Just because you start the point on the defensive doesn’t mean you have to finish it that way.
Successfully transitioning from defending your side of the court to going on the offensive is a tough task to master. A player like Roger Federer makes it look simple, but for the average person the immediate change in tactics can cause errors. You need patience and guile to know the proper time to make your move.
When stretched wide, your best play is to hit the ball high and deep up the middle (1). Going for an outright winner (2) is risky and hitting hard and flat (3) gives you little time to recover.
For me, it all starts with the ability to keep the point alive when put in a defensive position. If you can force your opponent to hit one more shot, you just might get that weak one that allows you to switch gears and hit the offense button. To know when you have to get in a defensive mind-set, think of the court as a map. When you’re near the center hash mark, you’re in a safe area. But when you’re stretched wide in the doubles alley, that’s trouble.
There are two traps that you can fall into when you’re pushed away from the middle. The first is going for an outright winner. With today’s powerful racquets, when players are stretched wide they have a tendency to go for what I call “fool’s luck.” Maybe one in 20 of these shots go in, so relying on them won’t win you matches. The other pitfall is hitting the ball hard and flat. Unless you’re extremely quick, this kind of response doesn’t give you much time to recover. You’ll leave a lot of open court for your opponent to hit into.
The best response is to send the ball high (at least 10 feet over the net) and deep, giving yourself time to move back into the safe part of the court. Don’t get caught admiring your shot. Anticipate that you’ve hit an effective one and immediately shuffle toward the center. You’re hoping to force your opponent to move behind the baseline or try a difficult on-the-rise shot. Either reply may lead to a ball that you can hit offensively. Realize that not every ball you hit when you’re scrambling will do the trick, so you may hit several in a point before you get that potential transition ball.
To practice, start in the center of the court and have someone feed a series of five balls that force you into the doubles alley; return each with a high, deep shot. Make sure to quickly and fully recover to the center after each ball before scrambling back again for the next one. You can work on one alley and stroke at a time, or alternate sides.
To finish, have your partner throw in some short-angled balls so you’re forced to move up and wide. You still want to hit these shots with good height and depth so you have time to follow them to net or retreat back to the center of the baseline.