How to structure my game around Net play?

[Greek Goliath]

Hi all.

I play in between a 3.5-4.0 level. My best shots are my volleys and my overhead (forehand and backhand). I have decent groundstrokes, but I feel like I get pushed around a lot by the 4.0s that I play with, although they hold up just fine against the 3.5s. My problem is that my serve is not very strong, so serving and volleying opens me up to being passed. How can I structure my game around net play? Chipping and charging works well for a while, but then it becomes predictable.

Thanks for your help.

Cheers,

Greek Goliath

 

[Geezer Guy]

Winning with a S&V game is getting harder and harder to do - especially if you're playing players that are better than you anyway. You're going to need to hone both your serve placement and increase your power and spin. And obviously, you've got to really stick your volleys.

You might be a bit more selective about when you go to net. Make sure that first serve is really well placed, or your approach shots are hit well into the corner. Maybe use it more as a surprise tactic instead of as your bread and butter.

 

[Zachol82]

I agree with Geezer Guy on the whole serve placement thing. I would also emphasize that serve placement is the key in successful serve and volley, and pretty much everything else. Of course, you need to put enough pace and spin on your serves, but focus primarily on placement first.

If you can serve out wide, then you would have WAY less court to cover than if you serve down the T.

As for the chip and charge thing, the general rule is to hit down the line AND THEN charge the net, it gives you less court to cover as you charge the net. It's not a good idea to charge the net after a cross-court shot, since it would give your opponent more placement options and open yourself up for more area to cover.

 

[Greek Goliath]

Thanks for the tips guys. I need to work on my serve; it's really the toss that's giving me problems. I had one good service game against a 4.0 today and held at love, when my toss went perfectly for the serves I wanted to hit. Even had an emphatic slam dunk! But I did lose 6-3, 6-1, 7-5.

 

[KenC]

Winning with a S&V game is getting harder and harder to do - especially if you're playing players that are better than you anyway. You're going to need to hone both your serve placement and increase your power and spin. And obviously, you've got to really stick your volleys.

You might be a bit more selective about when you go to net. Make sure that first serve is really well placed, or your approach shots are hit well into the corner. Maybe use it more as a surprise tactic instead of as your bread and butter.

Well said. S&V is a lot harder today. When we played with wooden racquets, it was a sure way to win points. With today's racquets there is way to much power for passing shots and better spin for topspin lobs. While I still think it is worthwhile to rush the net on wide first serves, especially to the backhand side, today's net play is more about forcing a weak ball while your opponent is on the run and then closing the point at the net.

I personally would love to see a return to net dominance but the trend seems to be more toward Del Potro-like baseline bashing with great precision. Even Federer stays away from the net more when he plays a strong baseliner and just finishes points at the net.

 

[LeeD]

As for philosophy, I think modern players practice the baseline, so don't practice net play. All this talk about more powerful rackets and big passing shots and TS lobs......doesn't the net player also use a more powerful racket, and can't he hit with more pace and spin, and hit some overheads too????
Confidence is key in volley games. You have to be aggressive enough to outright WIN the point, as opposed to "get it back, hope he misses" strategy.
Then you have to be able to "forget" your opponent's great shots, matching your average against his average. If you're a plus, then move in. If you're in minus, better stay back and later shake hit hand.
When serving, it's up to you whether to serve to his strong side, hoping for more pace and giving you better position. You can also serve to his weaker side, but it's usually more consistent, so you need to play more balls.
Of most importance is your mind set. You need to hit every one of your shots with aggression and "end of point" mindset. Anything you hit weakly becomes your opponent's advantage.

 

[Nellie]

If you cannot serve well, then start the point with the serve, approach down the line on the return, and get up to the net!

 

[LeeD]

If you cannot toss well, consider ..... practice it some!

 

[skiracer55]

What they said...

...in addition, consider the following:

- The two most important shots in tennis are the serve and the return, in that order. Even if you didn't have a preference for the net, this dictum is still true. So do what you have to do to jack your serve up, especially. Doing so will automatically give you more opportunities to go to net. Same deal for a strong, forcing return.

- While you're working on your serve, also beef up your ground strokes. From what you say, your serve isn't strong enough to allow you to S&V a whole lot. So you have to work your way in from the baseline...which is where you hit groundstrokes.

- The age old concept is that you wait for a short ball to come into the net. Not so. You try to force a short ball, and this can be from effective point construction as much as from heavy artillery from the baseline. Okay, fine, and then question #2 becomes "So what's a short ball?" The classical answer is "Anything that bounces around the service line." Know what one of my coaches, who played ATP tour tennis, said? "A short ball is any ball that you *think* is short enough to let you come in to net." As LeeD noted, if you're a congenital net player, remember that fortune favors the bold. Additionally, so many players, especially at the 3.5/4.0 level are hard-wired into the baseline to baseline game of tennis, that many of them hate it when they see you blanketing the net, and will hand you a few cheapie points just due to the Shock and Awe Factor...

