The Transition Volley

By Allen Fox, Ph.D.

Over the years the game has evolved many times into many different forms. And it seems to be evolving yet again. The volley is beginning to reappear and assume, at the highest levels of the game, increasing importance.

But it is not the volley of yesteryear, that of McEnroe, Edberg, Rafter, or even Henman. Their volleys were of the chip and charge, serve and volley variety, usually requiring a maneuvering volley or two before finishing the point.

By contrast, the new volley is a transition volley, hit after a severe groundstroke or serve has forced the opponent off balance and onto the defense. The volleyer darts forward opportunistically when he or she senses that the reply from an out-of-position opponent will be hit softly or inaccurately Instead of multiple volleys, the point is usually ended with the first volley or, at most, the second.

These days, Roger Federer is the most obvious practitioner of this type of transition volley Although adept at the net and quite capable of mounting an old-style serve and volley attack, he rarely does it. Instead, he serves and volleys sporadically, just enough to keep his opponent guessing and insecure about hitting low-risk, deep, floating returns.

The rest of the time he tries to get control of the point with his groundstrokes and looks to pick off high replies from opponents chased into the distant corners of the court. His tremendous speed of foot and flexible hands allow him to make his moves suddenly and with deadly efficiency, deftly controlling the occasional difficult volley forced by an opponent who hits a better shot than anticipated.

The other players who make constant use of this type of volley are David Nalbandian and Fabrice Santoro. They are always on the lookout to jump an unwary opponent with a sudden net attack. Santoro, in fact, virtually makes his living this way. If you took away his transition volley and forced him to stay back and simply slug it out with the horde of heavy-hitting baseliners populating the ATP top 100, he would have been driven off the pro circuit long ago.

This is also the volley Andy Roddick has been working on for the past two years and finally seems to be getting under control. It is, I believe, the volley that will separate more and more of the strong baseliners from the pack.

Something Extra

Every top player hits the groundstrokes pretty well. At the very top of the game, particularly on the faster surfaces, the players need something extra. And they are starting to recognize this.

This play works particularly well on an opponent's backhand side - especially if the shot is a two-hander. When stretched wide and off balance, a player will often be forced to hit with one hand, a physically weaker shot, and one that generally necessitates a defensive, sliced return. But even players with strong, one-handed backhands will resort to the defensive slice if forced severely.

And with the ball moving slower and higher over the net (in an attempt to maintain depth), the best percentage play for hitting a winner is to take the ball in the air. This reduces the opponent's recovery time and puts one in position for an easy kill if the first volley is not conclusive.

The alternative is to allow the ball to sail back to the baseline, giving the opponent more time to get back into the court, and to go for a winner with a groundstroke. Because of time and distance considerations, this shot must be hit very hard and close to the lines, imposing greater risk of error.

A secondary benefit of the transition volley is that it will cause one's opponent to make more errors. Opponents get jumpy when surprise volleys preclude them from hitting low-risk, defensive returns and regaining proper court position. They are now forced to hit more severe and perilous shots from awkward positions.

This factor also operates as a result of the occasional serve and volley. They no longer dare to hit the soft, deep, chip return off the big serve lest it be intercepted in the air. Now they have to hit with less margin against a fast-moving ball that is difficult to control in the best of circumstances. The result - more serve return errors.

One might question why Federer and the others have opted to give up on the old serve and volley, chip and charge type of volley and replace it with the new transition volley? The answer, of course, lies with today's more powerful and accurate groundstrokes, heavier balls, and slower courts.

In order to profitably attack at the net these days, one must come forward behind heavier artillery than in days of yore. (In fact, in the old days of sliced backhands, fast courts, and light balls, one almost had an engraved invitation to come to net.) Now the serve returns and passing shots are hit too hard and too accurately for players to venture forward other than behind substantial heat.

If today's top players are allowed to remain on balance and given time to set up and hit passing shots, the odds appear to be against even the most proficient volleyers, with the possible exception of matches played on grass.

Tennis is constantly evolving as players come up with bright ideas of ways to in response Tennis, in its early years, was a game played primarily from the baseline with relatively flat or sliced groundstrokes.

In the 1940's Jack Kramer discovered that the persistent volleyer had the advantage on fast courts against this type of player. Hence the serve and volleyers dominated the game for the next 25 years.

To counter the volleyers, players developed topspin groundstrokes while, at the same time, the courts were slowed down and the balls made heavier. By the mid-1970's, Borg, Connors, Vilas and the rest killed off most of the volleyers, and the game was dominated by baseliner who won largely by attrition.

The next major development, led by Ivan Lendl, was the aggressive baseliner, who won by attacking from the baseline. And that has been the trend up until today, with most players winning as aggressive baseliners.

Of course there were plenty of exceptions to these trends. John McEnroe and Stephan Edberg were serve and volleyers during the aggressive baseliner phase, Dick Savitt won Wimbledon in 1950 as an aggressive baseliner in the days of the serve and volleyers, and Maurice McGlochlin won by serving and volleying in the 1920's when the early baseliners ruled.

But these people were exceptional in their times and we are discussing general trends. And the newest general trend appears to be that of the aggressive baseliner additionally armed with the transition volley.