Hey, Djokovic, your volley needs work.

[GeoffWilliams]

Anybody see the last two points against Wawrinka today? His volley is like a 4.5 player's volley, although I've seen many 4.5 players do better with those last two shots than joker did. Both fh volleys/half. No snap back, not far enough in front, too open, etc. Why hire Becker and then commit hari kari?

[klacr]

I saw those two points along with the rest of the match. Yeah, that match point was ugly.

Kyle LaCroix USPTA
Boca Raton

[stotty]

We are all agreed Djokovic cannot volley. No quarrel here.

With Djokovic it's essential he chooses the right ball to come in on...on a shot that will give him a gimme. He does remarkably overall, percentage-wise, when he selects the right ball. The stats bear this out.

What the stats don't show is how costly some moves to the net have been...and in some absolutely key matches.

I thought don_budge's forecast prior to the tournament as to how Becker's appointment of as head coach over Vajda might unintentionally derail Djokovic was most insightful...and has turned out to be true...coupled, of course, with Stan's brilliant play. See below:

I don't think there is anyone there who can impede Djokovic's inevitable progress to another Australian final. The one exception is Wawrinka, but I think Djokovic will be too prepared for him. The one thing that could work for Wawrinka is the influence of Becker. If Becker gets Djokovic to try something other than the formula that has been so successful with him, it could hamper Djokovic's performance and supply an opening for Wawrinka. I just think it is a mistake to subjugate Vajda's judgement and suggestions to those of Becker. If this change is not absolutely seamless, it could create a seed of doubt in Nole's mind; that seed of doubt can be deadly at this level. But short of something like that happening, I can't see anyone derailing the Djokovic Express short of the final meeting with Nadal whom I still see as the favorite on the other side.

This said, I just saw a passive Djokovic who assumed he could just do enough to sneak a win no matter what happened. Tactically I couldn't detect any Becker influence going on...more the opposite...strange. Maybe Djokovic just couldn't bring himself to do what was asked...a seed of doubt.

[bottle]

Ha. I love it! Hire a great champion and play worse. But then on the other hand there is Federer who hired a great champion and played better.

[GeoffWilliams]

My volley is better at the high forehand! Of course, I've also missed plenty of those too. Why in hell would he make such a bad tactical choice on match point down, and use your worst attribute, when the entire match is on the line, I have no idea. He misses Igor too much, I guess.

[worldsbesttenniscoach]

Geoff, congratulations on having the courage to criticize even the best of today's players on the pro circuits. They are not gods. They are only humans, with flaws in their games.

While I agree that Djokovic has flaws in his volleys, I also believe a good coach could teach Novak better technique, & to volley better. However, perhaps Novak's coaches in past & present don't know what is a good volley, or how to properly teach that. (Hey, has Becker proven that he has lifted the volleying skills of other players yet?) With proper coaching, a successful change in volleying techniques does not necessarily take a long time.

I feel sorry for Djokovic. As most ATP players do, he needs better coaching than he has received.

[GeoffWilliams]

Here is what I would tell/train him in his fh volley: High balls, use non dominant hand/arm to "spot it and pop it." His nondom arm hangs like a serbian noodle. ON low volleys fh/ let the ball come into the center of your body closer to your core, as your arm demands the arc it makes, like a curved shield going up in front of you, that each incoming ball's height off the ground, will determine your best contact point based on the length of your own arm. The speed of the incoming shot, and it's rpms, also will determine how much "snap back" if any, to use on popping the volley. Sitters should be snap backed and destroyed. Better shots demand hitting the volley with your body and very little snap back. Hitting with your stomping forward hitting foot. Getting sideways as fast as you can ahead of time and using your body to install mass into your shot, with very little wrist movement, as well as half volleys, like Mac used to do, all body, stiffer wrist. Sitters, high, better be struck out front more, with serious snap back to make sure that they don't come back.