Roddick's tactical play at Wimbledon

What is Andy Roddick thinking? Here is a guy who doesn't have top ten ability in speed or groundstrokes who's decided to play defensive tennis!!

He will not go far with this tactical approach.

If I were Andy's coach I would tell him to keep the points as short as possible. This means standing a little further inside the court and going for penetrating shots right away. He has the forehand to play this way but it's his backhand that is a liability and that his opponents take advantage of.

So, on the backhand side I would tell him to rip a lot of flat backhands up the line.
Yes, it's a higher risk strategy but Andy wins very few of the backhand crosscourt exchanges anyway.

Even at the top level in tennis tactics determine winners and losers.

Glenn Sheiner M.D. - author of INSIDER TENNIS STRATEGIES The Ebook guaranteed to make you a smarter tennis player and take your tennis to the next level.

Technorati Tags Tennis Wimbledon
Andy Roddick

So Far Federer Hasn't Been Pushed

What a great tournament so far for Roger Federer. He's played well and hasn't been pushed on the clay. Well, that's about to change. He faces David Nalbandian in the semifinals, and if he gets by him, he'll probably face Rafael Nadal in the final.

If you're a student of tactical tennis you can see how easy it's been for Federer. By and large, he's played guys who couldn't hurt him very much and aren't as steady off the ground. So Fed won by playing very high percentage tennis --mainly crosscourt rallies until he got an opening.

But against Nalbandian he'll be playing someone who is almost as quick and who possesses a better backhand. Nalbandian will win a great deal of the crosscourt backhand rallies and will hurt Fed with his beautiful down the line backhand.


So Fed will be forced to go for more off his backhand or run around it exposing his forehand corner. He'll probably win but it won't be easy and he'll have to play a higher risk game.

Let's see what happens.


Glenn Sheiner M.D. - author of INSIDER TENNIS STRATEGIES The Ebook guaranteed to make you a smarter tennis player and take your tennis to the next level.

Technorati Tags Tennis French Open
Roger Federer

Don't Teach Anybody To Play Like Nadal Plays

Ok, Rafael Nadal is an amazing tennis player. But, in terms of a model to learn from --as Tony Soprano would say --forget about it.

First of all his whole tactical strategy is based on the fact that he is an amazing athlete. He stands way behind the baseline and actually dares to people to attack him. And , because of his incredible speed and strength, he can hit winners off shots other players wouln't even reach.

After a while his opponents realize that to win a point they have to hit even harder and aim for the lines. This is a low percentage tennis and Nadal then usually starts winning easily.

So, the first ability that Nadal posesses that most human beings can only dream about is world class speed.

But, the other amazing thing about Nadal's game is that he is hitting winners with bad technique!

Watch the form on a lot of his incredible forehand passing shots. He is completely stretched to the side and is barely even able to get his racket behind the ball. But he is able with just his outstretched arm and wrist to generate great racket head speed and even hit with insanely good angle.

So admire Nadal, enjoy his artistry, but don't try and copy his game.

Glenn Sheiner M.D. - author of INSIDER TENNIS STRATEGIES The Ebook guaranteed to make you a smarter tennis player and take your tennis to the next level.

Technorati Tags Tennis French Open
Rafael Nadal

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The 2006 French Open and the drop shot

If you're getting into the French Open on TV, you're probably seeing way more drop shots than you traditionally see on hard courts or grass.

There's a couple of reasons for this. The main one is that power isn't the great weapon on clay that it is on hard courts because the red clay slows the ball down. So, all those crosscourt blasts which are winners on the hard courts are merely rally balls on clay. Plus, many players stand much further back on clay than they do on hard courts knowing that it's rare that the opponent will rush the net on clay.

So, what's an aggressive player to do?

Well, enter the drop shot.

Because the opponent is well behind the baseline a well-placed and well-disguised drop shot will often be a winner. Even if the opponent makes a great sprint and reaches the ball there is little he or she can do with it.

So, start watching masters of the clay like Nadal and Nalbandian use the drop shot.

Next time we'll talk about the technique and how to disguise it.



Glenn Sheiner M.D. - author of INSIDER TENNIS STRATEGIES The Ebook guaranteed to make you a smarter tennis player and take your tennis to the next level.

Technorati Tags Tennis French Open
Red Clay
Drop Shot