More Tennis Shots!

September 2016

In our last article, we talked about the three basic tennis shots. Let’s explore some more advanced tennis shots which will help improve your tennis game.

Volley Shot

Firstly, we have all heard the term volley. A volley is where the ball is hit back before bouncing and generally occurs near the net or inside of the service line. Usually a stiff-wristed “punching” motion is used to hit the ball into an open area of the opponent’s court.

A half volley is when the ball is hit on the rise just after it has bounced, once again generally in the vicinity of the net.

Lob Shot

The lob is a really useful shot that aims to push the ball high and deep into the opponent’s court. It can be used both as a defensive and as a offensive shot . This tennis shot is most effective when the opponent is at the net, leaving the baseline open.

Drop Shot

If an opponent is deep in his court, a player may suddenly employ an unexpected drop shot. This is when the ball is softly tapped over the net so that the opponent is unable to run in fast enough to retrieve it.

Tweener Shot

While the tweener is a rarely used shot, it is an interesting one. The tweener is where a player hits the ball between their legs, generally with their back facing the net. Sometimes called the Gran Willy after Guillermo Vilas, an early pioneer.

It is generally performed when the player run to recover a lob and has no time to turn back around.

Used by players include Boris Becker, Gabriela Sabatini (whose version was called the Sabatwini) and Roger Federer, who helped popularize the shot.

Forward-facing between-the-legs shots are also occasionally employed; they are sometimes called front tweeners.

Bucharest Backfire Shot

The “Bucharest Backfire” is an over-the-shoulder backward shot, generally used to recover lobs. Named in honour of Romanian player Ilie Năstase, who popularized it.