Grass Court Play…Criticism of the Modern Tennis Player

[don_budge]

From the ATP website…surprising that the ministry of censorship didn't silence John Newcombe and he had the audacity to say the truth.

http://www.atpworldtour.com/News/Tennis/2015/06/23/FedEx-Performance-Zone-Career-Grass-Records.aspx

From the article...

Australian John Newcombe, a three-time titlist at the All England Club, says, "A classical grass-court player must have a very good offensive and defensive volley, which has to be backed up by a solid serve that features a variety of pace and spin."
Over the past 15 years, serve and volley play has dwindled. The 2002 Wimbledon final featured, for the first time, two players, Lleyton Hewitt and David Nalbandian, who played solely from the baseline.

Newcombe admits, "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."

Newcombe makes no comments on how this low standard of play has come about…I remember seeing him at the 1984 U. S. Open Senior (35 and over) Championships lose to Stan Smith. Newcombe was using a Prince Magnesium racquet.

He limits his examples to Edberg and Rafter…which I find odd. Virtually every player in the U. S. Open draw in 1984 could volley effectively below the net. Even Ivan Lendl was an accomplished volleyer compared to the modern tennis playing professional. He made the finals than year before getting shellacked by John McEnroe.

Roger Federer leads all players with an .873 winning percentage on grass. John McEnroe is second followed by Bjorn Borg and Pete Sampras. Classic lineage which culminated in Federer as the "Living Proof" of the don_budge teaching paradigm. You know…the book is Tilden, Gonzales is the model with the Budge backhand. Hopman is the coach. Federer is the Living Proof.

Thanks once again to Stan Wawrinka for validating my teaching paradigm…with is rendition of the Don Budge backhand. My paradigm is uncertified and unlicensed and therefore illegal and nonexistent…just FYI.

[stotty]

An excerpt from my observations from Wimbledon 2014 is below. Not too dissimilar to Newcombe.

Younger players generally looked fine when volleying in practice but in matches showed a distinct lack of ability and confidence to deal with volleys below the height of the net. All were lost in this department. I could see them visibly panic when dealing with volleys other than put aways. The panic arises out of simply not knowing what to do...that's very visible too. But it's the low volley that's the problem. Not one player could play or deal with low volleys well, not one.

A couple of the older players did come to net at times. The problem these volleyers had was not so much dealing with spin as getting from A to B fast enough to be in a balanced position. The ball was being struck so consistently hard the volleyer simply couldn't make the ground up at times to be where he had to be. He often couldn't get close enough to the net, which is crucial. But the situation was also a catch 22. We are in an era where volleys need to be seriously penetrating and placed if they are to do their job. Instead volley skills are in decline and this is very evident. This is a big problem and it's hard to know how to resuscitate the skill. The foundation from which good volleyers are made is collapsing all around us.

bobbyswift suggested players can only approach the net from a position of overwhelming force. He maybe right. Sometimes when you watch Federer swarm the net (as against Murray 2013 Aussie Open) it looks doable as a game style, and tactically valid.

[don_budge]

Federer's .873 winning percentage...

Roger Federer's winning percentage may be a bit misleading…as his total number of Grand Slam championship's.

First of all…obviously he has been playing against a watered-down diluted talent pool on the grass. He is from a bygone era and learned the classic serve and volley style as best observed against Pete Sampras in the 2001 Wimbledon quarterfinals. This was the end of serve and volley. The next year was the first year that two baseliners played in the final. Lleyton Hewitt vs. David Nalbanian.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3E4Qlrll0GE

Extrapolating just a bit the same might be said of his total Grand Slam wins. A watered-down talent pool. The all-court player having been engineered out of the equation.

[don_budge]

The Engineering Fiasco...

An excerpt from my observations from Wimbledon 2014 is below. Not too dissimilar to Newcombe.


Originally Posted by licensedcoach View Post

Younger players generally looked fine when volleying in practice but in matches showed a distinct lack of ability and confidence to deal with volleys below the height of the net. All were lost in this department. I could see them visibly panic when dealing with volleys other than put aways. The panic arises out of simply not knowing what to do...that's very visible too. But it's the low volley that's the problem. Not one player could play or deal with low volleys well, not one.

