Do you ever pay attention to the playing style of your
opponent? What about his/her grip or backswing? If you
watched Wimbledon this year you probably noticed a
completely different set of names advancing through the
draws than just a month ago at the French Open. Why the
difference? The grass at Wimbledon provides for low,
skidding bounces which require quick hands and reflexes
on groundstrokes. For players that have big looping
backswings this can be the worst possible surface. Now
think back to the styles of many of the players in the
French Open. They had full long strokes and they had
plenty of time to execute them because of the slow red
clay.
What can you as the club player learn from this? I
think plenty. Every grip and style has its advantages
and disadvantages. When you formulate your game plan
against an opponent do you notice how they are holding
their racquet? A full western grip is great for topspin
and for high bouncing balls but can be difficult on low
slices. So if you play a player with an extreme Western
grip, why not give him/her some low slices to see if
they are capable of making a grip change. What about a
player with a long high backswing? At my club we have a
player with just such a swing. If the ball lands at the
service line he nails it. If his opponent hits close to
the baseline he is always late on meeting the ball out in
front. So it would be a good game plan against this type
of player to hit much deeper.
As a competitive player I was a serve and volleyer. I
loved coming to the net and looking back. I was probably
doing it to make up for a lack of consistency with my
groundstrokes. If someone gave me some power and let me
hit volleys I loved it. Smart players would keep me
pinned on the baseline and forced me into a style I
didn't like. Good players can pick up some of the
strengths and weaknesses for their opponent simply by
looking at the way they hold their racquet and execute
a few shots.
Another great example is serving in mixed doubles. Men
often hate for the ball to be returned by the woman
in mixed if she is a weaker player. Admit it guys -- we
want the power! A player that just blocks that return
back will often be able to watch a big forehand
fly out on the next shot. Some people just believe it's
hard, harder, and hardest until a winner or error is hit.
The next time you play a match take a few minutes to learn
about the style of your opponent. Have you ever finished
a match and said "if I just had hit to his (or her) backhand
I would have won!" Why not figure those things out before
the match. Take a closer look at their style and you'll be
winning more points with very little extra work.
