Do you have to guess a bit when you volley?

[Golden Retriever]

I always get passed when I am up at the net. If I move after I am sure where the ball is going it would be too late. So should I change my mindset and move before I am sure where the ball is going.? Is that volleying is all about? You have to gamble a bit sort of like returning a big first serve?

[maverick66]

you have to follow the ball and know the angles. also almost all your aproach shots should go down the line. this makes it easier for you to cover the court where as if you go crosscourt your gonna leave an entire side open. only time you go crosscourt with an aproach is if your opponent is off the court and its either an easy put away or hes gonna be completely outstretched. most good volleying is about the shot you hit to get there.

[Djokovicfan4life]

I wouldn't call it gambling, but yes, you have to know where your opponent is likely to hit the ball based on things such as: his court positioning, balance, the depth, pace, and placement of your approach shot and/or first volley, etc.

Example: You hit a forehand approach down the line and your opponent returns it cross-court to your backhand volley, which you volley down the line to his forehand with decent depth. He's running full speed to get to this ball and you can see that he's barely going to make it.

Do you:

a. Stand in the middle of the court (Doofus style).

b. Move to cover down the line.

c. Guess cross-court (roddick style)

[Golden Retriever]

Trust me, I approach DTL and follow the ball to the net. Still I always get past, maybe I am slow.

[Djokovicfan4life]

Closing in quickly is a must when approaching. Time to start upping that footwork, I suspect.

[Golden Retriever]

I wouldn't call it gambling, but yes, you have to know where your opponent is likely to hit the ball based on things such as: his court positioning, balance, the depth, pace, and placement of your approach shot and/or first volley, etc.

Example: You hit a forehand approach down the line and your opponent returns it cross-court to your backhand volley, which you volley down the line to his forehand with decent depth. He's running full speed to get to this ball and you can see that he's barely going to make it.

Do you:

a. Stand in the middle of the court (Doofus style).

b. Move to cover down the line.

c. Guess cross-court (roddick style)

B?????????

[Djokovicfan4life]

Holla. You aced that one.

My point is, the people that get passed the most are usually the ones that don't watch what their opponents are really doing with their shot.

[maverick66]

you shouldnt be guessing. if your positioning is good you should be reacting.

[cl76]

You only guess if your opponent has a lot of time to hit that passing shot and you're a sitting duck.

[Mountain Ghost]

If your opponent can pass you at will, you probably shouldn’t being rushing the net behind those particular approach shots.

On the guessing issue . . . don’t! Sure, you can move your body to cover clear openings in the court or to get closer to something that’s obviously coming, but you will effectively be faster if you get in the habit of waiting (ON BALANCE!) and not reacting until you actually know where the ball is headed.

Spend an hour at a time practicing volleys with both you and your hitting partner on the service lines. Work on not guessing, keeping your balance and bringing your racquet head back to dead center after each volley.

Guessing has four possible results and only one of them is good: you guess right and are in perfect position; you guess the correct direction but overrun the ball; you guess the wrong direction; or . . . you get passed anyway.

MG

[halalula1234]

if u hit cross court they can either go down the line or hit cc again

if u hit down the line they will most likely go cross court if they are on the run and have little time to set up but if they have time they will probably go for down the line where theres an opening.

also if u hit down the middle it will make it more difficult for them to hit angles so they might hit a bit of an angle but more towards the middle.

[naylor]

you shouldnt be guessing. if your positioning is good you should be reacting.

No, if your volley is good (deep, or angled) and your positioning is good, you should be anticipating - you are already up and covering the obvious weak reply, and you make a small move to cover the gap on the other side.

Say your first volley is a backhand down the line to a decent depth, so you're in your own left service box. Your opponent can stretch and get his racket behind the ball, but not play a proper pass, just push it over. If you just stay there, anything down your left and middle is covered (backhand or forehand volley), but you're exposed to a sharp-angled cross-court dink. But if you move across fractionally to be balanced but more central, you can still come back to put away anything pushed down the line or the middle of the court (both with backhand volleys now) but you can now cover the cross-court dink with your forehand.

[Slicendicer]

Trust me, I approach DTL and follow the ball to the net. Still I always get past, maybe I am slow.