A couple of the older players did come to net at times. The problem these volleyers had was not so much dealing with spin as getting from A to B fast enough to be in a balanced position. The ball was being struck so consistently hard the volleyer simply couldn't make the ground up at times to be where he had to be. He often couldn't get close enough to the net, which is crucial. But the situation was also a catch 22. We are in an era where volleys need to be seriously penetrating and placed if they are to do their job. Instead volley skills are in decline and this is very evident. This is a big problem and it's hard to know how to resuscitate the skill. The foundation from which good volleyers are made is collapsing all around us.


bobbyswift suggested players can only approach the net from a position of overwhelming force. He maybe right. Sometimes when you watch Federer swarm the net (as against Murray 2013 Aussie Open) it looks doable as a game style, and tactically valid.

I'm not so certain about all of this force and power volleying. Even now the players are starting to really see that the short ball presents a conundrum for the modern day player. Their normal grips are "too" strong to properly play ball in the forecourt. Slice backhand approaches are largely unexplored in the last years. It could be that a combination of speed and touch with delicate placement is the missing combination.

I understand the speed of the game and appreciate the problems that it presents for the all court player. Why not just go back to standard size racquets and admit that the whole thing was an experiment…that failed.

[klacr]

From the ATP website…surprising that the ministry of censorship didn't silence John Newcombe and he had the audacity to say the truth.

http://www.atpworldtour.com/News/Tennis/2015/06/23/FedEx-Performance-Zone-Career-Grass-Records.aspx

From the article...

Australian John Newcombe, a three-time titlist at the All England Club, says, "A classical grass-court player must have a very good offensive and defensive volley, which has to be backed up by a solid serve that features a variety of pace and spin."
Over the past 15 years, serve and volley play has dwindled. The 2002 Wimbledon final featured, for the first time, two players, Lleyton Hewitt and David Nalbandian, who played solely from the baseline.

Newcombe admits, "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."

Newcombe makes no comments on how this low standard of play has come about…I remember seeing him at the 1984 U. S. Open Senior (35 and over) Championships lose to Stan Smith. Newcombe was using a Prince Magnesium racquet.

He limits his examples to Edberg and Rafter…which I find odd. Virtually every player in the U. S. Open draw in 1984 could volley effectively below the net. Even Ivan Lendl was an accomplished volleyer compared to the modern tennis playing professional. He made the finals than year before getting shellacked by John McEnroe.

Roger Federer leads all players with an .873 winning percentage on grass. John McEnroe is second followed by Bjorn Borg and Pete Sampras. Classic lineage which culminated in Federer as the "Living Proof" of the don_budge teaching paradigm. You know…the book is Tilden, Gonzales is the model with the Budge backhand. Hopman is the coach. Federer is the Living Proof.

Thanks once again to Stan Wawrinka for validating my teaching paradigm…with is rendition of the Don Budge backhand. My paradigm is uncertified and unlicensed and therefore illegal and nonexistent…just FYI.

Great article. Good find don_budge.
John Newcombe speaks the truth. And nothing but the truth.

Kyle LaCroix USPTA
Boca Raton

[klacr]

Speaking of grass courts and serve and volley...

Nicolas Mahut won s-Hertogenbosch today. It is his 2nd title there in three years (won in 2013) and his 3rd career title, he won in Newport,RI as well (all titles have been won on grass). Mahut prefers the faster surfaces with his attacking game.

Random stat:
Nicolas Mahut has more career grass court titles than Lendl, Agassi, Wilander and Safin....just to name a few

Sadly, Nadal also won today...on grass in Stuttgart. But that could be a different thread altogether.

Kyle LaCroix USPTA
Boca Raton

[don_budge]

Grass court play…2015

Sadly, Nadal also won today...on grass in Stuttgart. But that could be a different thread altogether.

Kyle LaCroix USPTA
Boca Raton

I watched a bit of both matches. Mahut plays a nice classic game that doesn't get any traction given the controlled environment…the racquets, strings, courts etc. Goffin…his opponent had some problem with his neck. He probably woke up with a stiff neck which really makes it difficult to have a good serving day. Goffin has emerged as a difficult opponent for anybody except maybe the very top echelon these days.

One wonders how a Mahut can emerge from the French camp with their cornucopia of styles and renditions.

Fafa was taking an average of 27 seconds or so to get his serve off against Victor Troiki. He was bouncing the ball an average of 13 times on his first serve and another 10 for his second. The commentators were pro-Nadal minions. Truly sickening and slobbering all over themselves to right the ship of the floundering hotdog.