Playing in the Wind in New England

A lot of the courts I play at have a Primary North and South wind. Learning to play in it is crucial in some ways. Mainly, for high school tennis. Most of our tournament tennis is played indoors, even in the summer.

*When I coached at Cornell, we played one spring match outdoors at Yale. All the other matches were played Indoors.

*Indoor matches favor the power hitters because the balls go faster.

As a junior, I hated playing in the wind, the Sun, or any of the elements. I was so used to playing indoors in perfect conditions, I hated the wind.

As an adult, I love it. For the most part. It offers more strategy and penalizes you for stupidity and stubbornness.

*Side note (this is for golfers too). When the temperatures are below 55 degrees and the ball sits on the ground for too long, the cold freezes the ball and it doesn’t bounce as well. Knowing this, and paying attention to my opponent’s side as well, I’ll use slice and drop shots with that ball. It seems like a small issue, but, in the wind, I’ll take all the free points I can get.

*This is the first year I started using hand warmers too (for teaching). They work well. For righties, the left hand gets cold because of the cold throat on the racket (not sure if anyone pays attention).

For high schoolers that are close in level…picking a side in the warm-up can pay dividends. The key is jumping up early and squeezing the life out of the other player. A lot of times, I can jump up 4-0 in less than ten minutes and watch as they piss and moan about the weather.

**Bush League tactics. Are you a good actor? If not, you can learn to be. For instance, when your opponent seems calm and the wind is not bothering them, you can mumble comments like, “This wind sucks,” “Who can play in this?” “I can’t hit a forehand in this wind.” And so on. These are seeds that break the opponent’s mind. I don’t use these anymore, but they work against weak minds. The comments fester and eventually the other player starts using them. It’s bush league, but in my era, “All is fair in love and war.” This was actually taught to us by the coaches as well and was written in tennis magazine as ways to win.

-Now, I feel as tho fair play is what they are preaching. Which is silly. What is fair play? I have more of a warrior’s mindset than a baby. People who want fair play are usually the losers because they can’t find a way to win. They can’t think through their problems. Good players understand this.

**Another Bush League tactic. When you’re dealing with bad line callers, don’t give them questions that can be answered. “Was that ball out? Are you sure?” etc. Give them comments that sit in the brain (not like this one, but I used a few when I was a kid). On changeovers, I’d leave the player with a comment by questioning who they are. “You’re a piece of shit. Make better fucking line calls.” You get the point. But, a few players respond to anger better. “Your parents must be proud of your cheating. You must feel real good about it.”… The sad part is that it is hard to defend against cheaters and there are a lot of them. I’ have never played a good player who calls good lines. They’re always take, take, take on the big points. Line judges don’t help (make sure you get your retaliatory call before you get one…and take it on a big point, not an early point. Make it hurt!!). All the fair play leaves us with no room to get even. No room to fight back. Cheating is filthy and for filthy people. Using words to fight back is evening the playing field. Finding their BUTTON is key and a lot of fun. It’s a sad state we live in when the losers and the babies are allowed free reign to cheat away (have you noticed a lot of the cheaters are bratty rich kids who are afraid to lose? I watched as some have grown-up and run into some from time to time. Nothing changes. Their outside life is just as shitty. When you cheat on the court, you cheat in other aspects too. Marriage, the job etc. It’s like a black cloud hanging over their head.

Moving on!!

Playing with the wind on your back is loose. The ball feels jumpy and if you “pop” up a sec early on the groundstrokes and “peek” the ball jumps with you and flies. On pressure points, know that. With this side, I have a love-and-hate relationship.

Having a good slice is huge.

Mixing in slice on returns is huge also. Indoors the value is lower. Outdoors, it is a game changer which is why we see players that do clinics and privates all winter to polish their strokes (under 5 UTR) and lose to WIZARDS who chip and chop their way to victory.

*Coaches should feed more slice feeds during lessons to teach the players to accelerate the racket head through the backswing. You have to counter the spin.

****I tell this to players all the time and they don’t listen!! Hit against a wall with slice. Learn the contact point and how to control your spin and how to defend against WIZARDS. Kids are lazy these days and winning is not a priority (because we have to worry about people’s feelings…yet… the emotional kids were picked on when I was a kid. They were usually the ones with “soft” parents. Now, they throw the word Bully in every chance they can get. Rite of passage is key in life. Certain forms of Bullying allow for growth. Now, and for the life of me I don’t understand, kids are feeble and weak. Mental Midgets (my own kids too). They’re not tough. They hide behind an emotional wall where they are “safe.” But, are they really safe? They can’t think on their feet. They need to be told what to do over and over. I wonder who or what is to blame. Do you notice this too? Even with adults. It’s like they rely too much on their phones to tell them what to do that they forget everything.

-Anyway

When the wind is on the back I use the lines mostly. I attack down the line early. And it doesn’t have to be a ripper. The wind adds “silent” speed to the ball. It doesn’t look like much but the wind “shoots” the ball either by the player or in a way that they struggle going crosscourt because when they do, the ball ends up going middle because the wind “knocks” it down.

