The Overhead

Chris Lewit

I often tell my students that a great overhead is essential to developing a world-class attacking game. Why? Because any high level player worth his salt will neutralize the attacking rival with a high lob and test his or here overhead smash.

Unfortunately, the overhead is usually under practiced. In this article, I will share my philosophy on the overhead and some key technical details. Next time John and I film I will add some of my favorite overhead drills.

The Lynchpin

While overheads are not hit as frequently as groundstrokes or serves, smashes often come at critical junctures in the match, raising their importance. In addition, if building a complete all-court game is a goal, the overhead is the lynchpin, the glue that holds the all-court game together.

A player's success at the net is only as strong as its weakest link. In this case, that is often the overhead because it is practiced poorly and infrequently. It's common for players to spend a lot of time on their volley skills but neglect the smash, although some players don't spend any time on their net skills at all.