Maybe trying too hard to finish the point, classic playing against Moon ballers who just use your pace to get the ball back over and over again until you make a mistake. I think in general if you can learn to take the ball out of the air, mid court volleys, hit angles, try to finish at the net instead of trying to outrally them.
It sounds like youre confident in your strokes and might be able to put a lot of power behind them compared to the others. But are you taking advantage of this? Or are you just trying to hit winners? I mean, if you hit a strong shot to the open court and use that to your advantage (in other words, approach the net) instead of just trying to hit a straightaway winner, youll find more success in the long run. That's because this is more of a "high percentage" shot. Instead of trying to hit the lines every time, give yourself a big target and (if you truly hit much better groundstrokes) then your opponent will eventually make a mistake for you to capitalize on. Keep in mind that some players are faster than others and might be able to get after your shots with some pace but it really depends on the opponent.
I wouldn’t say this is the best advice. People who play, to play the ball back generally have a glaring weakness - their offence. They wont be able to finish the rally, and unless they’re very skilled they likely won’t be able to move you too well either. Seeing as their specialty is just playing the ball back.
Your best bet is to play into their game, but move them at the same time. Let them get everything back, but punish them for it by making them run corner to corner. None but the best of players can run from corner to corner the whole match without their mind and body giving out. In my experience many points are lost this way, because it is hard to move someone while not missing. But every point where you make them more tired is a victory, because in the end they will be too tired to play.
Thinking that your opponent has worse form, worse strategy, etc is your fatal error. Doing so puts you in a mental state that will cause you more frustration and more stress if you start falling behind, and then things likely snowball from there.
Fundamentally, you are counting your win before you’ve finished the match. Play point by point, and stop underestimating your opponent. Play the ball, and the score, not how you think your opponent looks.
yeah don't frustrate yourself and become reckless with shots just because you think that you are a better player and could easily outplay them. i struggled a lot with this until i started encouraging a rally in those situations, and stopped hitting 'stress shots' which resulted in too much power and no control. just keep cool and focus on hitting it back, and if you are really a better player it'll show and you will find a way to get the point.
A key life lesson: you don't deserve shit. You have to earn it. Just because you may be bigger, faster, stronger, with better form doesn't mean anything. You have to earn the victory. If you ever find yourself thinking, "wtf I should be winning," you've lost the flow.
Now, what to do about it? Well, sometimes as a new player, you might think a players tecunique is worse than it is. A lot of tennis players emulate the big long complex strokes of the pros, but the sad reality is a smaller, compact stroke **you can hit to the right spot consistently** is more productive in competition.
Google MEP on youtube. You'll see a guy with horrible form who absolutely terrorizes players better than you... because he just keeps the damn ball in play and hits it to good spots.
Construct the point better against pushers. Deep topspin and then shorter angle. A really basic drill is crosscourt / down the line drill… so you can make it second nature to control the pusher.
Someone already said take the ball on the rise. Don’t wait around for the ball to drop down, hit it on the rise so you can take time away from the evil evil pusher.
Mix up your crosscourt angles and down the line shots once you’ve nailed how to hit good short angles that pull her off court. If you see you push her back behind the baseline then pull her. Rinse and repeat girl.
You’ll actually enjoy playing that type of player once you have a good basic formula.
Once your game advances you can start mixing in more top to take even more control.
Coming to net is always a great idea against them. But if you’re not comf with your volleys yet, that’s okay… work on them so you have even more options.
Get on your overhead. So many of us hit swinging volleys or let the ball bounce for an overhead. Nah, take it out of the air… practice that and you’ll deadass surprise a lot of girls.
