ORIGINAL LESSON · LESSON 17 OF 50 · DEFENSE

Deep backhand to regain time

Q: You are pulled wide. Where should the backhand land?

Low, deep backhand: Behind the baseline, this placed shot gives you a large in-bounds target. The ball lands 4 m inside the sideline. The defender travels 1.1 m across court and returns deep in this example.

Goal: Choose a backhand that limits the next attacking angle.

A deep backhand gives you room to recover after being stretched.

Situation: You are behind the baseline. The defender is toward your right, deep in court.

The decision

Decision: You are pulled wide. Where should the backhand land?

You are behind the baseline. The defender is toward your right, deep in court.

Low, deep backhand — Deep middle — GOOD READ: Behind the baseline, this placed shot gives you a large in-bounds target. The ball lands 4 m inside the sideline. The defender travels 1.1 m across court and returns deep in this example.
Short low backhand — Short ball — FAIR OPTION: The defender starts deep. Your short shot makes them run forward. The ball lands 2.8 m inside the sideline. The defender travels 7.9 m forward and returns shorter in this example.

What to take into the next point

Depth through the middle can keep you in the rally.

What a good read looks like

The read this lesson trains: Choose a backhand that limits the next attacking angle. Defending under pressure — deep, high or central replies that keep a player in the rally until a better ball arrives. In the interactive lesson you play the rally, make the call, and then read why it worked or did not. The coaching grades the decision, not just the point outcome — a good read can still lose the rally, and the lesson says why.

Part of the Pressure and defence pattern

Every lesson that trains this pattern is collected on the Pressure and defence pattern page.

Related lessons in this pattern

High, deep defensive reset — SIMULATION-BUILT LESSON · lesson 29 of 50
Flat drive versus net margin — SIMULATION-BUILT LESSON · lesson 30 of 50
Wide backhand: Stay alive — ORIGINAL LESSON · lesson 32 of 50

Original lesson: outcomes come from the original lesson set, as authored, not from the simulation. The interactive lesson is labelled ORIGINAL LESSON on the site.

Play this lesson in the interactive app →

Free to play

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Pattern: Pressure and defence · Category: Defense