In Tennis, a chop stroke is really a shot where the angle towards the player and behind the racquet, made by the line of flight of the ball, along with the racquet travelling down across it, is higher than 45 degrees and may possibly be 90 degrees. The racquet face passes slightly outside the ball and down the side, chopping it, as a man chops wood. The spin and curve is from appropriate to left. It’s made with a stiff wrist.
The slice shot merely reduced the angle mentioned from 45 degrees down to a pretty tiny one. The racquet face passes either inside or outside the ball, according to direction desired, while the stroke is mainly a wrist twist or slap. This slap imparts a decided skidding break to the ball, whilst a chop “drags” the ball off the ground with out break.
The rules of footwork for both these shots should be the same as the drive, but mainly because both are made with a brief swing and far more wrist play, without the need of weight, the rules of footwork could be much more safely discarded and body position not so carefully considered.
Both these shots are essentially defensive, and are labour-saving devices when your opponent is on the baseline. A chop or slice is extremely hard to drive, and will break up any driving game.
It is not a shot to use against a volley, as it’s too slow to pass and too high to trigger any worry. It should be used to drop short, soft shots at the feet of the net man as he comes in. Don’t strive to pass a net man with a chop or slice, except by means of a large opening.
The drop-shot is a pretty soft, sharply-angled chop stroke, played wholly with the wrist. It should drop within 3 to 5 feet of the net to be of any use. The racquet face passes around the outside of the ball and under it with a distinct “wrist turn.” Don’t swing the racquet from the shoulder in making a drop shot. The drop shot has no relation to a stop-volley. The drop shot is all wrist. The stop-volley has no wrist at all.
Use all your wrist shots, chop, slice, and drop, merely as an auxilliary to your orthodox game. They are intended to upset your opponent’s game through the varied spin on the ball.
The half volley.
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This shot requires more ideal timing, eyesight, and racquet work than any other, since its margin of safety is smallest and its manifold chances of mishaps numberless.
It’s a pick-up. The ball meets the ground and racquet face at nearly the same moment, the ball bouncing off the ground, on the strings. This shot is really a stiff-wrist, short swing, like a volley with no follow by means of. The racquet face travels along the ground with a slight tilt over the ball and towards the net, thus holding the ball low; the shot, like all other people in tennis, should travel across the racquet face, along the brief strings. The racquet face will need to always be slightly outside the ball.
The half volley is basically a defensive stroke, since it should only be made as a last resort, when caught out of position by your opponent’s shot. It’s a desperate attempt to extricate yourself from a dangerous position without retreating. never deliberately half volley.
Court position.
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A tennis court is 39 feet lengthy from baseline to net. You will discover only two locations in a tennis court that a tennis player must be to await the ball.
1. About three feet behind the baseline near the middle of the court, or
2. About 6 to 8 feet back from the net and almost opposite the ball.
The 1st is the place for all baseline players. The second is the net position.
If you are drawn out of these positions by a shot which you should return, do not remain at the point where you struck the ball, but attain one of the two positions mentioned as rapidly as possible.
The distance from the baseline to about 10, feet from the net may be considered as “no-man’s-land” or “the blank.” Never linger there, since a deep shot will catch you at your feet. After making your shot from the blank, as you should often do, retreat behind the baseline to await the return, so you might again come forward to meet the ball. If you are drawn in brief and cannot retreat safely, continue all the way to the net position.
Never stand and watch your shot, for to do so simply means you might be out of position for your next stroke. Strive to attain a position so that you usually arrive at the spot the ball is going to before it really arrives. Do your difficult running whilst the ball is inside the air, so you will not be hurried inside your stroke after it bounces.
It’s in learning to do this that natural anticipation plays a huge role. Some players instinctively know where the next return is going and take position accordingly, whilst other people will never sense it. It’s to the latter class that I urge court position, and recommend usually coming in from behind the baseline to meet the ball, since it’s a lot simpler to run forward than back.
Ought to you be caught at the net, with a brief shot to your opponent, do not stand still and let him pass you at will, as he can easily do. Pick out the side where you believe he will hit, and jump to, it suddenly as he swings. In the event you guess proper, you win the point. If you are wrong, you are no worse off, since he would have beaten you anyway with his shot.
Your position must often strive to be such that you’ll be able to cover the greatest achievable area of court with out sacrificing safety, since the straight shot is the surest, most dangerous, and need to be covered. It is merely a question of how a lot much more court than that instantly in front of the ball could be guarded.
A well-grounded knowledge of court position saves quite a few points, to say nothing of significantly breath expended in lengthy runs after hopeless shots.
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