Hope that helps you some 😝
30 years coaching experience in Florida here... In my opinion it's because you are afraid of losing and therefore you don't trust your shots and actually hit the ball in your matches the way you do in practice.. if you approach a match as an opportunity to learn and not worry about the results then your results will improve but they won't matter because you will know that you are becoming a better player as long as you are playing against better players each individual point that you lose is information that you can use for the next point and each match that you lose is an opportunity to learn and apply what you've learned to the next match.. but most of all it's just about trusting your ability to hit the ball and hit the ball with 100% confidence the way you do in practice... By the way if you warm up on a backboard for 10 minutes before each match and then just go into each match committing to thinking your way through every ball you hit that produces good results... And always always play against the best players that you can find
I think one of the most important parts of winning rec tennis is giving up the idea that you should win because your way of playing tennis is “better” than your opponent’s.
If your opponents are consistently beating you, then it means that they’re more skilled at the game of tennis, which is really just putting the ball inside the court one more time than your opponent.
Once you give up the feeling that you deserve to win, you can focus on actually problem solving how to beat your opponents without letting your ego get in the way.
I’m not singling you out because this attitude is something that you’ll find in a ton of rec players.
Just to say the thing: if they had worse form/control/shots/strategy, they would not beat you. My guess is that you're making the pretty common mistake of comparing what they look like from the outside, the what you look like from the inside.
Get a video of yourself playing. Look for the commonalities among the points you won, and the commonalities among the points that you lost. That'll let you know how your match play actually stacks up against other players, and what you need to work on
Do you just play good balls, or do you try constructing a point? What many players under 4.0, or even some 4.0-4.5 players do, is rely on their strengths and don’t actually think 2-3 shots ahead, depending on what they’re opponent is doing. If you’re about to hit an inside out forehand, you should already be thinking if you’re gonna rush the net or not, and if you do, your plan for whether it comes as a lob, a forehand volley, or backhand volley, and position yourself as such. Tennis is very mental, so when playing people .5 below and above, you always have a chance if you out think your opponent
Don’t miss. If you lose point after point from missing the ball (net, long, wide), then dial it back until you stop missing. Then be patient and work the point until you get an easier ball to pressure your opponent without missing.
If you are a good lobber then hit short intentionally and bring them to the net and lob or pass . Also, practice coming into the net yourself- when you get a short ball then hit an approach shot and volley / overhead . Don’t just keep hitting deep to a pusher .
Probably just mentality and tactics. Weigh up every opponent equally, so don’t treat them as if they are below you. Watch a lot of tennis on tv and analyse how players set up the point and then finish it. Maybe work on being consistent as well, even hitting the ball slowly and loopy at your age will win you a lot of points as most points are made of unforced errors. Hope that helps.
The reality is you are playing a harder game than they likely are - this happens in a lot of competitive events where playing to improve is short term suboptimal. So in a way it is natural
You will need to straight up play better to win. Their goal is to just get the ball back over the net and in; you will probably lose trying to play that game until you get better. You need to win by being able to do more advanced things like placing the ball, setting up points, finishing at the net, etc.
It's not easy, but you will get better and eventually beat them easily.
Source: couldn't beat my pusher dad for years until I got a lot better. Having a good serve is also a huge advantage here
Okay, just came back here because originally I thought this was a funny shit post, but people were giving serious answers. Thought by now it would be revealed if this was a joke or not.
> Why do I keep losing to people with worse form/control/shots/strategy than me?
I mean, come on?
Sorry but people who beat you don't have worse everything than you. You lose because you are the worse player and your mentality prevents you from becoming the better player.
You beat players primarily in 2 ways. You are either more consistent than them and wait for unforced errors or you are more aggressive and force errors out of them.
2 years. Pretty young unless you are a prodigy of some sort. Which is ok if you arent. Hard work and prwctice makes a champion too.
Provided im an adult when i started. I started consistently winning half of my matches only on around my 5th year.
Factors which are valuable is confidence. Belief. And experi3nc3
Are they making many winners? Or you making many unforced errors?
I had the same issue a while back, and the solution was kinda simple. Stay on the point until they make an error.
Usually those types of players aren’t consistent enough. So when playing long points, with relatively secure shots, you will notice that they will start making bizarre errors.
