This week we develop your players' tactical awareness so that they can catch their opponent on the wrong foot, as they hit the ball back-behind using the inside-out forehand.
To develop the back-behind tactic with your players we start things off with a two-shot sequence, where players must hit the ball at the target zone. This requires a good level of accuracy from your players and will help introduce them to the movement pattern for the back-behind shot.
From here the drills become closer to a game scenario and are designed to make players feel more confident when looking to alter the play by hitting the ball behind their opponent, knocking them off the court and off balance by doing so!
The back-behind tactic is particularly useful when playing against opponents that are fast on the court. This is because speedy players often run into the space and therefore leave themselves exposed to being wrong-footed.
Indoor courts give players less time and less room. Help them sharpen their split step, shorten their swing and stay calm, and winter becomes a season of real progress.
A tiebreak is a short sprint where every point is worth the same as a break of serve. The players who win them are rarely the ones who hit hardest. Here is how to coach the patterns, habits and scoreboard thinking that win the big points.
Most club players practise the serve on its own and then have no idea what to do with the ball that comes back. Serve plus one is the pattern that turns a good serve into a won point.