If you want to crush short balls, but you keep missing... Well nothing is more annoying than perfectly constructing a point, getting a short ball, and then missing it. If that's you, then here's a page out of Carlos Alcaraz's playbook.

So if you struggle with short balls, right, and you've constructed this great point and your opponent hits it short and then you just miss the short ball, maybe you hit it into the net, maybe you hit it long, either way, you're just like, oh my gosh, I put together this amazing point and I'm missing what should theoretically be the easiest shot. Here's something you can do instead. This is a perfect time when you're moving forward to actually throw in the drop shot. So this would be a page out of Carlos Alcarazza's book. Now why is the short ball the right time to do it? Well, when your opponent hits a short ball, they're going to be like, oh no, I hit a short ball, this person is going to come in and rip it. So they're probably going to split step backwards. So what you're doing here is you're using your opponent's anticipation against them because they're going to be moving back. So even if you don't hit the greatest drop shot in the world, they now have to stop, change direction and track this thing down. So that is the secret to the drop shot. That's why Alcarazza is so effective with it. Now after you hit this drop shot, you'll want to stand like right around there. And the reason is because your opponent basically has four shots that they could hit. The first one would be to redrop you so you got to be close enough where you can get to it. The second would be the sharp angle and if you're standing here, you can also get to that. And then your opponent could also try and scoot the ball down the line or hit it cross court. And by standing here, you can cut off either one of those angles. And what I would recommend is if you're standing here, if possible, don't let these balls drop. You want to take them as volleys. And one of the reasons to do that is you're just cutting down on your opponent's time. So they were back here. They had to stop, change direction, they're running forward. If you can hit the volley, their momentum's still going to be taking them forward. So one thing you can do that's super effective. Let's say they go down the line is you could just lob them. And now they have to stop and go back. So you're making them change direction again, very, very difficult to do. But after you hit that drop shot, stand here so you can cover all of the options your opponent might have.