Watch Your Tennis Opponent Prepare and Execute

(Tennis article by Randy Lynn Rutledge - a former USPTA tennis teaching professional)

This article is about "reading an opponent" for clues about intended ball speed, action and angle.

An advanced tennis player is refined in his or her ability to consistently know where an approaching tennis ball will land and how it will react upon contact with either the court surface or his or her own tennis racquet strings; this knowledge is a direct result of studying and comprehending the progressions of every stroke or hit of an opponent from preparation through execution and then on to completion.

Lower level tennis players are too busy watching the ball, after stroking it, to be able to study the opponent for clues as to where the ball will go and how it will get there. When the tennis ball is approaching your tennis racquet strings it is extremely important for you to see the tennis ball. After the ball leaves your strings it is your opponent who needs to be closely watching the ball; at the same time, you need to be studying the opponent's tennis racquet preparation and execution.

Focusing on your opponent's tennis racquet strings allows you to see what the opponent is going to do to the ball before it happens. You will see the ball when it leaves the opponent's strings. The farther away your opponent is from the tennis net the more study time you will have.

Whether you are stationary or moving, do a split-step at the exact moment your opponent makes contact with the ball.
(Watch a split-step video @ tennisoxygen's YouTube channel).

A Tennis match between two advanced players is a battle which involves studying an opponent's stroke or hit production and then carrying out a response based upon a clear comprehension of how the ball should respond to whatever the opponent did to it.

The tennis battle should be won by the player who can stroke or hit the ball in a variety of ways with the most consistency and get the best read of how his or her opponent is stroking or hitting the ball, all while remaining focused in the present moment for the greatest amount of time.