Mia Ford
You don’t have to live near the coast to have occasionally windy days disrupt your tennis game. Like everything else in life, it just happens, and it can wreck every aspect of your tennis game, from your serve to your groundies to your defensive – and offensive – lobs.
The good thing about it, however, is that it plays no favorites, so your opponent has to deal with it, too. All you have to do is deal with it better!
Here are some things that the pros do that will help you to play tennis more effectively in the wind:
Take Smaller Steps
Proper footwork is often the biggest challenge in the wind. Lots of little steps are needed to make sudden adjustments. Players who take large steps as they prepare to hit can be caught off-guard when the wind gusts and moves the ball before they can swing. Be sure to keep your steps small to quickly adjust your position and strike the ball cleanly.
Tweak Your Groundies
Playing tennis in the wind will force you to make adjustments in your groundstrokes as well. Give yourself a larger margin of error when you aim for those corners and passing shots. And remember, the harder you hit the ball, the less the wind will affect it as it travels to its destination. The slower you hit the ball, the more the wind will play havoc with it.
Adjust Your Swing
The bigger your backswing, the more time the ball travels from the start of your stroke to the point of contact. So, if you have a big backswing, you might consider shortening it when hitting your shots into the wind in order to avoid hitting the ball too late. Also, when you’re hitting into the wind, try to aim a little higher and hit a little harder than usual because the wind tends to make shots land shorter inside the court, allowing your opponents to come in and attack the net. Lastly, approach shots should be hit short and low. This will force your opponent to hit up to try to pass you at the net, which is tough to do – especially in the wind.
Use The Drop Shot
Drop shots are always effective when hitting into the wind. The wind disguises the ball’s speed and keeps it from getting too deep in the court. When your opponent realizes it, the ball will have already bounced twice.
Use Spin
Spin is a great tool to use when playing tennis in the wind. Hitting high topspin shots when hitting with the wind will give your opponent all sorts of problems since the ball will stay deep and bounce high. It can force your opponent to move deep into the backcourt to return your shots and can also force them to hit a lot of short balls. Speaking of short balls, keep an eye out for those anytime your opponent is hitting into the wind. Being able to get to the net is a good idea when it is windy since the conditions make it tough to hit passing shots. When the wind is blowing sideways rather than with or against you, side spins can be very effective. For such times, I like to use my wicked inside-out forehand return 🙂
Adjust Your Serve
Slice and kick serves can be even more effective when the wind blows sideways. Again, get the ball to move as much as you can to the left or right to really keep your opponent on their toes and open up the court. If you are someone with a very high toss, shorten it, or else the ball is really going to do some serious movement in the air before you hit the ball. And if the wind pushes your toss around, CATCH THE BALL. Don’t try and compensate for the wind because the wind is unpredictable, and you’ll probably be at fault.
Bounce The Overhead
Overheads can be tricky to hit when the wind makes them sing and dance while they are up in the air. If the ball is high enough, you may consider allowing it to bounce before you hit the overhead. Allowing the ball to bounce will make it more like a serve and make it easier for you to adjust to the movement after the bounce.
Use these tips, and you’ll play better tennis with the wind blowing. And if you think your teammates and tennis-playing friends would benefit from this post, please share it 🙂