Serve and Volley Part 3:
Tactical Components

Kyle LaCroix

The basic serve and volley concept sounds straightforward. Hit a serve then come in and hit a volley. If it were only that easy.

If it was you would see serve and volley played much more widely at all levels. In reality every player must master a series interrelated components to put winning serve and volley points together.

In the first two articles we have looked at the serve and volley mentality (Click Here). and also what inspired me personally to become a serve and volley player. (Click Here.) Now let's turn to these tactical components themselves.

The first tactical component is mastering four serving locations. The second is learning the volley placements that correspond to these locations.

The third is the forward or closing movement that ties serve locations and volley placements together, and how this closing movement should be adapted to levels of play.

All 3 components are equally important for serve and volley as an overall game style, or as an intermittent tactic to be played on certain points throughout a given match.

Location

The quality of your serve is judged notby how hard you hit it, but by when you hit it where. For serve and volley points to work location, not pure velocity, is critical.

Creating the ability to win points also requires knowing what volleys correspond with what serve locations. A great serve placement combined with the wrong volley can have the opposite effect you desire.

Let's look at all the placements and the corresponding volley options. In each serving box there are 4 locations:

The T Serve

The T serve, or the serve down the middle, is highly effective in limiting the angle of the returner. This is true in both courts.

This makes your approach to the net and first volley more straightforward, literally and figuratively. This serve is also highly effective in doubles because it gives your partner balls with an easier angle to poach.

With the T serve, you can volley into the open court, or behind the returner. Either volley will force your opponent to move. But be careful.

Unless you have a clear opportunity to hit a winner or hurt your opponent badly, I recommend hitting the first volley in the direction your body weight is moving. In the deuce court, if the returner hits to my backhand volley I will hit my backhand volley down the line.

This keeps the ball on my left side and keeps the line covered. Going for a sharp or short angled volley crosscourt is risky and leaves the other line open unless the shot is a winner.

The logic is the same if I get a forehand volley. In this case I will tend to hit the volley crosscourt behind the returner.

The same thinking applies in the ad court. With a T serve I will often hit a forehand volley down the line.

Wide Deep Serve

The Wide Deep Serve is the classic, safer play to open the court. It lands deep in the corner of the service box near where the service line and singles sideline meet.

It's a high percentage serve due to the crosscourt path which gives it a greater area to land in. However it affords the opponent greater opportunity to create angles. If hit off target, it can also land in your opponent' s wheelhouse, particularly with a forehand return in the deuce court.

If accurate, a wide deep serve pushes your opponent and gives you real estate to hit either a forehand or a backhand volley into the open court. This is the one-two punch most players visualize when they think of serve and volley.

But if the volley is not perfectly struck the returner can reach the ball with the line open. Therefore against a fast player or a counterpuncher, I love to hit behind the returner, back into the same corner they returned from. Often this yields a greater opening for the second or even third volley, as well as giving your opponent the chance to ere on a crosscourt passing shot.

The 3/4 Wide Serve

The third type of serve is the 3/4 Wide Serve. This placement takes more skill, but will often wreak havoc on your opponents. I call it the 3/4 Wide Serve because you want to hit it close to the side line but the depth should be only about 3/4 the depth of the service box.

In this deuce court the 3/4 wide serve requires the ability to hit a decent slice, and in the add court a decent kick. In both cases the serve should be hit with a high level of spin.

This will pull the opponent wider off to the court than the serve hit wide and deep. The result is an open court.

In this case the volley almost always goes there. If your opponent does chase that volley down, you should have an easy second volley going the other way.

I use this serve to stretch out an opponent that is not a great mover. It is also an excellent play against an opponent that plays with two hands on their backhand, forcing them to stretch out.

Sometimes the two hander will also let go of with one hand. When this happens it's feeding time at the zoo for any true serve and volley animal.

Perhaps the biggest advantage of the 3/4 Wide Serve is that it gives the server time to close to a more aggressive position for the first volley instead of getting caught deeper, in no man's land.

It is also perfect against an opponent who stands far back off the baseline and hits great returns off your hard serves, but can not create his own pace. It's also a great change up that can surprise the opponent.

One cautionary point about both wide serves. When you attempt to serve your opponent off the court, returners will sometimes go for broke if they believe they have no chance of reaching your volley.

And sometimes they will hit amazing winners. Accept and applaud the shot since getting passed is part of the game, but realize the percentages are in your favor and players who go for broke in this situation will miss more often than not.

The Body Serve

The fourth location, the Body Serve is my favorite. It is underrated and underused at every level of play. This serve handcuffs the opponent, limiting his ability to swing.

What you hope to generate is a return that floats and can be hit decisively for a winner. This is the ball where the swinging volley can come into play, something we will discuss in the next article.

If you hit a good body serve don't be so concerned about going to the open court for first volley. You have time to close and to cover the line.

It's a great serve to use against tall players. John Isner seems to get more body serves than any player I can remember seeing.

But the body serve can be used against everyone at any level. The key is to put enough pace or spin on it so the returner has little time to move away. You must be committed to this serve because if you are slightly off target, the returner may have a ball in the wheelhouse.

In some matches you may not need to use all 4 serves to set up effective volleys. If a particular serve and f volley pattern is working, don't stop. Ride it all the way. But having the ability to hit the full variety, and knowing how to back them up is the difference in being successful against more opponents.

ABC

In serve and volley tennis, ABC stands for "Always Be Closing". It's the essence of great serve and volley tennis.

Going after the ball--not waiting for it. Moving forward, getting tighter and tighter, putting the ball away. Pressuring your opponent to force the error.

But does that mean running full speed straight forward? Obviously not.

Players need to learn how to transition from one shot to the next. For this the split step is critical.

You cannot achieve even moderate success in serve and volley at any level without incorporating the split step.

The biggest footwork issue when players approach the net is that that they stop and plant themselves after the split step. Their heels dig into the court and then can't move.

The ability to explode to the next shot vanishes. It's unfortunate how many players think that doing a split step means coming to a complete halt.

A split step is not a stop sign on the way to the net. It's a speed bump. When you approach a speed bump in your car, you adjust your speed.

It's the same with the split. Moving forward after a serve a player has significant momentum. If he hits the brakes hard, this is reduced or lost. The split or the speed bump allows him to move forward in a controlled, balanced fashion.

But serve and volley has to be adapted to the level of student to be effective. At lower levels, club players often close too early. There is more time for the defender to respond because of the lower pace.

Because of this, club players make themselves vulnerable to the lob and can't be expected to hit backpedaling scissor kick overheads to compensate. This is where there are shades of grey depending on levels.

Initially, I teach my club level players the "hover and observe" position. This means positioning themselves at the service line or a step or two inside. They remain in a ready position, taking small quick ready steps, staying light on their feet.

By hovering, the attacking player learns to observe the opponent. If the opponent looks balanced chances are he opponent will try to drive the ball. The attacking player is now ready to move forward to cut off the angles. Otherwise, he can continue to hover and prepare for the lob.

This approach takes much of the feeling of vulnerability from the serve and volleyer's mind. With serve and volley, there's a fine line between being opportunistic and foolish. Understanding the serve and corresponding volley placements and how aggressively to close are vital.

Next: let's look three shots that are vital in serve and volley: the overhead, the half-volley, and the swinging volley. Stay Tuned!