One of the biggest mistakes tennis players make when trying to win a point with overhead is by focusing more on power over placement. In my opinion, placement is far more important than trying to hit the ball hard. A lot of times an overhead is hit as hard as you can right back to your opponent. This may work against some players but against other players who have excellent hands and are very skilled at defensive shots, that ball is going to come back every time.
How many times has this happened to you? You hit an overhead to your opponent, they block it back, you hit it harder, they block it back again and then you miss the third overhead deep or into the net. We all know what happens when you or your opponent brings one more ball back. It usually ends with an error.
The key to success is taking a little bit of pace off of the overhead and focus more on placing the ball where your opponent is not. I always tell my students that I’d rather hit a 30mph winner than a 100mph ball that’s coming back. Use your short angles of the court, place the ball where your opponent is not or simply hit the overhead down the middle when playing doubles. Your overheads will really become great when you can execute your shots with both power and placement. Until then, just keep it simple and focus more on your placement.
Keep on Playing!
