Weapons are used to challenge an opponent or put him in immediate trouble with a given shot during a point. Therefore, learning how to develop and hone weapons is an important part of improving a player’s game. It should be noted that weapons do not necessarily have to be limited to specific shots, but can be some of the intangibles within the game such as speed, movement, footwork, touch or even mental toughness. It must, however, be something a player can and will use most often in the course of a point or match. Developing a weapon allows a player to add one or more elements to his game that gives him an edge over his opponent in a certain area or shot.

In today’s professional game, it’s not enough to just have one weapon. A player needs multiple weapons in order to achieve the goal of putting the opponent in trouble before the opponent can do the same to him. For example, if a player has a big serve and is playing an opponent who returns well, he cannot rely solely on his serve to get him through the match. He will have to rely on another shot as well after the serve is returned.

The first step in developing a weapon is to evaluate the player and build a weapon around his strengths and most promising attributes. If the player is tall, then he should focus on the serve and an attacking game. Then the player should use practice time to consistently and repetitively hit a shot or shots with a specific goal in mind. Of course, this will take time and requires more than just regular practice time to perfect and fine-tune it. Due to the fact that it is a weapon, additional time, effort and attention needs to be given to its development.