The first dozen or so points of a match are the most crucial. An early lead/deficit sets the tone for the match and can be difficult to overcome.

You don’t want to give away those points because you didn’t do an effective warmup of your strokes.

“Targeting” (attacking the weaker partner) may be viewed negatively in some “friendly” rec play contexts, but it happens and in competitive play it’s just good strategy.

Here’s some things you can do to counter it.

The importance of stretching

Having “fast hands” in a volley battle at the non-volley zone line is often thought of as a measure of reflexes. Reflexes are obviously helpful, but there’s a lot more to it.