What you say is not only terrible strategy but could also get you hurt. The only possible positive thing about standing close to the T like you say is being a distraction to the server.Your partner should basically be standing on the T. Give the center service line maybe a foot or two so the ball doesn't hit you, but the best spot to defend poaches is basically right there.
Very interesting! Is the SABR all about reading the serve and getting to the pitch of the ball, like playing a good spin bowler? In cricket half volleys are the easy balls, no reason why that cant be the case in tennis.
What you say is not only terrible strategy but could also get you hurt. The only possible positive thing about standing close to the T like you say is being a distraction to the server.
In singles, sure. In doubles, no. In singles, you get to start with your better shot and can hit heavy topspin to their backhand or hit a heavier and deeper shot to the middle of the court that they can't attack. In doubles, a good net man will be crowding the net and able to reach basically EVERY shot you can hit unless you hit it short into the alley, which is incredibly tough. Not only that, half of the DOUBLES court is exposed so they can just bunt it to that side and win since your weight is moving the other way. Inside out or inside in forehand from a righty on the ad side or lefty from the deuce side is better. Your partner can shade over to cover the middle while you go for your weapon and you guys can still cover most of the court. Also, the net player will have a harder time since the range of angles you have is much better. Run around forehands in the center is basically giving up the point against decent players though. I basically told a guy I was kicking the ball up the T to his backhand, he ran around it to hit a forehand (which he did reasonably well), and my partner was sitting 2 feet behind the center strap of the net and easily put the next ball away before the returner could even move to defend. The returner basically handed us that point.
Good little video of the man himself. Of course he makes it look easy, but out of all the things Federer makes look easy, I think the SABR is the most achievable thing a rec player can learn to do well. I hope we see more pro's employ this tactic, especially on second serves that are loaded with spin and not much pace. Watch Federer pick off second serves in that vid and others. The kick serve is rendered useless if the returner hits it a fraction after it bounces before it has a chance to kick up.
This all makes sense. You have an extra lob option if you take it on your righty bh from the deuce court as well. If its a body bh serve you can fade the lob/pass back into court also. It does seem like a good/athletic net player can cover pretty well any shot you can hit when you run around the T serve.
So the net player should always volley to the returners side of the court when they run around a deuce court T serve? I often watch the lady run around a T serve from my partner and just watch it go by. (I'm a bit slow off the mark and have trouble getting down low on my left leg due to injury)
Years ago I was playing a league or tournament match, I forget which. Point is it was against guys I didn't know and never saw again. Guy was standing with one foot in the service box and one out. I was just playing "C" level at the time and didn't have that much control of my serve but I took a big swing at a flat ball trying to hit the guy. Have done the same thing a few other times with no success. But this time it was a perfect shot, as far as I was concerned. Caught him smack in the chest. He must have stumbled a bit trying to get out of the way so that when the ball hit him he went down backwards right on his butt.If you don't want to get hurt, I'd advise not playing a sport, especially if you're too slow to block or dodge.
Body serves you can run around if you prefer. It's easier to do something with a forehand in that spot than a backhand for most.
The net player should hit that volley to anywhere but the middle. Close in on the net and open up your angles. You can go to the open court the returner left for you or go at the opposing net player.
I think a few people are misunderstanding the role of the person at the net on return of serve. It changes depending on where the ball is and you should be constantly on the move.
Do you have any advice on how to cover the volley if your partners return goes to the net player? I read Kathleen Krajcos operation doubles and she says if you watch the net player and not your partner hitting the ball, you can tell when they are going to poach (but sometimes they go to poach and dont make it, or even fake poach and that puts me out of position for their partners volley).
Also she says to cover the angular gap between you and your opponent, but depending on where they hit the volley from they often dont volley there. I find myself often thinking Id be better off starting on the baseline for the first serve? It often appears to me like the " returning net player" (especially the lady in mixed doubles) is a sitting duck to have the poach of the return hit past them.
I prefer to hit a sidespinning bh lob in reply to the body serve, or a low trajectory slice lob. My take is that if you run around it, you fall prey to all the downsides you mentioned regarding running around the T serve, except you're not quite as far out of position.
I guess it depends on the type of return and how well you get into position!?
I think that's good advice. There's intense debate of whether to look back or not: watch enough doubles clips and you'll see both examples. The Bryans, for example, look back.
The closer to your partner, from a left/right perspective, you position yourself, the more middle you take away from the net man. You're taking away the easy shot and inviting him to hit the more difficult one [cross court].
This is no guarantee they won't just hit the CC volley winner. You're not looking for guarantees: you're looking to play the highest % play and also to try and take away the highest % play from your opponents.
Seems like positioning central and back minimises the angular gap, I think people tend to position in the centre laterally of the relevant courts (deuce or ad) service line just as a convention, without any thought as to what theyre trying to achieve.As far as up/back positioning goes, the closer you are to the net, the less time you'll have to react and the more angle you open up between you and your partner. I like somewhere around the SL, maybe even a bit behind.
I've heard good things about Pat Blaskower's book *The Art of Doubles*.
find good sidespin lobs are good at messing with people. Did a lob/overhead drills with some 4.5+ players who were really dialed in on the overheads, threw two sidespin/underspin lobs (first one to test the response, and second with as much junk as I could put to mess with them even more), they missed both of them. Then again, everyone else was basically throwing up deep topspin lobs or flat lobs. Really depends on what you're used to.
In general, hitting at the net person is a good shot if you're on top of the net. They have less time to react and their partner is unlikely to have their back if the net player misses. It's best if you can get it at their feet, but anything below the net is good because their next shot has to pop up at least a little to get over the net, meaning you can hit down again and keep forcing them to hit difficult shots just to stay in the point.
With the open court, you're more likely to hit an winner (without worrying about pegging someone), but the returner might also be a total monster and still reach it and get it back somehow. Overall, this has a slightly better chance of ending the point, but the other point is slightly better in recovery since you keep the ball in front of you. Then again, in this scenario, you got plenty of time to recover for the next ball anyway. If you could, you should hit here (less chance of angry or salty players), but both sides have a very high chances of winning the point. I generally put these shots to the far side of the net man, around where the singles sideline is, since I'm not particularly good at volleying away from where my weight is moving.
The only times I get caught out is if the server gos up the tee, or pulls out a stupidly fast serve unexpectedly. Serves out wide and other general service points the SABR is really effective. I tend to not cover the tee as much because where I am, servers go for the tee far less then other spots. But obviously if you're playing someone who frequents a specific service spot you can adjust your SABR return position accordingly.
I see many players treat a doubles serve like a rally ball. They hang back behind the baseline line, wait for the ball to arrive, and try to hit hard drives These returns are not intimidating to a good net man. He knows he’ll have more time, which means more court can be covered on a poach.
If you Move forward to return the ball, either before or after the serve is struck, the net man will be more cautious. There will be less time to react, which means less court can be covered. He will not be as likely to poach. The more aggressive your movement, the more defensive his movement will be.
Off on a bit of a tangent - Does anyone know what the hindrance rules are in doubles. For example can I call "switch" (change sides) to my partner just before my opponents hit the ball?
You're not supposed to say anything after you have hit the ball and it is travelling towards your opponent [ie it doesn't matter which side of the net the ball is on].
So, in your scenario, since the ball is moving towards your opponents, they could call a hindrance on you.
In real life, if you say it soon enough after your team hits the ball, it rarely gets called. If you do it just before they hit the ball, that's likely disruptive.
learn to lob. At these levels very few players will have awesome overheads