Attacking a short ball
- Thread starter Curious
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J011yroger
Talk Tennis Guru
It doesn't matter where the ball lands. If I am set up with my feet I attack, if I am not set up with my feet, I don't.
Sorry that the real answer doesn't align with your plotline.
J
Sorry that the real answer doesn't align with your plotline.
J
FiReFTW
Legend
Depends on your ability, pro players will attack even from the baseline if the ball has a high bounce, just take it on shoulder level and flatten it out.
S&V-not_dead_yet
Talk Tennis Guru
Don't be constrained by absolutes; even if someone had the answer, it's not like you're going to stop play so you can measure exactly how far inside the BL you'll be. That's too rigid; too mechanical.
Instead, look at factors like how far inside the BL you'll be, your balance [being inside the BL but off-balance is not a good time to attack], the trajectory of the ball, how much spin there is, how comfortable you are with that particular type of ball, your opponent's positioning and balance, etc. The decision also influenced by how aggressive you are.
I've played against people who can hit winners from behind the BL and others where I dismiss the possibility.
FiReFTW
Legend
Great post!
Dragy
Legend
Look, you are absolutely comfortable to attack a ball just inside the baseline, being limited to single service box to hit to. Now, if you have full court to hit to, it comes down to how well set you are to pick the ball in the right spot in right time...
Oh well already covered...
It’s just that being closer in technically improves your angles and cuts reaction time for opponent, which allows you to attack from not that balanced position, with not that good of a shot.
Oh well already covered...
It’s just that being closer in technically improves your angles and cuts reaction time for opponent, which allows you to attack from not that balanced position, with not that good of a shot.
xFullCourtTenniSx
Hall of Fame
If you have time, go to a court and have someone feed you 10 balls each crosscourt to different depths. You hit them down the line and keep track of how many you make. If you aren't making 9+ out of 10, then it's not the right shot. Also keep track of how much are you trying to do. Are you trying to hurt your opponent or approach the net.
For most people, anything that lands inside the service box and/or they take 2+ steps inside the baseline to hit it, they should attack the ball by at the very least playing it up the line or hitting a wide angle.
The higher you go, the deeper players can attack from. My friend ran 6 winners in a row on me from the baseline.
mad dog1
G.O.A.T.
The ball must be 4’ 5.8” inside of the baseline. Best to freeze time and get the tape measure out during the point to be sure.
Curious
G.O.A.T.
As usual it depends on many factors and a crucial one is your skill level as I understand it from @J011yroger and @xFullCourtTenniSx posts.
xFullCourtTenniSx
Hall of Fame
Damn, I'm not good enough to play it so close to the baseline. I need it to be precisely 2.7182818284590452353602874713527 meters inside the baseline. Unfortunately, even if I freeze time, I don't own a measuring device with sufficient precision to determine if it's in the right spot or not.
S&V-not_dead_yet
Talk Tennis Guru
How naturally logarithmic of you.
xFullCourtTenniSx
Hall of Fame
You don't know how much I love you right now.
S&V-not_dead_yet
Talk Tennis Guru
How about baking me a Pi?
J011yroger
Talk Tennis Guru
S&V-not_dead_yet
Talk Tennis Guru
Perfect complement to my Pytha-green eggs and ham.
S&V-not_dead_yet
Talk Tennis Guru
@J011yroger - BTW, you really made me stretch for that one. I'm quite proud of myself.
Attacking short balls is so last century.
In the modern game with poly strings and slow courts, you don't attack short balls and come to the net. Rather, you move in, hit an angle cross court, then retreat back to the baseline. You repeat this 7 or 8 times until you are retreating from inside the service box. Then and only then, do you not retreat and take the massive risk that you may be called upon to hit a shoulder high volley into an open court, or worse still, an overhead smash.
In the modern game with poly strings and slow courts, you don't attack short balls and come to the net. Rather, you move in, hit an angle cross court, then retreat back to the baseline. You repeat this 7 or 8 times until you are retreating from inside the service box. Then and only then, do you not retreat and take the massive risk that you may be called upon to hit a shoulder high volley into an open court, or worse still, an overhead smash.
Nostradamus
Bionic Poster
how do you stop the smashing the short ball so hard it goes long ?? can you help ?
C
Chadalina
Guest
Anything that lands around the service line. Aside from short angles of coarse
That is actually very true. Your feet tell when to attack If you can make one or two good steps toward the ball you are poised to attack
IowaGuy
Hall of Fame
If you feel that you are playing too passive and want to attack more, a good place to start IMHO is to force yourself to attack any ball that lands at or inside of the service line.
My HS coach used to make us play practice matches where we forfeited the point if we didn't attack (and come to net) any ball landing inside the service line. I think it's a good drill to encourage more aggressive tennis...
Curious
G.O.A.T.
Where the ball lands is maybe a little vague as some land on the service line but could be very fast or spinny which makes it harder to attack.
