Today we’re introducing a new concept at FYB: a strategy quiz! In the first video I present a question. After you watch the first video, think about your answer to the question. In the second video, I answer the question and explain my thought process. I think this new segment should work pretty well — please post your comments / suggestions below!
To watch the second video, enter your email in the box below and hit subscribe. Once you do that, the video will appear on this page.
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Good Stuff
Flat to the “T” is the answer.
I didn’t quite follow why serving down the T produces a less predictable response. When you serve down the T, you cut off the angles of return, and presumably they might still return up the middle somewhere? Can you go into more detail?
Villain’s return on a wide serve is more predictable because the number of reasonable shots he can hit is relatively limited. A cross court return is, by far, he best option. On a down the line serve, villain’s options are greater — he can hit to either side of the court and, thus, the return is less predictable.
I agree with Will. If you just want to start rallies in a neutral position, then serving down the middle is better. But if you want to have a better chance of winning points on your serve, you would go out wide and start working angles immediately. I think people like to serve down the middle because that is where the majority of professional aces come from. But usually aces come from the villain being afraid of the out wide. Besides, I haven’t met many players at the club level that are good at hitting up the T.
I’ll explain you briefly something on angles. If you play a shot down the middle, the available angles for your opponent are mostly easy to cover. Obviously, from there, it’s pretty hard to get a ball going out wide at a great angle.
But, if you are this player and hit a great angled shot, somthing which forces your opponent to run somewhere behind the baseline in line with the doubles court limit line. What happens? If you play it at the rigth time, he’ll won’t be able to attack the ball and the play is pretty much over if you don’t mess up.
Where my problem is, is when he was in good position, was able to get to the ball in a solid stance. You will see Federer playing winners often off this position. What happens is that this angled shot opens him a greater angle on the cross court. He can even play an hard shot landing about 3 feet from the net.
On an outwide serve, the ball might come, obviously with a lesser good angle, but the ball might come on a great cross court and not simply a down the center chip like you show. When I say you open the angles by playing out wide, it means
this crazy ATP-like shot which looks so impossible, gets easier and easier. The more angled you shot, the more you expose yourself to an attack.
Also, a backhand slice return is easier to pull off down the line than cross-court because it’s easier to keep the ball low and fast when your motion is more linear.
Don’t forget that club players aren’t all unable to backhand correctly. I know it’s more than likely you will see players hitting like you said, but serving strategy isn’t as clear as white or black like you showed.
That’s true. Now I have to work on locating my serve properly.
Great stuff. I’m always impressed with the different ways you get ideas across to people. Hope to see more!
i agree with you, but i’d like to say something more. as you said the hero has a serve about 80-90 mph, now let’s imagine a more powerful first serve, a solid flat serve. i think that in this case the best direction should be near the T, because the distance between the point of impact and the court is shorter, so the ball can arrive with more power and speed. what do you think abou it?
I agree with Lorenzo, but I’d like to ad some more detail to it. When serving first serve to the deuce court first choice is serving flat to the outside, to opponents forehand (if righty) perhaps with some slice to it, which gives great results because opponents usually just return it somewhere around service line (if manage to get it at all) or gamble with down-the-line with problematic outcome. To keep them guessing, second choice for first serve is flat down the middle near T. On the ad court side, first choice is flat down the T, and then flat to the side. Second serve is kick to the opponents backhand or to the side with slice on deuce court.
i agree, but i think he made this point because most of his viewers are probably club level. most pros dont go to online sources to pointers lol
Thanks for the tip! This is the best site on the web for tennis instruction, by far! What I like the most is that the site delves into all the aspects of tennis, not just technique, which by the way you guys rock at. Last but not least, HD is awesome!
Serve out wide because it will be backhand for V and he will have control his point
Serve out wide as Ryu said will be on backhand with a more or less predictable return, and also, as for me, it’s somewhat easier to serve out on the ad court…especially the kick one
By the way what NTRP rating does a club player usually have? arond 3-5?
I’m thinking if college players are supposed to be 5.5, then your estimate is correct. Personally, I would guess somewhere between 3.5-4.5.
