In every sport, the application of pressure is a recipe for success. It’s no different for tennis. There are many ways of applying pressure to your opponent. I have created a simple to follow system that will allow you to apply pressure and help you dominate your opponents.
C onsistency
O pen Court
R ise
N et
S erves
Consistency
Shot Tolerance: This is the number of balls you can execute at match level before you make an error or your opponent hits a winner. State level players have a shot tolerance of 4 balls. Sectional level players have a shot tolerance of 6 balls. National level players have a shot tolerance of 8 balls. Top national ranked players have a shot tolerance of unlimited number of balls. What is your shot tolerance? When you have a high shot tolerance, your opponent feels like they need to go for bigger shots and closer to the lines to win points. What ends up happening is opponent now makes more unforced errors.
Open Court
Control the Open Court: The more you take your opponent out of their comfort zone, the more errors and weaker shots they will hit. You want to keep your opponent running as much as possible. It is safe to say that if an opponent has a weak backhand, they will have a weaker on the run backhand shot. Controlling the open court will also pay off if the match goes to a third set.
Rise
Take Ball on the Rise: Taking the ball on the rise will take time away from your opponent. The more time you take away from your opponent the weaker their shots are going to get because they don’t have time to load and explode or set up to the ball.
Net
Finish Points at the Net: If you execute the first three pressures properly, eventually your opponent will make a mistake and give you a short ball. You need to hit an approach shot to your target and look to come in and finish the point at the net.
Serve
Attack Second Serve: Unless your opponent is one of the top players in the world, it’s safe to say that their second serve is one of the weakest areas of their game. So you are going to take advantage of that fact and attack the second serve in the following way:
1. Starting position where you are standing needs to be on or inside the baseline (there are three different starting positions).
2. Move forward and take ball on the rise.
3. Hit your targets (you need to know what target you are hitting before opponent serves the ball).
Now that you know what the pressures are (CORNS), plan your practice sessions around these principles and watch your game achieve new levels.