Hi niznoz92,

When its playing the forehand crosscourt from the back of the court, I've been guilty of trying to overhit the ball. I've a few points I follow while playing the shot.

1. If I find myself under pressure at the back court I try to lob the crosscourt, sending my opponent behind the servebox, it slows the game down a bit giving me time to recover.

a. I try not to rush to the T so I have some momentum to move for the next ball; I also prefer not going to the centre exactly but stay only a bit forward of my opponent keeping good visibility of his racket.

b. The agile opponent might play a drop-volley to the front court providing me with a nice opportunity to play my favourite, the counter-drop. 

2. Only when the ball comes right next to me with a nice bounce off the back-wall do I play the hard cross-court shot; in the past I had tried to hit the hard cross-court toward the service line (which is my target for the straight drives from the back) but I found that with the ball dropping to my knee height right next to me, I can get nice depth even by hitting the shot low. Also, since I wouldn't have had to lunge or been somewhat off-balance while playing this shot, I tend to be confident of getting to the drop-shot if my opponent plays one. 

As for the backhand cross-court, I follow the same rule of playing it only when the ball comes with a nice bounce off the back-wall & I see it somewhat in front of me. Having leeser power on the backhand I dont hit this shot low but try to get under the ball a bit and hit it about the service line.

I would be interested in your observations about the crosscourt.

Ciao. 

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hi niznoz

you also need to remember, that if you are telegraphing your shot, it does not matter how wide it is, a good volleyer will pick it off.

also, you may need different heights/widhts for different players depending on their strengths and weaknesses.

unless you are on the pro tour of course.

rs

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thankyou very much, i will have a read :)

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I like good questions. 

There is a troubleshooting chapter that will help you heaps. Learn about targets on the front wall and that will give you good aiming points as well as help you position your body better.

Check out the Relevant Content tab for more forum discussion.

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