Drop shot is just one of the many shots that can be mastered.
I love watching them as they generally end a point in a spectacular way whether the other player manages to chase it or not.
Another one that people go on about is the "soft hands" , esp Mac as he had them so I suppose just tries to get a bit of reflected glory.

If I was to give myself two gifts as a tennis playe I'd chose a combination of sublime level of hand to eye coordination and copious amounts of IQ.
whoever has those on the court: rules!

But what are the skills required in executing a drop shot, at the net or from the back of the court? What is required to play a tough shot?

read: What is required to play a touch shot?

which one, a drop shot?

drop shot and even a well placed volley.

I can only talk from my limited experience
I haven't dared to try drop-shots but love volleying, esp close to the net, I'm afraid I'm not a sophisticated tennis jargonist, so will do the Ivanisevic (remember how he once after listening to a few players trying to describe the technique of serving in most elaborate details, said his technique is simple : one (toss) and two (whack the ball) ), depending on how fast/high the coming ball is just have the ability to soften the wrist and grip and then try and absorb the power and angle it away....ideally IN the court

I'm useless with my forehand so it has to be the bakchand, though.

Why is nobody commenting on this great topic ?

Probably because it's complicated. . . though 'feel' is necessary in generating power too.

One might add the concepts 'sensitivity' and 'improvisation' into the debate.

When I think of a player I regard as having no touch, no sensitivity, I think of Sharapova. Her game is reliant on the execution of the same few strokes over and over. Taken out of her comfort-zone she has no ability to improvise (the shriek expresses the one-dimensionality).
The ultimate demonstration of 'feel' and talent is to be able to blend / transition between types of shot in an improvisational way.

So as for volleys and drop shots, it really depends on the specific instance as to whether a lot of 'feel' or talent is demonstrated as there are bread and butter types.

Yes, Sharapova is the ultimate basher, but so are 90% of WTA players.

I suppose with the "feel" it's all in the wrist and elbow and the control on both. I always think of volleying when I hear the word "feel" not so much on baseline drop-shots.
Then, there's the "feel" for the game

When a player stands on the baseline, the ball he gets has lost a lot of its energy and the swing of his racquet coupled with the racquet's weight allows a smooth and powerful shot. Very little impact is felt on the arm despite the violence and pace of the shot.

When at the net, there is no or little time to swing the racquet and the ball is at very high speed meaning the impact on the arm and elbow is very hard. To control such a ball requires taking a lot of the energy away from the ball and place it delicately just on the other side, or simply execute a sharp angled volley.

So to control such a lively ball at high speed, admitting the eye/hand coordination is no issue, can be done thanks to 2 factors:

1 - having a very strong arm able to absorb the shock while controlling the ball once its energy has been killed.

2 - seeing the ball earlier and move the racquet with short swings towards the coming ball to give the racquet enough inertia to counter the coming ball.

#2 requires a lot of talent but it's clear that all professional players use a mixture of 1 and 2 but once again, some will be using more 1 than 2 and vice versa. To me it's clear that Nadal's great touch around the net is helped by his very strong arm, plus the high bouncing balls he sends pushes the player far back, allowing him more time to see the ball coming and also therefore doesn't need to put the ball right behind the net. His drop shots are rare but like all his shots contain very little risk, especially helped by that strong arm of his. For Federer, things get a bit tougher. He plays with a heavier racquet and needs a bit more of that short swing to control the ball.

In the past players were handling heavy wooden racquets with a small frame and that required a strong arm but also using the short swings to perfection. It was then a real art and requiring great touch. It was helped by natural strings but also in most cases by lower tension (which absorbed best the ball's inertia).

Nowadays, lighter racquets and bigger frames makes it easier to execute drop shots except that they have to deal with faster and spinier balls.

So in summary, it is fair to say that the stronger the arm, the easier it is to play a "touch" shot and that nowadays saying touch players are talented might not necessarily be as true as then (in relative terms of course). However there are still players who display great "touch" skills without being particularly known to be strong armed: Llodra, Stepanek, Federer to name a few. Those you can say are talented players.

Thanks for putting it so elloquently Tenez !

Tennis at the "human" level is probably a lot more enjoyable than all the pro warfare.

The balance of the game has swung dangerously to the athletic side now and the arty, real joyful side of it is being sidelined

great informative post tenez

does that mean though that you knew the answer all along but were merely testing us? :P

When I think of a player I regard as having no touch, no sensitivity, I think of Sharapova. Her game is reliant on the execution of the same few strokes over and over. Taken out of her comfort-zone she has no ability to improvise (the shriek expresses the one-dimensionality).
The ultimate demonstration of 'feel' and talent is to be able to blend / transition between types of shot in an improvisational way
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tbh Serena is not much better.

However there are still players who display great "touch" skills without being particularly known to be strong armed: Llodra, Stepanek, Federer to name a few.
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Volley by Fed to seal the soncd set against Murray in the Final was an amazing one. Great hands.

Serena is brilliant tmf!

in bashing from the baseline. She is not a great mover. She does not have the movement or touch of Henin or Steffi or Evert.

Has Murray's touch improved in proportion with his beefing up?

She doesn't need to, doesn't rally and wait for an UE, either. Real tigress on the court.

Murray's touch is so overrated, his best shot by far is his backhand, everything else is worked at the moment.

Real tigress on the court.................................................................................................................NOTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT <LAUGH>

I did not address where one needs the ball to impact the frame while executing a drop shot. But very briefly, when trying to kill the energy of the ball, you need to get the ball slightly off teh center of frame (starting typically at 6oclock) and make it roll across towards 12'. it's during this fraction of second while the ball hits the strings that a player takes as much energy needed to let the ball drop just on the other side of the net.

It is known that lower tension gives you less control, however all "touch" players play with low tension to allow the strings to absorb that ball's energy and get that extra split second to control it.

Has Murray's touch improved in proportion with his beefing up?
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I should....even if he probably plays less of them now.

"I did not address where one needs the ball to impact the frame while executing a drop shot."

That't too advanced for me, I do everything instinctively.
I wish I had years of proper coaching
Never mind, I'll get "there"