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ground stroke

ground stroke

1 3.5
A tennis hit made after the ball bounces once on the court
  • noun
  • Jargon
translation icon : golpe de fondo
  • During the lesson, the coach emphasized the importance of a strong ground stroke in tennis.

Examples

  • I have to work on my ground stroke.

  • We shall look forward to giving you a peek at our ground strokes.

  • To improve my game, I need to practice my ground stroke more often during matches.

  • Her powerful ground stroke made it difficult for her opponent to return the ball.

Antonyms

volley
  • Specialized
6 3.5

A shot hit before the ball touches the ground in tennis

How Soft

drop shot
  • Specialized
1 3.8
ground stroke
  • Jargon
1 3.5
drive
50 5.1

Surface Forms

ground stroke singular

Morphology

ground + stroke

The compound combines 'ground' (the court/earth) and 'stroke' (a hit), so the general idea of a hit related to the ground/bounce is compositional and accessible to learners who know the parts. However, the precise tennis-specific sense — a shot played after the ball has bounced once — is a technical extension not automatically predictable from the constituents alone, making it only partially transparent to a B1 learner.

Etymology

Ground stroke: The tennis term ground stroke comes from the simple image of hitting the ball after it bounces on the ground, while a stroke means a hit. So, it now means 'a hit made after the ball bounces'.