Build the Point

Good Points = Built Through a Sequence of Purposeful Decisions

Once you understand what is happening in a point, the next challenge is knowing how to use that information to create an advantage.

Build the Point is a practical workshop about point construction: how to use direction, depth, height, spin, speed, space and positioning to make your opponent uncomfortable, create opportunities and eventually finish the point.

The objective is to help players understand how and why points develop, so they can construct points according to the situation and adapt when the original plan changes.

What You'll Learn

The workshop explores practical tactical principles including:

1. Creating space: moving your opponent and recognising where the court opens.

2. Using depth: understanding how deep balls influence time, position and options.

3. Using direction: when to play cross-court, down the line or behind your opponent.

4. Changing height and spin: disrupting rhythm and creating different problems.

5. Attacking short balls: recognising when a ball gives you an opportunity.

6. Changing direction: understanding when it is safe and when it creates unnecessary risk.

7. Recovering and repositioning: preparing for the opponent's next shot.

8. Building patterns: connecting shots with a tactical purpose.

9. Finishing the point: recognising when an opportunity is real and when patience is still required.

How Do I Build the Point Towards an Advantage?

Many players think about tennis one shot at a time: Where should I hit this ball?

Better players increasingly think in sequences: If I play this ball there, what might happen next?

That shift is at the heart of Build the Point. Players learn how one decision influences the next and how to create situations in which their opponent has fewer good options.

We explore the fundamental phases of a point:

Defend → Neutralise → Create → Attack → Finish

• Defend: survive pressure and regain control

• Neutralise: remove the opponent's advantage

• Create: deliberately generate an opportunity

• Attack: exploit the opportunity

• Finish: convert the advantage into the point

Players learn to recognise these phases and, importantly, understand that they can move between them at any moment.

Create the Situation

• What do I want to create? + What did my last shot create?

• What has my opponent done in response? + What opportunity does that create for me?

• Where can I create space? + How can I move my opponent? 

• When should I attack?

• How can I build the point towards an opportunity?

Who Is It For?

Build the Point is designed for juniors, adults and competitive players who want to sharpen their understanding of the game and become more effective decision-makers on court.

Learn how to construct points, create opportunities and recognise when to attack.

08:30–09:00 | Welcome & Introduction

• Introduce the coach and the workshop's purpose

• Frame the core question: "How do I build this point?"

• Set expectations: this is about thinking on court, not just hitting shots

• Quick poll/discussion: Defend → Neutralise → Create → Attack → Finish Think of your last match. Which phase do you struggle with most?

09:00–12:00 | Session 1: Defend & Neutralise

The morning begins with the part of point construction players often overlook: how to regain control when the opponent has the advantage.

Defend

Players explore:

• Recognising when they are under pressure

• Creating time

• Using height and depth

• Playing with appropriate margin

• Recovering position

• Finding safer targets

• Turning defence into a neutral situation

Neutralise

• Players learn how to:

• Stop giving the opponent easy opportunities

• Reduce the opponent's attacking options

• Regain court position

• Reset the rally

• Recognise when the point has returned to neutral

Format

• Professional point analysis: pause points when a player is under pressure and ask: Are they defending or neutralising? What options do they have?

• Defensive scenario drills: players start in compromised positions and must find a way back to neutral.

• Height/depth challenges: players experiment with different trajectories and targets to create time.

• Neutralisation games: the objective is not immediately to win the point but to successfully turn an opponent's advantage into a neutral situation.

• When you are under pressure, the objective is not always to win the point. First, regain control.

13:00–16:00 | Session 2: Create, Attack & Finish

The afternoon moves from regaining control to creating and converting opportunities.

Create

Players learn to recognise how opportunities emerge through:

• Depth

• Direction

• Width

• Height

• Spin

• Pace

• Positioning

• Repetition and variation

• Exploiting an opponent's weakness

The key question becomes: “What can I do to make the next ball easier for me and harder for my opponent?”

Attack

Players explore:

• Recognising short balls

• Identifying compromised opponent positions

• Choosing appropriate attacking targets

• Moving forward

• Changing direction

• Taking time away

• Selecting the right level of risk

Finish

Players learn that creating an advantage and finishing a point are different skills.

We explore:

• When to go for the winner

• When another attacking shot is required

• How to close the court

• How to anticipate the opponent's response

• How to avoid giving the advantage back

Format

• Create-the-opportunity drills

• Attack-or-wait scenarios

• Short-ball challenges

• Transition exercises

• Finish-the-point games

• Three-ball and five-ball point-construction exercises

17:00–20:00 | Session 3: Build the Point Match Lab

Now the players have to put the entire framework into practice.

Part 1 — Phase Challenges

Players play points with specific starting conditions:

• Defend: opponent starts with an attacking ball.

• Neutralise: opponent has the advantage; player must regain neutral.

• Create: both players start neutral; player must deliberately create an opportunity.

• Attack: player receives an identifiable attacking opportunity.

• Finish: player must convert an established advantage.

Part 2 — Full Point Construction

Players play normal competitive points while attempting to recognise and deliberately move through the five phases:

Defend → Neutralise → Create → Attack → Finish

The coach observes whether players:

• recognise the phase they are in

• understand when to transition

• create opportunities rather than force them

• attack at appropriate moments

• finish effectively

• adapt when the opponent disrupts the pattern

Part 3 — Tactical Freeze

At selected moments, stop the point and ask:

• Which phase are you in?

• What are you trying to achieve?

• What decision will move you towards the next phase?

• Other players can propose alternative solutions.

Return to the five-phase framework:

Defend → Neutralise → Create → Attack → Finish

• Which phase is strongest in your game?

• Which phase causes you the most problems?

• Do you attack before creating an opportunity?

• Do you stay neutral when you should attack?

• Do you know when you have successfully neutralised?

• When you create an advantage, can you finish it?

Defend when you must. Neutralise when you need to. Create the opportunity. Attack with purpose. Finish with conviction.

*** Including lunch and breaks

Understand the phases. Finish the point.