Tennis Playing Styles

Tennis Playing Styles

​There are 3 general playing styles, Aggressive Baseline, Counter Puncher and All-Court Player, that are used in today’s game of tennis with the 4th playing style being a Serve and Volleyer. This blog will outline the different skills and abilities that are important for each playing style. The goal for this week at On The Rise drills is to get an understanding of the 3 different playing styles that are commonly used as it is important for players to understand what playing style best matches their individual skills and abilities.
 
Aggressive Baseline
The Aggressive Baseliner’s playing style in each match is to get to their Forehand and use it to dictate the point.  An Aggressive Baseliner wants to use their weapon to put their opponents into tough positions as well as finish points off with their weapon.  Aggressive Baseliner’s need to be able to use their feet to get into the court to help them dictate points.  An Aggressive Baseline player needs to spend time working on hitting balls while stepping into the court and taking balls early to eliminate time from their opponents.  
 
Counter Puncher
A Counter Puncher, “Pusher”, is the type of tennis player that most people dread having to play against.  A Counter Puncher has great movement skills along the baseline and has a very high ball tolerance.  A Counter Punchers main weapon/strategy is to make more balls than their opponent and outlast them on the tennis court.  It is important for a Counter Puncher to be in great condition as they will have to run downs balls the entire match and be ready to for the next match in the tournament. Counter Punchers need to work on having a high ball tolerance and be in great shape as these are their two main ways to win matches.
 
All Court Player
All court tennis players have to be great athletes and be comfortable any where on the court.  Once they figure out a game plan that is tough on their opponent an All Court Player can adapt their game in order to expose their opponent’s weaknesses. An All Court player can play both offense and defense well. All Court players need to have great lateral and vertical movement as well as the ability to make shots from any part of the court.  All Court tennis players need to work on making balls from anywhere on the court and having great footwork anywhere on the court.
 
Serve and Volleyer
The Serve and Volley playing style is very rare. To succeed as a great Serve and Volleyer you need to be tall, have an excellent serve and great footwork around the net.  The Serve and Volley player needs to win points off their Serve and finish points off at the net.  A Serve and Volley player needs to be great at their transition game as they are constantly coming in to the net.