Will, I like your site because it has such a varied content and you have an ability to explain things very clearly. I guess that’s why you’re doing this, huh?
wide.
Because this is puts the villain out of position on the court and the hero can then begin a movement rally and run the villain. Further, the backhand side is typically weaker than the forehand.
I am really excited about this new quiz idea. I follow another youtube fellow (Hi10spro) who videos his matches and uses them to do the quizzing, analysis, etc. I really like how he cuts out all of the spaces between points and shows you whole sets. Something to think about.
I think you tennis instruction and general breakdown of play and match’s is fantastic:)
i was just wondering though on your tessons lesson should all the details involved in your video’s be thought to younger players of say 9 or 10? or whould it confuse them to much and put them of the sport(this is presuming their just beginners)?
please reply?
Hey Conor. Kids start as young as 4 or 5. The key is to get them interested in the game — make sure they’re having fun! — while developing basic ball judgment and fundamentals. Certainly nothing too complicated. Trying to sit them down and give them a lecture on technique would be, unsurprisingly, ineffective. Drills and games that emphasize proper, basic technique is the way to go.
thanks a million this site is the best tennis site on the net by far
THIS IS EXACTLY WHAT FYB SHOULD BE ABOUT! BRAVO!!!!!!!!!!!!
And I only thought out wide because since the serve was just decent he could use more margin of error going out wide lol thanks Will
This is great Will.
Basic strategies that anybody with a decent amount of tennis knowledge/experience can use and enjoy.
Props on the website. Keep it coming.
Can’t wait ’til strategy quiz #2.
Assuming the hero is a rightie and the returner of server is a leftie i would choose serve in 2 situation
1-Flat or slice server to the T in the villains backhand
or
2-Kick server in the lefties forehand.
From these two option, i would choose the “1″, flat or slice server to the T in the leftie backhand
After watching the answer I would change my answer to “always go for the villains backhand”
Deuce court, out wide kick serve on villains backhand.
Ad court, down the T with a flat server.
I would suggest the quiz #2 to be what the villain should do to minimize the effects of the hero exploitation.
Both hitting always in the villain’s backhand or always hitting the villain’s out wide shot.
Cya
Great new concept
Can you mark the players “L” for lefty and “R” for righty.
Will, what’s your definition of a club player? Maybe 3.5 to 4.5 as discussed above by Gerwin and GoRoddick? Thanks. I also like the question/answer concept.
I like this strategy quiz. hope you guys keep this up.
I would try to serve a majority to Villian’s backhand, but mix it up maybe 20% of the time depending on the situation. I would not want him to get used to one spot, although I see your point abolut Nadal serving to Fed’s BH every time.
I have been playing a lot better lately thanks to FYB, so I definitely give big props to this site.
wow..this website just gets better. have to agree with you there Will. Always better to cut down the opponent’s options then trying to smack it down the middle and hope it’s an ace. Keep up the videos and work! It’s been fun watching your videos!
I think that Hero should serve out wide……Because, the serve on the T line should be much stronger and because Hero’s fastest serve is 80-90 Mph and if he serves on the T line Villain can have a great return with his forehand(always stronger shot than backhand)…..I think that Hero should choose kick serve on Villain’s backhand!Or even the Villain choose to serve on T line that should be slice serve
hi there Will i dont want to bother you but when teaching children which grip would you recomend for them western, semi-wextern, eastern, hawaiian, continental or extreme eastern? thanks in advance. (just want to know for the future xD)
I would start them out with a conservative grip — eastern is good. These grips help kids learn how to swing through the ball properly.
This is great stuff. Been looking for videos like this for quite a wall. Great job and keep it up.
First of all, congratiulations for this wonderful idea ( another good one actually ) regarding the tennis quiz.
I wish to thank you for showing us how to ” get out of the box” and actually start to think more when playing tennis. When I saw the question from the quiz I just gave the answer that it is better to push your opponent out wide and serve wide but when I saw the answer I totally agreed also for the second reason which is ” PREDICTABLE RETURN “. And this matters a lot when you are trying to build up points…I mean, it s about building trust when you play and by anticipating the next opponent move like in chess then you are playing with a whole lot of trust…Thank you Will, you have a great site…keep it like that
Great new videos. I have really enjoyed them so far.
