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Tennis Tactics and Patterns of Play Part 4: Looking Across the Net

We are in the middle of a multipart examination on strategies and tactics for competitive tennis play. The first three weeks we have been focused on our own side of the court. All tennis players must have a deep understanding and awareness of their own strengths and weaknesses in order to develop strategies and tactics that work for them. Today we are shifting our attention to the other side of the net.

Holding Court: Pickleball vs Tennis

One of the immutable differences between pickleball and tennis is the size of the court. Four pickleball courts can be constructed in the same space as would generally be allocated to one tennis court. In fact, the “four pack” arrangement of pickleball courts into the same size area as a tennis court is a very good configuration for considering the social dynamics of pickleball.

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Tennis Tactics and Patterns of Play Part 3 : Using Your Strengths

In 2019, Rafael Nadal defeated Novak Djokovic to win the men’s singles title at Rome. In the course of doing so, he provided us with a statistic that is probably one of the best examples of how to develop strategies and tactics around a player’s own strengths. The very best players in tennis have a sharp understanding of what they do well. More critically, they are able to develop tactics and techniques that maximize their strengths.

Skipping Forward in the Interest of Continuous Play

Technically the next section up in our steady march through the ITF Rules of Tennis as Published in the USTA Friend at Court is “Role of Court Officials.” That section consists of a single rule which points to the Appendix which contains all the bureaucratic details of court officials. I am going to exercise creative license and defer discussion of that topic until I reach that point in the Appendices.

Laykold Court Surface: The Rest of the Story

In March of this year, the USTA announced a new court surface for the US Open and the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. Since the Cincinnati Open was also played at that facility as a part of the COVID-19 “Double Bubble,” we have already experienced a preview of play on the surface. By all reports, the surface is playing extremely “fast” especially on the outer courts.

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