Looping against Drive

Raj Panesar Asked 15 years ago

Hi Alois & Jeff

There's a boy in my club that hits lots of drives that leads up 2 lots of smashes. Im an effective topspin looper and i've beaten him be4 but it was out of luck. I need sum advice on how 2 beat him. He's also gt a backhand like Kalinikos Kreanga so it's really hard 2 beat him. Oh, and thanx 2 ur advice, i won the Mossford Tournament. Plz tell me how to beat this guy. Thanx...

Alois Rosario Answered 15 years ago

Hi Raj,

That is great news about you winning the tournament.  Well done.

My first comment is if his backhand is as good as Kreanga, give up now!!

If you are playing a good player with strong attacking topspins, the basic tactic is to make sure they dont get easy opportunities to make their topspins.  This is done firstly by trying to keep th eball clsoe to the net.  Secondly, keep them off balance, by placing the ball well.  Look for placements that they are not expecting or don't like.  Wide cn often be good, but watch out for the angle coming back.

Try to serve the ball short (close to the net).  This will stop the initial attack.

The other thing to think about is how consistent he really is.  Maybe, by notgiving him easy opportunities, he will make a lot of errors off that stroke as well as hitting some good shots.  If he makes less than 50% you can keep feeding it.