'THE EFFECTIVENESS OF HACKING'

I once sent a chapter from my Blog to the ATPCA as they published ideas in their monthly newsletter from guys like myself who had coaching theories. My chapter called 'The Effectiveness of Hacking' got a run one month and the reason behind the chapter was due to a match I played 12 months after I won that third set breaker (previous chapter ) to give my club a regional title.
I was up against a 17 year old the very next year who was down from the City and this kid had it all, big shots, big ego, big attitude but lacked one thing, a thought process to beat someone who simply got everything back.
Now I had taught myself to be patient when playing the young kids because despite the ageing legs it was a necessity to stay out there with them for as long as it took for them to beat themselves. This year was no different.
The young fellow could hit a forehand as hard as I had ever seen but he didn't like the high ball ( in fact no kids like that particular ball ) because of the slowness of it and the height through the air that gave them way too much time to think about how they were going to hammer it back.
From 1-4 down in the first set where I was not thinking at all I won seven straight games to go up a break in the second and totally frustrate him in the process.
He had no plan B, just an A game that did not allow for anything but the ball to be placed in the same spot over and over to give him the rhythm  he required to be effective.
I ended up winning that match 4 and 4 and I only remember hitting around ten winners, mainly on the volleys as he hated to be rushed into hitting a winner, he wanted time to be grooved. He lost that particular match as I can honestly say I didn't win it. If someone hits less than a dozen winners something else has to happen to claim a win and in between the occasional winning volley I simply made him play 'uncomfortable' tennis.
I forced him to play another ball every time even if it were a high floating ball with little spin, just deep and high that he had to think hard about. Particularly on the return of serve I just blocked the ball back six or eight feet over the net with depth. I was not interested in stepping in and belting his serve back because that would have given him the ball right where he wanted it with pace and a height he was happy with.
On one particular point I was not even in court and still managed to come out on top in the rally, I was in fact in the next court retrieving one of his angled forehands ! I just threw up a high ball with a heap of spin on it rather than go for a winner on the run and he mishit it into the net. He  tried to do too much with it as he had done all day with most of his shots.
At one point he said "This guy is a hack " !  There's that terminology again and let's face it I must be a hack if two people said that about my play two years in a row at the same tournament. Such is life.
A month later I played a regional teams event that was held in the city and I was up against a State ranked player who was a little on the 'fragile' side. I lead him 2-1 and 40-15 before my seven previous sets of the day caught up with me and I ran out of legs.
At one point the kid came out with this question "Why can't this guy just play normally " ??! That did bring a smile to my face though I was disappointed I didn't offer him a hanky to wipe his eyes with. Play normally ? What's normal in tennis ? Playing 'normally' to a baseline robot is a sure way to get beaten especially if your legs aren't as young as they used to be.
Play it smart and don't give them what they require and don't try to beat them with your ego, do it with your brains instead. The following chapter is from my Blog site written in 2013. Hope you enjoy it....
 

I remember vividly one of my advanced students sending me a text asking whether I considered him to be a 'hack' . Let's look at this terminology :  'hacking, puddling, pushing, are terms described for players who just get the ball in play and wait for their opponent to miss. So what's wrong with this ? Nothing, but it isn't 'cool'.
Your mates want to see you belt the ball into submission, hit it like there's no tomorrow, but in all reality that doesn't win tennis matches. 'Hackers',' puddlers' and 'pushers' win more games of tennis than their mates who try to knock the brand off the ball.
Hacking upsets the groovy guy who wants the ball in his comfort zone every time so he can keep getting the ball back as he wishes and dictate play as well as look stylish for his girlfriend sitting in the stands.
So how do you upset your opponent who has made a reputation for himself as the 'big fish in the small pond' ? Slice the ball low, hit it high over the net, serve and volley sometimes, hit drop shots, moon ball, take some extra time between points and in particular give your opponent a big smile when he calls you a hack, it means you have him on toast.
It happened to me just three years ago when I played a kid who was young enough to be my son but with a reputation that anyone would be proud of. He had some big shots but lacked brains and when he looked at me after another moon ball that he couldn't return and told me that basically at age 41 I had no right to be on the same court as him I simply smiled and kept on doing it.
A straight sets victory made the 'old bloke' sleep well that night.......
'Hacking', indeed a great tactic, and what was my reply to my student who asked me the original question?
'If it's upsetting your opponents buddy, keep doing it".