Tips for better offline training

[Holger]

Enjoying my time on ITST so far. Sometimes I want to play at times when there are not a whole lot of matches to be found online, so I'm wondering if anyone has any tips on how to train better offline: which players should I be playing against, what surfaces, etc. I currently have good matches with incredible 2 opponents, although I struggle a bit on serve (sometimes those returns...damn.) Returning isn't as bad, usually getting plenty of break chances and winning 40-45%of points. I'd appreciate any insight.

[Uchiha Muss]

Yeah the AI's return game is so powerful. There isn't a lot I can do against that either.. Most of the time I can barely make a step before the ball is already past me. Honestly I find it easier to break their serve than holding my own. It helps that I know how to use the auto-pos trick to return so I have the most chance of putting the ball back in play.

Every player is different thanks to their play style, height, forehand backhand difference.
For me personally varied and volley style players are the easiest to play against. They rush the net a lot and all it takes is one guess to hit a winner or draw an error. Puncher style is mixed, if the player has one massive weakness it's so much easier to exploit, e.g. federer's backhand, nishikor's net play. Defender style players are the ones who give me the most trouble. First of all they all have high top spin stats which makes it very hard to play close to the baseline and cut their recovery time. Secondly defender style barely comes to the net so no easy points from passing shots. Every point has to be earned and when I'm the one who's playing aggressive and going to the net defender style has the best passing shots. It helps that defender style can charge strikes the fastest compared to other styles so no surprise that I get beaten a lot by defender style.

If I have to pick one player to play with it's Jurgen Melzer. He has both great forehand that attack's right hander's generally weak backhand and his backhand is even better than that. I win a lot more when I play with him.

Clay is the best surface if you're practicing movement. Pick someone like dolgopolov, istomin, nishikori for opponent, players with low top spin so you can move around without having to worry about insane moonballs from AI.

Try messing around with camera angles, ball size. Keep your focus on the ball and AI's striking animation if you can, it helps to time your movement better.