Know Your Strike Zone

Swing Batta Batta Swing!

In baseball, the “strike zone” is the area where if the batter doesn’t swing, the umpire behind the plate is supposed to call a strike against the batter. A batter with a keen eye can get a free pass to first base in the form of a “walk” if the pitcher doesn’t have good control of the ball and doesn’t throw the ball over the plate and somewhere between the top of the players knee to just above the waist area. In baseball you don’t have to swing at any pitch if you don’t want to but in tennis all balls that would land “in” do have to be hit back.

As I work with beginner and intermediate high school players I see a lot of players wait for the ball to drop to around their knees and then try and get under it to hit it back. They do so with sporadic success. They are practicing hitting a ball from their preferred strike zone about two feet off the ground. More advanced players usually take the ball earlier and many like to try and hit the ball when it’s near or slightly below the waist area. An adult friend I play with occasionally likes to try and crush the ball when it’s at his shoulder area. Sometimes it works, sometimes not.

It seems that many players have a preferred strike zone where they like really swing out when the ball meets their eye in a certain spot, at a certain speed in relation to where they are standing, etc.

Now as noted earlier, in tennis you have to hit every ball that you think is going to land “in”. But hit doesn’t mean pound the ball. Most balls that are coming toward you, you do want to try and attack, you just want to hit it safely back. This could be a ball around your knees, at your shoulders, above your head or even a ball that’s at your waist level but because you had to run 30 feet at a virtual sprint to get it, it’s not a ball to hit back hard.

Your strike zone in tennis where you can swing out a bit should be a ball that is probably near your waist area, at a pace that is comfortable for you, the balls spin is comfortable for you and the area of the court where you will make contact is inside the baseline.

One of my frequent tennis opponents hits a ball that is of moderate pace but much flatter than what most of today’s players hit with an eastern or semi-western forehand. For me, I have less time to set up because of the less spin he imparts on the ball. So even though this ball might be in my swing away strike zone (for me my waist area), I am cautious unless I have more time to set up.

Similarly, many players will see a ball land short in mid court, but with backspin, as a green light to attack. However, this backspin throws off their timing and many less careful players will get ahead of the ball and pull the ball off-court, or make contact too far out in front (because of the spin) and their shot falls into the net. That’s why you don’t see a lot of professional players attacking a ball that is sliced back to them. While this ball may meet other criteria for the strike zone (inside the baseline, lack of pace, at or near waist high), because of the spin it makes it deceptively hard to attack.

If players are mindful of what kind of ball they can hit hard with reasonable success, and conversely, hit a ball safely when it’s not in their strike zone, they will play better percentage tennis and can expect to cut down on unforced errors and win more points.

Another point to be mindful of is that your opponent also has an area that is their swing away strike zone. If you can keep the ball away from this area or put the ball into an awkward area for them, it will force them to either hit more safe shots to you or if they’re impatient, it may cause them to try and some hit balls hard that they should have better played safely. Just because you have to hit virtually all balls back in tennis doesn’t mean you have to hit them all aggressively. Pick and choose your opportunities you’re your patience should result in more points. The best baseball players that flirt with the magical .400 hitting percentage each year are coincidentally some of the people who also lead the lead in walks. They have learned when to swing (hard) and when not to. We as tennis players would be smart to follow their example.