I am amazed that most of my students, especially at the 2.5 to 4.0 levels, always try to end the point, just about on every swing especially from the baseline. They truly believe that it is taboo to actually hit a ball at or in the direction of their opponents and instead consistently focus on keeping the ball away from their opponent with passing shots or lobs. I am not saying that you should never attempt to hit passing shots or lobs while at the baseline but there is a safer way, and I call it to neutralize your opponent.

So how do you neutralize a net player?

By hitting the ball low and shallow at their feet, or as long as you have them making contact from below the level of the net you have done your job. The softer you can get the ball to their feet the more difficult it will be for them to be aggressive.

So how do you neutralize a baseline player?

Well, the complete opposite of what you would do if your opponent were at the net. Since the strategy now is to keep your opponent behind the baseline you need to hit the ball high and deep. Height and depth are the two groundstroke killer characteristics for any baseline player to have to deal with. The height pertains more to the bounce you are trying to create. You can generate a high bouncing ball one of two ways. One is by hitting with topspin and two is by hitting the ball high over the net. A high bouncing groundstroke or approach shot will most likely result in a high return back over the net, exactly what you are looking for when moving forward to the net.

Once again just as mentioned earlier the idea here is not to try to hit a winner. You are hitting the ball with every intention that it will be returned, hence setting the table. One of the most common mistakes made is to hit the ball hard when either approaching the net or simply hitting a ball to the opposite baseline player. Remember height and depth are the key ingredients to your approach shot.

As a general rule unless you have a semi-western or full western grip, your hard hit approach shot or groundstroke will bounce low, making easy for your opponent to retaliate with a hard low shot back at you. Last time I checked I hate low volleys at my feet when I am running in to the net. If that was not bad enough, the harder you hit your approach shot, the faster the ball will come back, increasing the chance of making contact behind the service line. Which leads to the next fact. I hate hitting first volleys from behind the service line.