Today we are going to talk about SHOTS and PLAYS. In that sense tennis is very similar to chess. We have a finite variety of shots, but each one itself has a wide range of variants which in turn are combined into a vast selection of plays. We could continue adding physical, mental, emotional, environmental readings and more to this, in order to see the endless possibilities that the tennis court offers us… but even so, there are times when we are left blank, not knowing how to take the next step.
Shots
Imagine, for example, a bishop (chess piece). We know that it moves in certain directions and not in others. Now let’s imagine a tennis shot. For example forehand (drive). What possibilities does that piece have for us to move it around the court? Crosscourt… high, straight, deep, short, 3/4 open, down the line, drop shot, inside out (forehand), baseline, half court, etc. and all this managed from loads, stances, levers, zones of the court or responding to a variety of shot of the opponent.
Plays
Let’s see the plays now. What is a play? It is a movement constructed of several shots based on different response possibilities. These responses can be tactical (following certain rules), or anti-tactical (skipping those rules to surprise the opponent).
So, a simple play can be: open the court with crosscourt forehand, taking the opponent out and then, without giving him time to recover the center, switch to the other side.
This play, even if it is simple, involves various aspects to take into account:
- Place the corsscourt ball so that the opponent goes out of the court.
- Depending on the opening, height, and power of your shot, your opponent can respond with short cross, down the line, drop shot or to the feet, in addition to a deep cross or high ball to recover.
- You must gain space and time and thus not leave him the possibility of recovering his center. That implies that you may need to play: live ball, volley, or in the extreme case, half-volley, etc.
With all this, the more level the players have, each play proposed by one is adequately answered by the other, and thus we get to see points as extraordinary as tennis usually offers us.
But, for now, we are going to get back on the court and see those shots that we dominate and others that we need to work on, in addition to those plays that we can build with them, or we are already doing so consciously or unconsciously.
