How to hit a defensive ball in tennis

High and deep is where the ball goes, not how you hit it.

Still reaching means a one-handed slice — let go with the top hand, reach out, and lift the ball up and deep.

Arrived and balanced means a full swing, low to high, brushing up the back of the ball so it climbs.

Same target either way. The only question is whether your feet got there in time.

Why the answer keeps being the same

You are going to notice something. The answer is almost always high, deep, and up the middle.

That is not lazy. It is the whole lesson.

Attack is a hundred different shots. Defence is one shot, hit well, over and over, until it is automatic. The day you stop inventing new shots when you are scrambling is the day you stop losing points you were never going to win.

So when the answer looks familiar, that is the point landing. The situation changes. Your job barely does.

Get bored of it. Then hit it anyway.

This is one page of the reference section.

The rest of Crosscourt IQ is 538 situations — a court diagram, the score, and one question: what would you do here, and why? Your player answers first, then the reasoning opens.

Ten cards are free, with the full answer key on every one.

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More free guides

What each serve is trying to do to youFlat, slice and kick — what each serve is actually for, and what it does to the returner.What a tennis return is actually forThree jobs on every return, in order. Most juniors have never been told what they are.What a rally is actually forThe five balls in a rally and what each one is doing. Not every ball is trying to win the point.Where to recover to after you hitHit, stop, recover. Where to move back to, and why it is not always the middle.How to hit a tennis ball under pressureWhat changes about the stroke itself when you are stretched, late or moving backwards.The split step, and when to do itEvery return starts before the serve does. When to move, when to land, and why timing beats speed.You are playing a person, not a ballThe other side of the net is a person who gets tired, frustrated and predictable. Read them.Which points actually decide a tennis matchNot every point is worth the same. Take your risks on the spare ones, not the critical ones.