Approaching The Net In Singles
January 18, 2010 by: Ian WestermannPeople hit their approach shot and position themsevles in the wrong place all the time while they play singles. In this video Ian explains why hitting down the line is best for an approach shot and also where to stand after you’ve hit it.
I typically hit my approach shots DTL, but it is due to typically receiving a cross-court shot and I hit DTL b/c that is the open court and I want my opponent to have to hit his return on the run or stretching. I hadn’t thought about the less movement on my part to bisect the return angle. Interesting and makes a lot of sense, thanks.
Great question, John. I think the answer to that question depends on three things (which is why I didn’t get into this in the video, would have taken half an hour):
1. Exactly how much worse is their backhand than their forehand?
2. Exactly how far away are you from the middle of the court when making contact with the approach?
3. How good of a shot are you able to hit cross court?
If any one of these things is going against you (their backhand isn’t much worse, you’re way to the opposite side of the court, you’re unable to hit a great cross court shot) then I’d stick with the down the line shot most of the time. If any two of them are against you, I’d say forget it completely and just go down the line no matter what, unless through out a match they start getting super comfortable with you doing it the same way over and over again.
Definitely a lot of variables at work here. The down the line rule is geometrically sound, but lots of other things could come into play to sway your decision making.
Ian, given that you said Brian, like most of us, prefers hitting his forehand to his backhand, would you still go down the line in your hypothetical situation? Even if you had to cover more ground to get into position, you would be giving Brian a shot he doesn’t want to make.