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The French Open is being contested on very slow red clay in Paris for the next two weeks, then the tour moves to England for the grass court circuit. Unlike hard court tennis or indoor tennis — which most of us have had more exposure to as fans and players — the natural surfaces reward disguise and touch at the same level they do raw power.

If you watch carefully, you will see Rafael Nadal, who most consider a power baseliner, utilize the drop shot and stop volley to perfection. The threat he poses to rip the ball fiercely into the deep corners of the court on virtually every ball presented to him make his drop shot deadly.

He moves to the shot with his standard racket preparation and violence-threatening demeanor, then in less than a heartbeat changes his grip to get the bottom edge of the racket into the lead of the stroke and slides the strings across and under the ball to the dismay of the unsuspecting opponent.

That combination of power and touch are learned naturally by players who learn on the slow clay and grass court surfaces. The ability to deceive and surprise the opposition is an art form that is never fully developed — or perhaps never even broached by players learning their tennis on hard courts.

On hard courts, even the most deviously shrouded attempt at the drop shot doesn’t produce the desired result because when the ball bounces, it sits up like a trained dog and then, boom, is dealt with harshly by the opponent.

If you, like I do, play most or all of your tennis on Har Tru courts, once your fundamental skill set is solidly established, set aside time to add the deadly drop shot to your repertoire.

Your opponents will despise you for it.

Howie Burnett is a member of the United States Professional Tennis Association and tennis director at the Island Country Club on Marco Island. Burnett welcomes questions on strokes, tactics or etiquette. To reach him, call the tennis shop at 394-4464 or e-mail him at islandclubtennis@hotmail.com