In this article, we are going to go into more depth on a few points from our post 11 Things Your Child Should Do To Perform Better In Matches. All of the points that we are going over today are geared towards putting and keeping the pressure on the opponent. Winning is never easy, but there are things your child can do to increase their chances of success.
Make First Balls
Nobody wants to work hard to win points. That includes your kid’s opponent. During critical points, it’s important that your child makes it painfully hard for their opponent to win them. That means making their first ball (Serve, Return, and First shot after the serve or return). Way too often kids either lose focus or go for too much on a first ball hitting an unforced error.
Missing the first ball is an easy way to give the opponent both a mental and physical break. Any break alleviates some of the pressure the competitor is feeling giving them a chance to gain some momentum and take it away from your child. The last thing that you want is the opponent to gain momentum and use it to take control of the match.
Your child can force a lot of errors by just making good balls. When they make a bunch of solid shots, it puts pressure on the opponent to hit better ones. Which leads to more unforced errors and more opportunities for your child to take control of the match.
Now making solid shots does not mean pushing. If your child starts pushing, it means they are playing not to lose and will put themselves at a disadvantage against good players. Making solid shots means hitting deep high spin rally balls and moving the ball around the court. Your child should only go for a winner on clear opportunity balls. An opportunity ball is a shot the opponent hits that your child can hit a winner off of consistently. I go over opportunity balls more here.
Look For Patterns
Most players have patterns that they consistently play. A pattern is simply hitting the ball in a certain way in similar scenarios. For instance, a player could hit the ball down the line every time they step inside the baseline. Sometimes the opponent uses these patterns on purpose, while other times they do them just on instinct. If your child can recognize these patterns, they can start to predict their opponent’s shots giving them the upper hand in a point.
Players almost always have a favorite shot. Whether it be a down the line forehand or a crosscourt backhand a player always has a preference for which shots they like to hit. It is incredibly important that your child keep an eye out for this and try to figure out these shots. By doing so, they can take advantage of them by being ready for that particular shot. Taking away/being ready for opponents preferred shots can also force them to hit a ball they’re not as comfortable with, causing them to hit more errors.
It’s not a break until someone holds
If your child’s serve gets broken, all is not lost. Momentum is an odd thing, and there is more pressure on someone who just went up a break. If your child makes first balls and plays hard, they can use that pressure to get back into the set
The same pressure applies when someone is serving to win or stay in a set. If your child digs in, moves the ball around, and forces the opponent to hit a great shot to win a point, they can put tremendous pressure on the opponent. Using this pressure your kid can force themselves into a position to win the game and take the set.
Bonus
Optimum tennis has a great article where they break down how much risk to take and when to take it which you can check out here. In the article, they break down when to play low, medium, and high-risk tennis. By applying this correctly you can add even more pressure to your opponent increasing the likelihood of your success.
We hope this article was helpful! If you enjoyed this post, please be sure to share it on Twitter or Facebook by clicking the buttons below!
Leave a Reply