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THE DEATH OF SERVE AND VOLLEY
BY : GEOFF WILLIAMS
There are four factors that have caused the death of serve and volley tennis, the once dominant strategy. Factor #1: Equipment advances: String and frames. String has changed. No longer are any top players using all gut string jobs. The hybrid has come: gut/alu luxilon. Or in Murray’s case: alu/gut. This hybrid is responsible for a higher rpm than any other string job. The Teflon infused alu luxilon has allowed the rougher gut to slide, in unison, so that it grabs the balls in correct frequency, not too soon, and not too late, and the elastic gut is able to grab the ball and create more spin than just all alu string jobs. The stiffer alu has also tamed the gut’s power and tendency to go long on hard hit shots. It also has allowed more rpms so that shots don’t go long. Edged string such as rpm blast, the one Nadal uses have also created more spin.
FRAME LAY UPS
Frames have changed as well. Just like golf, with huge drivers, the square inches of a typical frame have risen from the old days of 55-65 sq. inches, to an average of 98.5 sq. inches per frame. This has increased the size of the sweet spot from about the size of a dime, to the size of a dollar bill. Connors won 109 tournaments with that small sweet spot, hitting flat for the most part, with very little rpms. Those days are dead and gone now. The typical male atp fh has about 2200-3300 rpms. That compares to about 1100 rpms in the old days with all gut string jobs and small sweet spots in wooden frames. Graphite lay ups changed the ability of a frame to withstand larger stress, and larger frames, and still remain viable. Wooden frames could not withstand larger sq. inch build outs without warping and breaking. They were made primarily of bass wood layered pieces, glued together, and were too heavy to be wielded by most normal people. Borg played at 410 grams strung at 80lbs with all gut. No one plays that heavy or that tight any more. The game has changed. It demands lighter frames and quicker reactions, as serves and ground strokes have become heavier, faster, more dangerous than ever before than with all gut string jobs. Gut/poly hybrids have allowed the best of both worlds to accrue: A powered control like never before available, especially If strung by a stringer with knowledge of his player’s abilities, and the fore sight to match the string tensions to the frames’ frequency. Only the best stringers have the ability to get the most out of a given hybrid/frame combination. It’s like a top piano stringer. Sampras knew this. So did Lendl, who pioneered string job obsession. Lendl discovered that even the best string jobs did not last long, so he began to change his frames every 8 games, and Sampras followed suit. If you have already invented the wheel, why bother to change it? It’s perfect already. Now virtually all top singles players do that same thing, other than Davydenko, who is no longer a top player. Doubles players don’t bother, and they don’t make as much money either, hitting fewer shots as a whole as well, so they pay for far fewer string jobs. The average sq. inch of pro male frames is 98.5 inches. A far cry from the days of Sampras/Becker/Edberg, who all played heavy and small frames, at 18 x 20 closed patterns. Sampras at 389g. Becker at 395g. Edberg at 405g. So why did all the best volleyers of all time use such heavy frames? Because they needed a heavier serve. The serve was more valuable than volley reaction time. So equipment changes killed off serve and volley. Top players like Djokovic use frames that only weigh about360g. They use vs gut/alu hybrids that allow a synchronized snap back, and powered control, with full rpms available. No other string job allows as much spin as gut/alu.
The lay up of the frames has also changed, as has the manufacture. Light weight, high strength materials, first pioneered in aerospace have dominated frame lay ups. Graphene, high modulus graphite, braided graphite/Kevlar, volcanic compounds, ceramics, have all intruded into frame lay ups. Frames are made by rolling the lay up on thin round long rods on a heated table, which are reinforced at key points, and placed into metal molds which are then heated, and air forced into the molds to expand them into the extremity of the metal molds. Air bladders are used. These make ups are far stronger and far lighter than wooden frames used to be. Space age advances.
The modern tendency of players coming up is to use full copoly string jobs, strung at low tensions, with lighter frames, to achieve faster rpm and more rpms. The combination allows more spin and jamming shots. And this allows base line players to pass volleyers no matter how bad the position.
COURT AND BALL SPEED
The court speeds have also caused the game to slow down, allowing more time to get set, run down approach shots, and pass. Balls have been slowed down as well at Wimbledon, ie. Thicker felt on the balls causes the felt to stand up and become fluffy faster, which creates more air friction, slowing the balls down. The grass has been slowed down as well. Why was this done? The game had become too robotically fast, with no rallies at Wimbledon. The Us and Australian open also slowed down their hard courts, to create longer rallies. All contributing to the death of the serve and volley game. Court builders add more sand to the paint jobs, which creates more friction, slowing the balls down. These slower conditions have allowed Nadal to become dominant, as he has created the most rpms the game has ever seen. He has a winning record against all the top 30 players.
