I changed my mind a bit about the basic tactics in women’s tennis. For the past years courts have been a lot slower than before.

The tactic of staying on the baseline, being in control and not backing up is not paying off as much anymore even for the biggest hitters anymore. The courts are simply too slow and therefore the game is now played more vertical

It’s not serve and volley, but a lot more forwards and backwards moving.

How to implement it to your coaching
It starts with telling the story to the player. The player needs to understand and agree that the game has evolved from being a competition of who is best at keeping the baseline into being more vertical. Of course, there can be some variation depending on the surface, but it’s a general trend that I’m seeing. You then work together with your physical coach on moving more back and forth and also the player being physically ready to do so. You then start practicing more balls inside of the court, which is not a comfort zone for a lot of players. Slowly try to increase the players comfort zone so they are not only standing on what I like to call their Island right around the baseline.

(Inspired by the podcast episode #75: “How to use Data as Your Assistant Tennis Coach” w. Wim Fissette on The Adam Blicher Show — Dissecting High Performance in Tennis)

Want to listen to the full episode: http://shorturl.at/jktA8