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One of the most common questions I get is what to do with that frickin short ball sitter.
You know, you’ve just thumped a big groundie to a corner, your opponent barely gets to it, then he/she plays a soft sitter that lands just behind the “T” on your side and dares you not to look like an idiot if you bury it into the net or fly it out against the back fence.
Well, here’s a shot choice that works darn near every time …
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Morning guys.
I’m hoping this tournament will start showing us some of their doubles matches.
If and when they do, I’ll post some instructional strategy videos for you.
Until then, I’ll be snooping around for some doubles points from other tournaments.
Brent
Do you think your opponents can anticipate your shot length from the baseline
Hi Rohan. Your opponent can guess or anticipate anything at any time.
The key is to mix in different types of shots off of this short ball sitter.
And do all from the same setup “look”.
In the end, it becomes a guessing game for the opponent as to what you’re going to do, and it’s also a guessing game for you as to what your opponent is guessing that you’re going to do.
Brent
I try that short shot sometimes, but if it sits up or goes too deep in his court, I’m in trouble. If you think your opponent might be able to get to the ball, should I still go to the net? Tough call. Sometimes I get stuck in no man’s land when he returns my drop shot.
Once I hit a drop shot that spun over the net into my side of the court after it bounced on his side. Love to that again!
Thanks Brent & Happy New Year, Tom
Tom make sure you are moving through the shot when you lay down a drop. Too many club players stop and drop which is a recipe for inconsistency..If you watch all good players drop you will see that they transfer their weight from the back foot to the front (just like a violley)..Hope this helps
Eric’s comment is right on. The drop shot has to be played by nudging your weight against it rather than too much swing.
Also, when you show some forward weight about to move against the ball, your opponent has to honor the possibility of you approaching deep as well.
Much better disguise …
Brent
Brent: would you make the same suggestion when your opponent ALWAYS hits a sitter of a second serve?
I step into the court before that serve is hit and it always lands short in the service box but I don’t start moving until I see where it will land and then move in…though I’m nowhere near the T when I can hit the
ball..is a drop shot still a reliable option to a drive deep into the corners…?
Fellow player input: At the club level Martin, I regularly hit a return of serve drop shot in singles and doubles off the 2nd serve. Since I have learned to do it both forehand and backhand, I just move in several feet if they commonly hit a puff ball for their 2nd serve. I particularly like to use side spin to open up the court and then play a shot between the two doubles players or directly at the server if he tries to run back to recover OR to the open court for singles. I use a carioca or back step to help align my shoulders if hitting backhand off deuce or forehand off the add.
You ll have great success if you take two steps in from the base line and….split step!! all the options will open for you and you will have better balance to hit the dropper
Hi Martin. Obviously not every return of serve is going to be played to the exact same spot on the court, so Eric’s suggestion is spot on.
The key is to mix the shots you play from that short return of serve.
Deep, flat, slice, drop, short angle, corners, middle, etc.
Just be sure to commit early as to which shot you’re going to play.
Work on a set up “look” that is the same for all of those shots.
Brent
hey brent, great video on using the dropper in that short offensive situation at the T. Let’s make sure we emphasize our students using both topspin and underspin when warming up with mini tennis and making mini tennis not just a “watse of time” but very focused and functional. Happy New Year.
Hi Bob.
Mini tennis is a great warm up drill, but for me, I use that drill to get my feel moving and make sure I’m always aligning myself properly to the path of the incoming ball.
I’m not convinced that rolling toppers in mini tennis is all that productive.
Move the feet, get perfect spacing, keep the head & eyes down through contact, and get excited to play today …!
Brent
great suggestion! tks
You got it George. BTW, good stuff on your website.
Brent
Buried Treasure Tip from Brent’s Archives: Worst nightmare – blowing that easy shot. Brent talks about visualization as a mental solution. What happened to your “hat” Brent, I haven’t seen that one lately!
http://www.webtennis.net/nltr-061111-fl.htm
&Layman thoughts: 1) When I make a drop shot it is really easy for me to plop it into the net as there is a tendency for me to try to make a winner out of it. My personal solution is to aim for the middle of either service quadrant. By doing so I’m treating it as an approach shot and expect to have to hit one more shot. For the over 50 3.5 crowd often it is a winner even if it lands close to the service line – many guys are caught flat footed or simply refuse to move in for it) 2) there are a couple of shot endings to this shot – the cupping option seems to work great for a low paced shot close to the net/inside the service quadrant to help hold the ball on the strings a bit longer 3) optionally I side spin this shot, rather than under spin it.
