For some players putting the overhead away is a walk in the park.
Picture this: you hit a solid, deep approach shot off your opponent’s short ball and you close on the net expecting to put away an easy volley. Instead, your opponent lobs.
You feel instant uneasiness as you attempt to maneuver into position. One thing’s for sure though; you’re going to blast this shot like there’s no tomorrow.
The next thing you know you’ve: 1) hit it into the bottom of the net 2) drilled it off the back fence 3) miss hit it to God knows where 4) whiffed it completely. In any case, you’re devastated because you’ve just blown a great opportunity to end the point with one of the most satisfying and devastating shots in the game, the overhead.
Sound familiar? Well don’t feel alone. This scenario is played out over and over again on tennis courts around the world. Even Martina Navratilova once whiffed an overhead on Center Court at Wimbledon .
Scott Murphy is from Marin County, California where he started playing tennis at age 5 in a family of tennis nuts. Both of his parents were major influences in his development. He also took lessons from Marin legend Hal Wagner and former top 10, Harry Roach.
He's a graduate of the University of California at Berkeley where he played baseball and football but continued to work on his tennis game with the renowned coach Chet Murphy.
Scott Murphy directs the Nike Tahoe Junior and Adult Tennis Camps at the Granlibakken Resort in Tahoe City, California.