TECHNIQUE:
Player technique has also caused changes. More players use extreme top spin to pass now, and to rally with. The atp type III fore hand has created more top spin, with a shorter stroke. All top atp players use it now. Not only does it make it easier to pass, but it makes it easier to stay consistent no matter how hard nor fast you swing at the ball. Two handed back hand domination has also contributed. Two handers don’t develop the confidence in the one handed slice approaches or the one handed slice volleys. So the gains in returns and cross court short angles have helped to kill off the net men. All past great serve and volleyers have been one handers. Laver, Sampras, Becker, Edberg, McEnroe, Rafter, etc. all have been one handers.
LACK OF VOLLEY PRACTICE
Most players don’t practice the volley nor the serve and volley game much any more. Juniors are not taught as their coaches know the style is not viable other than as a change up. So the ability to become confident at the game no longer is dominant as a style, as it is not practiced. The skill level to learn all the volley variables is far higher than ground stroking, as you have half the time to volley. Even a fast hit ball will slow down to half speed after the bounce. No such slow down on even an easy volley. Half volleys, hit offensively take years to learn. Touch drops the same. Over heads as well take many years to perfect. The foot work for volleying is far more varied, far faster, as are volley lateral movements. Injury is therefore more likely. Serves have to be heavier, have more dynamic power and spin to be effective against even lower level pros, as their return games are so dominant. There are many pros without great serves, and none without great returns, other than the very tall such as Isner and Karlovic. Taller men tend to have stronger serves and weaker returns than the average pro. The longer arms and legs take longer to react on return, and allow a longer kinetic path way to create stronger serves.
SOLUTION TO THE DEATH OF SERVE AND VOLLEY
Speed up the balls. Speed up the courts. Then and only then will the net men be able to make a living. Something is seriously out of balance, when Raonic, lose 5 of 6 tie breakers to Nishikori, with a serve that’s 20% faster. Speed up the balls and the courts, and we would see Raonic become a serve and volleyer full time. Who misses the Sampras/Agassi battles? Or the Borg/Mcenroe battles? The equality of the game is gone, and it’s out of balance now. No variation in style will kill spectator interest, and the equipment manufacturers will sell fewer items due to lack of public interest in the game…..
BY : GEOFF WILLIAMS
There are four factors that have caused the death of serve and volley tennis, the once dominant strategy. Factor #1: Equipment advances: String and frames. String has changed. No longer are any top players using all gut string jobs. The hybrid has come: gut/alu luxilon. Or in Murray’s case: alu/gut. This hybrid is responsible for a higher rpm than any other string job. The Teflon infused alu luxilon has allowed the rougher gut to slide, in unison, so that it grabs the balls in correct frequency, not too soon, and not too late, and the elastic gut is able to grab the ball and create more spin than just all alu string jobs. The stiffer alu has also tamed the gut’s power and tendency to go long on hard hit shots. It also has allowed more rpms so that shots don’t go long. Edged string such as rpm blast, the one Nadal uses have also created more spin.
FRAME LAY UPS
Frames have changed as well. Just like golf, with huge drivers, the square inches of a typical frame have risen from the old days of 55-65 sq. inches, to an average of 98.5 sq. inches per frame. This has increased the size of the sweet spot from about the size of a dime, to the size of a dollar bill. Connors won 109 tournaments with that small sweet spot, hitting flat for the most part, with very little rpms. Those days are dead and gone now. The typical male atp fh has about 2200-3300 rpms. That compares to about 1100 rpms in the old days with all gut string jobs and small sweet spots in wooden frames. Graphite lay ups changed the ability of a frame to withstand larger stress, and larger frames, and still remain viable. Wooden frames could not withstand larger sq. inch build outs without warping and breaking. They were made primarily of bass wood layered pieces, glued together, and were too heavy to be wielded by most normal people. Borg played at 410 grams strung at 80lbs with all gut. No one plays that heavy or that tight any more. The game has changed. It demands lighter frames and quicker reactions, as serves and ground strokes have become heavier, faster, more dangerous than ever before than with all gut string jobs. Gut/poly hybrids have allowed the best of both worlds to accrue: A powered control like never before available, especially If strung by a stringer with knowledge of his player’s abilities, and the fore sight to match the string tensions to the frames’ frequency. Only the best stringers have the ability to get the most out of a given hybrid/frame combination. It’s like a top piano stringer. Sampras knew this. So did Lendl, who pioneered string job obsession. Lendl discovered that even the best string jobs did not last long, so he began to change his frames every 8 games, and Sampras followed suit. If you have already invented the wheel, why bother to change it? It’s perfect already. Now virtually all top singles players do that same thing, other than Davydenko, who is no longer a top player. Doubles players don’t bother, and they don’t make as much money either, hitting fewer shots as a whole as well, so they pay for far fewer string jobs. The average sq. inch of pro male frames is 98.5 inches. A far cry from the days of Sampras/Becker/Edberg, who all played heavy and small frames, at 18 x 20 closed patterns. Sampras at 389g. Becker at 395g. Edberg at 405g. So why did all the best volleyers of all time use such heavy frames? Because they needed a heavier serve. The serve was more valuable than volley reaction time. So equipment changes killed off serve and volley. Top players like Djokovic use frames that only weigh about360g. They use vs gut/alu hybrids that allow a synchronized snap back, and powered control, with full rpms available. No other string job allows as much spin as gut/alu.