*I use the crosscourts a little when the wind is on my back. You have to sprinkle it in to keep the ball under control. The more consecutively you play a lot of down-the-line shots, the looser the feel is and it can go away. You have to use the crosscourts every so often to stay under control of the swing and the wind. There is no right formula, but there is a certain way of doing it. There is no right formula because you are playing against another human who can adapt (not a robot whose patterns are easily manipulated).

When the wind is in my face it can be a pain in the ass. The ball doesn’t go anywhere, yet, you can hit out on the ball because the wind will knock it down.

Drop shots, Drop shots, Drop shots.

If you play the crosscourts softly (and sometimes it is out of our control because the wind slows the ball down) you will and should get smashed down the line.

Slice is still effective, keeping the ball low but on slow, new courts it sits like a beach ball and can get smashed also…Which is why I’ll play a “draw in” game using short, low, dead slice that cant be attacked and play a pass or a lob depending on who I am playing and what I am establishing…**Say, I’m playing the passes early…and on “low points” early in the games…I save the lobs for big points after I sucker them closer to the net, win or lose.

**Lost Art!!**

Pay attention to where the opponent was after the point. Take a mental picture. This is so valuable yet players are quick to piss and moan after the point is over and turn their back. Keep your eyes on the prize.

Mental pictures are huge.

A lot of times when I teach this, I feel like I'm talking to the wind. I remember where you were after the passing shot. It helps to know if I can continue a pattern or not based on where you ended up. In the old days, I felt a lot of players knew this. Now, I feel like most of the pros on tour have forgotten this…let alone the club player. I watch the pros after the points to see if they're making mental pictures. Very few do. Nadal does. Medvedev does. Djokovic…the rest go “full-retard”…Tropic Thunder quote…look it up on Youtube. You won’t be disappointed (unless you are one of those who lost your sense of humor and have never learned to laugh at yourself).

**Heavy slice works well.

When serving into the wind.

The middle of the court is Gold. You need to use it. But, don’t take my word for it. Go hit some cheesy wide serves against a good returner and they will burn you…on the Duece side…Kick serves wide on the Ad side have value.

I use the T serves to attack the corners. I also use Body serves with bend ( I thought about this yesterday. If I were still competing, I would work on two body serves that are to the right and the left of their hands. You don’t realize how hard it is to get to the location until you make a box on the service line roughly a foot and split it in two…then hit serves into each six-inch box. This helps with attacking the hands in the wind).

Well?

Is that too small a target for you?

Are you that frail?

Then like Ben Stiller in Starsky and Hutch

Go out and do it.

Do it!

Do it!

Kidding!!

But, seriously.

Do it!

The Deuce side is harder to control against your opponent. At least for me because I want to use the wides and if I leave a hanger or if they cheat over on the forehand, I’ll be up shits creek. Like anything tho, you can use it. You just have to be smart about it and pay attention to your patterns of manipulation.

For me, Ad serving isn’t as big of a deal. The high kick is hard to put low against serve and volley. The returner catches “popcorns” that fly up and fly out or make for a meaty swinging volley.

Return games into the wind.

I use the middle of the court on the first couple of shots before I use the sides.

It helps if you work on the middle game and play points, groundstroke games or service points, only using the middle and learning how to compete with less. TBO, this works against club players at any time. Indoors, outdoors. Etc. Strong, Deep middles are like kryptonite.

*You have to watch out for leaving “hangers” crosscourt.

*Learn the drop shot lob game.

Serving with the Wind.

Is devastating.

You can use all the lines…wides, bodies, middles, T’s. And in big wind points, slice approaches and “bunt” approaches work well. “Let the wind do the work for you,” I tell players. I get so many “slow ball” winners or shots that are too hard to pick up.

*The only shot I feel uncomfortable on is forehands from the ally. When is see too many of these I use T serves…1) to have the opponent in the middle and have two options on my +1 2) so I don’t feel “forced” to go big down the line and expose my side of the court.

Another option when you get stuck is to crack the ball right at them. This is used as a sprinkle.

The biggest problem you will have is the serves going long. Treat the serve as if you were purposely hitting shorter in the box. The cradle/pronation comes quicker to account for the “drift.”

It helps if you have a “bunter” backhand…Mannarino, Norrie etc…bunts are dangerous in the wind and hard to read.

Returning with the wind

I use the lines. I mix chip in with tops on the return. In fact, the chips have more value when they “shoot” down the line because of the draft. Topspin returns get put back into play more than chips and drive slice do.

I play first-strike tennis. Once the ball is three to four feet from the singles sideline, I attack the line…even with a slice forehand.

**Be aware of drop shots. Be on the lookout. Or you will get burned.

Playing in the wind is frustrating. It doesn’t resemble the tennis you would normally play. It’s more of a mind game which is why I like it.

Indoor tennis is for fools in a way. You can get away with more. Wind tennis is for smarter players who have built options into their game and aren’t reliant on perfect conditions. I used to be one of those players…the game (and life) slow down when you stop fighting what you can’t control. You have to be able to go with the flow. Use the elements. Learn to compete uncomfortably.

**Last note…I love catching fliers on the forehand side when the opponent has the wind on their back….move them to the ad side and go heavy high to Duece side…mostly in a mid…and you’ll catch a flier…or a down the line shot that you can cover with a shift…I try to get those players to “peek” up and cause the ball to popcorn.

My day is squeezing on me and I had to cut some parts short but there is room for interpretation.