1. Identify their strengths that threaten you.
2. Find ways to prevent them from using the force.
3. Find ways to deal with that power.
1. I identified his biggest threat, namely his difficult long serves. So while he was playing a match, I stood casually on the other side and watched his serve as if I were the receiver. By the time we played our match, I was used to that serve and most of the power was gone.
2. How did I stop him from using that power? Once I saw the serves enough, I felt confident that I could repeat them. When I did that, he was forced to serve shorter, simpler serves, making his serve less effective.
3. When he started serving shorter, the threat of the long, difficult serve was gone and I won easily.
1. You have already identified the force that threatens you.
2. How do you stop it? Suppose he serves a short backspin. Most players would probably just push it back to his backhand, which would give him his power. Instead, you can: Push aggressive to the backhand (fast, quick, heavy, low, wide), and see if he can handle that; pushing forward aggressively; pushing aggressively toward the center (his playing elbow); push briefly; turn around; lateral pressure. That’s a lot of options!
3. How do you deal with his backhand run? Go see him play from the other side. If he makes a backhand loop, imagine blocking him. Use your racket and actually perform the move, perhaps matching your opponent’s blocks if they are effective. Then visualize yourself doing this over and over again in your head. By the time you actually play, you’re used to it. Perhaps start by pushing aggressively towards the backhand and find that you can now block it comfortably – more than once, if necessary. (But if you’re still having trouble with it, maybe use more of #2 above.)
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