Moon-balled to death. Advice?

[In D Zone]

I played with a co-worker who is a good 4.0 doubles player (very comfortable at the net) and a Pusher Retriever.

Gets to every shots I throw, also equipted with great timing on employing half volleys. We average over 10 shots each point, its an all court battle and I have to really hit my shots with a good pace or wide shots with heavy topspin before I can move in to the net to close him out. Otherwise, you can bet he'll respond with a deep lob to the baseline. And he hardly missed.
One answer is when moving to the net is to volley short and angle it to the corner.

[LeeD]

Let's figure out where to stand to intercept any moonball out of the air.
Say you're standing 6' behind the baseline. You gotta move to at least middle of NML, right?
Standing in middle of NML, you can take most moonballs about waist to shoulder high, just right for a driving swinging topspin volley.
There is NO lob that will go over your head!
Now take position AT the service line. Moonball coming, about to land 2' inside your baseline. How far back do YOU have to retreat? TWO STEPS MAX is the answer! The ball is flying an arc, not higher than 20', and you cut off with an overhead, any ball that lands inside your baseline.
Why are you tentative pushers staying BACK behind your baseline, watching this slow loopy ball, then RETREATING to the backwall?

[Torres]

Originally Posted by LeeD

When you move forwards to take a moonball out of the air, before it bounces, you are standing INSIDE of NoMan'sLand, not on the baseline.

Nope. There are moonballs and there are moonballs. I'm not talking about the lame up/down moonballs hit by 3.5s that land in no mans land. The type of moonballs you're describing I'd be attacking off, even off the ground and be taking a good rip at.

I'm talking about the moon balls than land on or very close to the baseline, come down almost vertically and have topspin to push the opponent even further back. Those were the balls I was hitting the other day. There is no way you are going to volley that. If my opponent had been standing in no mans land, the ball would have gone over his head. You're mad if you think somebody can't put a ball over your head or everything is going to be at waist or shoulder height.

Your idea of a quality moonball seems to be alot lower than mine. Either you have no idea what you're taking about, or you're just used to playing crappy players, because I can guarantee you that there's no way you could volley the balls I was hitting without a ton of errors or setting me up for a winning next point. Unless of course, you think that you can volley above your head whilst running backwards from no mans land.

[LeeD]

Ah Torres, my young, uninformed friend....
What you say defies physics. A ball cannot be dropping straight down at the baseline, not a moonball. A sky high lob with backspin can, but you have all day to get under it and hit an overhead.
Why don't you watch the vids of those two girls hittng moonballs? Balls are 20' high, no higher.
To intercept those, do as I say.
To intercept sky high lobs that land nearly vertical, stroll under the ball, crush your overhead.
You have no idea of the physics of hitting a topspin moonball, and how it travels through the air.

[Mick]

your overheads have got to be pretty amazing to counter these moonballs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DfrUVH6MBwk

[Torres]

Originally Posted by LeeD

To intercept those, do as I say.
To intercept sky high lobs that land nearly vertical, stroll under the ball, crush your overhead.

Anything's possible from the courtside armchair of your fantasy tennis world.

Originally Posted by Mick

your overheads have got to be pretty amazing to counter these moonballs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DfrUVH6MBwk

LeeD thinks he's going to be volleying from no man's land at 0:31 and 0:41.

Then again he also thinks he can coach Federer better than Annacone, and thinks he knows how to to shave another 0.3 secs from Usain Bolt's 100m time.

[arche3]

Originally Posted by Torres

Anything's possible from the courtside armchair of your fantasy tennis world.



LeeD thinks he's going to be volleying from no man's land at 0:31 and 0:41.

Then again he also thinks he can coach Federer better than Annacone, and thinks he knows how to to shave another 0.3 secs from Usain Bolt's 100m time.

those balls Serena would hit a swinging volley.

[user92626]

Hi Arch

Babolat AeroProDrive GT. (x3) Ltec 0S16/4S (45/45)
353.6 grams, 8 points HL, 336 SW

How do you like your Apdgts? How big are you that you can handle that kind of weight? I find that mine at 240gr (12oz) already feels very stable. I can't imagine any opponent's shot could push it around. Is your weight overkill?

[Mick]

Originally Posted by arche3

those balls Serena would hit a swinging volley.

yeah but then again, Serena is one of the greatest tennis players ever, she can do stuff which most good players simply cannot do.

[PrinceMoron]

Just die, it is less painful. You just wake up the next morning feeling stiff.

