3 TIPS for can Clay court Season

The clay court season is just around the corner, the change from the faster indoor surfaces to the slow clay court conditions is the strongest contrast in tennis. Learning to deal with such changes is exactly what tennis is all about and makes us better players. Today I have 3 tips for you to get the clay court season off to a good start.

1. Tactics- play into the opponent's backhand

Topspin reigns on clay, no other surface accepts topspin as well as clay. Regardless of whether it is a one-handed or two-handed backhand, it is extremely difficult to generate pressure with the backhand against high balls. On clay it is an extremely good way to repeatedly use your own forehand against your opponent's backhand. A very good move to control this is the forehand inside out pliers if your opponent is right-handed, you repeatedly work on the opponent with strong topspin balls until you get a light ball that you can hit aggressively into the open field or maybe with to play a direct winner from a stop ball. For more tactics, take a look at my ebook Serve Chess.

2. Note elements

We have a luxury in the hall: the playing conditions are always the same. There is no wind to blow the balls and the temperatures are constant. Outdoors, playing conditions can change even during a single set. Excellent players notice even the smallest changes and take them into account in their game. At my first clay court tournament in Zadar this year, we started with low sun, suddenly light rain, followed by wind and floodlights. And each time we had to react to the conditions; at the professional level you can't leave anything to chance. Against an equally strong opponent, it can be enough to be careful about the conditions to create a clear advantage in the match.

3. Pay attention to the serve rate

Good servers thrive in the hall, you can serve quickly and well and drive the return player to despair with aces. It is almost impossible to serve aces on sand and especially when it is cold. The sand absorbs the speed and in windy conditions you can't serve as accurately. Anyone who tries to serve like in the hall will quickly notice that the route goes down on the first serve. If you don't have a good kick, you will always be in trouble on the second serve. To prevent breaks, try to keep the odds high by using more body and spin. The sand helps you again here, as a lot of balls bounce. If you want more power when serving, then take a look at my free ebook Super Server.
Good luck with clay court tennis