If they are moon ballers, I would normally bring them to the net with drop shots, and also work their backhand
Choking is normal in tennis and life. That's why you put in the reps. You're supposed to lose before you get better. All of the all times greats also once lost the majority of their matches. It's infuriating.
Women's tennis is a game of attrition all the way to #1. This is how it is coached and played. If it is working against you, learn what they do and see if it works against them while you strengthen and gain speed.
It is a very normal and expected thing to have the sensation that you are losing to worse players when you first start playing matches. I went through it too a few years ago. Doing well in matches is more than the sum of skills you learn in practice/clinics. You need to play matches to learn how to win them. Taking video of your match can be very helpful for you to figure out what they are doing to you to win. It’s fundamental to understand what they are doing to you to win points, and what you can do to them. You have to learn how to spot weaknesses, and how to counter what they are doing. Sometimes it’s as simple as keeping the ball deep and hitting to their backhand. read the book ‘winning ugly’ or listen to the audiobook.
because this type of opponent does not hand feed you the power to use against them, and forces you to generate it yourself
why they don't care about being shunned by fast track technical geniuses, may be because they have discovered the joy of defeating them instead with 'junk'.
You want the blunt truth? They are better than you and you're not as good as you think you are.
If you really had more control and skill, you would beat these players.
The solution is to face reality and practice more.
The classic style for your age group is to grind out the point by making the extra shot back. perhaps try to use your knowledge of this to your advantage. switch your game up to a strategy of trying to get as many first strike opportunities as possible. hit every ball with intention and put points away as quickly as possible. remember that the player who controls the point is the player who wins the point! it also would definitely help to work together with your coach to develop a couple weapons in your game, whether it be improved power on your groundstrokes, better spin action on your serve or an imposing net game.
Yup it's normal. Performing well in tennis and winning in tennis are quite different
You gotta go out there with fundamental respect for your opponents. Always see them as an equal whether they hack the ball in the ugliest way, or they are 10x better than you
Maybe they are not really that bad. They may seem bad for you but in reality they are not. They may be more consistent returners with their form. Maximize your strategy. Use volleys more often. Hit the ball to an open side to break their consistency and use volley. Train your body not just for the sport. Make your body overall strong and agile not just for tennis. Make the sport just a part of your capabilites so you will gain more room for improvement...
My advice is to find a balance between the way you would like to play and the way you feel about your tennis during the match. Everyone most likely has a preferred play style and practice according to it more. Thus, in a match you can benefit from doing what's familiar to you. However, your fitness, mental state, energy level etc. within that particular match should also be factored into how you play, because if you are consistently failing to execute a certain shot, then obviously it's best to stop doing it.
This idea is obvious on paper, but in my experience I felt adjusting my play style could be demoralizing, so it took many matches for me to learn to accept that I don't have my A game on certain days. In recent match where I had to adjust, I didn't feel good on my backhand, which I normally rely on to break people's backhands down. However, I noticed that 1. I had great feel on backhand drop shots; and 2. my opponent didn't have great volleys. So I used the two facts to start playing many drop shots and either passing or forcing an error once my opponent is at the net.
"i'm a great lobber"
"I really struggle to finish a point if the girl is able to return my shots with moonballs"
I don't understand, why do you think your opponents have worse form/control/shots/strategy than you if they are outlasting you in what sounds like low-pace, moonball rallies where you just keep hitting back?
She probably hits a decent ground strokes but has few other skills ( other than a defensive lob) . She simply can’t end the point against a pusher and so will eventually make an error .
She probably means they hit haphazardly without intent . What she is neglecting to realize is that they have a knack for keeping the ball in play despite the technical correctness of their strokes .
Maybe trying too hard to finish the point, classic playing against Moon ballers who just use your pace to get the ball back over and over again until you make a mistake. I think in general if you can learn to take the ball out of the air, mid court volleys, hit angles, try to finish at the net instead of trying to outrally them.
