Many righties struggle when playing left handed tennis players as they are more used to playing right-handed opponents.
This is even true at the pro level with players like John McEnroe, Rod Laver, Jimmy Connors, Monica Seles, and Martina Navratilova having great success against right-handed opponents.
This article will look at what advantages being left-handed has over being right-handed in tennis and will provide you with some tips on how you can beat that dreaded left-hander at your local club.
Why do you lose to Left Handed Tennis Players?
Lefty tennis players have a number of advantages that help them beat players who play with their right hands including the advantage that when they hit their forehand crosscourt, they are hitting into their opponent’s backhand side, which is usually the weaker side for most players.
Another big advantage they have is on their serve as they can more easily hit out wide on the ad side of the court which they can use on crucial points e.g. break points.
As a right-handed player will not be used to returning out wide serves like this on the ad court, a left-handed player can end up winning a lot of easy points off their serve on the ad side.
5 Tips to Beat Left-Handed Opponents
1. Hit to their Backhand Side as much as possible
Right-handed players will be used to hitting to the backhand side of fellow right-handed opponents but if you do this when playing tennis against lefties, you will be hitting to their forehand which will allow them to hit their forehand to your backhand, which is usually the weaker side of most players.
This is definitely a pattern of play that you will want to avoid as you likely lose more points than you will win.
Instead, when given the opportunity, you should hit to their weaker side as much as possible.
If you can consistently get into a pattern of play that involves you hitting your forehand to their weaker side then this will help you win more points against a lefty.
2. Adjust your Positioning on your Return of Serve
One of the biggest advantages a lefty has is on their serve as they can use their slice serve to target their opponent’s weaker side on the ad side.
It is a good idea to adjust your positioning on your return of serve on the ad side so you are slightly more left than you usually would be.
By doing this, you will be able to cover the out wide serve better.
It is also a good idea to stand slightly closer to the baseline so that you can better cover the angles from a lefty slice serve.
3. Practice Running Around your Backhand
One of the main strategies lefties use is to hit to a righties backhand as much as possible.
To combat this, righties should look to run around their backhand so they can hit a forehand.
By doing this you can take advantage of the point by hitting your forehand to your opponent’s weaker side.
4. Serve to their Backhand side
Many righties hate playing against righties because of their serve but remember that righties also have an advantage when serving to lefties if they focus on targeting the lefties backhand.
This is especially true on the deuce side of the court as you can hit a slice serve out wide to the lefties backhand.
5. Try and find a lefty to practice with
The more you practice playing against lefty opponents, the easier you will find it as you you will get used to the different serves, spins, and playing styles of lefties.
Final Thoughts
If you looking for further tips, then I would recommend that you check out Essential Tennis’s four-part series on how to beat lefties (see part 1 embedded below).