Having an effective Tennis Singles Strategy is the key to winning more tennis matches and can help you beat players that may have a better technique than you but lack strategy in their play.
This article will look at the top 5 Singles Strategy Tips you can use to help you win your next match.
Top 5 Tennis Singles Strategy Tips
1. Consistency is key
You will be surprised how many matches you can win by simply being more consistent than your opponent.
This doesn’t mean you should try playing like a pusher but instead, you should play a high percentage game.
You can achieve this by hitting crosscourt more often than not and by picking big targets for your shots rather than going for the line or the corners.
This is my strategy at the start of any game where I haven’t played the opponent before.
I will see if my opponent is going to beat themselves first before taking any risks on my own shots.
This won’t always work and you may have to up your game but I think it is a good strategy to start with.
2. Be Conservative on your returns
So many points are lost at the recreational level from players going for too much on their returns.
You shouldn’t feel like you have to hit a winner of a return of serve (unless you are playing someone with a very weak serve but even then you may be better off going for a less aggressive return).
Your aim on the return of serve should be to hit the ball deep and in the middle of the court.
By doing this, if you miss your target you still have some chance that the ball will land in.
Players who target the corners or the line on their returns have very little margin for error if they mishit their return.
I have also found that consistently getting an opponent’s serves back can hurt their confidence as they aren’t getting any free points anymore.
This can lead to your opponent going for more on their serve which can result in them making more errors and double faults.
3. Exploit your opponent’s weaknesses
No matter how good a player is they will always have a shot that they aren’t as comfortable with.
For the vast majority of recreational players, this will be their backhand but it can also be high topspin balls, moon balls, or sliced balls.
Once you discover what shots your opponent doesn’t like to hit then you need to exploit this weakness by giving your opponent the type of ball they aren’t comfortable with.
For example, if your opponent doesn’t like hitting their backhand then when you are given an opportunity, you should attack your opponent’s backhand side.
4. Vary where you hit your serve
I see many recreational players that might have a fairly strong first serve but will hit more or less the same spot every time.
The problem with this is that your opponent will get used to your serve and they will start to be able to simply block back your serve.
If you vary where you hit your serve, this will keep your opponent guessing and they are less likely to get into a grove on your serve.
You may have to take off some speed to vary where the ball lands but it will be worth doing.
5. Be aware of your positioning on the court
In singles and doubles, being aware of your positioning on the court is key to becoming a more successful player.
However, positioning is often overlooked by players at the recreational level.
It is important to always think about where you need to recover to when hitting a shot.
For example, if you plan to hit the ball down the line then the distance you need to travel to be in the correct position for your opponent’s next shot will be greater than if you hit the ball cross court.
Another big mistake I see at the recreational level is on approach shots, where players will hit their approach shot and then run into the center of the court.
Doing this leaves too much space on either side for your opponent to hit a passing shot.
Therefore it is better to position yourself near the net on the same side of the court that you have hit your approach shot.
That way you will be covering the easy options available to your opponent.