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Tennis · Level 6: Advanced · Sub-level 6.1

Shot Selection and Percentage Tennis

4 tests · 40 facts · updated 12 October 2026 · markdown

Why some shots succeed more often than others: margins for error, the height of contact, what the match statistics say, and how much patience a rally needs.

Each test below is ten questions on Insporta. The list under a test is what the questions check: one fact per question, with the source it was written from. Read it before the test, or come back from a wrong answer.

Test 1Margins for errorTake a test

  1. Height over the net is margin: a higher arc forgives a mistimed swing and usually carries the ball deeper.

    Source: General coaching reference (shot selection) · recall

  2. Fatigue widens the spread of a player's shots; a larger target keeps more of that spread inside the court.

    Source: General coaching reference (shot selection) · applied

  3. An opponent may play a ball that was going long, or misjudge it; a ball in the net gives them nothing to get wrong.

    Source: General coaching reference (shot selection) · recall

  4. Without topspin pulling it down, a flat ball must travel lower to land in, which leaves less room over the net and inside the baseline.

    Source: General coaching reference (shot selection) · recall

  5. Playing within yourself means choosing pace and targets you can repeat, so errors stay low.

    Source: General coaching reference (shot selection) · recall

  6. Missing three in ten when relaxed means missing more under pressure; a bigger target keeps the success rate up.

    Source: General coaching reference (shot selection) · applied

  7. A ball that arrives at a comfortable height and position allows risk; a difficult ball calls for margin.

    Source: General coaching reference (shot selection) · recall

  8. The further a target sits from the lines, the more a small error is forgiven.

    Source: General coaching reference (shot selection) · recall

  9. The ball and the position decide the risk, and the risk decides the target.

    Source: General coaching reference (shot selection) · applied

  10. A lands well inside both lines, so a small error would still have been in; B had no room at all.

    Source: General coaching reference (shot selection) · applied

Test 2Contact height and the strike zoneTake a test

  1. From below the tape the ball must rise to clear the net, so the player cannot drive it down into the court.

    Source: General coaching reference (shot selection) · recall

  2. At waist height in front of the body a player can swing freely and drive the ball with control.

    Source: General coaching reference (shot selection) · recall

  3. An open face naturally lifts a low ball, and the backspin keeps it under control.

    Source: General coaching reference (shot selection) · recall

  4. Moving in or back brings the contact nearer the comfortable zone instead of fighting a ball at the shoulder.

    Source: General coaching reference (shot selection) · applied

  5. The rising ball arrives sooner and changes height quickly, so timing becomes harder.

    Source: General coaching reference (shot selection) · recall

  6. Close in, a ball can be met above net height and driven downward; from deep it must arc up and over.

    Source: General coaching reference (shot selection) · recall

  7. A ball at the feet gives no room to attack; a deep, safe reply keeps the point neutral.

    Source: General coaching reference (shot selection) · applied

  8. The lower the contact, the more the ball must be lifted, and the less it can be attacked.

    Source: General coaching reference (shot selection) · recall

  9. The read comes first, then getting low, a safe lift, and the next position.

    Source: General coaching reference (shot selection) · applied

  10. Waist height in front of the body is the strike zone; low and very high balls need more care.

    Source: General coaching reference (shot selection) · applied

Test 3Reading match statisticsTake a test

  1. A forced error comes from pressure: the opponent's shot made the ball hard to return.

    Source: General coaching reference (shot selection) · recall

  2. When unforced errors clearly outnumber winners, the player is handing over points; usually less risk helps.

    Source: General coaching reference (shot selection) · applied

  3. The second serve is usually the weaker one, so winning points behind it is a sign of a solid service game.

    Source: General coaching reference (shot selection) · recall

  4. Saving many break points means the server plays well under the most pressure in a service game.

    Source: General coaching reference (shot selection) · recall

  5. Hold percentage is service games won divided by service games played.

    Source: General coaching reference (shot selection) · recall

  6. If one player wins most short points and the other most long ones, each knows which kind of point to aim for.

    Source: General coaching reference (shot selection) · recall

  7. A player who wins the short points should try to keep points short with strong first shots.

    Source: General coaching reference (shot selection) · applied

  8. A break to love beats a break at deuce, which beats taking the game to deuce and losing it, which in turn beats losing the game to love.

    Source: General coaching reference (shot selection) · applied

  9. Charting starts with a clear list of what to count and ends with lessons for the next match.

    Source: General coaching reference (shot selection) · recall

  10. In set 1 winners outnumber unforced errors; in set 2 the errors are about double the winners.

    Source: General coaching reference (shot selection) · applied

Test 4Patience and shot toleranceTake a test

  1. Shot tolerance is a player's ability to keep hitting reliable rally balls; the more they can, the more the opponent must risk.

    Source: General coaching reference (shot selection) · recall

  2. If the ball keeps coming back, the opponent has to aim closer to the lines, and errors follow.

    Source: General coaching reference (shot selection) · recall

  3. A long neutral rally is no reason to attack; the right ball to attack is the one that lands short.

    Source: General coaching reference (shot selection) · applied

  4. Attacking a deep or difficult ball is a low-percentage choice, so the impatient player errs first.

    Source: General coaching reference (shot selection) · recall

  5. The set-up shot does not try to win the point; it creates the ball that will.

    Source: General coaching reference (shot selection) · recall

  6. Off balance and at full stretch, a player cannot control an aggressive shot well.

    Source: General coaching reference (shot selection) · recall

  7. A balanced opponent behind the baseline has not been pressured yet, so the rally stays neutral.

    Source: General coaching reference (shot selection) · applied

  8. A point is usually built from neutral balls to a set-up and then a finish.

    Source: General coaching reference (shot selection) · recall

  9. The more good balls a player can sustain, and under more pressure, the higher their shot tolerance.

    Source: General coaching reference (shot selection) · applied

  10. Shot 2 moves the opponent wide and creates the space that shot 3 finishes into.

    Source: General coaching reference (shot selection) · applied

Sources

ITF coach-education materials, ITF Coaching & Sport Science Review, federation curricula, general coaching references; original questions authored, nothing reproduced. Numbered ITF rules belong to the Rules category.

  • General coaching reference (shot selection)40