Hardscrabble Scramble -- Exclusive to Tennis Server INTERACTIVE

Hardscrabble Scramble is brought to you by Mike Whittington, USPTA pro and director of tennis at Hardscrabble Country Club in Fort Smith AR. Mike would love to receive feedback. He can be reached at protennis@ipa.net

         Many times this frustration comes from a lack of anticipation and failure to react to your own shot. Let me give you an example.

         Your big weapon is your forehand and you've just hit deep to your opponents backhand. It's obvious that your opponent will be lucky if he/she can get the ball back. At this point, you should be prepared to move in, anticipating his/ her weak attempt at a shot. (This scenario assumes your opponent is too far out of position to hit an effective defensive lob.) By moving in, if his/her shot does make it over, you will be in position to hit to the open court with your opponent still off the court.

         Now if you don't react and move in and you let the ball come back to you, your opponent might have enough time to recover back to the middle of the court.

         The next time you play a match, try to react to your own shot earlier. You might just find that you have more open court, more time to hit to that court, and more wins!