Fall has here, which means the wind—and all the annoyances it brings—has arrived as well. Said, playing tennis in the wind is brutal.
But just because you don’t like the wind doesn’t mean you can’t make use of it.
When you’re playing outside, the wind can be a problem. Some days are better than others, and some courts have superior windscreens, trees, or other structures that can block a significant amount of wind. Here are five tips for playing in the wind more effectively.
In the wind, maintaining proper footwork is typically the most challenging task. To create drastic changes, a lot of small steps are required. When the wind comes up and pushes the ball before they can swing, players who take significant steps as they prepare to hit can be caught off guard.
Maintain a minimum step size to allow you to alter your position and strike the ball properly.
When you’re playing in the wind, you’ll have to adapt your groundstrokes as well. When aiming for such corners and passing shots, give yourself a more significant margin of error.
Remember that the harder you hit the ball, the less wind it will encounter on its journey to its destination. The more you hit the ball slowly, the more the wind will mess with it.
If your opponent has difficulties with the wind, you may want the wind to push your shots around to keep them off balance.
If you have a long backswing, you might want to attempt shortening it to strike your shots. The more time the ball has to move about from the start of your stroke to the point of impact, the bigger your backswing is.
When striking …