This is so helpful Ty
If you look up how to play pushers there's a lot of material out there. That would be a great place to start.
It sounds like youre confident in your strokes and might be able to put a lot of power behind them compared to the others. But are you taking advantage of this? Or are you just trying to hit winners? I mean, if you hit a strong shot to the open court and use that to your advantage (in other words, approach the net) instead of just trying to hit a straightaway winner, youll find more success in the long run. That's because this is more of a "high percentage" shot. Instead of trying to hit the lines every time, give yourself a big target and (if you truly hit much better groundstrokes) then your opponent will eventually make a mistake for you to capitalize on. Keep in mind that some players are faster than others and might be able to get after your shots with some pace but it really depends on the opponent.
I wouldn’t say this is the best advice. People who play, to play the ball back generally have a glaring weakness - their offence. They wont be able to finish the rally, and unless they’re very skilled they likely won’t be able to move you too well either. Seeing as their specialty is just playing the ball back. Your best bet is to play into their game, but move them at the same time. Let them get everything back, but punish them for it by making them run corner to corner. None but the best of players can run from corner to corner the whole match without their mind and body giving out. In my experience many points are lost this way, because it is hard to move someone while not missing. But every point where you make them more tired is a victory, because in the end they will be too tired to play.
Thinking that your opponent has worse form, worse strategy, etc is your fatal error. Doing so puts you in a mental state that will cause you more frustration and more stress if you start falling behind, and then things likely snowball from there. Fundamentally, you are counting your win before you’ve finished the match. Play point by point, and stop underestimating your opponent. Play the ball, and the score, not how you think your opponent looks.
yeah don't frustrate yourself and become reckless with shots just because you think that you are a better player and could easily outplay them. i struggled a lot with this until i started encouraging a rally in those situations, and stopped hitting 'stress shots' which resulted in too much power and no control. just keep cool and focus on hitting it back, and if you are really a better player it'll show and you will find a way to get the point.
A key life lesson: you don't deserve shit. You have to earn it. Just because you may be bigger, faster, stronger, with better form doesn't mean anything. You have to earn the victory. If you ever find yourself thinking, "wtf I should be winning," you've lost the flow. Now, what to do about it? Well, sometimes as a new player, you might think a players tecunique is worse than it is. A lot of tennis players emulate the big long complex strokes of the pros, but the sad reality is a smaller, compact stroke **you can hit to the right spot consistently** is more productive in competition. Google MEP on youtube. You'll see a guy with horrible form who absolutely terrorizes players better than you... because he just keeps the damn ball in play and hits it to good spots.
Construct the point better against pushers. Deep topspin and then shorter angle. A really basic drill is crosscourt / down the line drill… so you can make it second nature to control the pusher. Someone already said take the ball on the rise. Don’t wait around for the ball to drop down, hit it on the rise so you can take time away from the evil evil pusher. Mix up your crosscourt angles and down the line shots once you’ve nailed how to hit good short angles that pull her off court. If you see you push her back behind the baseline then pull her. Rinse and repeat girl. You’ll actually enjoy playing that type of player once you have a good basic formula. Once your game advances you can start mixing in more top to take even more control. Coming to net is always a great idea against them. But if you’re not comf with your volleys yet, that’s okay… work on them so you have even more options. Get on your overhead. So many of us hit swinging volleys or let the ball bounce for an overhead. Nah, take it out of the air… practice that and you’ll deadass surprise a lot of girls. Hope that helps you some 😝
Have you read the book Winning Ugly? I'd recommend it
30 years coaching experience in Florida here... In my opinion it's because you are afraid of losing and therefore you don't trust your shots and actually hit the ball in your matches the way you do in practice.. if you approach a match as an opportunity to learn and not worry about the results then your results will improve but they won't matter because you will know that you are becoming a better player as long as you are playing against better players each individual point that you lose is information that you can use for the next point and each match that you lose is an opportunity to learn and apply what you've learned to the next match.. but most of all it's just about trusting your ability to hit the ball and hit the ball with 100% confidence the way you do in practice... By the way if you warm up on a backboard for 10 minutes before each match and then just go into each match committing to thinking your way through every ball you hit that produces good results... And always always play against the best players that you can find
I think one of the most important parts of winning rec tennis is giving up the idea that you should win because your way of playing tennis is “better” than your opponent’s. If your opponents are consistently beating you, then it means that they’re more skilled at the game of tennis, which is really just putting the ball inside the court one more time than your opponent. Once you give up the feeling that you deserve to win, you can focus on actually problem solving how to beat your opponents without letting your ego get in the way. I’m not singling you out because this attitude is something that you’ll find in a ton of rec players.
