How To Deal With Low Balls In Tennis - YouTube

Hey everyone, Simon here with Top Tennis Training,  

and in this video I want to show you how  to deal with those low balls in tennis

now often when we're playing someone who likes  to slice a lot or if someone's playing with  

an eastern forehand grip or  even a continental forehand grip  

and they kind of guide that ball the ball can end  up bouncing on your side and then skidding through  

especially if you're playing on a court  like grass on a faster surface like  

carpet courts or artificial grass now dealing  with these type of balls is a nightmare especially  

if you don't know how to actually handle those  type of balls and give yourself the best chance  

to actually get that back in and put it in an  awkward position for the player on the other side

now often when we play against someone who likes  to slice the ball a lot it might not look like the  

ball has much pace so it's deceiving it's almost  as if it's floating but then after the bounce  

that's when it skids and comes through quite low  so the first step in dealing with these type of  

balls is knowing what to do with that type of  shot if you receive one of those low balls and  

you go for an aggressive flat shot even trying  to hit a winner off it you're putting yourself  

at high risk of making an error so you're playing  low percentage tennis when you go aggressive on  

those low balls so where should we aim this type  of shot and what should your tactical intention be  

when you're dealing with a low ball hey guys alex  here and this part of the video has been sponsored  

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i'll see you on court now if we think about the  tennis court the high percentage tennis from the  

baseline is normally cross-court now this is  because the net is the lowest in the middle

by going cross-court you're going over the  lowest part of the net but also by hitting  

cross-court you have the most amount  of space to miss by so if i hit it down  

the line and i hit the ball slightly late  the ball is going to go into the tram line  

or even worse if i hit the ball cross-court and i  hit the ball slightly late i'm still going to hit  

it into the middle of the court and that's still  an okay tactic when dealing with these low balls

the second step in dealing with these low balls  is knowing which type of shot you should hit  

to actually get that ball back  in the court now you can hit flat  

you can hit slice or you can hit aggressive  topspin so you can use all three options but  

if you choose to hit the ball quite flat you'll  have to guide the ball and almost take a bit  

of pace off just to get the ball back in the  court if the ball's low and i'm hitting it flat  

and aggressive the ball is going to most likely  go into the net or go long because it doesn't  

have that arc on the ball that we need to get  over the net and dipping in before the lines

now if you choose to drive the ball with topspin  this will allow you to be very aggressive with  

the racket head speed during that contact  zone this will allow you to go for more power  

but still maintain that high percentage  and this is because of that arc  

we want the ball to go up off our strings  we want the ball to lift up over the net so  

we know that we're not going to hit the net and  then we want the ball to dip in before the lines

and the only way to do this successfully time  and time again is hitting aggressive topspin  

now we'll get more into the technical side  of hitting those aggressive top spin shots  

in the next step but for now if  you're hitting with that topspin  

it will give you the chance to be more aggressive  it will give you the chance to hit that higher  

net clearance and if you choose to slice the  ball this is also a great way with dealing  

with those low balls because of the angle of the  strings it allows us to then pick the ball up  

and also impart our own slice that under spin so  that when the ball bounces on the opponent's side  

it stays low and makes it much harder for  my opponent to attack me on the next shot

if they're dealing with a ball that's down by  their ankles now for them it's almost like the  

shot we've just dealt with we're turning  that defensive shot that we've just hit  

into a neutral or even aggressive shot so  we're changing the dynamics of that point  

simply by hitting that slice and the third step  in dealing with these low balls is the execution  

so the first step to executing it well is  getting down low and maintaining that wide  

athletic stance and maintaining that low center of  gravity this will help you to get under the ball  

this will help you to be balanced and this  will help you to deal with those low balls  

now notice in this clip how low alex gets with his  body look at the knee bend right here now this is  

crucial when handling a slice now as we get to  the ball we want to maintain that low center of  

gravity and this could be an open stance so  if i'm going to hit an open stance forehand  

i want to make sure that i'm getting down  almost in that lunge position on my right  

leg if i'm a right-handed player so i want to be  in that position here so that when the ball does  

