How to Hit a Brilliant Drop Shot

Nowadays the drop shot has become a real rarity on the tennis court. This is because most players prefer to stay at the baseline. In fact, there are matches where hardly any drop shot is hit. Apparently, very few players have an incentive to finish the point at the net. And that’s just the big advantage of drop shot.

Because with a good drop shot, you can knock out even the strongest player. In general, you can say that the drop shot is the shot with the biggest surprise effect. Practically, it is almost considered an insider tip.

Have you already trained the drop shot? If not, then you should definitely catch up on it. After all, the more possibilities you have, the better you can improve your game. That is why we take a close look at the drop shot in this article.

In principle, the stop ball is a versatile shot that often leads to a direct win of the rally. In the actual situation, you try to place the ball as close as possible to the net in your opponent’s court. Accordingly, the aim of the drop shot is to prevent your opponent from reaching the ball before it has bounced twice.

Compared to other shots, the ball has a much higher but shorter trajectory when you hit the drop shot. The two factors speed and shot angle must be perfectly matched.

On the one hand, you must not hit the ball too hard or too steeply. In this case, this would be an invitation for your opponent to attack you with an Approach shot. On the other hand, the ball must not fly too slowly or too low, otherwise you will hit it into the net.

Good coordination is therefore required to place the ball in the best possible position. However, there is no general formula for this. It is important that you go out on the court and try out the drop shot yourself to get a feeling for the length and height.

An effective drop shot doesn’t only bounce close to the net, but also has some backspin. This ensures that the ball doesn’t come in the direction of your opponent, but stays in place. In rare cases, the ball even bounces back to the net. On the other hand, a ball with backspin bounces flatter, which is a further difficulty for your opponent.

Basically, you should only play the drop shot in the offensive. At that moment, you have the opportunity to push your opponent out of the court. For example, a good time for a drop shot is when your opponent is behind the baseline. From there, the way to the net is very Long. Therefore, it is unlikely that he will run for the shot.

On the other hand, playing a drop shot in defence hardly makes any sense. Your opponent will probably be in a forward movement anyway. He may already be at the net. A drop shot wouldn’t be a problem for him, because he would simply volley the ball. Alternatively, he could play a counter drop shot.

Depending on which direction the ball comes to your court, you play the drop shot as a forehand slice or backhand slice. In this case, you should use the “Continental grip”. You are probably asking yourself: “Why do I need this backhand grip for the forehand drop shot?

Basically, this grip allows you to get better under the ball with the racket face on both sides and thus give the ball some backspin. However, you should only use this grip shortly before the shot. Good tennis players know which grip their opponent is holding the racket at that particular moment.

So if your opponent sees that you are holding the racket on the forehand side in the backhand grip, he will be able to anticipate the drop shot. One of the most important elements of the drop shot, the surprise effect, is then gone and your shot is not effective.

Overall, the backswing of the drop shot is much shorter than with the normal basic strokes, because you don’t need so much power for this stroke. For this reason, you should only swing the racket to the side at most. Imagine to hit a normal groundstroke first and stop just before the ball comes into contact with the racket.

Another special feature of the drop shot is that you tilt the racket face upwards more. This creates the characteristic steep trajectory of the ball. Similar to the volley, you don’t swing the racket but push it towards the ball. The follow through after contact with the ball is also not applied.

In addition to score a direct point, you can also use the drop shot to prepare for a winner. Take advantage of your opponent’s weaknesses. If your opponent does not feel comfortable at net, you can lure him forward first. Then you will have a good position to pass him at the net.

The drop shot is also great if you want to attack a short ball from your opponent. Or in the other example, you want to take the pace out of the rally. There are many possibilities.

All in all, the drop shot is ideal for adding variety to your tennis game. However, you should not use the drop shot too often. On the one hand, your opponent will be ready for further drop shots, and on the other hand, you may be able to get yourself out of rhythm.