Signed
Treasure Hunter
Hey Treasure. Good call, and wow, you’re going back over 5 years ago.
The look and feel of WebTennis has certainly changed since then.
$100 says that most of the links on that page go nowhere!
Take a look at Eric’s comment above about moving your weight against the drop shot. You get much better shot control when you eliminate as much swing as possible plus it’s a better way to disguise the dropper.
Brent
Absolutely brilliant. I think for most club level players, it’s tough to change the speed of the attach from 90-100%, by putting the breaks on and hitting 10% of your pace. It’s brilliant commentary Brent. Thank you so much!
Hi Rob.
Glad you liked this tip.
We should all tinker from time to time on being able to control 3 different swing speeds no matter what’s coming in from our opponent.
Slow, medium, and fast …
Brent
I think the only time the dropper worked was on that shot for which you gave the instruction. He ( Santiago ) tried the dropper like five other times in the second video and lost every time. The dropper is tricky, you have to know your opponent I think. That guy Simon is really fast, he gives Fed a lot of problems. Is it better not to use the dropper when an opponent is fast, or just use it rarely?
Hi Omar.
Good point.
You still want to show Simon a dropper once in awhile so he doesn’t get comfortable hanging a bit behind the baseline in anticipation of a deep approach.
So, I wouldn’t say use it rarely, but often enough to keep him guessing. Remember, it’s not about having to win each and every point, it’s about looking at the big picture of the entire match.
And the reality is, none of us are as fast as Simon.
So, the drop shot off of that sitter is going to work for us just fine …
Brent
have to agree with Omar on this one. Santiago’s dropper here worked because he hit behind Simon; it would have been a winner had it been hit deeper as well. Now the fact that he (presumably) made up his mind to hit a drop shot perhaps allowed him the luxury of waiting an extra split second such that Simon took a step to the open court, but it’s the fact that Santiago hit behind Simon that produced the winner. Granted … us club players don’t have Simon’s speed and anticipation, but even I in my early 50′s can get to a less than great drop shot if I see it coming. The key is to make the defender anticipate/ respect the deep/hard shot so that he isn’t anticipating the change up dropper. Coming in behind the drop in the same manner as an approach (as you advocate) certainly helps with that deception … as well as lessening the need to use the arm and wrist to produce the shot; instead it’s just the forward momentum of the body coupled with a slightly open face to produce underspin. If you sen the guy anticipating the dropper much easier to just nudge it a little deeper to the guy’s feet .. since it’s your forward momentum providing the impetus for the shot; you don’t really have to swing the racquet much at all.
Finally, I agree with the commenter below that on this particular shot Santiago had plenty of time to take 2-4 more steps and volley that ball off for a winner .. which also could have been a dropper. As you note Santiago anticipated the weak reply and started to move in early .. only to stop abructly in no-man’s land .. which gave Simon (with his very weak mini lob reply) time to recover and even sprint over to the open court ; Simon (and we clubbers) might have been been better off had he not left early for the open court and forced Santiago to hit big on that sitter .. which we all sometimes miss.
Brent
Good one point lesson as always, thanks. Now I have something new to teach my junior classes tomorrow! Much appreciate the selection of match clips too, which I imagine took some time to put together.
Great stuff.
Hey Charlie.
Hoping the kids you teach this shot to can get to a continental grip because any version of a western forehand will be tough to control.
The match clips from Brisbane are great because they put together short highlights video.
Not that tough to find something good right away.
Brent
Sure the drop shot was available, but I think Brent Abel would have kept coming in and volleyed the ball. (and still anticipated a return)
Just sayin’
Hey Steve.
You mean Santiago would have been in sooner and been able to volley the short ball from Simon?
Maybe in my 40s yes, but now at 63? Doubt it.
In fact, sometimes it’s easier and more effective to allow that ball to sit and play the dropper.
Just sayin …
Brent
When one gets the tasty short ball sitter- it is no time to hurry. Your opponent knows he is in trouble so if you just “hold your horses” for a fraction of a second- your opponent will be “off to the races” with an instinctive guess and then you can “pick your winner,” – drop shot or drive left, middle or right.
Hi Jim.
No question that the natural instinct can be to rush that short sitter opportunity.
