I have written about playing tennis in the wind before. Today, I gave a lesson with 15 mph winds with gusts up to 30 mph. It was also less than 40 degrees when we started and barely got to 50 by the end of the lesson.
This reminded me of some of the things that helped me be successful when I had to play tennis in these conditions.
First, you must really watch the ball closely and continuously from your opponent’s hit, all the way through the point of contact of the ball on your racquet. Once you do this, you need to repeat it throughout the entire point, and then start over again. Even if you do this well, you will misjudge some of the balls and struggle to hit it as solid as you would have liked. Just stick with it and accept that some crazy things will happen along the way-both good and bad.
Next, I would highly recommend trying to get to the ball as quickly as possible. This will give the wind less time to affect the ball that was hit to you. Try to hit the ball at the peak of the bounce or even just before the peak, on as many shots as you can. Moving towards the net as the point gets longer will also help reduce the wind’s effect. It is easier to volley in the wind than it is to hit groundstrokes. Keep in mind the previous advice about watching the ball since that is the key to getting to the ball early and hitting it solid.
Finally, realize that it is highly unlikely that you will be able to play as well as you would in perfect conditions. Your ability to deal with the bad shots, crazy, lucky and unlucky hits, and the total uncertainty of what the wind will do to the next shot, will be the determining factor on how you will assess your tennis for the day.
Always remember that you are playing more against the wind than you are your opponent when the conditions are like this. If you handle things better than the player or players on the other side of the net, there is a good chance you will come out on top.
Steve Annacone, USPTA Elite Pro, is the Director of Annacone Tennis, www.annaconetennis.com and MyHamptonsPro, www.myhamptonspro.com throughout the Hamptons, NY. Steve, Jeevaj Bondalapati, and Gill Gross run the TOP (Tennis Optimization Players-Top Team) program at the Tucson Jewish Community Center (Tucson, AZ) for high level players ages 8-18. Please contact Steve at sannacone@tucsonjcc.org or 865-300-7323