First Strike Tennis At All Levels

Do high school players play mainly long, tortuous points?

In the last article (Click Here) we saw that at the pro level the player who wins the four hit battles wins the match. Could that be true at all levels?

How about in high school tennis for example? High school is a window into point length below the pro level, including, possibly, club tennis.

Aren’t winning high school players known for playing long, torturous points? At a national coaching conference I met a high school coach who has the answer.

That answer is no. The duration of high school points falls into the same general category as points at the top of the game.

Styrling Strother is a highly successful coach at Cary Academy in North Carolina. His players typically are USTA tournament players, state or sectionally ranked, with aspirations to play college tennis

His teams have won numerous conference championships and gone deep in state championships as well. In 2014, his girls’ team made the finals of the State Championships, won 4 trophies, and shattered every record in the 16-year school history.

Long before we ever met, Styrling’s independent research had established that the four hit battle was critical…