Hi John,

All valid points but in my view this requires too much thinking and analyzing which is usually affecting the player negatively – namely they hesitate, change their mind, etc.

I would more lean towards quick instinctive decisions where you play a drop shot when you see opponent far behind the baseline or out wide and you are inside the court playing their short ball.

So in most cases you would play away from opponent so that they have an even longer distance to run.

So to me it doesn’t matter whether it’s a cross court or a down the line, I just execute a drop shot in the direction away from opponent most of the times.

And then only here and there I would attempt a wrong footing drop shot.

Thanks for the feedback, Rekha!

Any thoughts on the relative benefits of going x-court with dropshot vs. down the line. Like regular shots, a x-court drop shot is a higher percentage shot than a down the line dropper given that the net is lower, you’ve got more room for error and the dropshot is angling away from the opponent in addition to being short with backspin – basically the same reasons why going x-court on regular shots is a higher % way to play tennis.

Obviously, going down the line can be tempting (and appropriate) at times, but it’s a more difficult, lower % shot. Given that the dropper is a lower % shot anyway – is it worth thinking about being more selective about when to use it, i.e. – not only waiting for the right ball (one that drops inside the court that you can move forward on, etc.), but also waiting for a situation re: relative court positioning where a x-court drop shot is the right choice based on your opponent’s position on the court (out wide and/or moving backwards) or because you think you’ve fooled him/her (the wrong footing situation or he/she is anticipating a hard and deep shot.)

Hi Larkin,

Wrong footing is playing back in the direction from where the player is recovering.

Good players always split step in order to counter the wrong footing attempts which means they’t don’t have much trouble changing direction.

But when they need to change direction and at the same time run forward then a lot of time is wasted in this movement and that’s why the drop shot works many times.

Disguise is only necessary for higher level play, perhaps from 4.0 NTRP onwards because lower level players don’t really observe their opponent yet.

Hi Tim,

Wanna bet that all balls have topspin the bounce? 🙂

Heavy sliced balls will maintain backspin after the bounce especially if the surface is hard court and of course grass.

Clay court does tend to make all balls spin forward but trust me, I see the ball pretty well after my 30 years of playing and I can see backspin on heavy slice even after the bounce.

Many thanks,
Spencer