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I have some extremely exciting news to share with you!

You may have seen some teasers on my social media channels; the time is coming.

September 10th (My Birthday) “The Vault” Opens.

What is the Vault?

It’s my own online community where I’ll get to interact deeper with you. As well as spread my knowledge of the game on a more personal level.

More info to come soon (less than a week away!), but I think you’re going to LOVE it.

Now, let’s get to this week's video:

Proper Court Positioning for 3rd Shot Drops

When your partner is about to hit their 3rd shot drop, where are you standing? If it’s at the baseline, you’re missing out on applying pressure to your opponent. Here’s exactly where you should be standing on a 3rd shot drop. . . in Under 60 Seconds.

Last week, I received two questions from the newsletter, so I thought I’d answer them here:

Question 1:

Answer:

There are a few times I might change my grip. During my serve, I go with more of a semi-western grip. This allows me to put more topspin on the ball. I might also use this for stronger drives. When I’m at the kitchen, I use more of a continental grip and I tend to lean more backhand so that I’m ready for those quick exchanges.

When considering which grip you should use or change throughout a point, you definitely want to practice it first. That will help you determine when it’s safe to change grips and how you have to hit the ball differently for each one.

Question 2:

For two-handed backhands, it depends on if you’re trying to drive the ball or drop it. My grip pretty much stays continental, but I’ll use my off-hand to open the paddle face either up (for a drop) or more vertical (for a drive). So the grip primarily stays the same, it’s just the angle of the face that changes.

For a forehand scoop, this is primarily used when dinking. Particularly, when a dink is on the outside of your foot. You almost want to picture yourself scooping out some ice cream. You want to keep the top of the paddle facing down, and let the ball roll along the paddle face and sort of just carry itself over the net. Ideally, you want to aim at the side of your opponent, because these can cause some dead dinks that they could then attack.

Hope that helps!

-Tanner