I struggle more with the slowish, pushed balls that land somewhere in the middle of no man’s land, there I’m undecided whether to attack or continue rallying. Maybe worthwhile clarifying what exactly attacking means, I guess there are two ways: go for sharp angle or deep and fast/spinny to force an error and stay back at around the baseline or approach to the net also.
Slow and sitter balls landing very close to the service line are easier in terms of decision making because you simply have only one good option: attack and charge the net. No man’s land is where I get confused.
Bender
G.O.A.T.
xFullCourtTenniSx
Hall of Fame
I hear this new discovery called topspin helps a lot. Not sure. Sounded pretty complicated to do so I gave up.
Wise one
Hall of Fame
Nope. The court is still the same, and the same tactics still work.
J011yroger
Talk Tennis Guru
Wise one
Hall of Fame
If the ball lands within the middle 2/3 of the court, around the service line or closer, try to get it at the highest point of the bounce, but even if you can't, slice the ball straight in front of you and move in, then pause (split-step). If the ball lands near the side-line, try a sharp cross-court topspin or drop shot.
Nostradamus
Bionic Poster
right like we didn't know that one. what I mean is if you come in at full speed, you hit a sitter even with topspin, if you don't hit hit in way front, it will still fly long. and if you put too much topspin then it becomes like sitter topspoin
C
Chadalina
Guest
A true sitter is neither rising nor falling, at its peak of weightlessness. Why on earth would you choose topspin if its higher than the net?
FiReFTW
Legend
A true sitter is neither rising nor falling, at its peak of weightlessness. Why on earth would you choose topspin if its higher than the net?
If your technique is good then the ball always has decent topspin, but I agree that it makes no sense to pursue topspin in that scenario, you should hit through the ball from behind the ball and through or even down if your really close to the net.
Nostradamus
Bionic Poster
A true sitter is neither rising nor falling, at its peak of weightlessness. Why on earth would you choose topspin if its higher than the net?
That is very good point. so you should hit it flat hard in front. but if your body is not in control because you are running in as fast as you can, you can hit this bit late, then it flys long
C
Chadalina
Guest
FiReFTW
Legend
You have to run fast to get to a sitter? Its like three steps
True but you still should rush to it as fast as possible and then use small adjustment steps, a big mistake from alot of players is they move too slow to the short balls and then they are not positioned well.
C
Chadalina
Guest
Lots of work. Possibilties to overrun and hit late, like Nos said. Better to be lazy, not get caught up in mood (calm attitude) and knock it off the tee. Gonna do it many times
We spend our effort on getting these types of shots, not get surprised when they occur, stick with the plan
sredna42
Hall of Fame
couldn't you at least give him an answer in fathoms or furlongs or some other pirate measurement?
xFullCourtTenniSx
Hall of Fame
I mean, your question answers itself. Just stop hitting the ball so hard that it goes long, OR use more topspin. If you don't like the fact that topspin sits up, then use underspin and stop pretending you have Del Potro's forehand.
The bottom line is you shouldn't be swinging so hard that you don't have control of the ball anymore. This is tennis, it's more akin to playing on the green in golf than being a batter in baseball.
Have you ever tried mini tennis? If you've done it properly while using full strokes and topspin, then you should have no issues with short balls. If your issue is getting to the ball in time, then learn to read the short ball faster and use appropriate crossover footwork to get to the ball in fewer steps.
Nostradamus
Bionic Poster
if I hit it softer, our opponents will get to it and hit a passing shot
xFullCourtTenniSx
Hall of Fame
And how's that a problem? One of the most common drills is approach shot into volley into overhead.
Nostradamus
Bionic Poster
if you are any good, all short balls shoudl be put away
Wise one
Hall of Fame
Nope. They are to be attacked, yielding a shot that can be put away.
Unbalance.....attack....kill
J011yroger
Talk Tennis Guru
Wise one
Hall of Fame
And in other news, scientists have discovered that water is wet...
xFullCourtTenniSx
Hall of Fame
Then everyone must suck. Every serve must land inside the service line, yet the pros are unable to put the ball away with their return.
Nostradamus
Bionic Poster
LOL. serve is completely different
ByeByePoly
G.O.A.T.
This is the true value of TTW ... a place to express one's inner smartass.
are you playing every time vs opponents of Federer, Djokovic, Nadal, Thiem caliber?
in the reality where I live, there is a bunch of opponents, vs whom hitting the ball at 70% of max swing is much better choice than trying to hit at 80-90% of my max swing.
and guess what, if I have to hit every ball as hard as I can, it means that I have little to no chance vs that opponent.
on a different note, yes, sure, hitting at 70% or 60% means that once a while my opponent will hit a passing shot, but usually I'll have a chance to volley.
and if I know that I can't volley, or I am playing vs someone who is so f***ing great at passing shots, then I might retreat back as opposed to attacking the net.
BounceHitBounceHit
Legend
BounceHitBounceHit
Legend
We did that drill too..... [emoji106][emoji2][emoji106]
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