My kid has been playing top kids in his section and 90% of these kids (top 3 kids) win by consistency. They don't hit winners. They rely on opponents eventually making a mistake. My kid tries to keep up with them, leading to rallies as long a 50 shots. He eventually gets tired and starts making mistakes. He has great net skills (volleys, overheads) but doesn't come to the net often because he afraid of being lobbed or being passed. His biggest strength is his forehand and when he rips one cross court, he gets a weak return from his opponents. Instead of stepping in and taking it in the air or closing into the net, he stays at the baseline and the rallies continue. Should I encourage him to approach the net more often to beat these players instead of bashing from baseline? My theory is that he will lose a few matches with this approach in the beginning but that will help him get comfortable at the net and might eventually start winning. He is losing to these kids anyway by staying at the baseline.
I was a pure serve and volley player growing up and I coach high school teams now (boys in the spring and girls in the fall). It's honestly good to hear that your young slugger has some different tennis tools to work with, but that's only step #1. Now he has to learn how to build things with those tools.
Thought #1: How's he doing with tactics? Many kids will learn to hit balls really well, but then they go out to play against others and all they do out there is chase the ball down and hit it back - sometimes they'll hit it rather hard, but that's about it. In that situation (and mindset), all they're doing is reacting to their opponents.
The biggest step forward that many kids in the high school ranks can learn is to formulate a basic plan before playing nearly every point. That can be as simple as planning to hit every ball to an opponent's weaker side or perhaps hitting every single ball cross-court so that they're hitting higher percentage just about all the time. This idea may sound obvious, but it's remarkably uncommon for kids in competition to revisit a simple plan to at least limit an opponent's advantage. But when they learn to do this, it can be transformative for them. Suddenly it's their opponents who are doing a lot more of the scrambling.
In the case of your son, he may want to occasionally plan to serve and volley so that he's attacking an opponent right away and generating unexpected pressure that way. Or he may want to plan to begin a rally using neutralizing baseline shots and then attack the net when he gets a short ball that he can effectively use to approach behind.
In any case, using a simple plan will give him a chance to control more of the action than when he's merely reacting to what comes from the other side of the net. It can be a little repetitive, but it brings an essential mental edge compared with playing a purely reactive game.
Thought #2: He needs to learn how and when to attack a short ball.
If he's getting discouraged by routinely being lobbed or passed when he goes to net against these moonballers and pushers, he's probably not putting those opponents in enough trouble with his approach shots. That's a fundamental part of the craft. Going to the net in itself doesn't automatically put pressure on an opponent. The approach shot should put the opponent into something of a tight spot
before the attacker moves forward. This could mean that the opponent is scrambling to get to that approach shot or perhaps it leaves him stranded deep in a corner as your son is moving in.
One of the singles girls I coach is busy embracing all-court tactics and one of her biggest revelations this year was coming to understand the difference between approaching cross-court (bad!) vs. approaching straight ahead (down the line). Although she's putting up with the headaches of learning to effectively attack the net in the near term, she knows that she needs to be able to do more that just out-hit tougher opponents if she wants to beat those tougher girls going forward. She needs a Plan B.
With a little guidance and some repetition to build the instincts for what to do and when to do it, your son can do the same. And I think that he's at a great age to really get going with it. Tiny kids don't have the wingspan or athletic ability for successfully attacking the net like they do when they get a little bigger and stronger. If he gets after it right now, he should be able to make big progress in a big hurry.