| Platform Tennis | |
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Platform tennis is vigorous enough to keep most players comfortably warm at temperatures as low as 15 degrees. The smaller area and complete enclosure make loose balls quicker to get than in tennis, so you waste less time between points. Having so little net to cover also encourages serve-and-volley and thus a lot of sprinting forward. When you get to net, the off-the-walls rule gives your opponent a better chance to retrieve your volleys and overheads, so points last longer than they would in tennis, where it's rare for a player to hit more than two shots at net in any one point.
Getting to net is the single best strategy in platform. Once you get there, you should play much closer than you would in tennis, almost in the first quarter of the service box. From there, you can hit delicate drop volleys and acute angles more easily, and the shortness of the court allows you less concern over lobs.
Finesse and placement fare better than power. Hitting hard has its place, but it can backfire by giving your opponent a better chance to retrieve off the screens. You can use backspin and topspin, but it's harder to get the paddle to bite into the ball. Heavy topspin hitters from tennis often find at first that they can't get enough lift to clear the net because they don't have strings to grab the ball and pull it up. Backspin is a little easier, because you're tilting the paddle upward anyway.
So, will platform ruin your tennis? For most people, I think not. Unlike in racquetball, you won't be encouraged to use your wrist; it would hurt if you did. Your platform swing might be flatter than your tennis swing, but you'd have to play much more platform than tennis to have your paddle-swinging instincts overwhelm how you handle a racquet. The two are different enough that you should be able to keep them separate. If any tennis players might find platform altering their tennis strokes, they would probably be those used to the heavy Western styles.
For the complete rules and history of platform tennis, visit the American Platform Tennis Association.
I'm hoping to hear from the platform tennis players scattered around the globe. Please stop by the forum discussion that I opened up for us winter ball chasers.
