Find out how one adjustment on my serve helped me beat a player I always struggled to win against. I’ll show you my thought process behind each decision I made that lead me to this new, winning serve strategy.
Then I’ll discuss another match I played recently where I cracked my racquet. My partner and I got demolished 6-0, 6-2. In this case, I had been on vacation for two weeks previously and only had one week to prepare. Needless to say, I didn’t prepare properly. I’ll talk about what went wrong, and what I would do differently next time.
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Interview Notes from this Podcast
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- Previous strategy episode: 3 Doubles Strategy Stories from Real Matches
- Learn the variables to adjust in episode 14: Creating a Gameplan & Making In-Match Adjustments
- Interview with Jorge Capestany
- The Cuban Davis Cup Drill maximizes touches from the net & baseline.
- The Romanian Davis Cup Drill helps with volleys.
- Interview with Steve Smith
- The Shadow Doubles Drill will help you win the crosscourt battle in doubles.
Great content. Thanks.
Thanks Sam! hope it helps you on the court 😉
Will,
Thanks for the latest podcast. I was especially interested in your serve adjustments to the returner who crowded the box, as it reminded me of a match I played this weekend. However, I was the box crowder on the receiving end of someone who served a high, deep bouncer into my body.
Like your opponent, I like to crowd the box, take the serve early, and return deep. My initial approach, as the deuce returner, was to shuffle left and hit a high forehand crosscourt. Unfortunately for me, my opponent’s serve, in addition to bouncing high, also seemed to slide right, which I did not expect – I do not even know what one calls such a serve. I repeatedly found myself reaching to return which resulted in a very ugly collection of miss hits and frame shots. Ugh!
I thought, maybe I could try to take the ball even earlier. Nope – I whiffed.
My only option was to retreat to the baseline, and I did. I surrendered space and time, but at least I was able to put the ball back in play. We still lost, but 6-4 in the second, instead of 6-1 in the first.
I suppose mine is more of a return adjustment story, but one that validates your serve adjustment – It is truly difficult to crowd a deep high bouncing serve.
Great points Mason and it sounds like you made the right adjustments. When facing players who have a big kick serve, you’ll always have to either step in or step back. No way to know which is best without testing each one out 🙂
Thanks for the comment!