Shot Selection
Sportsmasterbellz17 asked 5 years ago
Hi guys,
of recent i have been playing against many different styles since i’m preparing for a tournament and I’ve noticed i tend to play the incorrect shot for the approaching ball. its very frustrating especially since i have the technical ability to play good shots; its just i don’t play them at the right time when it comes to match play. How do i go about improving my shot selection so that i don’t make unforced errors?
Tom Academy Coach answered 5 years ago
Hey Sportsmasterbellz,
Yes this can be a tricky thing to master and often the difference between good players and very good players can be shot selection at the correct time.
There are a couple of things to try that can help, firstly playing a lot of irregular and match play type drills when you don’t know exactly where the ball is going and it’s more random placement. This means you are put into situations more often where you have to make decisions of which shot, how much spin and speed to go for and where to place the ball.
The other thing to do is slow things down and take more time before choosing a shot, if you jump in too quickly often you can rush the decision making and play the wrong shot.
It’s really good as you mentioned that you practice against different styles that will help this a lot too. You can also send us a shot video of you like and myself or Dan can have a look and pick out any situations in particular where these unforced errors happen. But in the mean try lot’s of irregular drills as I said and slow things down with a focus of consistency and just keeping the ball in play without forcing the point and rushing to win too soon.
Let us know how it goes!
Tom