[LeeD]

Torres, you may remain a 4.0 pusher foreever, I don't care.
But if you want to improve, now with your huge 100 sq in racket, step into middle of NML, take the ball in the air and hit it to a corner, then follow it in to service line positioning.
Chrissy was a baseliner, afraid to come to net. Why didn't everyone just dropshot and lob here? Because it wasn't considered "proper" tennis at the time.
Are you a girl? If yes, then stay back and hit a moonball reply.
If you're a GUY, move forwards and use your volleying skills.

[LeeD]

And what is the PURPOSE of this thread?
If the answer was so easy to do, OP would not need to ask the question.
Sure, you gotta practice volleys from NML. Sure, you gotta hit some balls, watch the ball, and use some energy.
Otherwise, you can sit content with your game as is, and get killed by moonballers.

[arche3]

Originally Posted by user92626

Hi Arch



How do you like your Apdgts? How big are you that you can handle that kind of weight? I find that mine at 240gr (12oz) already feels very stable. I can't imagine any opponent's shot could push it around. Is your weight overkill?

They are fine for me. I'm 5'9" tall. 150 lbs. When I got back to tennis after years off I just went to the store and asked for the new racket. They handed me an apd c. It played fine but it didn't feel right. I picked up my dusty Wilson bag and fished out one of my ps85s with lead all over from my college days and it felt and hit better. So I just put lead on the apd to match better the weight and balance of my old ps85s. It works well. I play better with some heft. It's still very head light so I don't feel like it is heavy. Since I switched from the cortex to the gt model I think the gt model hits even better at this weight and balance.

[arche3]

Originally Posted by Mick

yeah but then again, Serena is one of the greatest tennis players ever, she can do stuff which most good players simply cannot do.

I agree. But it really is not all that difficult to hit swinging volleys even from close to the baseline. I do it all the time. And I am not Serena .

[arche3]

Originally Posted by LeeD

And what is the PURPOSE of this thread?
If the answer was so easy to do, OP would not need to ask the question.
Sure, you gotta practice volleys from NML. Sure, you gotta hit some balls, watch the ball, and use some energy.
Otherwise, you can sit content with your game as is, and get killed by moonballers.

You have to keep in mind Torres hits uber super moon balls. You can't return the torreball.

[Mick]

Originally Posted by arche3

I agree. But it really is not all that difficult to hit swinging volleys even from close to the baseline. I do it all the time. And I am not Serena .

maybe that's why you have a solution because most people don't hit that shot, the swinging volley, all the time. When they encounter the moonballs, they would try to play it and because it's not their normal shot, they would make the errors and fail miserably.
It would be interesting to see video clips of Serena or Federer responding to moonballs since they possess all the offensive techniques there are

[5263]

Originally Posted by Mick

your overheads have got to be pretty amazing to counter these moonballs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DfrUVH6MBwk

I don't remember seles moonballing like that, wow.

[arche3]

Originally Posted by Mick

maybe that's why you have a solution because most people don't hit that shot, the swinging volley, all the time. When they encounter the moonballs, they would try to play it and because it's not their normal shot, they would make the errors and fail miserably.
It would be interesting to see video clips of Serena or Federer responding to moonballs since they possess all the offensive techniques there are

Well yeah to be fair you have to practice it. When I was a kid the drill was the coach fed 3 balls. The first one you hit to middle of court. 2nd feed you hit it hard into the BH side. Third feed was a moon ball. You step into the baseline and hit the swing volley to the fh corner. Always going for a winner on that shot. Almost always cross court. Its just much easier to make that shot cross court. The coach would then change the number of balls fed and alter when he fed the moon ball. At times you would be out of position and not looking for the moon ball. Then he lobs one up. This drill really hones your anticipation of hitting the swing volley. The focus was you had to finish the point on that shot. And to look for that moon ball reply off of your previous ball.

[Long Face]

Originally Posted by LeeD

And what is the PURPOSE of this thread?

I dunno..... To win?

I will revisit this thread after I practice the following playing styles:
1. Step into the court when there is a deep moonball;
2. Swing volley or overhead the deep moonballs.

I will report back how I handle these shots. I am solid on most other strokes, both at net and around the baseline. But these shots are new to me, and require a very different mind set.

For example, backing up to hit an overhead is pretty natural for me, but going forward, stepping into the court to hit an overhead? I need to practice this so I can build instinct and timing.

[LeeD]

Didn't you always want to do Sampras's running forward leaping overheads?
What about Fed's?
If you don't embrace new ideas, you're doomed to stay as you are (that's for Torres).
Running forwards to hit a jumping overhead is easy on the forehand side, I'd not recommend it on the backhand side.
And guess what. After ONE day, you probably won't be able to hit all the shots everytime.