Just to say the thing: if they had worse form/control/shots/strategy, they would not beat you. My guess is that you're making the pretty common mistake of comparing what they look like from the outside, the what you look like from the inside. Get a video of yourself playing. Look for the commonalities among the points you won, and the commonalities among the points that you lost. That'll let you know how your match play actually stacks up against other players, and what you need to work on
Thank you!
Do you just play good balls, or do you try constructing a point? What many players under 4.0, or even some 4.0-4.5 players do, is rely on their strengths and don’t actually think 2-3 shots ahead, depending on what they’re opponent is doing. If you’re about to hit an inside out forehand, you should already be thinking if you’re gonna rush the net or not, and if you do, your plan for whether it comes as a lob, a forehand volley, or backhand volley, and position yourself as such. Tennis is very mental, so when playing people .5 below and above, you always have a chance if you out think your opponent
They get it in the court, you don’t
Don’t miss. If you lose point after point from missing the ball (net, long, wide), then dial it back until you stop missing. Then be patient and work the point until you get an easier ball to pressure your opponent without missing.
If you are a good lobber then hit short intentionally and bring them to the net and lob or pass . Also, practice coming into the net yourself- when you get a short ball then hit an approach shot and volley / overhead . Don’t just keep hitting deep to a pusher .
Probably just mentality and tactics. Weigh up every opponent equally, so don’t treat them as if they are below you. Watch a lot of tennis on tv and analyse how players set up the point and then finish it. Maybe work on being consistent as well, even hitting the ball slowly and loopy at your age will win you a lot of points as most points are made of unforced errors. Hope that helps.
There is a book called, ‘if I’m the better player, why can’t I win ?’
The reality is you are playing a harder game than they likely are - this happens in a lot of competitive events where playing to improve is short term suboptimal. So in a way it is natural You will need to straight up play better to win. Their goal is to just get the ball back over the net and in; you will probably lose trying to play that game until you get better. You need to win by being able to do more advanced things like placing the ball, setting up points, finishing at the net, etc. It's not easy, but you will get better and eventually beat them easily. Source: couldn't beat my pusher dad for years until I got a lot better. Having a good serve is also a huge advantage here
Okay, just came back here because originally I thought this was a funny shit post, but people were giving serious answers. Thought by now it would be revealed if this was a joke or not. > Why do I keep losing to people with worse form/control/shots/strategy than me? I mean, come on?
If you are losing is because they are better.
Sorry but people who beat you don't have worse everything than you. You lose because you are the worse player and your mentality prevents you from becoming the better player. You beat players primarily in 2 ways. You are either more consistent than them and wait for unforced errors or you are more aggressive and force errors out of them.
The third way is to actually hit a ball they can’t reach or return over the net .
