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Here is an example of a player assessing their options and playing a shot that reflects their situation in the rally.

In this case Emma Beddoes has been caught out by a good two wall boast by Emily Whitlock. At this stage here she knows that she is in trouble and puts in a huge lunge knowing that she can't control her body weight on her front foot and push back to the T. Instead she steps through away from the T leaving her out of position. Any accurate shot hit quickly to the forehand side of the court will leave her stranded!

She has got two options out of this situation. Firstly to defend the ball as in this example ensuring that Whitlock cannot take it early giving herself time to recover. She chooses not to do this though possibly because she feels she can't get under the ball enough well enough to play decent lob.

What she does instead is a calculated risk! She plays a drop and knows it must be good enough to prevent Whitlock attacking it. Effectively it has to be so good that it is a winner or at least a near winner. So it is 'all in' for Beddoes. It has to be really low and tight or it's curtains.

And she nails it! Whitlock can only scrape it off leaving an easy put away for Beddoes.. exactly what she feared Whitlock might do to her. So the lesson here is that in certain situations, when you are out of position and in trouble, to go for broke can be the best option but it does come with a risk!