HELP Serve and Volley

[federer_nadal]

I have a big serve, can do almost everythign with it, good placement, big, kickers. I am not the fittest guy goin around but i can run and move well around the court well. I have been told that i should serve and Volley more and i am wanting to know some tips/pointers/or just plain strategy to help me become more of a serve and volleyer. So now it is over to all you tennis coaches/pros/gurus to help me. Thanks for your time.

[TonyB]

Get in shape. You'll need it. S&V is exponentially harder on the body than just serving and waiting at the baseline.

Between the fast acceleration to the net following the serve and the constant pounding that your knees and ankles take when you are split-stepping and changing direction every point, it really punishes your body.

That being said, some things to practice would be running full speed from the baseline to the service box T, split-stepping, then changing direction 90 degrees across the service line, in either direction, sidestep to the doubles alley, then backpedal back to the baseline, then finally sidestep back to the center T at the baseline. Repeat at least 10 times, probably 20 or more as your fitness level improves, alternating which direction you sidestep at the service box. Rest about 10 seconds in between repetitions.

Make sure you stretch completely before doing this, as it is very hard on the body and it stresses virtually every muscle in the lower body.

Another drill you might try, which is simply to improve your volleying ability on the run, is to have someone feed you high balls as you approach the service box on a dead run. Try to pick them off out of the air above your shoulders for putaway winners. Practice forehand and backhand sides, equally. It's not as easy as it sounds.

Another one would be to have your helper stand near one of the net posts (so as not to get hit) and fire balls at your feet as you perform your split-step at the service T. Practice picking them up off of your shoelaces. That'll give you a good idea of the fitness level of your lower back and quadriceps.


Anyways, those are just a few quick drills that comes to mind off the top of my head. There are plenty of others. Good luck.

[LuckyR]

I have a big serve, can do almost everythign with it, good placement, big, kickers. I am not the fittest guy goin around but i can run and move well around the court well. I have been told that i should serve and Volley more and i am wanting to know some tips/pointers/or just plain strategy to help me become more of a serve and volleyer. So now it is over to all you tennis coaches/pros/gurus to help me. Thanks for your time.



Get your first volley (from about the service line) down pat. That will be your biggest hurdle. Usually folks with big serves get creampuff first volleys and practice putting them away, but you will run into return specialists who will hit decent returns off of your vaunted first serve and if you are going to excel, you're going to need to be able to handle them. Second volleys (from the traditional volley location) are important, of course, but lots of folks can hit those well.

[federer_nadal]

Thank you so much both of you, you have both been such a great help. I printed out your post and i will execute those drills when i go for a hit today. Once again thankyou

[Janne]

I also feel the need to thank you guys as I´m trying to become a Serve and Volley player too. :)

[Bagumbawalla]

Though I believe that everyone should learn to serve and volley (especially for doubles), It is a very difficult style to master for the singles game.

There are very vew s+vers left on the planet. It was a style best suited to the slower game of wooden rackets. Look what happened when McEnroe (best serve and volleyer) confronted Lendel's power game. It was the end of an era.

So, I would say, everyone should learn to serve and volley to round out their game, but use it as a surprise or change and not the main game plan.

Good luck,

B

[Joe Average]

First, you need to develop a serve that puts you into the court. This will give you an extra couple of steps. Baseliners are in the habit of staying put with their serves. S&Vers serve differently.

Get your first volley (from about the service line) down pat. That will be your biggest hurdle.

Absolutely. A tennis pro once asked me a trick question: What's the most difficult volley? Of course I'm thinking stuff like ... high to the backhand, low to the feet. The answer (at least his answer) was ... the first one. Because chances are you'll be volleying from the service line. Learn to half-volley. Once you've determined to half-volley the return or to pick the ball off before it bounces, stay with that decision. Mistakes are made when you try to do both.

