This tennis lesson with Erica covers tennis shot selection drills for singles that can make the difference between winning or losing a close match. Often times close matches are determined by hitting the right shots at the right time. This can often be confusing with all the decisions you have to make on the court.
In today’s video, I share my simple zone system to determine shot selection. Court positioning and the ball being received determines shot selection. This can help for making those decisions simple and even automatic. In close matches it is critical that you stop overthinking things. By doing these drills over time, your subconscious can take over and allow you to win more matches.
Shot selection drills in this tennis lesson…
Zones in Tennis to Guide Shot Selection
Where you are physically positioned on the court can help guide your shot selection. Here is a framework that can be used as a guide. Utilize the photos below to illustrate the framework as well.
- Defensive zone is when you’re positioned six feet or more beyond the baseline.
- Typically in this zone you want to hit your shots at least six feet above the net. This helps limit your chances of missing into the net, can assist with placing the ball deep, and provide yourself time to recover.
- Neutral zone is when your beyond the baseline but not being pushed back beyond where you would like to stand.
- When in the neutral zone, it is important to focus on depth and try to keep the ball deep. This keeps your opponent at bay, needing to take on additional risk if they decide to go for an aggressive ball. Hitting balls three to six feet over the net with topspin is a great choice in this zone because it may push your opponent back near the defensive zone and result in your opponent hitting the ball short.
- The attacking zone is when you’re positioned inside the baseline.
- In the attacking zone, the court has now shortened. It is important to hit lower over the net keeping the ball within three feet over the net. This will assist in keeping your attacking or approach shots from sailing long
- The kill zone is when your are positioned around the service line.
- All the points in the attacking zone apply to the kill zone as well.
The 2-1
- First shot is deep to C+ to push the opponent back in the court.
- Second shot is wide to D to open up the court.
- Third shot is placed to A for the unspectacular winner.
More singles strategy to win more matches…
The above tennis singles concepts come from my Singles Strategy and Statistics Playbook.