Most people think that the safest place to be on the court is in the center of the backcourt. If this is where you like to position yourself you will find that you are out of position more often than not. The key to positioning is to place yourself in the center of your opponents shot range. If you can place yourself in the center of your opponent's shot range you will find that you have an equal distance to cover on either side of you. The total area that you have to cover hasn't changed but by placing yourself in the center you will have the shortest distance to reach the widest possible shot.
How do you find the Center of your opponent's shot range?
The easiest way to find the center is by aligning yourself in the court with your opponent. If your opponent is on the baseline near their right sideline, you want to position yourself on your baseline near the right sideline. By placing yourself in the same position on your court that your opponent is in theirs you will be in the center of their shot range.
Once you have learned the basics of good court positioning you can begin to read the play and cheat to one side or the other. Learning the safest most common shots will allow you to adjust your position forcing your opponent to attempt a difficult shot or else hit right to you.
What are the safest most common shots?
When you are playing in the backcourt the safest shot is cross-court. The cross-court shot provides you with the most room for error. When you hit cross-court you are hitting the ball over the lowest part of the net and the diagnal distance across the court is the greatest allowing you to hit with confidence. You can have lots of clearance over the net and still have plenty of room to keep the ball in play.
If you play up at the net and are making a volley shot, you generally want to direct your volley down the baseline. By volleying down the baseline you give your opponent less room to to hit a passing shot. If you hit a volley shot into the center you have left yourself vulnerable with not enough time to recover.
The key to being successful on the court is having good position. You will have less wasted energy, more opportunities to force your opponent into making bad shots and more opportunities to hit winners.
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