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Opening the Court: Pattern 14

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Opening the Court:Pattern 14

George Zink

This pattern compliments Pattern 13 for using the drop shot in the deuce court by showing how to set up a drop shot winner in the ad. The idea is to move your opponent, starting with a wide serve. This is followed by a groundstroke angle off the court. Then the drop shot into the opening. The drop shot can have a demoralizing, even devastating effect on an opponent who can’t cover it. It’s effective at all levels, but can be particularly valuable in lower level play when movement of the opponent is a weakness.

Figure from Opening the Court:
Pattern 14

George Zink is a master tennis professional with over 25 years of teaching experience. After competing on the ATP Future Tour, George won 9 national championships in singles and doubles, and has coached junior players who have won 5. A former college coach at Franklin and Marshall, George has managed clubs with large teaching staffs and also owned gyms in Pennsylvania and Florida where he exponentially expanded membership. Over the last 15 years, thousands of junior players have attended his GZ Tennis Camps. Based in Bradenton, Florida, George has two children who are currently highly ranked national juniors.

Source: tennisplayer.net archive — Opening the Court - Part14.docx (John Yandell teaching library, 2002-2022). Extracted and rendered as HTML for Tennis Future Lab.