The lay up of the frames has also changed, as has the manufacture. Light weight, high strength materials, first pioneered in aerospace have dominated frame lay ups. Graphene, high modulus graphite, braided graphite/Kevlar, volcanic compounds, ceramics, have all intruded into frame lay ups. Frames are made by rolling the lay up on thin round long rods on a heated table, which are reinforced at key points, and placed into metal molds which are then heated, and air forced into the molds to expand them into the extremity of the metal molds. Air bladders are used. These make ups are far stronger and far lighter than wooden frames used to be. Space age advances.
The modern tendency of players coming up is to use full copoly string jobs, strung at low tensions, with lighter frames, to achieve faster rpm and more rpms. The combination allows more spin and jamming shots. And this allows base line players to pass volleyers no matter how bad the position.
COURT AND BALL SPEED
The court speeds have also caused the game to slow down, allowing more time to get set, run down approach shots, and pass. Balls have been slowed down as well at Wimbledon, ie. Thicker felt on the balls causes the felt to stand up and become fluffy faster, which creates more air friction, slowing the balls down. The grass has been slowed down as well. Why was this done? The game had become too robotically fast, with no rallies at Wimbledon. The Us and Australian open also slowed down their hard courts, to create longer rallies. All contributing to the death of the serve and volley game. Court builders add more sand to the paint jobs, which creates more friction, slowing the balls down. These slower conditions have allowed Nadal to become dominant, as he has created the most rpms the game has ever seen. He has a winning record against all the top 30 players.
TECHNIQUE:
Player technique has also caused changes. More players use extreme top spin to pass now, and to rally with. The atp type III fore hand has created more top spin, with a shorter stroke. All top atp players use it now. Not only does it make it easier to pass, but it makes it easier to stay consistent no matter how hard nor fast you swing at the ball. Two handed back hand domination has also contributed. Two handers don’t develop the confidence in the one handed slice approaches or the one handed slice volleys. So the gains in returns and cross court short angles have helped to kill off the net men. All past great serve and volleyers have been one handers. Laver, Sampras, Becker, Edberg, McEnroe, Rafter, etc. all have been one handers.
LACK OF VOLLEY PRACTICE
Most players don’t practice the volley nor the serve and volley game much any more. Juniors are not taught as their coaches know the style is not viable other than as a change up. So the ability to become confident at the game no longer is dominant as a style, as it is not practiced. The skill level to learn all the volley variables is far higher than ground stroking, as you have half the time to volley. Even a fast hit ball will slow down to half speed after the bounce. No such slow down on even an easy volley. Half volleys, hit offensively take years to learn. Touch drops the same. Over heads as well take many years to perfect. The foot work for volleying is far more varied, far faster, as are volley lateral movements. Injury is therefore more likely. Serves have to be heavier, have more dynamic power and spin to be effective against even lower level pros, as their return games are so dominant. There are many pros without great serves, and none without great returns, other than the very tall such as Isner and Karlovic. Taller men tend to have stronger serves and weaker returns than the average pro. The longer arms and legs take longer to react on return, and allow a longer kinetic path way to create stronger serves.
SOLUTION TO THE DEATH OF SERVE AND VOLLEY
Speed up the balls. Speed up the courts. Then and only then will the net men be able to make a living. Something is seriously out of balance, when Raonic, lose 5 of 6 tie breakers to Nishikori, with a serve that’s 20% faster. Speed up the balls and the courts, and we would see Raonic become a serve and volleyer full time. Who misses the Sampras/Agassi battles? Or the Borg/Mcenroe battles? The equality of the game is gone, and it’s out of balance now. No variation in style will kill spectator interest, and the equipment manufacturers will sell fewer items due to lack of public interest in the game…..
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