Out Wide, looking for the short return to crunch down to villans forehand corner.
No one mentioned here coming to the net with strong cross out wide serve with volley PWNAGE. It’s one considerable option here…
The answer is: It depends on what kind of serve you are using.
Kick Serve: Go wide
Slice serve: Go wide
Flat Serve: Near the T
Topspin: Doesn’t matter
When I go to Tennis Lessons, I’d like to see the video but it’s not allowing me. It tells me to subscribe. But I’m already subscribed! Could you please help me see the videos? Thanks!
hey Don. What happens when you enter in your information — what reloads in it’s place? Perhaps you don’t have the latest version of flash?
I get the same problem. I am subscribed
Error message looks like:
System Error Encountered!
Error
could not find valid list with the name Website+Subscribers
i’m new to this site and when i try to subscribe the error message is the same.
System Error Encountered!
Error
could not find valid list with the name Website+Subscribers
Hi Will,
I think if you are talking about club level players, then serving out the wide angle will be more preferable to win points and be used more often, the reason is it will be easier to predict the return and close donw the area to hit a volley. When hitting a wide serve, the villain should mostly hit back to the center of the court than trying to hit a down the line winner so it is more predictable and gives the hero a better chance to get an early score.
But if your talking about professional players, then i think mostly will try to wit a down the T serve because I find that is the place where most aces occur.
Just a suggestion … now i’m goin to your answer hehehe
Great tip! Now if I could consistently place the serve where I want to, it may work better
wide
The down the T serve at the club level is not as efficient as the pro-level serve mostly due to the speed and agressiveness of the serve. It is used generally to start the point with the purpose of giving the server a positional advantage rather than winning point out-right or hitting aces. So, I agree with Will with the serve outwide!
Will, I’ve enjoyed all your videos so far and I’d like to thank you for making them. The tennis strategy quiz is a great idea and a great addition to your videos. You obviously have great tennis skills/analysis skills, but what most people may not realize is that you have mastered internet marketing skills as well. What I’m wondering (and I’m sure most of your fans/followers are wondering also) is how come you haven’t done a video of your analysis on how Roddick was able to beat Murray in the semis, followed by how Federer was able to beat Roddick in the finals with the way Roddick was serving. Roddick would have beaten anyone else in the final. I’m sure if you do these two videos, especially the latter, and upload them on YouTube, you’ll generate more traffic as most people right now are still logging in to YouTube to search for Wimbledon videos for interviews or analysis on how Federer was able to beat Roddick. Thanks again for your videos and I’m looking forward to watching more of them. Keep them coming!
I think if villain is a lefty with a good forehand, then the out wide serve is not a good option. He can return hero’s serve cross-court deep to his backhand which could be difficult for hero. Am I right?
is there a strategy category on the website?
Not yet… we’ll be adding one soon
Always to the backhand is the best solution!!!
wide
kick serve at Y area
Will-
I agree with your answer, though, of course, I can’t execute 100%.
Out wide limits villain to almost certainly going cross court as deep as possible. Up the line from out wide is hard with small margin of error forehand- it’s close, the net is high- and even smaller margin back hand: you need topspin to make the ball come back down and most players at this level are working hard to get topspin on the forehand, let alone back hand.
Given all that- would you agree that the corresponding advice would be to come in behind that out wide serve most of the time?
In your answer, your drawing shows the serve following a predictable cct return. A server coming in behind it should have a volley-able return, unless the retrn comes with big pace and topspin or a decent lob. Neither seems likely.
Hit out wide to pull opponent off court
I’ve used the out wide serve on the ad court very effectively, however I’ve noticed on the deuce side a out wide serve will often come back with a very angled return that can take you by surprise. Any thoughts?
very impressive~
It works well if you're getting that down the line or middle return most of the time. Down the T cuts off their angles and makes them hit down the middle or just off center as well. A good mix of both serves is a nice combo with the player favoring their most consistent serve most of the time. Great job on this site, I love it!
This video was really helpful for me. Thanks for making all these videos, and continue to do a great job.
Majority should be down the middle to take away angles
Thanks, FYB is good
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