Third, a lot of beginners to serve & volley make the mistake of rushing in. They feel they need to be at a certain spot to be effective. But if you have a big serve, the chances are slim to none that you'll be at the net for the first volley. It's better to even walk in than to rush it and be out of control. Better to be in "no man's land" for the first volley than to be panicked at the net with your feet moving in several different directions.

Fourth, keep the racquet in front of you at all times. You wouldn't hit your groundstrokes behind you (where you can't see the contact), why would you do it with volleys? Almost every time you frame a volley or bend your wrist, it's because you didn't hit the ball out in front.

Finally, learn how your opponent responds to your serves: down-line-midde, to-the-body, out wide. To-the-body elicits a soft return. Down-the-middle usually gets you a return down the center. And out wide will give your opponent more angle.

[Solat]

Good luck, there have been some technical tips above, so i will give you the tactical background. Talking as a Righty

1. Serve wide volley wide : you need a swinging serve out for the deuce court to pull your opponent out of court then volley into open court. Make sure you move well to the left to cover the DTL return

2. Serve body to get pop up return: Serve hard straight at your opponent to get an easy puff ball back, use angles on the volley.

3. Mix your serve to reduce returners consistancy of return : you can be vunerable as a S+V so dont let your opponent get rhythm

4. Kick serves are your friend: Everyone thinks that you gotta serve big to be a S+V, now whilst it helps it also means that the faster your serve, the faster the return and the further back your volley. Kick serves are slower and higher bouncing (out of comfortable return height) and allows you to get in a better position to volley. Think Rafter.

5. Balance before Speed : you are better off being 2 steps further back and balanced thru the volley then being out of position 2 steps closer to the net. Your first volley is your do or die, make it a good one.

6. Fake your opponent: Occasionally serve and not volley, but move in to attack, if the returner is consistantly trying to hit your shoelaces then you stay back a little, you get a mid court ball to have a hit at. Once again it breaks their rhythm

7. Keep your cool: S+V is a win or lose gamestyle. You WILL be passed, you WILL be lobbed. hopefully you will also put su much pressure on your opponent that they miss more then they make, its a game of pressure not of volley winners.

best of luck
PS find a grass court :p

[th____44]

serve & volley is the way to play tennis.... ;)

[Cindysphinx]

As a doubles player, I'm still learning to serve and volley, and I still mess up that first volley sometimes. This earns me raised eyebrows from my partners sometimes, who figure I wouldn't have messed up had I just stayed back.

I say they're wrong. They pay attention only to the error I just made. They forget all the errors my opponents cough up because they try to make a shot that is too good because of the threat I will serve and volley. Reasonably good returners will start returning into the tape because they fear a serve and volley.

So my advice is serve and volley early in the match. Be brazen about it, and don't stop just because you miss a few. Chances are good that you're doing better than you think due to opponent's errors, and you'll have messed with your opponent's head too.

[TonyB]

6. Fake your opponent: Occasionally serve and not volley, but move in to attack, if the returner is consistantly trying to hit your shoelaces then you stay back a little, you get a mid court ball to have a hit at. Once again it breaks their rhythm


Now *THAT* is a great piece of advice.

I keep wanting to do this, but it never seems to come to mind when I'm actually playing a match. Most of the time I rush the net and can get pretty good positioning. But sometimes, my opponent does manage to get some really nice returns at my feet, just inside the service line, where I have to either stretch to make the volley, or reach backwards to half-volley it.

It would be much more helpful if I were about 2 steps BEHIND the service line for those shots.

I've seen Sampras do this on occasion. After the serve, he just sort of floats around between the service line and the baseline, slowly moving forward until he can judge the returner's shot.

Again, good advice there.

[Tennismastery]

I'm impressed with the many comments and suggestions written here! Great advice all!

From my perspective, obviously a great serve is the first part of the serve and volley equation...something, it sounds like, you have mastered.

