Your favourite shot?

Published: 24 Apr 2006 - 06:01 by medved

Updated: 24 Jul 2008 - 18:42

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i found that mine is backend kill shot, and also like drop shots when i am at the back wall

I saw it first at john white

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From Adz - 24 Jul 2008 - 18:39 - Updated: 24 Jul 2008 - 18:42

Hmmm, I think I've changed my earlier position on the favourite shot........

I still like to play the lob after holding for a long time, but since I've began putting topspin into my game I've found this wonderful holding drive from the front that really messes people up if they see it late.

I stretch into an open stance lunge position with the leg-line between the T and the front corner. The body turns so the shoulders face the backhand front corner (on backhand), or front wall on forehand, and the ball is taken behind the front foot and low to the ground. From what I can tell it fools the opponent into thinking that a boast of a drop is on the way but with a sharp snap of the forearm and a bit of topspin the ball drives hard down the line.

I've tried teaching the shot to someone recently, but they don't seem to be able to generate the same power or direction as I get, but it did take me a long time to develop into an effective shot.

Don't get me wrong, it looks extremely unorthodox, and probably isn't the most efficient of shots in the world, but when it goes right it is incredibly good at disguising the direction of the ball. I think it might have come from years of playing doubles and trying to find new disguise shots to fool two players instead of one! But who knows!!

Adz

From adam_pberes - 22 Jul 2008 - 11:12

CORKSCREW CORKSCEW CORKSCREW!!! ;D

I'm A Junior. Can't help it :P

or, people at my club know me for trying to do tricky shots so if they hit a shot onto the back wall, when its floating through I run up quickly with my racket abnormally high, , so the think Im going to trick them, then I drop it down,(looks like a drop then), they run but then I flick into a cross court. I know I have a vid of it somewhere, just need to find where in the vid it is.

From markinjapan - 02 May 2006 - 01:39

apart from the classics,

Cross court nick off the serve.
A nice deceptive boast that dies in the nick.

But, when I'm digging, i love to float one over their racket into the corner, and then if they try to do the same thing, but it turns out a little low, overhand volly boast.

From missing_record1 - 01 May 2006 - 13:02 - Updated: 01 May 2006 - 21:56

The old American term for that shot is a "roll corner". I agree they can backfire tremendously, if your opponent reads it.

A shot that I really like that is a soft rail hit a little harder than a drop shot and hugs the side wall. It bounces maybe 6 to 8 feet from the front wall, say. It sounds like a lame shot, but it gives me time to recover to the T and my opponent is usually stuck for a response. A drop from that position is easy to read, since he is quite a ways from the front wall, but then again so is a drive or crosscourt (which should be tough if the ball is close to the wall). If anybody watches Roger Federer, he has this slice backhand crosscourt shot that is in between a drop shot and a crosscourt. He uses it all the time again two handed backhands. Anyway, it brings the opponent to the net but the opponent is in an awkward position when he plays a response. Roger has an easy time covering his opponent's choices and usually ends the point on an easy passing shot. I think that is what my rail hard drop does -- the shot looks lame, is easy to retrieve, and yet when the opponent goes to hit a response he realizes he is a bit stuck. It's a shot that is never taught but maybe it should be?

From pug505man - 01 May 2006 - 11:11

Rahmat Khan calls it a trickle or tickle boast (hard to know what he is saying) n elsewhere its called a trickle boast (Squash the Australian Way to name one). You can see it on the Khans' instructional video. I have been playing it since I was 14 n only last year found out it had an actual name!

From vitty - 30 Apr 2006 - 20:07

It may be called trickle boast, I don´t know. If you want to know exactly what I mean, go to www.guide-to-squash.org and play match Beachill-Palmer in English Open 2003. Lee plays this shot in the time 01:34 or so.

