Tennis is a sport that takes a lot of technique, repetition, and time to become a competitive player, much less a master, but even the best started somewhere. Capitalizing on the opportunities to master tennis techniques and shots is essential to the advancement of tennis player’s game.
Every tennis player develops a unique style of game play that empowers his or her strengths. But in this short intro, we will take a look at the 5 most basic tennis shots that the pros have complete mastery over.
{Since Roger Federer is considered the perfect player both technique-wise and camera-wise, we’ll use his shots as a reference}
#1 – Serve:
The serve is one of the most important shots in tennis. The first or second serve begins the point. A powerful and accurately placed tennis serve is a lethal combination that can radically increase your chances of winning the point.
A good serve opens up the court and provides a handful of openings to close out the point, whereas a weak serve can gift your opponent easy pickings to lay into.
Serve tennis techniques involves modeling critical key movements that technique must be perfected upon to reach maximum levels of power and efficiency. It’s worth noting that placement and spin play a huge role in setting up the point compared to the power.
#2 – Topspin Forehand:
The forehand is the ‘meat and potatoes’, or the ‘money shot’ for the majority of tennis athletes. It is not necessarily the easiest stroke to learn, but it is the most natural. To visualize a tennis forehand, take this picture in for a moment.
Lets assume you are left-handed. If you are playing tennis and an opponent returns a tennis ball directly to your body, your natural instincts would be to step to your right and hit it back from the left side of your body.
However, if you are right-handed and an opponent returns a tennis ball directly to your body, your natural instincts would be to step to your left and hit it back from the right side of your body.
The majority of tennis players prefer to execute a forehand more than any other fundamental tennis stroke. In fact, the majority of tennis strokes executed in a game, set, or match are forehands.
#3 – Topspin Backhand
Andy Murray’s backhand is taken as a standard since a two-handed backhand is easier to hit and more reliable under all match conditions (and Federer plays one-handed).
In order to execute a tennis backhand, you must bring your natural hitting hand around your body before hitting the tennis ball. The tennis backhand may seem awkward at first, but as you practice and familiarize yourself with this stroke it will become a welcomed alternative to the foundation of your tennis techniques and skills.
For those wondering why the one-handed backhand is hard, here’s a picture to reconsider:
#4 – Volley – Forehand & Backhand
Simply put, the volley is a short punch technique with little or no back swing from the forehand or backhand side. If you are the type of player who enjoys going on the attack to instigate fast-paced action, the volley will intensify your game.
Other than a serve or an overhead, every shot a player executes before the ball bounces on the court is considered a volley. This skill is frequently attempted as a reaction to an out-of-position jam where a tennis athlete is unable to play the bounce.
Most of the time though, the volley is habitually played as an attack approach near the net where a skilled tennis athlete has considerable options to win points due to the ease of angling shots and clearing the net.
#5 – Overhead smash – Forehand and Backhand
Similar to a serve, the overhead tennis technique is designed to earn points by striking the tennis ball as it floats in the air over the head to the forehand or backhand side of a tennis athlete’s body. Generally, this is the response to an unsuccessful lob attempt where the tennis competitor that initiated the lob pays dearly.
Think of this performance as a slam dunk in basketball or a spike in volleyball where tennis athletes have deliberately termed this as an overhead smash or smash for short. A great overhead smash technique generates an intimidating effect as it can demoralize and grant you an advantage over a frustrated opponent.
For those of who heading to the practice courts to try out these shots, good luck with improving your game!
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