The most important element to this strategy is the first volley as some have said. However, I wanted to add a couple thoughts to these excellent comments: First off, if your first volley is suspect, you negate the value of your serve. That is, normally you will volley at or behind the service line in most cases...even in doubles. If your serve is big, you won't get too far in behind it before the return is made and is back at you. Thus, if you volley a weak shot from this deep volley position, you will be in a vulnerable position with a fairly easy shot for your opponent to set up for the passing shot or a shot at your feet.

In my experience, learning to volley with the continental grip helps develop the ability to hit low volleys well, hit half volleys well, and hit angle volleys well. (Although, you probably won't hit an angle volley off a first volley in most cases...too far back to be effective!)

In singles, being able to hit volleys behind your opponent is one of the basic strategies to explore. Trying to hit to the open court on the first volley tends to set up an easier passing shot for your opponent. Most skilled players hit better on the move to a ball rather than having to change direction and set up for a ball hit behind them.

Remember this general single rule: if you can't put the volley away, hit it down the line. If you try to hit a crosscourt volley and it isn't a winner, you will be open down your own line in most cases for a passing shot by your opponent.

And be patient with higher volleys. Too many players get excited on a high volley and either hit it short, in the net or long.

As someone also pointed out, don't be in too much of a rush to get to the net. If you have solid volleys, you can hit them from anywhere on the court. Too many players, in a hurry to close in, lose balance and tend to swing bigger. When I played in college, I would literally walk into the net, especially in doubles, and play the volley from a slightly deeper position...but because I was so balanced, I felt I could hit the volley anywhere I wanted. I would set up the point, knowing if I volleyed a ball so that my opponents had to hit up on the next ball, I could close in on the second volley and finish the point.

All of this, of course, is dependent on your ability to volley well...which brings me back to the first point of this message I made!

[vkartikv]

To be honest I think serve and volley is easier than the baseline game. May be it's just because I am used to the older style of playing but staying back and having to deal with all those high-rising topspinny balls is much harder than getting to net and having to deal with those same balls, albeit with the same amount of action. Your legs and back need to be conditioned, mine really aren't but once you can do that it will make the whole process more enjoyable.

[federer_nadal]

Thanks heaps guys, i saw that you were under fire in another thread (tennismastery), but you really came up with the goods this time. Thanks you very much. What level have you played at? Do you have a career that involves tennis? it sounds like you do from the advice you gave me.

[Tennismastery]

Thanks heaps guys, i saw that you were under fire in another thread (tennismastery), but you really came up with the goods this time. Thanks you very much. What level have you played at? Do you have a career that involves tennis? it sounds like you do from the advice you gave me.

In a nutshell, I have been involved in playing and teaching tennis for 35 years. My father, Bruce Smith, and I had one of the most successful high school teams in the country, winning 768 league matches against 9 losses in a 22 year period, in the tennis-rich area of southern California.

I am the author of the top-selling book, TENNIS MASTERY, and the Senior Editor for TennisOne.com. I have taught over 3500 players and played #1 singles and doubles for Cal. St. University Fullerton in the 1980's and #1 for Santiago Community College in Orange County, CA two years prior to that. I am a 5.5 level player but, at 48 years old, don't play competitive tennis much as I'm too busy teaching and writing.

There are a few ignorant individuals who have not come close to my teaching experience or success. (I have taught over 100 nationally, state, and USTA ranked juniors in my 32 years of teaching.) Those few seem to follow blindly the teaching of a single individule. I prefer to study the findings of many top teaching pros, employ the methods that I have found to provide long-term improvement for players seeking to reach their 'True Potential' and have had great success in that endeaver. I have spoken at many USPTA conventions and enjoy listening to other pros share their experience.

I believe most people who have read my articles (many of which have been translated in various international publications), understand my point of view as well as gaining insights from them. (At least I hope they do!)

Hope this provides a bit of my background for anyone interested!

