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You are losing to a pair you should beat. What is usually wrong?
Losing to a worse pair almost always means you are over-hitting. Slow down, build the point, and let them miss.
The other pair are clearly less skilled, but you are a set down. What is the most common reason?
Losing to a worse pair almost always means you are over-hitting. Slow down, build the point, and let them miss.
Why
A less skilled pair that wins is usually doing one thing well: keeping the ball in play and waiting. Against them, the better pair loses by trying to end points early: hitting winners from the back, smashing deep lobs, going for angles, and making the errors that the patient pair never make. The correction is to play the boring game: deep lobs, take the net, volley to the feet, and let the skill difference show over ten-shot rallies rather than three-shot ones. The better pair wins the long points; the worse pair only wins the short ones.
What this means at your level
Beginner
If you are losing to players who just keep the ball in, keep the ball in better than they do. Lob higher, wait longer.
Intermediate
Count your unforced errors in a game. If it is more than two, the problem is not them.
Advanced
A patient pair has one weakness: they do not take the net themselves. Take it every time you can, and the long rallies happen on your terms.
Common questions
The other pair are clearly less skilled, but you are a set down. What is the most common reason?
You are over-hitting against a patient pair. Losing to a worse pair almost always means you are over-hitting. Slow down, build the point, and let them miss. A less skilled pair that wins is usually doing one thing well: keeping the ball in play and waiting. Against them, the better pair loses by trying to end points early: hitting winners from the back, smashing deep lobs, going for angles, and making the errors that the patient pair never make. The correction is to play the boring game: deep lobs, take the net, volley to the feet, and let the skill difference show over ten-shot rallies rather than three-shot ones. The better pair wins the long points; the worse pair only wins the short ones.
Why not they are getting lucky, and it will turn?
For a set? No. They are playing their game and you are not playing yours.
What should a beginner do here?
If you are losing to players who just keep the ball in, keep the ball in better than they do. Lob higher, wait longer.
How does this change for an advanced player?
A patient pair has one weakness: they do not take the net themselves. Take it every time you can, and the long rallies happen on your terms.
Puzzles like this one
Both of them are at the net. What is the highest-percentage ball?
Only the lob moves a net pair backwards. Everything else invites them forward.
intermediateWhat do you do with the return of serve?
The return lob is how the receiving pair steals the net. Aim over the player who is still moving.
advancedThey are camped at the net and you cannot lob. What now?
If you cannot lift it over them, make them lift it for you. The chiquita is a slow ball at their feet.