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Here we are going to look at when you might play a drop from the back, and where you might aim to put it. In this example, Jonathan Kemp has a ball which is a little loose from the wall. He’s very well balanced and decides that it’s a good time to take it short with a drop from the back. He plays it nicely and puts James Willstrop under some pressure. On this occasion though Willstrop recovers with a good width.

Here’s an example where Willstrop has a bit of extra  width. This leaves Willstrop with the option of aiming for the ball to hit the side wall first which will get the ball to die quickly if played accurately and low, or to try to put it tight to the sidewall like Kemp did. I’m not sure which he was trying, but doesn’t work. The ball comes off the side wall for Kemp and he has a bit of space to swing the racket and punish Willstrop. This is the danger of aiming for the sidewall, or the nick.

Contrast that with this one. Here he has time, he’s nice and balanced  and he gets the ball to bounce on the floor and then continue onto the side wall. Kemp is forced to try to get the ball off the side wall, and simply can’t – it’s too good.