Mana Games

[CC]

ManuTOO,

I wasn't sure where to post this -- Online Games, TE - Bug Report, or here --, as it really applies to the game as a whole but is maybe a bug that is primarily used in online games.

Some players are purposefully moving into a strike position such that visually the ball strike is with the handle of the racket. This results in a very dead shot that pretty much just clears the net and hardly rises after the bounce. Also, it doesn't have much displacement from where it bounces first to where it bounces the second time (assuming it isn't returned). In my last match where someone used this, the strategy seemed to be to serve well and then to use this shot, since the returner probably was a bit back to return the ball; it is hard to get to this ball after a return, as it is so short and deceptive (not like a drop shot as it appears to be coming toward you).

You can see the use of this shot in the attached recording. My opponent served well the first game but used this shot pretty much every time after the serve . After the first game, which he won, I won the second game quickly. Then, in his second service game, he used this shot again on both of his strikes of the first point of this game. You can see how he moved so close to the ball to create this effect. After he won that point, I decided to try to put an end to this and completely changed my game . When you watch the replay, you can see that this was no accident -- hitting with the racket handle. After I changed my tactic, he started trying other shots, and on many of those strikes you can see that he moved precisely into the correct position (green-corner) and was even able to do this with running rallies -- no more being too close to the ball. His serve was also pretty good. My point is that this racket-handle strike was intentional.

I'm not opposed to there being shot effects such as this in the game, but I think that they should have to be hit properly. It seems like a bug in the game that would result in such an effective shot when the player is far too close to the ball and hits the ball with the racket handle. In real tennis, I don't think that this would produce this type of shot or a winner so often. What do you think?

2009-06-08.07-48 - CC vs R.Bal 6-1.dmo

[manutoo]

It's not a bug, it's a feature..!

The normal strike is shorter & slower when hit off center... Which gives a pretty easy ball to attack, if u don't stand too far from the baseline. BTW, on grass, u should stand a lot closer of it than on clay...

In the replay, this player doesn't take any decisive advantage from this strike... It's a bit like being on a real court and complaining that ur opponent doesn't hit properly the ball and make it too short, so u can't play well...

[adner]

Personally I have no troubles with dealing with this strike, but I understand you. Maybe there should be a bigger chance of this shot going in the net, after all its not centered

[CC]

OK. Those are good points. You are right -- on the real court, sometimes I hit the ball improperly and create a lucky shot that my opponent has difficulty returning.

However, I don't see how this is any more legitimate than the angled drop shot that you took away, where the ball would clip the net and roll over. If players didn't stand too far from the baseline, they could have returned that shot, also (maybe with more difficulty ). But, that shot was much harder to create and involved much more risk to the hitter (as it was just difficult to hit properly to create the net clip) than this shot is.

Really, though, this post had nothing to do with that drop shot. I just thought that TE2009 was supposed to be more realistic than previous versions and require proper positioning for effective shots. There is supposed to be greater risk (of the ball not clearing the net or whatever) when the hitter is too close to the ball or in the red zone. Here, the risk seems to be that the returner will be able to hit a winner easily if they can reach the ball in time; but if not, the hitter wins the point and has little risk of hitting an error.

I disagree about there not being decisive advantage. Why do you think he used the shot on all of his first-game shots and continued to use it in his second service game until I changed things? He used it because it worked. I guess you mean that it is an advantage only if I am slow to react and stand too far behind the baseline. But he was using it decisively (he knew what he was doing).

[manutoo]

CC, the drop shot touching was unreachable except if we were standing inside the court, that's absolutely not the same with this strike.
You just have to stand in the correct position. And even if u're a bit far, if u have enough reflexes, u should still have time to reach it.
It'd be a decisive advantage if it was forcing u to stand in a place where u'd be in great danger against the acceleration (or the topspin or any other strike), which isn't the case...