Serve and Volley: Three Critical Shots

[klacr]

It's a great shot if you can hit it anywhere in half the court not closer than 8' from any line and be rewarded with an outright winner,... I'd even say it's a necessary shot for today's player.

But what position does it leave you in after the shot if you are playing an accomplished player with a really fast pair of sneakers?! Against that player, the target area has to shrink considerably.

The more we go back and forth on this here in the forum, the more I think this is a lost skill that could still be effective today. Someone who knows how to hit the kind of "drive volley" (with underspin or almost flat and with an extended backswing on a normal volley stroke), can move to the ball very quickly and execute an effective "close" on a floater and still power the ball 50 to 60 mph to a spot within 3' of the lines on a consistent basis. I don't think you can generate that much more speed with the topspin swinging volley and you are going to miss too many of them when you start trying to hit smaller targets. (Missing that target includes hitting the ball too short and giving your opponent to run the ball down and pass you because you are out of position.)

Granted, today's players don't have the shot I am advocating and they have no choice but to hit a swinging volley, the only thing they know. I am convinced the lack of this essential transition element contributes greatly to the lack of enthusiasm for going to the net. Whether you are serving and volleying (rare these days) or trying to approach behind a forcing shot (less rare, but still infrequent) or trying to sneak into the net on a high ball or as a change of pace (still infrequent), you need to be able to switch to overdrive on the fly and close in a hurry and knock off a floater if you are lucky enough to get one; much harder to do with a swinging volley.

A topspin swinging volley tends to land relatively short. When a ball lands short that means it goes through that 40% deceleration on impact with the ground before it has traversed that last 15 feet behind the service line (hitting to 3' from the lines with a good drive volley). That could mean one or even two additional steps for your opponent to run down the ball; and the topspin will make the ball bounce higher and stay in the air longer.

The more I write, the more I am convinced I have to get my students to master the shot I am talking about.

don

Go for it Don!

Kyle LaCroix USPTA
Boca Raton

[don_budge]

jimlosaltos and tennis_chiro...et al

Or, to put it differently, he is super-aggressive -- but with his footwork and positioning, but not the stroke itself.

I was rereading your post on the Federer swinging volley...which by the way I thought was very good. I came across this line of yours which I like very, very much. This business about being aggressive with the footwork and positioning. When I am teaching or coaching a player before a match...I stress, "Be aggressive...with your feet!"

The more I write, the more I am convinced I have to get my students to master the shot I am talking about.

don

As long as you are writing...I am going to continue to read. You are really putting on a volley clinic!

I hate to hear that you think serve and volley is dead. I prefer the term "endangered". On the brink of extinction perhaps. In your opinion, it may be dead in the pro game as a fully committed game style. But still an effective game plan at lower levels.

Not dead and buried. It will take a player and a coach with the testicular fortitude to make serve and volley happen. Perhaps that player is not out there yet. You gotta believe in the game don_budge. Believe in the style, believe in the players, believe in the process and development. I hope my articles still give you something to ponder. I hope my articles inspire you. I hope my articles ignite a small fire within your tennis belly to embrace this crazy serve and volley idea once again. Give it a chance don_budge. I love your attitude and your respect for the teaching fundamentals, but lets not throw away the idea just yet.

I may need to visit Sweden in the near future so we can hash this out.

Kyle LaCroix USPTA
Boca Raton

Oh...it's dead Kyle. So are the resources to teach it. Check for a pulse...you won't find one. I know that you have your classical leanings and yearnings...more the pity. Trapped in the box that is the USTA. Such a shame. The world of tennis was infected with this cursed plague.

But you know, Kyle...creativity starts with an idea. Then comes a thoughtful discussion followed by developing a strategy followed by some action providing the discussion is compelling enough and the strategy is feasible.

Virtually all of the kids in my program here in Sweden hit one handed backhands at some point. You know why? It's because I do...I use a one hand backhand. I start them off at the net so that it may become part of their tennis DNA...you know as in some old guy from America came here with some different ideas about tennis. The idea that the game should be taught Fundamentally Correct (FC) and then the student takes control of their own game at some point. They inherit the control when they are ready to assume the controls. I more or less teach that this is the whole point of the thing...it is up to them to make the decision.