[DrewRafter8]

The most important element to this strategy is the first volley as some have said. However, I wanted to add a couple thoughts to these excellent comments: First off, if your first volley is suspect, you negate the value of your serve. That is, normally you will volley at or behind the service line in most cases...even in doubles. If your serve is big, you won't get too far in behind it before the return is made and is back at you. Thus, if you volley a weak shot from this deep volley position, you will be in a vulnerable position with a fairly easy shot for your opponent to set up for the passing shot or a shot at your feet.


I think that this is a fantastic piece of advice. I have a big serve, so it sometimes puts me at a disadvantage on my S&V. I either take some off or go for kick so that I am allowed time to move in closer to hit my first volley. I've found that the closer that I am to the net, the better my first volley, and I feel that I am in complete control. Sometimes if your opponent has a good lob, this can be difficult. However, especially against some of the better players in my area, if you do not get in, then you'll have a nasty half volley to hit.

[Tennismastery]

I think that this is a fantastic piece of advice. I have a big serve, so it sometimes puts me at a disadvantage on my S&V. I either take some off or go for kick so that I am allowed time to move in closer to hit my first volley. I've found that the closer that I am to the net, the better my first volley, and I feel that I am in complete control. Sometimes if your opponent has a good lob, this can be difficult. However, especially against some of the better players in my area, if you do not get in, then you'll have a nasty half volley to hit.

DrewRafter, you are most correct in developing and utilizing a spin serve to gain time in closing in after the serve. Obviously, being able to mix up the serve and determine which serve will be most effective against which type of opponent is ideal. However, serve and volley players should be just as comfortable hitting half volleys as regular volleys...and this requires a continental grip in most cases. Unfortunately, too many players elect to use the eastern grips which do not allow players to progress in the volley areas, half volleys included.

The half volley is not that difficult when learned correctly and practiced to a certain degree. The problem most players have is they try to chop down on half volleys which makes them pop up the ball or worse, frame or miss the ball completely.

Half volley with the continental grip is all about closing the racquet slightly and getting down below the ball...coming up with it while brushing slightly and hitting forward and up as the ball rises off the court. Too many players also look up on half volleys in fear of opponents ripping the ball they pop up at them! The best advice in learning half volleys is to aim at the bottom of the net while executing the motion I just described. Most players will hit a good half volley by doing this...and only takes aiming a little higher if indeed the ball is hit in the net.

[DrewRafter8]

Tennismastery, I myself had to learn an effective half volley very quickly b/c of my height. I stand around 6'4"-5" so I had to practice getting and staying low on the half volley. It seems that many players don't have the patience on this shot. I try to get as low as possible then and most of the time, there's no problem. If I miss a half volley, it's generally because I stood up too quickly. I believe many of "us" taller players have to learn how to hit this shot early on.

[lenbo01]

if your serve is as good as you claim, then you should be getting a lot of short returns. approach the net behind a big forehand. it makes coming to the net easier when you are out of shape. you expend less energy.

why kill yourself trying to serve and volley when there are other options. i think a lot of the old timers think s&v is the only way to play. they didn't have to deal with 90mph+ returns/passing shots coming back at them. look at the pro's today, there's a reason why the majority of pro's don't s&v anymore.

[LuckyR]

if your serve is as good as you claim, then you should be getting a lot of short returns. approach the net behind a big forehand. it makes coming to the net easier when you are out of shape. you expend less energy.

why kill yourself trying to serve and volley when there are other options. i think a lot of the old timers think s&v is the only way to play. they didn't have to deal with 90mph+ returns/passing shots coming back at them. look at the pro's today, there's a reason why the majority of pro's don't s&v anymore.


Well, although your comments are technically correct, they miss one major issue. Namely, that playing to your strength is only half of the equation, the other half is playing to your opponent's weakness. As you mention, in the modern game, S&V is very rare and hence many modern players have little experience playing against it and are therefore vulnerable to it. Of course I am not talking about the Pro game, but then again there should be no Pros on this Forum asking for advice...