How do I beat these kind of players?

Question

I need some help and advice on how to beat these kind of tennis players, at my school, who I will be challenging in the next couple of days--maybe week[s]. What would you do to defeat all three?

1. Baseliner

He can hit powerful, usually flat and somewhat accurate groundstrokes all the time. His serves are also somewhat flat, yet have some spin, and are good in power. Most of the time he'll serve out wide, or into your body. He often varies his backhand shots form one handed slicers to two handed shots. It's hard to read, and confusing when playing him. His big built kind of makes me nervous when I'm playing with him. He'll go into net a lot if you draw him in, but he'll usually end up hitting a great overhead or solid volley.

2. Power baseliner

He has a powerful first serve, usually always at the body or out wide. His second serves, he varies the spins, slice or topspin, and kind of hard to tell. His forehand has a good amount of power, pace and spin--as well as accuracy. His backhand is consistent, and decent in pace and spin, but not really a big worry. He will slice at unexpected times during a game and start using strange/erratic/random shots like lobbing a really high topspin lob to your backhand, or use dropshots/etc. His biggest downfall is his anger problem when he loses a point, but sometimes it just feeds to his strength in play.

3. All around baseliner

He hits almost all of his shots with lots of topspin, and decent, but not that powerful of pace, off both wings. He is very consistent in getting solid volleys while at net. First serves hardly go in, but when they do, they're quite good. His second serves are kick serves that go any direction, which is hard to tell when returning, for me. His downfall is his cocky, but kinda 'funny' attitude on court, so sometimes he never really gets angry or upset over a point. Has no big weapons really, just lots of spin and consistency, as well as persistance.

Me, I have a consistent, decent spin and pace forehand, but it's kind of hard to make straight up winners with it. I can change direction easy with it, though. My backhand is my favorite. Mostly my cross-court, or high angle backhand can help me out in a lot of situations, but it's hard to hit against heavy pace with it. I sometimes add in a little finesse to go on into the net, and serve and volley sometimes, which helps--unless they lob a high one, using my small height to their advantage. [I'm like, 5'2"]. Most of my game feeds off of positive energy/emotion and pure confidence. Sometimes I can get extremely nervous, and choke very much. Sometimes I will have lots of bad days :[ And lose lose lose because of whatever happened or goes on off court, or even on. A lot of times I'll tell myself if I win the point 'come on!' And that'll boost my confidence and play, but then sometimes I just cant help but to lose it if I lose a point. I wont get angry or upset, just sad knowing how I could've easily finished a point--or sometimes I'll go too fast, rush a point, and HAVE the point, but then the finishing shot ends up an error because I'm in such a hurry.

PLEASE HELP!

Sorry I wrote so much, btw

But I'd still appreciate some help :]

lots of love-------anonymous.

Answer 1

Read "Winning Ugly" by Brad Gilbert.  Work on some combinations that draw your opponents wide or to the net, coupled with some topspin lobs or passing shots.  Hit some good approach shots, and attack the net.  Work on your net game, its the best counter to a solid baseliner game. It won't be easy, but if you work hard, anything is possible.  Take one point at a time, and think of pressure as an opportunity to excel.  You'll notice that every time you feel pressure, it's coupled with an opportunity.  Don't fear the pressure, invite it, get comfortable with it, and you'll grow stronger mentally and consequently, your game will grow too.  Good luck!  

Answer 2

Alright there is a lot to answer but here it goes.

1) For players who hit a very flat ball, generally hitting a low sliced ball works well against them, especially if it is deep.  Hitting a flat shot against a low deep ball means will likely cause two results 1) the will hit it into the net because the have to hit up on the ball, or 2) they will hit it long because there is no top spin to bring down.  Focusing on hitting your defensive shots to the center of the court will help prevent them from hitting offensive shots.  I would make it a point to hit many deep balls to keep him off the net.

2) This player obviously has a solid serve, i would really focus on getting the return in play.  From the way you made this player sound, he tends to get board on the court when points get long.  I would become a backboard, and focus on making him beat me, if he starts to beat you, I would then change my strategy, but it really sounds like if you get enough ball back he will get frustrated and make a mistake.  He will then get even more frustrated as he continues to make mistakes and lose control.

3) This guy sounds like your biggest challenge.  First serves just try to get them in, the key to returning a kick serve is to hit the ball early before it has a chance to go all over the place (this takes some practice, but it is the only way to effectively return a kick serve). Variety is going to be your best weapon against this player, mixing up spin, pace, and direction is your best bet. Low slicing balls can be a challenge to a player who hits heavy topspin.  I often times try to get into the net against player who hit lots of topspin.

Good luck, practice hard, you can beat these guys.