In teaching the one hand backhand...I feel that I am opening up the "world of tennis" to the student where all things are possible and net play is certainly one of those things. When teaching the serve...I teach them to begin running to the net at first because I believe that fundamentally correct service motions are best molded to have the ability to follow it to the net if need be.

If you are taught to play fundamentally correct net play the "swinging volley" is looked upon as a "gimmick". This is a term that my dear old tennis coach...Sherman Collins introduced into my tennis teaching vocabulary many years ago. Of course things change...and not always for the better. The future looks to be a bit iffy...if you know what I mean. But Mats Wilander corroborated what I have suspected for a couple of years now...it looks as if they will speed up the courts incrementally. They cannot do it all at once because the average tennis playing professional will look to be too incompetent not being able to produce the style of tennis that will win on faster surfaces.

Do you know what also? They should also reduce the size of the racquet incrementally. Then the game might be restored to something that resembles the game the way that it was meant to be played. It is a funny situation...how to return the game to the perfect balance that it was at before they start monkeying around with it and engineering it beyond recognition. Eventually this voice in the wilderness may be recognized as the voice of reason.

Your articles? They are certainly opening the thing up for some interesting exchanges aren't they? It's wonderful to hear that you are learning from the open discussion...as I am. How about that tennis_chiro? He's putting on a clinic...don't you think so? Great stuff guys...all the way around. Don't forget Stotty...he's connecting with his classic roots. Wonderful to see.

[klacr]

Thanks don_budge.

That's what this forum is about. Opening up discussion for sharing these ideas and improving ourselves. tennis_chiro is in fact putting on a great volley clinic in his text. I'm his biggest fan when it comes to the art of the volley.

stotty, keep the tradition alive and keep playing the way you want to play. The next article in this series you should love and hopefully takes your serve and volley game to the next level.

as for you don_budge, Thanks for reading my series. Even if we can agree to disagree, I hope you find some things in the series that you can at least use or try in your own game or with your students. Change may happen, buts it up to us to see it through. Let's do our part to teach our kids proper fundamentals and have fun with them as well. Our greatest teaching tool is our passion. Keep it up don_budge!

Kyle LaCroix USPTA
Boca Raton

[jimlosaltos]

Toes in water

Not dead and buried. It will take a player and a coach with the testicular fortitude to make serve and volley happen.
Kyle LaCroix USPTA
Boca Raton

From the last week's Rome matches, I saw both Murray and Dimitrov repeat this pattern, or rather lack of pattern. Both got easy points by serving wide to Nadal, getting a floating backhand hack, and putting it away at the net into a completely empty court.

So, since that worked so well --- they didn't try it again for another set.

I understand the value of surprise, but you think when something else is failing, they'd try to repeat something that actually worked

[klacr]

From the last week's Rome matches, I saw both Murray and Dimitrov repeat this pattern, or rather lack of pattern. Both got easy points by serving wide to Nadal, getting a floating backhand hack, and putting it away at the net into a completely empty court.

So, since that worked so well --- they didn't try it again for another set.

I understand the value of surprise, but you think when something else is failing, they'd try to repeat something that actually worked

I noticed that as well Jim. Such a tease. Players will think about it and maybe even do it once or twice. But no matter to what great effect it worked, they resist. Rather slug it out from the baseline even though their opponent is better from the baseline than they are.

I saw Milos Raonic spend the entire week bombing serves and waiting for the soft floating chip return back deep to the baseline and him having to practically begin the point over again with a ground stroke. You can lead a horse to water...


Kyle LaCroix USPTA
Boca Raton

[10splayer]

Shock!! I tend to think more along the lines of Don Budge on this one. After the basics, like to see students work on touch, or absorbing skills, so they have access to stop volleys, angle volleys, and mastery of shots hit from below the level of the net.

