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How to Use Poor Weather to Your Advantage

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This is a guest post by Eric Woolf of Midwest Sports.  Midwest Sports is a tennis outlet shop providing the latest tennis shoes and tennis rackets.

Sometimes outside forces such as weather interfere with your tennis performance. Here are some strategies for dealing with cold weather and wind:

Cold Weather:

Preparations:

Wear several layers that you can peel off as the match progresses. It is harder to loosen up in the cold. Make sure to do so by warming up gradually and then doing a thorough stretching routine. If it is really cold, warm up with gloves on.

During The Match:

In cold weather, both the ball and your racket strings are less lively and have less bounce. So, you need to optimize your game to the conditions. Keep your tennis racquet lower in preparation for hitting topspin, hit harder and aim deeper, slice excessively, use your drop shot, and attack the net. Also, keep in mind that topspin applied to serves and ground strokes will not cause the ball to bounce as high as usual. Don’t abandon topspin, but use it in ways other than to create a high bounce.

Wind:

During The Match:

The biggest problem with wind is that players have more trouble hitting the ball cleanly. The best way to make the wind work to your advantage is to use spin. How you should hit the ball depends on the direction of the wind.  If the wind is blowing in your face, hit harder and a little higher than usual. Also, hit some drop shots and short slices. If the wind is at your back, increase your topspin so your shots don’t land long and go to the net more often so you can slam your opponent’s short balls and lobs. If the wind is from your right, hit slice serves and slice backhands if you’re right-handed. Those shots will curve the ball more. Tempt your opponent to hit an approach shot to your forehand and aim into the alley to the right of the court. If your opponent takes his normal position at net, that ball should be a winner. Also, when you attack the net, tempt your opponent to hit to your left, blowing the ball wide. If the wind is from your left, use the same tricks as if the wind was from the right, but reverse them.

G.O.A.T

Based in sunny Southern California, raised in Argentina & USA; lover of all things tennis, USRSA Master Racquet Technician (MRT), ATP/WTA Pro Level Stringer; reviewer of tennis strings, tennis racquets, and any interesting tennis gadgets I come across. Plays NTRP 4.5 singles and some doubles. Singled handed backhand with a wicked affection for cured meats and Asado.

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Comments

  1. Why does not someone manufacture a high pressure cold weather tennis ball which would be stored in the cold and have “normal” pressure in cold conditions?

    • I’m sure that it would be a good idea to create some tennis balls of the sort, however; do you think they would sell? I mean, how many months out of the year is it cold enough to warrant these types of tennis balls? And out of those months, how often would one play tennis outside? There are a lot of variables, but I think it would be a good idea. Thanks Martin!