Always follow the "line of the ball"... don't be so quick to close the gap between you and the net. Hang back around the service line until you read the passing shot, then move diagonal to cut it off.

[beckham]

No 10char

[Djokovicfan4life]

Always follow the "line of the ball"... don't be so quick to close the gap between you and the net. Hang back around the service line until you read the passing shot, then move diagonal to cut it off.

What? You're supposed to close in as tightly as possible when coming to net, provided that we're talking about a decent level of play, and not the 3.0 lob fest style of passing shots.

The "follow the line of the ball" part is good advice.

[jmverdugo]

I do not think you should be guessing but reacting to the shot, but if you know your opponent you can include some guessing on the equation. Other thing I do is "force" the oponent's to hit to a determined place, for instance I approach and close the DTL shot, he is forced to hit CC so I know where the ball is going, then you have to move fast after he hits the passing, you should try this only if you know he will not have a chance to hit fast passing shot and he will go for direction more than pace. Also, as somebody else said, watch what your opponent is doing, how he is standing, etc.

[jmverdugo]

What? You're supposed to close in as tightly as possible when coming to net, provided that we're talking about a decent level of play, and not the 3.0 lob fest style of passing shots.

The "follow the line of the ball" part is good advice.

A lob is a very valid shot at any level, beleive it or not Pros DO lob, and be sure about it, if you get to close to the net you will be lobbed. You are supposed to watch what your opponent is doing and analize the possible situations that can come out from the combination of your approach shot and the other position / place / intentions.

[Djokovicfan4life]

A lob is a very valid shot at any level, beleive it or not Pros DO lob, and be sure about it, if you get to close to the net you will be lobbed. You are supposed to watch what your opponent is doing and analize the possible situations that can come out from the combination of your approach shot and the other position / place / intentions.

Yes, the lob is used at all levels of the game. But people at a high enough level (lets say 4.5 or higher) usually have the footwork and speed necessary to get back for them. Furthermore, at the lower levels the quality of the lobs is much lower, giving the lesser players more time to run them down.

Not to mention the fact that they get crushed if they're dropped short in the court.

You're certainly entitled to your own opinion, but I'm of the belief that you should make your opponent lob you to beat you.

Matt

[Noisy Ninja]

Great volleyers are good anticipating the next shot. In a way..it's a calculated guess based on geometry, observation, and experience. You need to understand the optimum angles of attack available to your opponent and cut it off; observation of his body and racquet face are also tell signs regarding where he intends to place his/her shot.
Most imporantly, experience plays a big factor. Serve 'n volleyers usually take longer to develop than baseliners because it simply takes a lot of experience before one develops the innate anticipation skills needed to excel at the net. Until that happens...getting passed at the net is part of the learning process.

[Djokovicfan4life]

Great volleyers are good anticipating the next shot. In a way..it's a calculated guess based on geometry, observation, and experience. You need to understand the optimum angles of attack available to your opponent and cut it off; observation of his body and racquet face are also tell signs regarding where he intends to place his/her shot.
Most imporantly, experience plays a big factor. Serve 'n volleyers usually take longer to develop than baseliners because it simply takes a lot of experience before one develops the innate anticipation skills needed to excel at the net. Until that happens...getting passed at the net is part of the learning process.

This.

Rome wasn't built in a day.

[Nellie]

sounds like you need to split step earlier

Remember - be slow into the split, but burst out of the split to the ball. You should be able to get a couple quick steps toward a ball to cover a lot of court.

[Nellie]

and yes, sometimes you need to antecipate better by watching the opponents feet, shoulders. etc.

[fuzz nation]

I got to learn how to serve and volley before I learned a good baseline game growing up and the idea of guessing when I go to net just doesn't register. If that were the case for lots of us net crashers, we'd only go to the ball around half the time we close the net, right? The biggest issue I have to tackle when teaching players to move forward effectively is setting the table in their favor - the right approach shot and movement will take away your opponent's options.

Once you recognize that short ball that you want to hit and follow to the net, everything (well, pretty much everything) rides on your approach. A good accurate slice that's deep in a corner will put your opponents on their heels so that they can't produce much of an offensive reply - in this case, no passing shot. While a deep slice within a foot or two of the baseline is quite effective, the same ball that lands only two or three feet shorter can be catastrophic. Keep it deep. The slice is a slower moving ball, but it gives the net rusher more time to get forward and this extra step or so can make all the difference for "shutting the door", especially on a cross-court pass.