For most reading these articles, the swing volley is so far last in terms of importance...

Nice series though, and hopefully more to come.

[klacr]

Shock!! I tend to think more along the lines of Don Budge on this one. After the basics, like to see students work on touch, or absorbing skills, so they have access to stop volleys, angle volleys, and mastery of shots hit from below the level of the net.

For most reading these articles, the swing volley is so far last in terms of importance...

Nice series though, and hopefully more to come.

Thanks 10splayer. Glad you enjoy the series. And yes, there is more to come.

The swinging volley should certainly not be taught first. The mastery of fundamentals on classic drive volleys, block volleys should always be set as the foundation...in a perfect world. But the swinging volley is a shot that is not going anywhere, it is here to stay. As traditionalists, its a hard pill to swallow but one we should accept and whether or not we choose to teach it is up to us, assuming we've already given our students a proper development in basic volleys. Having another shot in the arsenal is never a bad thing.

Kyle LaCroix USPTA
Boca Raton

[lobndropshot]

I think this discussion is raising a few good questions.

Are there laws of tennis instruction like there are laws of physics? Has tennis discovered fundamental parts that can be broken down into extremely small parts like protons, neutrons, and electrons? If that is the case I would really like to read that book.

I think it is to easy for us to say that there are fundamentally correct shots and that is that and it is too early to say that technological changes are going to have a negative impact on the game of tennis. Maybe just like the universe the horizons of the game of tennis are expanding with new brand of serve and volley just waiting to be discovered.

The swinging volley is a relatively new shot with secrets and like all things new and a little different it is being met with discrimination. Its a shot that is not being given a fare shot by many coaches because of the times that they came from. I feel bad for the poor swinging volley.

One place I think the swinging volley performs better than a FC shot is on the short lob when you have to move forward to hit it. Traditionally the right thing to do would be to either hit a high volley or an overhead. Either traditional option I think is in fact harder to execute than the the topspin swinging volley. With the high volley you really have to place the ball well and with the overhead you have to make sure you are in perfect position to hit the ball. The swing topspin volley give you access to power like the overhead so you don’t have to play close to the lines and give more flexibility in positioning like the high volley.

[klacr]

I think this discussion is raising a few good questions.

Are there laws of tennis instruction like there are laws of physics? Has tennis discovered fundamental parts that can be broken down into extremely small parts like protons, neutrons, and electrons? If that is the case I would really like to read that book.

I think it is to easy for us to say that there are fundamentally correct shots and that is that and it is too early to say that technological changes are going to have a negative impact on the game of tennis. Maybe just like the universe the horizons of the game of tennis are expanding with new brand of serve and volley just waiting to be discovered.

The swinging volley is a relatively new shot with secrets and like all things new and a little different it is being met with discrimination. Its a shot that is not being given a fare shot by many coaches because of the times that they came from. I feel bad for the poor swinging volley.

One place I think the swinging volley performs better than a FC shot is on the short lob when you have to move forward to hit it. Traditionally the right thing to do would be to either hit a high volley or an overhead. Either traditional option I think is in fact harder to execute than the the topspin swinging volley. With the high volley you really have to place the ball well and with the overhead you have to make sure you are in perfect position to hit the ball. The swing topspin volley give you access to power like the overhead so you don’t have to play close to the lines and give more flexibility in positioning like the high volley.

Very nice post Lobndropshot! This thread does generate many great questions from numerous aspects of the swinging volley from the coaching/teaching of it to the tactics and technical.

There is a thread that was started some time ago on The Swinging Volley after an article by tennisplayer.net contributor Scott Murphy. here's the link.

http://www.tennisplayer.net/bulletin...?t=2109&page=2

The first post on this page by Scott Murphy pretty much echo's my thoughts on this topic as well. Is the swinging volley a real shot, absolutely. Should it be used on every single high ball around mid court? Absolutely not. There is a time and a place for this shot and although it may not be in the classic and traditional tennis textbooks it is still worthy of a great discussion and aplace in the game.

Kyle LaCroix USPTA
Boca Raton