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SMART TENNIS DROP SHOT
Introduction to Tennis Drop Shot:
- The 8 basic tennis shots in tennis: 1) The 8 basic shots of tennis are, 1-serve, 2-forehand, 3-backhand, 4-volley, 5-half (low) volley, 6-overhead smash, 7-lob, and 8-drop shot, 2) of the 8 basic shots, the tennis drop shot is the only one that is not essential and needed just to maintain play and accordingly is usually the last of the 8 shots to learn for a beginning tennis player, 3) however, it can be a great shot weapon and strategy for play under the right tennis game situation and should be learned if a person is serious in trying to improve their tennis game.
- Description of tennis drop shot: 1) It can be performed from either a forehand or a backhand stance but almost always using just one hand on the tennis racket, even for those who have a two handed backhand shot, 2) it can be performed virtually anywhere on the tennis court and either on the fly or on the bounce in returning the tennis ball but generally is not tried if deep in the court, 3) it is a difficult shot when the opponent has smashed the tennis ball very hard so it is generally only hit in returning somewhat softer balls coming over the net, 4) the basic body motion is described below under the “Practice Discussion”, 5) this has also been called a chop shot where the result, if the shot is executed properly, is that the ball is hit softly putting strong backspin on it and goes over the net landing in the front part of your opponents court with a low and short bounce and ideally with a lot of backspin the ball sometimes can even bounce backwards towards the net, 6) a good drop shot travels no more than 3 feet over and above the net and bounces low and short enough such that the opponent, typically deep in the court in the appropriate strategy situation, is unable to run fast enough to retrieve the tennis ball, and thus it is an un-returnable winning shot.
Strategy in the Tennis Drop Shot:
- Assess your opponent: 1) The tennis drop shot is most effective, a) against opponents that are slow on their feet and don’t run well, b) and those that usually hang deep in the court and usually behind the baseline, 2) if this is the case then the drop shot can be used consistently and can be extremely effective, 3) however, it can also be effective even against the speediest of opponents when they are deep in the court and behind the baseline, 4) so assess your opponent and if they the meet the right criteria, consider using the tennis drop shot often.
- Key ingredients in the tennis drop shot: 1) The key ingredients are, a) shortness going over the net, b) bounce softness, and c) backspin, 2) the goal is to get the ball to its second bounce before your opponent can get to it, so the shortness to the second bounce is most important, 3) accordingly, you need a return shot with low ball speed and a bounce as short as possible, 4) in the best drop shot, it is soft and short with so much backspin that the ball actually bounces back towards the net, 5) it is best to hit the drop shot when you are no further deep on the court than about 7/8th the distance back from the net, 6) the reasons for this are, a) a drop shot beyond this distance becomes very difficult, and b) it gives your opponent more time to anticipate the shot and get to the ball to return it, 7) also, it should not be tried when the opponent has smashed the ball but rather when the ball is traveling towards you at medium or less speed.
- Typical psychological impact of successful tennis drop shot on opponent: 1) running as fast as you can to get to a tennis drop shot and then not getting to it or missing it, is one of the most frustrating parts of the tennis game, 2) it typically produces a negative psychological impact and can negatively effect the tennis play of the opponent, at least for a short time thereafter but often longer, 3) and if it is successfully repeated at some reasonable rate, it can often devastate the play of the opponent into a give up state of mind, 4) so not only can you win the point with the drop shot, but often you can put your opponent into a state of mind to where it is more easy for you to win the match.
- Tennis drop shot – a win or lose shot 1) If your opponent is behind the base line and you hit the tennis drop shot correctly, you will always win the point, 2) however, if you hit the tennis drop shot incorrectly you will almost always lose the point such as, a) the ball goes into the net, b) the ball lands outside the court boundary lines, or c) the ball goes too high over the net and lands near the service line or beyond, giving your opponent adequate time to get good position on the ball and with a resulting soft bounce, to either smash the ball by you, or if you come to the net to lob the ball over you.
- An appropriate strategy for when to use the tennis drop shot: 1) Since the tennis drop shot is either a win or lose shot and is also an optional shot in that you actually never need to use it, then only use it in a tennis game if your tennis drop shot ability gives you an advantage in winning the match, 2) the advantage point would be in having the ability to give you a greater than 50% chance of completing a successful tennis drop shot, 3) in reality, a 3 out of 5 or 60% chance is a better minimum choice and at least a 4 out of 5 or 80% chance is a reasonable goal, 4) if you will review the Practice Discussion below, you will see that statistics can be generated during the practice of the tennis drop shot which will measure this percentage and will allow you to determine whether or not your ability warrants you to use the tennis drop shot during an actual game, and also whether or not you should continue practice of the tennis drop shot to improve upon this measured percentage, 5) note that this percentage is measured separately for the forehand and the backhand tennis drop shot, so if one is higher than the other, you might rightly decide to use the higher one during a game and not the lower one, until the percentage on the lower one is improved thru practice to an acceptable level.
Best Way to Develop a Tennis Drop Shot Is Practice:
- Practice the tennis drop shot: 1) Find a friend who is also a tennis player and trade off working on the drop shot with one feeding and other working on the shot and then reverse, 2) as an alternative, find a teaching tennis pro and pay him to work with you, 3) each of you should be standing on your respective service lines to begin the drill, 4) practice, practice and more practice is the best way to develop a good tennis drop shot.
- Goal of the practice: 1) In returning the ball, a tennis drop shot is defined as successful if the ball passes no more than 3 feet above the net and bounces at least 3 times before passing the opposite service line, 2) if the returned ball is higher than 3 feet, no matter how short the ball may bounce, the result would typically give your opponent too much time to get to the ball and return it.
- Procedure used in practice: 1) Start at the service line and hit as many returns as is required to have a successful tennis drop shot as defined above, 2) after a successful tennis drop shot take one medium step backward and repeat this procedure, 3) continue to take the medium step backward and repeating the procedure until you reach approximately 7/8th of the distance between the net and the base line and then repeat again starting at the service line, 3) do one drill procedure using your forehand and then repeat the drill using your backhand, 4) on the backhand side use only one hand on the tennis racket even though you may have a two handed backhand shot.
- Measuring tennis drop shot success percentage during practice: 1) perform the practice procedure as indicated above and keep statistics for the forehand and backhand tennis drop shot separately, 2) simply count the number of returns of the either forehand or backhand tennis drop shot made and then count the number of returns that are successful based on the success criteria that has been defined, 3) then divide the latter number (successes) by the former number (returns) and this number is your success percentage, 4) you will have the number for both your forehand and backhand tennis drop shot.
- Physical body motion for a tennis drop shot: 1) For either a forehand or backhand tennis drop shot, with your body essentially perpendicular to the approaching ball, start your swing with your racquet roughly one foot higher and two feet back from your intended ball impact point, 2) next, use a short, gentle motion angling forward and downward, 3) the amount of tilt in your racket face must be adjusted for your swing path and speed but typically tilt the racket face back between 30 and 50 degrees, 4) create the down motion by pivoting your shoulder and elbow more than your wrist, and bend your knees creating a downward body motion before, during and after impacting the ball which will accentuate the racket downward path and the resulting backspin put on the ball.
- Conclusion: Practice this tennis drop shot until your shot success percentage rate reaches the desired level and then in actual game play, when the tennis situation is right, use it as another one of your tennis play weapons.
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