In addition to dividing the court horizontally, fundamental tennis singles strategy also requires an understanding of how to divide the court vertically in order to make better decisions during a baseline rally.

The singles court is 27 feet wide. In your mind, divide the court equally into 9 foot alleys or runways between the sidelines as illustrated in the diagram below.

1. Outer Third

As a general rule, if your feet are behind the baseline in the outer third of the court during a crosscourt rally, your primary objective is to keep the ball deep, crosscourt until a condition exists to justify changing direction of the ball, hitting an offensive shot or hitting a higher risk shot.

For example, recognizing that your opponent is off balance or out of position might trigger an offensive or higher risk shot on your part.

2. Middle Third

Being set up and on balance in the center of the court gives you license to drive the ball to either corner of your opponent’s court.

3. Defense by Position

If you extend the singles sideline in your mind and find yourself beyond the outer third of the court (behind the doubles alley), you are on defense by position because your court is exposed and you’re vulnerable to your opponent’s offense. You must take your position into consideration when choosing your return shot in this situation.

Your shot selection in this situation will be determined by your skill level but generally your objective is to hit the ball deep, crosscourt to the outer third, higher over the net and with heavier topspin (an advanced skill). Adding height to your shot will give you time to recover your position and get on balance.

I hope this explanation of how dividing the court vertically can help you make better shot selections during a baseline rally.