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Created 12/31/01

In recreational playing, there are often situations when you find yourself playing an opponent who is at a lower level than you. The problem is you get bored and you may find yourself hitting junky shots to play down to his level.

First of all, if this is the only person you play, go out find new people to play with!

Second, play as well as you can, otherwise, your opponent (1) senses you're not trying hard and feels as though he's being condescended to (2) your opponent will never improve in the long run (even though it bugs him to lose in the short run) and (3) you game will deteriorate.

The key to playing someone who is at a lower level is to try as hard as you can, but for only specific shots that you want to practice:

Splat: Give your opponent all easy-to-return shots except when one of his shots comes next to a wall. Practice hitting the best splat possible. Don't forget to splat his drive serves too!

Soft touch shot to front corner: Try to take every shot he gives you and touch it softly into one of the corners. Work hard on keeping good form and technique. Don't pass him, hit ceiling balls or otherwise get him in the back court too often. He will eventually camp out in the far front court and it will become a contest to see how perfect your touch shots can be. If he gets too good, hit a ceiling lob once in a while to keep him a little less efficient.

Practice your front court game: Serve a very soft, easy lob to your opponent's forehand. Stay in front court in front of your opponent and off to the side. As your opponent swings, watch the ball come off his racquet (keep your racquet in front of your face while watching him swing!).

DTL - He will probably try a down-the-line pass, so try to cut the ball off early after it hits the front wall and hit a variety of returns. If he's a complete beginner, use the same return each time and teach him how to deal with it so you can both practice at your highest skill level. By watching the ball come off of your opponent's racquet, you get a 1 second head start on knowing which direction the ball will be going.

Cross court - Encourage your opponent to try cross court passes also, so you can cut these off. Try and catch the cross court pass before it starts getting too close to the side wall. Try and catch it very early; if it bounces before it hits the side wall, see if you can catch it just after it bounces off the floor. If this is too difficult, get the ball when it comes further back and practice hitting a perfect ceiling lob.

Ceiling shots - To cut off a ceiling shot, watch the ball come off your opponent's racquet. Make sure that the ball is going in the right direction. Don't guess, otherwise, if he hits the front wall or side wall first, you'll get caught out of position. Also, watch to see if his shot is going to your forehand or backhand. I can't move my head fast enough to follow the ball all the way to the ceiling, but by watching its direction when it first comes off his racquet, I know which direction to start running. Immediately run to the very front part of the court and get the ball very soon after it bounces off the floor. If you move too late, the ball will be too high and difficult to control; contacting the ball one to three feet off the floor gives you the best chance of an accurate return. You'll have to run up closer to the front wall than you're used to. Watch the ball, not where you want to hit to. Some people push the ball onto one of the corners, but I prefer to use topspin, hitting the side wall first. Topspin makes it a very high percentage shot for me because its easier to control the speed of the ball and the spin makes the ball die right after it hits the front wall. If you're hitting the ball straight, with no spin, and your shots are not accurate, make sure that you are pushing your body forward strongly with your rear leg when swinging, as this will give you more control. You might have to practice this by yourself a few times to get the hang of it: stand on the dotted safety line, and hit the ball so it contacts the ceiling first. Try back and forehand shots. It works best when your opponent is caught with a difficult shot in his backhand corner, leaving him with no option but to hit a weak ceiling shot. Don't let him see you getting there too early; wait until he's committed. Vary your returns from soft put-away shots to hard down-the-line and wide angle passes.

The key here is to select practice shots that you are weak on so that he gets a chance to win many of the rallies.

Miscellaneous: Practice any one concept over and over again. For example, hitting the perfect defensive lob, or lob serve. Your opponent will eventually cheat, camp there, and learn to deal with the shot, while you get a chance to perfect your lob.

In conclusion, change up your practice method when you see that your opponent is getting bored. That's right, he may become the one that's bored, while you are really getting into the practice session! He may ask you to end the session with a "real" game where you try to beat him by playing your best on every shot. This ties together all of the drills that he's gotten practice on, and gives him a sense of where his skill level is really at. If he's receptive to suggestions on improving his playing, all the better as this is a great indication that these practice sessions will make him a better player and lead to a mutually beneficial friendship.

One of the most frequent complaints that I've heard at clubs is that the better players don't want to play with the intermediate ones. The next time a lower level player asks you to play, use the concepts described here to create a win-win situation for both of you.