Tennis is a game in which you have very little time to react to your opponent’s shots. Sometimes you even need to know what type of shot is coming before your opponent hits it – you need to ‘anticipate’. Often considered a skill for advanced players, a player at any level who has his or her thinking cap on can learn to anticipate effectively.
What Does This Mean For Your Tennis?
Anticipation is not something you need to do on all your opponent’s shots. But if, for example, your opponent has an easy smash and is obviously going to hit very hard, you must move in the right direction before she makes contact. Otherwise, you will have no chance of getting there in time. In this type of situation, there are three relevant questions you might ask yourself:
Q1. What shot has she played before from this position?
A player with a habit of going crosscourt off a short ball is likely to do so again.
Q2. What shots can this opponent not play?
If you know she cannot hit a wide slice serve to the deuce box, you do not need to be concerned about preparing to return this shot.
Q3. What shot would I play if I were in my opponent’s shoes?
If you see a logical place where her next shot should go, she probably sees it too.
Anticipation boils down to an educated guess. If you guess right, you have a chance to get to a ball you really had no right to reach!