An aggressive topspin approach can come back at you more quickly (less time to move in), but if you use it to get your opponent on the run as you move forward, that can earn you a weak reply, too and we all love a free lunch. But what to do about taking the guesswork out of things...

I think that some of this is instinctive. When an opponent is stretching out wide, it's a whole lot harder for them to hit cross-court than up the line, right? So in that case, cover up the line, but look at your opponent and how they're setting up. Once committed to a certain shot, we all need to take an appropriate back-swing. This isn't rocket science - once you see an opponent backing off the ball and setting their racquet for a stroke, that reveals their swingpath more often than not. Occasionally you'll encounter a master of disguise, but after you see someone hit a few shots, you'll be able to read their setup and that will give you a better jump toward your volley.

[LeeD]

I"m with the two N posters...
Also, a nice ploy most of the volleyer's I talked to mentioned.... you cover one side and EXPECT to move to cover the wider open side. That way, you only have to move quickly ONE direction, since you're covering where you are already!
If you are perfectly bisecting the passing shot angles, you are basically a target for him to miss, and you are reacting fully to HIS shots, meaning you are in a defensive position. Defensive meaning both sides AND covering lobs, so 3 possibilities to get in trouble, rather than two.
If we KNOW which way to run, we get react quicker and faster.

[LuckyR]

I always get passed when I am up at the net. If I move after I am sure where the ball is going it would be too late. So should I change my mindset and move before I am sure where the ball is going.? Is that volleying is all about? You have to gamble a bit sort of like returning a big first serve?


In the modern game folks are going to get passed a lot at net regardless, get used to it or become another baseline basher.

Having said that, you don't have to guess, but IMO it is a good idea to guess a little. What I mean is for each groundstroke there will be the easy pass attempt side and the difficult side. Lean towards the easy side (but don't commit), if he goes for the difficult side, you will have to react to it but at least he'll miss those a certain percentage of the time.

[In D Zone]

I always get passed when I am up at the net. If I move after I am sure where the ball is going it would be too late. So should I change my mindset and move before I am sure where the ball is going.? Is that volleying is all about? You have to gamble a bit sort of like returning a big first serve?

On the first volley:
I would say YES! I would plant a seed in my mind a specific target where to place my volley. It may or may not happen depending on the in coming shot but atleast you have a strategy going into the net. (same applies on returning serve - even big serves)

Secondly, be aware of where the opponent is standing from where you are hitting the volley. Are you going to hit it to his stronger shot - like to his forehand? If you see the opponent is positioned closer to target shot then take the volley right at the opponent's feet.

If you get first volley in -You got to commit to get to the ball; stay loose (heels up) ready to jump on the next shot.

Yes, you will get pass but like in most skill; practice makes perfect.

If you are loosing points, take a breather. Stay in the baseline for a point or two so that you can observe your opponent's tendencies - adjust your strategy maybe attacking the net after a heavy shot to the corner or backhand might be a better solution. You just need to keep coming at net.

[Slicendicer]

What? You're supposed to close in as tightly as possible when coming to net, provided that we're talking about a decent level of play, and not the 3.0 lob fest style of passing shots.

The "follow the line of the ball" part is good advice.


Close the net as tightly as possible to any players I hit with and you get beemed or lobbed. The idea is to be a 2 volley player... the 1st volley around the service line to establish a 2nd volley put-away or 3 shot put-away. Tennis 101.

BTW... the "lob" is NOT a 3.0 shot...

[J011yroger]

What? You're supposed to close in as tightly as possible when coming to net, provided that we're talking about a decent level of play, and not the 3.0 lob fest style of passing shots.

The "follow the line of the ball" part is good advice.

That is what it says in the "Close Cover Before Striking" manual of tennis.

Unfortunately that isn't the way it works out in real life.

One of the most important things I was told by a coach when I was working on my attacking game was that "Preparation trumps real estate."

It is something that really sunk in, and something I constantly tell myself.

J