The Tennis Parent’s Bible
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COMING SOON
THE TENNIS ENCYCLOPEDIA
Primary and Secondary Strokes
Well, Ella, here’s how I see your predicament. You’ve got two options. You can plan on 3-hour moonball rallies, pack a lunch for the match and try to out-steady the retrievers you’re losing to or develop the patterns to disrupt their style of play. Which sounds better?
Ella, you’re not super patient, and you win way more of the short points than the longer, grueling ones. Let’s develop the secondary strokes and patterns that enable you to play your game.
You’ll need to carefully consider why and, more importantly, how the primary and secondary strokes are used and how to apply them to your tactical advantage.
4.1 Primary Strokes
The primary strokes are the foundation of tennis. These include the serve, forehand, backhand, and volleys. Learning the proper technique for each stroke is crucial for consistency and staying injury free.
4.2 Holding Serve
The serve is the most crucial stroke in tennis and deserves your utmost attention. A strong serve helps you earn easy points and quickly puts the opponent on the defensive. The quality of your serve is often the difference between winning and losing a match.
4.3 Return of Serve
Sadly, the return is the most missed shot in the game and the least practiced. First, consider your tennis identity because it dictates your chosen court location to position you to play your game style. Second, choose the correct size backswing that coincides with your court position.
4.4 Net Play
Volleys are essential for taking away the opponent’s recovery and reaction time. Volleys are needed when you’ve got the opponent in a vulnerable position.
4.5 Secondary Strokes
The secondary strokes in tennis are essential building shots in specific situations. Your secondary strokes are often used to push the opponent into a defensive position.
4.6 The Secondary Tool Belt
- Groundstrokes: Short-angle, High & heavy, Slice, Drop shots, and Lobs
- Serve: Kick, Slice
- Volley: Swing, Drop, Transition, Half-volleys
- Overhead: Bounce, Backhand Smash, and Scissor-kick overhead
- Lobs: Topspin and Slice
4.7 Repetition of Secondary Strokes
Secondary strokes add variety to your game and keep opponents off balance. Both stroke development and repetition are needed to make these weapons trustworthy and reliable.
The secret to your future success is your accountability. And to be accountable, you must manage and track your time. With consistent, deliberate practice, you’ll develop your primary and secondary strokes, combine them with pattern play, and transform into a proactive player.
