How to Introduce Tennis Strategy to Junior Players: A Coach's Guide to Using Strategy in Every Session

By Paul Dale | The 3AM Method

Strategy Is Not an Add-On

Playing tennis is a little like driving a car. The engine drives you forward, but without a way to change gears or steer, you can't use the car with any real purpose.

Many young players develop their game almost entirely around the engine: strokes, fitness, and hitting the ball hard. This is especially common in the women's game, where so many players rely on how hard they can strike the ball. The players who catch my eye at tournaments are different. They can switch from offence to defence, and they understand which shot the situation needs and which direction to send it.

Players should be developed to know how to hit the ball, but also to understand the 'when and why' 

So my starting point is simple. Strategy should be part of every junior player's development from the beginning. It belongs alongside strokes and fitness, and it should start as early as possible.

"Strokes are the engine. Strategy is the gearbox and the steering. A player with only an engine goes fast, but nowhere in particular." (Paul Dale)

Why Teaching Tennis Strategy to Juniors Often Goes Wrong

Most coaches I've worked with are passionate and technically very knowledgeable. Where many of us struggle, and I include my younger self here, is in having a clear set of basic strategic concepts to teach from.

Without that foundation, strategy lessons become a collection of tips. "Hit to the backhand." "Be more aggressive." Each tip may be sensible, but with no framework connecting them, the message isn't always coherent.

Young players need a simple way of reading the point that works against any opponent, on any surface. Two frameworks give them that. The DNO Theory tells a player which shot to play. The Directionals give their shot selection a purpose.

Strategy Gives Technique Its Purpose

Competitive players spend most of their training hours on technique and fitness. That work is essential. But without strategic work alongside it, a player often doesn't understand why they're being asked to do certain technical things.

Players should understand the relationship between what they are learning and how it will improve their performance in real match-play

Strategy provides that context. When a player understands the situation a shot is built for, the technique suddenly makes sense:

• Why develop a kick serve? Because height disrupts the returner and creates inside feet for the next ball.
• Why work on stepping into the court? Because inside feet create offensive opportunities
• Why train heavy, deep crosscourt topspin? Because dominating the crosscourt exchange is how a player builds pressure without taking risks.
• Why practise the lob and the defensive slice? Because the job on Defence is to neutralise, not to hit a winner.
• Why spend time on low volleys? Because a low ball at the net is a Neutral situation, and the rule in Neutral is to stay safe and avoid errors.

A player who knows why they're practising something practises it with more intention. And when they get to a match, the technique has somewhere to go. Strategic and technical training shouldn't be separate sessions with separate languages. Each should explain the other.

"Technique without strategy is a tool without a job. Give the player the job, and the tool starts to make sense." (Paul Dale)

What Is the DNO Theory in Tennis?

The DNO Theory is a match-play theory made famous by Master Professional Peter Burwash, and it sits at the heart of how The 3AM Method teaches strategy. At any moment in a point, a player is in one of three situations: Defence, Neutral or Offence. Two criteria, checked at the moment of contact, decide which one it is.

• Feet position. Feet inside the baseline means offence. Feet behind the baseline means Defence.
• Contact height. Contact above the white band of the net means offence. Contact below the white band means Defence.
• Neutral is where the two disagree. That could be inside feet with a low ball, such as a low approach or low volley. It could also be feet behind the baseline with a high ball, such as a looped rally ball.

Feet and height. A ten-year-old can learn it in one session, and a professional can use it for a whole career.

Players must learn the importance of correct shot selection when developing their game

The DNOW Rules

I teach players a simple progression, where the W stands for Winner:

• After D, your goal is N.
• After N, your goal is O.
• After O, your goal is W: hit a winner.

I also insist on three fundamentals:

1. The purpose of the serve is to create inside feet for the second shot.
2. Never make mistakes in Neutral.
3. Neutralise from Defence. Never try to hit a winner from Defence.

What Are The Directionals in Tennis?

Players require an understanding of correct shot selection in order to succeed in matches

DNO tells a player what kind of shot to play. The Directionals, developed by Paul Wardlaw as a high-percentage shot selection template, tell them where to send it (target). Judge the incoming ball against the line of the player's shoulders.

• The Outside Ball. This is a crosscourt ball that travels past the player's outside shoulder. The high-percentage reply is crosscourt. It's the best way to build offence and defend under pressure at the baseline.
• The Inside Ball. This ball doesn't reach the outer shoulder. It's the best ball to change direction on and to create effective offence.
• The 90-Degree Ball. This is the down-the-line ball, crossing the far baseline at 90 degrees. It's used mainly to outmanoeuvre the opponent.

The positional rules are simple. At the baseline, dominate the crosscourt exchanges. At the net, volley mainly down the line.

Put DNO and The Directionals together, and junior players schooled in these two principles make great decisions and seem to have all the time in the world - the replies are predetermined.

Two First Lessons for a Junior Strategy Programme

The Serve Is About Feet

Ask young players what the serve is for, and most will say "to get it in" or "to hit an ace." In DNO terms, the serve has one clear job: to create inside feet for the next ball, so the server can attack immediately.

In DNO terms, the serve has one clear job: to create inside feet for the next ball,
so the server can attack immediately.

Even a young player has three tools to disrupt the returner:

• Speed: mixing pace to upset the returner's timing.
• Direction: serving wide, into the body or down the T.
• Height: varying the bounce to take the returner out of their comfort zone.

An uncomfortable returner gives a short, weak reply. The server steps inside the baseline, makes contact above the white band, and is on offence from the second shot. That weak return is often an Inside Ball, meaning you can attack to either side effectively.

Give the Rally a Purpose

Many juniors rally the way they practise: back and forth, waiting for something to happen. Most baseline rallies are Neutral, and the rule in Neutral is clear: make no mistakes and work to create an O.

They dominate crosscourt. Outside Balls go back crosscourt, which is the high-percentage choice. Consistent depth and pace crosscourt push the opponent behind the baseline. Sooner or later, the stressed opponent gives a shorter reply that doesn't reach the outer shoulder: an Inside Ball. That's the moment to step inside, make contact above the white band, and change direction. Neutral has become offence.

Coach Action

• Teach the language first. Players should know the terms "D", "N" and "O", then "Outside", "Inside" and "90".
• Link every technical drill to a situation. Link all technical work and drills to a strategy involving the DNO theory and the Directionals.
• Score the serve plus one. Play points where you award a bonus point when the server's second shot is played with inside feet.
• Play crosscourt dominance games. Players may change direction only when they've earned an Inside Ball.
• Remove low-percentage options. Identify one low-percentage choice in each player's game and train it out.

Working with competitive tennis players on match strategy is very much a collaborative effort between coaches and players

Player Action

• Build Awareness. Where were your feet, and was the ball above or below the white band?
• Stick to the rules to become comfortable. Was it an Outside Ball or an Inside Ball?
• Follow the DNO rules. Neutralise from Defence, build from Neutral, finish from offence.
• Serve to earn inside feet, not just to start the point.
• Change direction on Inside Balls, not Outside Balls.

Start to develop the strategic part of your students' games, and you'll begin to see a big change in composure during matches.