How to Beat a Moonballer

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In today's tennis lesson I teach you how to beat the dreaded moonballer.

0:00 Six minute moonball rally
0:21 Why it is tough to beat moonballers?
1:47 Should you become a moonballer?
2:30 How to beat a moonballer?
3:04 Timing
6:48 Intensity
8:01 Shot selection
9:35 Coming to the net
10:07 Swing volleys
10:38 Moonball backhands
12:53 What to do vs really good moonballers?

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#intuitivetennis #moonball

[Wj]

Played with a moonballer first time ever and lost bad. The frustration and anger built up is real especially you have better technique and seemingly more experienced. Your mind would be like man how can I be losing to this person. And that is going to kill you internally. Patience and just controlled shot back is the key I think. Still burns to this day thinking about it

[CelticGunner]

I think it's a valuable experience to play moonballers, especially the ones that have the odd bit of aggression & variety to their game. Great test of your fundamentals & consistency.

[jz]

I just had my first match against pusher and moonballer last night, with 2 and half hours only completed two sets. I had my opportunity of finishing winning both sets, but failed in one set. It is exhausting, and physically demanding to play a match against your intuition and generate all the pace by yourself, and frustrated by the unforced errors when you don't have the patience... Need to do another set in a few days, will definitely utilize the strategy learned here today and see if I can implement it with confidence.

[interested]

I'm 90 seconds in to this video and I've seen enough moonballs already to send me into a deep depression and convince me to quit tennis forever. I really wanted to watch this video and learn to combat the moonballer. But now I realize I'm so emotionally drained and damaged that I can't even lay eyes on a moonball without looking for alcohol and drugs and perhaps something stronger.

[nvn]

Slice shots pretty effective against moonballers. Fact are they don’t like to come up to the net much, so slices will force them to cover the net and higher percentage shot for you

[whodefan]

I got into a moonball rally once in doubles. I switched to a full-western grip and got underneath the ball and gave it a ton of topspin and super-super high. The ball bounced and cleared the fence for a winner.

[pakchu]

The title should read How to Beat a Moonballer Eventually After a Ton of Practice. If you're losing to a moonballer today, unless it's razor close, chances are no matter what you do in your next match, you will still lose. I think the two most important tips Nik gives here are maintain patience and keeping the high ball out in front.

[clintonsmurf]

I played a tournament and got to the quarters. I won first set, but after that the guy totally changed tactics and started moonballing with varying height. Some so high that it would probably hit ceiling of an indoor court. It totally messed up my rhythm and I lost the next two sets. But after that I learned how to handle it. Usually now before playing I hit against a wall to practice hitting high balls, swinging volleys, and overhead smashes. 70-80% practice are these shots. It totally helps before playing various people at rec level. Have to practice the most uncomfortable shots, and also when people give moon balls you need to reframe in your mind to think “yes this is what I want to get for practice” rather than “oh man I hate these”. Look forward to getting them

[Shaunsweeney-Kubach]

I am short and I am able to overheads and I was taught as a younger person I learned how to hit the ball in the air! Great job on the video Coach Nick!

[HeavyTopspin]

The one issue that most true moonballers have is that they will generally stay behind the baseline and never try to take the opponent's ball early. I personally have always hit with a lot of topspin (think old school eastern grip 80s style), so my topspin lobs usually wind up hitting the back wall or fence at well above head level. Usually after a couple of those, the moonballing stops - and if it doesn't, I've got the key to victory right there. So... yeah, learn a good topspin lob, since they're also a great weapon against normal players.

[Mavert]

Thank God I passed this phase 2 years ago. I was big hitter with very low net approach, and I was struggling too - you just need to become better at net game and power strokes selection strategy. I’ve seen people (mostly big hitters) in other courts struggling with moonballers and I always laugh. But I believe you need sometimes these type of players to see where you are and improve your overall game. But yeah I get it 😂

[ianbuick]

Nick is very accurate about he timing and intensity. Here is another perspective on instruction that may make sense to other people:
Step 1: Change your grip. Don't bother if you still have continental grip. Difficult with eastern grip but if you're tall guy go for it. Semi-western and western is the best if you want to contact around head level high.
Step 2: Keep the left hand (aiming hand) out at 2 o'clock as long as you can, then move in position. Expect your racket with go vertical, don't force it.
Step 3: Don't take racket too far back...yet. Try 3 o'clock then 4 then 5. Incoming ball still has some pace if you take it on the rise, you are closer to the service line plus taking time from opponent so no need for power like groundstroke. You feel like you don't have power at first but clean contact is crucial because everytime you miss shot like this you will mentally be scared and go back to the old way. I've been there, done that.
Step 4: Keep your head still to the right if you're right handed. I learned the hard way that i move my head tiny bit early, i shank the ball.
Step 5: Like Nick said, aim big. Get ready to do it again. This is a high level shot and require constant practice.

[ddw]

Some of the most difficult players are moonballers with a weapon. They get you into a moonball rally and then you drop it short and then they kill the ball.

[kleinestennis]

Thank you for using my moonball rallye as inspiration for this video!

[hayesmaker]

Great stuff.. it was after losing 6-0, 6-0 to a moon baller a few years back that got me searching for videos on how to beat them - that I came across your channel! Looking forward to the 1 handed backhand tutorials

[brycehuff]

Great video! These were the players who constantly beat me when I played in high school until I started practicing my high backhands.

[robcarter]

Used to play one team that did nothing but moon ball and it was very effective. They would try to moon ball every shot including serves. Thanks for the video

[parkmacdougald]

Hey Nick, on the one-hander, I'd recommend moving to an open stance and pushing off the back foot to deal with moonballs. Conventional wisdom is to always try to hit a one-hander out of a closed stance, but I've seen both Thiem and Tsitsipas adopt the open stance to deal with high balls, with good success in Thiem's case and decent success in Stef's. Makes it a bit easier to swing low-to-high with a high contact point since the front shoulder doesn't inhibit the upward movement of the racquet as much.

[domclarke]

Great video as always!
Concentration and fitness is key against the moonballers.
Don't get impatient and force a shot, you're better waiting for that short ball, it will come.
Lots of footwork will make you tired, but don't get lazy as you'll miss.

[nglfmark]

The dreaded moon ballers. Great video for "real" life situations. I'm facing these "players" more and more and it really is draining and depressing playing "tennis" this way.