John Necombe: Today's players can't volley...

[gzhpcu]

http://www.atpworldtour.com/News/Ten...rt-Record.aspx

Newcombe agrees. "Most players today can put away a volley at net height or above but hardly any can volley effectively below net height such as Edberg and Rafter could. The problem is not so much in the court speed but the players' lack of ability to play difficult volleys. Subsequently there is a natural reluctance to come to the net.

"Players today hit the ball as hard as they can and run to the net, then look surprised when the ball comes back to their feet around the service line. Learning the art of net play has to happen between the age of 10 and 15."

darn, misspelled "Newcombe" on the title....

[stotty]

The last really fast grass courts at Wimbles were in 1987, when Cash beat Lendl. After the '87 the championships, the Wimbledon ground committee have gradually succeeded in slowing up the surface to the point where players are better off playing form the back.

It was impossible to play from the back and win prior to 1987. Even Borg served and volleyed!

Players aren't daft. Speed up the courts at Wimbles and they'll soon start running to the net again

[llll]

i started playing at 49 ( now 58) and i serve and volley pretty good

[don_budge]

It's too FAST...

This one is for our readers, my students in Budapest...or Bucharest, whichever it may be. Happy Birthday!!!

Mr. Newcombe is only stating the obvious...the speed at which the game is played today is too fast to encourage play in the mid-court with the approach game that is necessary to transition to the net. Once you get to the net it's no picnic either against the massive amount of spin and speed being applied to the ball. Who likes to volley dipping bullets?

This has everything to do with engineering and not evolution. The racquets, the strings, the courts, the stuff they are drinking during the changeovers. It's not that they cannot volley...the conditions and variables discourage it. The tennis "authorities" have made our bed...now we get to lie in it. Everybody happy?

The game is being played at a speed that also dramatically reduces the chances of players competing once they get past a certain age. Sorry llll. Brains and experience are not necessarily as important in playing the game as it is played today as fast feet and keen vision are. Tilden exclaimed..."Youth to the fore!". Personally...I think it is a shame, but that is progress for you.

What's more...personally, I am in favor of returning the game back to it's original form. But just for the pros. We amateurs and hackers alike still get to entertain the illusion that we are playing great tennis...at the club level or whatever our age may be. We all could have a good laugh about the last thirty years...a good chuckle about the "great" experiment that was done with our game, the game of tennis.

No? You don't think that is such a good idea? Oh well...no harm done in thinking out loud, is there? I'm getting older...only talking to myself. Ha...ha...ha.

But you certainly have to admire the athleticism...and I am only stating the obvious. Man, I am having a field day with these comments.