Specialty Shots and You

 

Under the heading of specialty shots and of the most use are the lob and drop shot.  Other specialty shots include the tweener, backfire, topspin lob, and backhand overhead.  Of the second batch some are dangerous, all are of higher degrees of difficulty and the only one that can really pay dividends for anyone normal would be the topspin lob.    

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Personally, I love to hit both the lob and the drop shot (and drop volley), though I have to say the drop shop is my favorite shot that I wish I wouldn’t hit.  The reason is for every really cool winner I make with the shot, I hit a number of them at the wrong time or miss them when a normal drive would have a higher chance of winning the point for me.  All that said I’m not going to stop as it is a great shot if used at the right time.

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Now the lob is a shot that can save your life and at most levels can’t be overused.  In singles or doubles a lob can force your opponent(s) away from the net where they can win the point easily and put them deeper in the court where they have less chance to win the point.  Quite often there is no other good shot that can be hit easily because the opponent has maneuvered you into a very defensive position.  Lob, lob, lob.

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The point here is that the lob and to a lesser degree the drop shot can and should be valuable components of your game.  The other shots have a much lower value even if they are made and an even lower value if they are missed.  The exception among the more difficult shots, should you care to spend the time to develop it, is the topspin lob.  It is actually an offensive shot and can turn a match around almost by itself, but remember that it has a high degree of difficulty.

 

So use the lob a lot, use the drop shot some and if you want to be really cool learn to hit a topspin lob.  Your opponents will hate playing you!! … and isn’t that the point?