come through i can easily still get under the  ball with my racket face which is crucial if  

i want to have that aggressive topspin so i'm  getting to the ball early i'm getting behind  

the bounce so that i can deal with a bad bounce i  can deal with a fastball if it's skidding through  

so i'm getting behind the bounce and i'm getting  there as quickly as possible what you don't want  

to be doing is seeing a ball that's coming through  and skidding and taking your time and then rushing  

at the last second you want to get behind the  ball flight so that if the ball does bounce badly  

or it comes through extremely quick you're ready  to adapt and you're ready to still hit that shot

so we're getting there quick we're staying low  we're having that wide athletic base when we're  

in that position and we're making sure that we get  the rack ahead if we're going to drive that shot  

we're making sure that we don't have a massive  swing there's no point in having a huge swing if  

you're dealing with a low ball because for this  type of shot the main intention should be that  

you're getting your rack ahead down below the  ball level this might mean that if the ball is  

down by my knee my racket is down here so that  when i'm actually making contact i'm coming up  

from that low to high position with the  rack ahead so it's getting the racket head  

completely below the ball level so that when  i'm actually making contact i'm brushing up

and if you're hitting the ball cross court  a great way for you to think about this  

is imagine the ball as a clock so we have 12  o'clock and we have six o'clock on the bottom  

if i'm going cross court with my forehand i'll hit  the ball from five o'clock to 11 o'clock so across  

the ball and up the ball this will make sure that  i hit the ball cross-court but also give it that  

nice arc that we need to clear the net and and  get the ball dipping into the core so brushing  

the ball from five to eleven o'clock if you're  going cross-court if you're going down the middle  

or down the line you can then hit from six o'clock  to twelve o'clock this is the same thing on your  

backhand it doesn't matter if you're one-handed or  two-handed backhand player you make sure that you  

get down below that ball so that you can actually  drop the rack ahead and then brush up at a point  

of contact if i'm hitting my backhand court  i'll be going from seven to one o'clock and if  

i'm hitting my backhand into the middle or down  the line i'll be going from 6 to 12 once again  

if i want to slice that ball i have to open my  strings much more than on a normal slice so if i  

have a normal slice around shoulder level i might  have my strings quite flat towards the net because  

i can be aggressive on that slice and still clear  the net but on those lower balls i have to really  

open up the string bed and almost imagine i'm  hitting that slice with my strings fully open to  

the sky because this will allow me to have that  under spin so it'll make it much harder for the  

opponent to deal with but also will help me to  clear the net now the swing path will change on  

those lower slices on a mid height slice i might  be going from high to low with my rack ahead this  

is to cut down on the ball and be aggressive but  on those lower slices i'll have to go from either  

a medium position to a medium position to kind of  guide that slice with the strings open or even go  

from medium to high to lift that ball more if  it's extremely low i'll have to go from a low  

position with my racket head to a medium or low to  high so you won't be using that high to low swing  

path on a low ball because then you'll net the  shot now another good way to deal with these low  

balls is using that open stance and almost doing a  lunge to lunge and this is something you see a lot  

with the wta players when they're dealing with a  fast global they'll get into that loaded position  

on the outside lake so this is your right  leg for the forehand and from here instead  

of doing this and lifting up they'll go from  this right leg lunging to left leg lunging

so it's almost like you're going from a right leg  lunge to a left leg lunge so once again they're  

getting the racket here right leg lunge left  leg lunge this will ensure that they stay low  

all the way through the contact point and  don't lift up too early and lose their  

balance the same can be done on the back end  so i can go from that left leg loaded position  

to a right leg loaded position this will ensure  that i stay low and have that balance all the way  

through the shot so there you have it how to deal  with low balls in tennis i hope you've enjoyed  

this video and learned something new if you have  enjoyed it give it a thumbs up subscribe to the  

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release a new video share this video with anyone  who would benefit from watching it so someone  

who hates dealing with those low balls send  this video to them and hopefully they'll learn  

how to deal with those low balls this might be a  doubles partner or someone in your tennis circle  

signing off simon from ttt all  the best and see you soon guys

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