How To Win Against Pushers(如何對付很“韌”的對手）

July 24th, 2007

Whisperer《註》此篇文章旨在說明如何對付某些打球韌性十足，或回球慣於用ㄉㄨ的球友，不管你長抽短吊，他都能及時將球回過來，就算回球的質量不高，但就是“打不死”，讓你疲於奔命，失去耐性，最後反而自己造成失誤。

在中興球場就有好幾個實例，事實上你可視這些球友為你的良師，因為他讓你暴露出你打球的弱點，和你需要改進的地方。應球友要求 PO此文借資參考。


Q.：

Hi, I am a 4.0 baseliner, and occasionally move into the net.

My volley skill is not that bad but I feel more comfortable in the baseline.

I hit with a semi-western forehand, with a slice back hand. My opponent is an old man, with a continental forehand.

He had no pace on the ball, and I make a lot of errors trying to hit his ball.

My power forehand seems to be very effective sometimes, but most of the time, he had a soft touch and lure me into the net or move me from side to side with short ball.

He used a lot of old-man game, drop and lob and I feel my baseline game is slipping, and eventually I found myself volley with him at the net and he always had the advantage of that.

Unlike other old man, he had a lot of stamina and move very well.

How can I stick to my baseline game when he can always bring me to the net with one stroke?

Should I stick to my game plan, move him side to side with my strokes, and anticipate a short ball to kill or should I develop a better volley skill to counterattack his volley skill?

A.：

You mention that your opponent hits a no pace ball and that you make a lot of errors when you hit it.

The most probable reason is that you go for too much. You may underestimate the no pace ball.

Don’t do it. Hitting a ball in tennis is a very challenging task, no matter whether the ball has pace or not.

So take the ball seriously with full concentration and attention and find the speed of your strokes where you can still control the ball.

But there is one advantage of playing a no pace ball: you have more time to set up and pick your target.

This enables you to play more accurate shots.

So when you receive a slower ball, look for placement and try to open up the court with short cross court shots when you can.

Since you say your opponent plays with a continental grip, he will very likely return with a low shot and if he is in trouble (moving to the ball, running) he will very likely play short.

Anticipate that and move in to take the ball on top of the bounce and play to the open court.

If his shots are slow but deep then your goal is to prevent him from playing good shots. Your semi-western forehand can surely produce good top spin so play the ball with higher arc deep to the baseline.

He probably doesn’t play the high ball well with his continental grip so try playing to his forehand and see what happens.

And it will be difficult for him to bring you in with a short stroke if you play very deep and high.

If he does bring you in figure out which of his ground-strokes is weaker. If it’s backhand, play deep to backhand and come to the net.

Also learn his patterns (most players have them).

If he likes to lob from his backhand, anticipate that and don’t come to close to the net. You can almost start backpedalling as soon as he hits the ball.

I also suggest you work on your volley since his no pace shots give you a chance to put them away.

He may actually be your best teacher since he shows you your weaknesses and how to improve.