Orange Ball Tactical Fundamentals

On the last article in this series of “tactical thinking”, we talked about the key tactical ideas to develop during the Red Ball Stage. We mentioned three fundamental ideas in that particular stage: “Out-rally” (consistency), “Move your Opponent” and “Finish at the Net” (especially from a short ball). How these progress into the Orange Ball stage and what new tactical ideas we can start introducing will be this article’s topic.

The first change the kids face when moving from Red to Orange is the change of court size. Red ball courts were so small it was mostly a matter of mastering the use of the space laterally from left to right. In Orange Ball, the court is deeper; understanding how to use the space from deep to short and mastering the transition from baseline to net becomes a fundamental focus of this stage.

We have to keep in mind, once players move to a full court (Green/Yellow), they’ll probably be undersized; finishing at the net will become much harder. That is why those skills and tactics related to finishing at the net have to be assimilated in Orange Ball stage. In our Centercourt programs, when we move players from Orange to Green, we always recommend them to keep playing Orange Ball tournaments as long as they are allowed by age; we encourage them to focus on winning points at the net and develop these skills while playing them.

All the technical elements related to those tactics are imperative at this stage: continental grip skills, slices and chips, volleys… at the same time, developing a full swing in both forehand and backhand with good amount of spin is also a crucial goal to achieve in this stage.

Check the table below to see the key tactical, technical and physical skills needed at orange ball.

Winning by being more consistent than the opponent (Out-rally):

This is a fundamental tactic we have to keep developing throughout the whole career. The main difference when transitioning from Red Ball to Orange is that the court is larger, and the net is higher. Technical elements will have to be added to master this tactic in Orange; top-spin and stances will become more relevant if they want to rally with quality in this stage.

New ideas like “margin over the net” have to be introduced. The relationship between “margin” and depth is very important to understand: the higher I hit over the net, the more chances it has to be deep. In this regard, I like to set games where a miss at the net is penalized heavier than a miss anywhere else.

Winning by using the width of the court (move your opponent):

This tactic is also a tactic introduced in red ball. While in Red we simplify the concept in basically “finding the open space”; in Orange Ball we should start to introduce the basic rally targets Cross-Court and Down the Line and how patterns using both can be used to move your opponent. Having a full swing in both forehand and backhand with good control over the amount of spin is essential. The goal for top orange ball players is to be able to control the pattern cross-court to down the line within a rally. Any game that promotes a change of direction is a good practice for this level.

Winning at the net (transition and Finish at the Net):

In Red Ball we talked about having to be able to finish at the net from attacking a short ball. In Orange Ball we have to expand the intentions and variations of finishing at the net. Being a deeper court, the usefulness of a short volley increases, making it a very effective way to win points.

→Approaching from a short ball

→Sneak in volley

→Serve and volley

They are all useful ideas in Orange Ball. Our players should learn to love the net during the Orange Ball stage! It is a crucial area of development; once they move to full court, the effectiveness of finishing at the net will drop drastically. On a full court, passing shots and lobs are very effective due to being undersized at the net; it will become difficult to assimilate and integrate net tactics at that stage if they are not already familiar and conformable at the net while in Orange Ball. Games that promote finishing at the net have to be a core part of your Orange Ball programs.

Winning using the depth of the court (from deep to short, dropshot):

Drop shots plus passing shot or lob start to be useful due to the increase of court size. This tactic will be fully realized on Green Ball stage, but they have to start understanding how to use the depth with the drop shot.

In conclusion, make sure your players develop a full swing by this stage; many times, our players can get away by chipping and pushing the ball in Red Ball. At the same time, Orange Ball is a key stage to develop the net game; net skills have to be acquired before being undersized at the net in Green Ball.

Always remember, a main purpose of using soft balls is to allow the kids to develop a tactical mind. When I prepare the curriculum for the term, I always like to start the first few weeks consolidating technical fundamentals and finish the term with a few weeks of tactical fundamentals. Make sure your programs include tactical work from Red and Orange to the highest of the stages.