Hans' Tips

These are a few tips Hans shared with us in December 2018

​

1, Consider wearing Court shoes (Tennis) to play PB, as opposed to Running shoes; they allow for better lateral mobility  and should be safer in respect to ankle sprains.

 

2, Announce the score clearly each time you serve; before, not as you serve!; pause for a couple of seconds to allow anybody that disagrees with the score to say so.

 

3, Remember to get up to the Non-Volley Zone line as soon as you get a chance, especially if your partner is already there. Keep your paddle in front of you at the ready at all times, not hanging by your side.

 

4, Lower your center of gravity by slightly bending your knees, and put more weight on your forefoot, this will allow for more rapid and efficient movement in any direction. Notice how players with good mobility on the court tend to stay low.

 

5, Help your partner and yourself by steadily communicating with him/her: "bounce/out", "mine/I have it", "yours/take it", "switch"

 

6, Make a concerted effort to use the short game (dinking), we are all at the Club seriously at fault here. 

 

7, Smash only when it is really useful, to the degree is necessary, and keep in mind who is in front of you.

 

8, Poaching is usually a good tactic, but not if it requires you to badly stretch out, ending with a feeble shot, and with you out of position.

 

9, Minimize your unforced errors!!. It is what usually hands your opponents the win, not their winning shots. Stay away from low percentage shots, focus more on the ball, and less in where you want to end up placing it.

 

10, Drink water whenever you get a chance, we don’t do enough of this, and end the morning being dehydrated.

 

11, Remember that it is up to the players on the side the ball bounces to call it in or out. Only if they ask for your opinion should you give it. If in doubt, the ball was good.

 

12, A tricky one, but I think important. We are all there to play and expect to get our share of shots. It is easy and at times becomes automatic to direct most of our shots to the weaker opponent, not fair to either player. As a matter of fact, if you want to get more out of a game, where your opponents are mismatched, aim your hard shots at the stronger player, you’ll get more of a challenge that way.

 

13, An even trickier one. Again, we should be conscious that we all expect to play our share of games, win or lose. We should be flexible with the so called rule of “winners stay, losers out”, especially if you and your partner just won a  2nd or 3rd game in a row, and the losers lost their first.  

​​