Only Play Doubles? Give Singles a Try!

Singles is a great game that is not played enough here at the Kingsbury Club. Doubles, of course, is a fun team game that is more social and less physically demanding. Points are short and quick and good volleying is essential. Most players get hooked on doubles and never even give singles a thought. That is a shame because singles is a slower, more rhythmic groundstroking game that when played correctly isn't as taxing as you might expect.

Singles is essentially a consistency game. the court is so narrow (27 feet wide) that is is very difficult to hit outright winners without taking undue risk. It is also difficult to come up to the net, since you have to cover the whole court yourself, so you have to be very selective with your approaches. therefore, you must be mentally prepared for longer rallies using efficient lateral movement to improve you balance and accuracy.

The player who knows how to control the center of the court has a distinct advantage. he forces his opponent to hit to the center while he keeps him moving to the corners. Looking at the diagram the shaded rectangle in the center third of the court is where most shots actually land. It is safer and it is always easiest to hit the ball back to where it came from, i.e., it is more difficult to change the angle of the ball. The astute singles player designs his shots to land outside of the center by aiming either higher and deeper or shorter and wider. This keeps his opponent moving and off balance and thus more likely to hit short or make an error.

Therefore, to become as astute singles player, remember these three tactical ideas the next time you play a match.

1. Get in a high percentage of deep first serves. They don't have to be really fast if they are well placed. This forces the receiver to hit his return in the center and allows you to take control immediately.
2. If the ball is returned deeper to C1, hit deep drives to areas F and B to move you opponent around. Don't come into the net from here., however, you are too far away.
3. If the ball is returned shorter to C2, hit a deep approach shot to your opponent's backhand (area B). Come into net and try to volley short and wide to areas V1 and V2.

To execute this simple game plan you must slow down you swing and hit the ball higher over the net. Low, fast shots are too high risk and generally land in the center anyway. You also have less time to recover back to the center properly. Be patient and try to be more aware of where your shots actually land. Most players don't realize that they hit their shots too short.

If is a little ironic to think that many people who play doubles, which is essentially an attacking volley game, don't like the net. they prefer to stay back and hit groundstrokes where they have more time to react. if you are one of these players give singles a try. you should be a natural.