It takes discipline to stay organized, not rush, pick out a target early, and stay committed to that target.
Good comment Jim. Thanks.
Brent
I have a typical club/rec tennis match I found that really reflects what it is like for me on a daily basis.
Includes a secret fixit tip that coaches rarely disclose.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kK42LZqO0wA
Bro – we gotta get you out more.
Brent
Brent. On occasion I’m playing an underspin low bouncing forehand drive and oops it flies high and out of the court. I’m not quite sure what the likely reason or reasons are for this. Thanks
Rog…racket angle
Make sure you start with a shoulder turn, and holding a continental grip, carve the ball starting above the ball—watch video of fed !!! I like to focus on the outside of the ball ….hope this helps
Thanks Eric: yes, my suspicion is that it has to do with starting above the ball as the root cause prior to the point of contact. For sure the racquet angle is causing the pop up at point of contact.
The reason I’m sure that you are right is that I don’t think it is my footwork coming into the shot and that I have only been working on sharpening both my underspin forehand and backhand drives to get them to consistently skid low for a couple of weeks now and the start is real important for both of these. In replaying my mental tape of that shot several times after the match, I almost 100% sure under the stress of the match on a tight situation, and 2 weeks not being enough time to make the stroke reliably reproducible, it broke down.
Really appreciate your thoughtful feedback eric.
Hi RS.
Check to make sure you’re contact point is NOT too far in front.
Too far out there, and like Eric suggests, your racket angle is too open.
I play this shot almost to my side.
Also, get a little body weight nudge against this shot as you play it to help give it some stability.
Brent
Roger, great video! Too bad Simon spoiled the revival. I felt like the underdog on many occasions – if only I had the ‘secret weapon’ like that!
I thought the video reflected some of the emotional stuff that goes on with club players. I know several players that will just mentally throw in the towel when things aren’t going right for them – some will even walk off before the end of a pickup set.
AND guys who think they are playing tv tennis and take big wacks at the ball to show off and demonstrate there greatness to the lower level players – but on the other hand will take it very personal if a lower player humiliates them by outplaying them with consistent shotmaking.
Brent, I will make an effort to try the drop shot in my next match. Some good tips from other comments too – like not hurrying and waiting for the opponent to commit, and not necessarily going for an outright winner every time but rather playing a well placed drop that if reached would provide another net opportunity.
Morning Jack.
There’s a lot of gold nuggets in these comments for sure.
Pick one out for today, work on it, and then come back and pick out another.
Rinse & repeat …
Brent
Brent, these vid lessons are great… keep em up…It really gets everyone thinking!
I used to always try to hit the winner with the sitter until you said to use it asa an approach…
The result is many more points won and a lot less forced errors on my part!!
2012 resolution–Be Patient and dont hurry into every shot!
Morning to you Eric.
Thanks for your great comments in this post. You’re clearly teaching the “good stuff” out there to your students. Congrats.
The stone cold reality of non tour tennis (the rest of us) is matches are won and lost because of unforced errors.
And I mean unforced as in missing an easy shot that doesn’t go back in play.
There are a myriad of reasons why we can miss the easy ones, but the key to becoming a more consistent shot maker is to first of all simplify the stroke mechanics.
Make the stroke mechanics so simple and so clean that just about anyone can hit a decent shot from as long as their SPACING is right.
If the spacing isn’t right, no set of stroke mechanics will get the job done consistently.
Very good 2012 resolution by the way …
Brent
Brent,
Thanks for the great vids. I like your idea, but I want to be able to hit the hard approach shot as well instead of the drop shot, but I always seem to hit it in the net or way out. Can you please give some tips on how to hit this short sitter aggressively as well? I watched Michael Chang kill these sorts of shots this year in Champions tennis and I want to be able to do that too. He would just wail on it and was a winner every time. Thanks!
Hi David.
Don’t think of it as ‘hard’, instead, think of it as an approach shot.
If you have the right stroke mechanics AND play through the shot as an approach, you’ll get plenty of power AND you’ll end up in the perfect spot to challenge your opponent to have to hit a perfect winner.
Look, you can never tell your opponent that they can’t anticipate where you’re going to play this shot.
Too often we over cook this short sitter because we want to hit a winner even if our opponent guesses where we’re going with our shot.
This is a simple approach opportunity, NOT a winner put away opportunity.
Brent