Watch videos of top players and track their baseline play to see various patterns emerging. Junior competitors also need to recognize these various styles to help them establish their own on-court persona, and to also better anticipate the patterns of various opponents they might play. Take a look at a few examples.
First is the aggressive baseliner, these player hit patterns such as two cross-court ground strokes and then one down the line as Kalindy is now demonstrating.
Second is what I call the Forehand Sidewinder. This is the player who moves around their backhands to hit aggressive forehands. They are sidewinders because they hit forehands on both sides of the court by winding up and playing aggressively.
Third are the grinder baseliners. These players seek out cross-court rallies in the direction of their preferred ground stroke. For example, let's say Kalindy prefers her two-handed backhand, in that case if she gets in a cross-court forehand rally; she will look for her first opportunity to hit her forehand down the line so her opponent will hit a cross-court backhand and she can try and grind them down with her more solid side.
The fourth example are the players who hit a lot of spin and angles. Playing against this style can be a nightmare, the best tactics are to attack up the middle to reduce their angles and take their heavy topspin shots earlier instead of letting them pin you behind the baseline as Kalindy is now doing to me.
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