From BizarreCo - 30 Apr 2006 - 19:56

Vitty, the boast you describe I believe is called a trickle boast. It's best executed when you get your opponent coming down the rail side of you. If they come from the court side then you'll be playing the ball straight to them! I've found that the best way to keep position and disguise the shot is to drop you body down and extend your wrist under your racket head. It hides the shot from your opponent and still leaves the options for a drive, drop or lob. It takes practise and needs to be played off a loose, high shot by the opponent.

If I can figure out a way of recording videos of some of this stuff and posting them on here, then I could show you what I mean! Perhaps I could post them on an external site and link to them! It'll have to be in mobile phone 3gp format!

I'll let you know

ADZ

From vitty - 30 Apr 2006 - 06:30

I like to go short in general (people say that I´m pretty good at dropshots ). I like to play dropshot aimed at nick. I do "high" swing to indicate I´m going to play hard shot to the back and then I execute dropshot. Most of my opponents is guessing somewhere behind me and hence they are too slow to retrieve my dropshot.
Next, I like to play low attacking boast from the back corner on my backhand - I play it when I see that my opponent is out of position (too back) or that he isn´t looking at the ball. If executed properly, they don´t react fast enough to catch it. I don´t know why, I find it more difficult to play this one on forehand side - the ball gets higher on the front wall and therefore it´s risky.

Now I´m practising one interesting thing that Lee Beachill is sometimes doing - when you are retrieving dropshot on backhand that wasn´t sharp enough, play boast. It sounds weird but it works. It´s a quite difficult shot: must be done perfectly-otherwise your opponent will get a stroke (if the ball ends too close to you) AND your opponent musn´t expect it - because the ball ends in the middle and you are offering a clear winner.

From pug505man - 25 Apr 2006 - 09:38 - Updated: 25 Apr 2006 - 09:39

Evil is a dude after my own heart.
Forehand (Ima lefty) drive-kill into the nick.
I play it anywhere from the back of the service box (international court) through to a couple feet back from the front wall as I want to be coming down through the shot rather than lifting it above the tin.
I use a LOT of backspin as my stock shot, but also hit top and side for variation (variation pfft - if theyve played me more than once they KNOW where it is going). I also hit it while stepping away towards the T which variation I also use to hit a trickle boast or hard 3 wall nick boast so adding another hint of confusion. Also love hearing them come up to cover the drive-kill - I go crosscourt looking for the 2nd bounce into the nick rather than a crosscourt nick kill.
I'm partial to volley-drops too.

From BizarreCo - 25 Apr 2006 - 06:31

I've got different favourites against different players.

Fast players who like to run all day - I hold the drop right until the last second when I can feel them breathing down my neck, then lob it over them with the ball catching the side wall before rebounding along the ball wall. The only real return is off the backwall putting the ball back at the front again........ and then it starts all over again! The most I've done it is four times in a row, before the opponent hung too far back... so I dropped!

Slow players who like to drop and lob - I work the player into playing a weak lob to my forehand only making it as far as the service box and popping up on the bounce. I shape up for the straight drive then roll a cross court kill out of the nick near the backhand front. It's a big crowd pleaser and well worth the effort!

Different tools for different jobs I guess!

ADZ

From Sportsfan3006 - 25 Apr 2006 - 03:36

Backhand drop from the back, when I am sharp, it gets so tight it's going to hurt your racquet and your ego!!..ok I got a little bit carried away..

From missing_record1 - 24 Apr 2006 - 11:07

My new favorite shot is a forehand sidespin rail kill into the nick. It seems effective on short , loose rails from my opponent. I aim about six inches above the tin and maybe 12 -18 inches from the right side wall. The sidespin really helps bring the balls into the nick consistently. I take a full swing but a lot of the power goes into the sidespin. I'm working on the backhand equivalent, but sidespin is a bit harder for me to generate from that side, I get more underspin which doesn't help the ball find the nick.

From Viper - 24 Apr 2006 - 09:13

Forehand volley kill off a return of serve, when it is in the slot I murder it.........