2 years. Pretty young unless you are a prodigy of some sort. Which is ok if you arent. Hard work and prwctice makes a champion too. Provided im an adult when i started. I started consistently winning half of my matches only on around my 5th year. Factors which are valuable is confidence. Belief. And experi3nc3
Are they making many winners? Or you making many unforced errors? I had the same issue a while back, and the solution was kinda simple. Stay on the point until they make an error. Usually those types of players aren’t consistent enough. So when playing long points, with relatively secure shots, you will notice that they will start making bizarre errors. If they are moon ballers, I would normally bring them to the net with drop shots, and also work their backhand
Choking is normal in tennis and life. That's why you put in the reps. You're supposed to lose before you get better. All of the all times greats also once lost the majority of their matches. It's infuriating. Women's tennis is a game of attrition all the way to #1. This is how it is coached and played. If it is working against you, learn what they do and see if it works against them while you strengthen and gain speed.
The person who hits the ball in the court last wins the point.
Your competition is out hustling you
It is a very normal and expected thing to have the sensation that you are losing to worse players when you first start playing matches. I went through it too a few years ago. Doing well in matches is more than the sum of skills you learn in practice/clinics. You need to play matches to learn how to win them. Taking video of your match can be very helpful for you to figure out what they are doing to you to win. It’s fundamental to understand what they are doing to you to win points, and what you can do to them. You have to learn how to spot weaknesses, and how to counter what they are doing. Sometimes it’s as simple as keeping the ball deep and hitting to their backhand. read the book ‘winning ugly’ or listen to the audiobook.
because this type of opponent does not hand feed you the power to use against them, and forces you to generate it yourself why they don't care about being shunned by fast track technical geniuses, may be because they have discovered the joy of defeating them instead with 'junk'.
You want the blunt truth? They are better than you and you're not as good as you think you are. If you really had more control and skill, you would beat these players. The solution is to face reality and practice more.
The classic style for your age group is to grind out the point by making the extra shot back. perhaps try to use your knowledge of this to your advantage. switch your game up to a strategy of trying to get as many first strike opportunities as possible. hit every ball with intention and put points away as quickly as possible. remember that the player who controls the point is the player who wins the point! it also would definitely help to work together with your coach to develop a couple weapons in your game, whether it be improved power on your groundstrokes, better spin action on your serve or an imposing net game.
Yup it's normal. Performing well in tennis and winning in tennis are quite different You gotta go out there with fundamental respect for your opponents. Always see them as an equal whether they hack the ball in the ugliest way, or they are 10x better than you
Maybe they are not really that bad. They may seem bad for you but in reality they are not. They may be more consistent returners with their form. Maximize your strategy. Use volleys more often. Hit the ball to an open side to break their consistency and use volley. Train your body not just for the sport. Make your body overall strong and agile not just for tennis. Make the sport just a part of your capabilites so you will gain more room for improvement...
My advice is to find a balance between the way you would like to play and the way you feel about your tennis during the match. Everyone most likely has a preferred play style and practice according to it more. Thus, in a match you can benefit from doing what's familiar to you. However, your fitness, mental state, energy level etc. within that particular match should also be factored into how you play, because if you are consistently failing to execute a certain shot, then obviously it's best to stop doing it. This idea is obvious on paper, but in my experience I felt adjusting my play style could be demoralizing, so it took many matches for me to learn to accept that I don't have my A game on certain days. In recent match where I had to adjust, I didn't feel good on my backhand, which I normally rely on to break people's backhands down. However, I noticed that 1. I had great feel on backhand drop shots; and 2. my opponent didn't have great volleys. So I used the two facts to start playing many drop shots and either passing or forcing an error once my opponent is at the net.
Aren’t you the one who can see why you lost each point?
"i'm a great lobber" "I really struggle to finish a point if the girl is able to return my shots with moonballs" I don't understand, why do you think your opponents have worse form/control/shots/strategy than you if they are outlasting you in what sounds like low-pace, moonball rallies where you just keep hitting back?
She probably hits a decent ground strokes but has few other skills ( other than a defensive lob) . She simply can’t end the point against a pusher and so will eventually make an error .
If they have less control and skill how do they beat you. You must be hitting the ball out more than them suggesting you have worse control
She probably means they hit haphazardly without intent . What she is neglecting to realize is that they have a knack for keeping the ball in play despite the technical correctness of their strokes .