Boris Becker's Killer Volley

[mossback]

Total 46 frames

Frames 17-23 Becker's right knee bends as he prepares to step into this FH volley

Frame 27, Becker's left knee is slightly bent, all that is necessary for this ball above his waist

Frame 28 Becker is about to make contact. If you dropped the ball 1 1/2 feet from this position, his arm/head and racket orientation would be exactly the same. The difference would be more bend in his left knee to achieve the same orientation.

Frame 29 It is no accident that conatct and the planting of the left foot occur almost simultaneously. This times the weight shift forward with contact
to ensure depth and "stick" on the volley

http://www.tennisplayer.net/members/strokearchive/modern_legends/borisbecker/borisbecker_volleys_oh/bb_fh_volley/bb_fh_volley.html?BBFHVCLSide.mov

[tennis_chiro]

Total 46 frames

Frames 17-23 Becker's right knee bends as he prepares to step into this FH volley

Frame 27, Becker's left knee is slightly bent, all that is necessary for this ball above his waist

Frame 28 Becker is about to make contact. If you dropped the ball 1 1/2 feet from this position, his arm/head and racket orientation would be exactly the same. The difference would be more bend in his left knee to achieve the same orientation.

Frame 29 It is no accident that conatct and the planting of the left foot occur almost simultaneously. This times the weight shift forward with contact
to ensure depth and "stick" on the volley



http://www.tennisplayer.net/members/...BFHVCLSide.mov

This is actually a good example of what I am talking about. Check the top of Boris's head against the row of seats above the top of his hair in frame 14 and forward. He got down to that level 14 frames (about a full 1/2 second) before he contacts the ball and his head maintains that level (check against the seats behind him) for the next 14 frames until he hits the volley. And he is not actually down that far. If I was working on volleys in a drill with my juniors, I would try to get them to get down almost to true eye level on this shot (in practice). If this was Cash, the eyes would be much closer to the level of the ball. If it was van Rensburg, his eyes would actually have been at the level of the ball on this volley. The key is, when Boris approaches what I call the "reading position" (split step), he is already down in a crouch, much lower than he would be for a baseline or return of serve ready position (Probably only a couple of inches, but it is significant).

[airforce1]

Super observations from both of you. Both are saying a lot of the same things with a slightly different perspective and point in mind. Seems the 2 ideas blend very well.