Coaching tip of the week: Punish Passivity
(By Larry Hodges)

If you play an opponent who plays passively, he’s basically daring you to take your best shot. Take the dare! But first – what is your best shot? The problem passive players face is that a good tactical thinker knows what his best shot is against this player, how to get it into play (often with serve and receive), and where it should go. Players like this terrorize passive players. But many players simply haven’t thought it through tactically, and so fall victim to these passive players, whose main strength is they let you beat yourself. So rather than beat yourself, think it through, decide what serves, receives, and shots will beat this player, and best him instead!

If he can still beat you, then he’s just a stronger player. So . . . what should you do? The same tactical thinking; figure out what serves, receives, and shots you need to improve so you can beat this player. Then practice them and use them until you are good at them.