of the air while being lobbed is more effective. This is why hitting the ball out of the air is a very effective and useful strategy.

     There are multiple strategies that the professionals use, but they are strategies that junior players use all the time. The strategies mentioned are normally used by professionals, but this is just the tip of the iceberg of strategies that professionals use in a match.  The importance of strategies is to help you plan ahead, or in other words, have a back up plan if something doesn’t work. So, use strategies to help you be prepared for the future!

-Nate R.