 

[Bagumbawalla]

You could have the best volleys in town, but unless you can get to the net with your opponent in a defensive mode, then (basically) you are going to flounder around and, eventually, loose.

To pressure the opponent, get him out of position, hitting defensive shots, you have to come in behind a great serve or wait for a short(ish) ball, drive it deep and follow it to the net. So, you need to work on your serve and groundstrokes.

 

[Slazenger07]

If youre going to serve and volley you really need to work on your serve and make sure that you can place it well because you want to follow the line of your serve as you cover the net, if your direction is bad, then that game plan will likely fail you.

Secondly Id say that you need a good slice, particularly off the backhand wing cause a good slice backhand can be more aggressive and just a better shot overall than a slice forehand imo because of the mechanics of the stroke. Plus I think its worth mentioning that any professional player that Ive seen that has lived by the S&V style has had a good slice backhand (Henman, Rusedski, Rafter, Sampras to name a few).

If I were you that's what Id really focus on, serve direction and hitting a good, skidding slice backhand.

 

[Manus Domini]

get prepared to return lobs, and be ready for passing shots. Get your drop-shot steady, as you may want to force your opponent to the net for a weak return, and work on foot work. Practice volleying on a wall everyday, and make sure you have high amounts of stamina. Did I say work on foot-work already? Cause If I didn't, you really should. And work on lowering your reaction time.

 

[athiker]

Hi all.

I play in between a 3.5-4.0 level. My best shots are my volleys and my overhead (forehand and backhand). I have decent groundstrokes, but I feel like I get pushed around a lot by the 4.0s that I play with, although they hold up just fine against the 3.5s. My problem is that my serve is not very strong, so serving and volleying opens me up to being passed. How can I structure my game around net play? Chipping and charging works well for a while, but then it becomes predictable.

Thanks for your help.

Cheers,

Greek Goliath

Well from my recent experience playing several different types of players and trying to do exactly what you say...structure my game around net play (3.5 level)...there don't seem to be any short cuts involved. By that I mean in addition to solid volley and overhead skills you still need a solid serve (obvious for the S&V aspect), a solid return game (to get you started in a point on at least a neutral footing) and solid groundstrokes (to get the point to a situation where approaching is viable).

Against some guys at my level that are great retrievers but don't hit with pace I can approach behind a lot of stuff and have it work out okay on balance, but against players with decent groundstrokes it becomes painfully apparent that one must choose carefully when one approaches. That forehand DTL that didn't quite penetrate to the corner is coming back by you with room to spare. A poor approach to their forehand side is even worse.

For me a "Two Volley" expectation seems to work the best. I hit my approach and instead of trying to barrel in all the way to the net I only try to get near the service line. This helps protect me from the lob, but also gives me a moments more time before I move in to change my mind if I see my approach shot is not going to be what I hoped it would be and bail back to the baseline. I don't have to take off as soon or as fast and can stay more balanced as well for change of direction.

This does mean I don't have as good angles on the 1st volley so I have to try to volley the approach reply ball deep and to an open corner, just behind the recovering opponent or to their feet. If your volley skills are your strong point, then this might work for you. Obviously if you blow the 1st volley then you are in trouble. If you've hit a strong 1st volley then you can move up to try to put away the volley reply.

My biggest problems are forcing the issue and coming in off an approach shot that isn't up to par or hitting my 1st volley in a less than ideal spot. Then I'm stuck near the service line trying to decide if I should stay and hope or scramble back and try to get set up near the baseline again. The 1st is a bad option and there really isn't enough time to do the 2nd. The worst is a too short volley that ends up being like a too deep drop shot that bounces up too high and just sits there waiting to be smacked past me.

So for me I've worked a lot on my volleys but realize that is not enough. I've decided I need to work on my serve (did only that tonight), develop a better backhand slice that penetrates but stays low (I have a consistent topspin bh, but my slice floats too often...lotta work to do here.) and generally work on consistency in placing deep groundstrokes to the corners (maybe some hitting placement drills). So I plan/hope to get to the net behind a good serve, a slice backhand return of serve/approach shot and behind well hit shorter/weaker balls that are replies from solid corner groundstrokes with the opponent on the run.

Sounds easy to type...won't be so easy to do when the other guy has his own plans for keeping me off balance. That's my 2c.

 

[athiker]

Hey, was just watching Emilio Sanchez on Tennis Channel Academy. He made a great point that I sometimes forget. When you do get a short ball, move up quickly and take it high so you can attack it better...don't just stand there and move up late and take it after it has dropped lower, maybe even below net level or even worse reach/lunge forward with poor setup.

I know I sometimes don't react fast enough and end up hitting up on the short ball I've been waiting for and thus hit a weaker than ideal approach shot. I need to spot it early and move quickly up to it and take it high so I can play a truly offensive approach shot.

 

[LeeD]

Sorry, DTL is the best approach angle. Even Roddick is guilty of going CC on an approach, and get passed most times.
As for serve, wrong again, dudes. Serve up the middle, you need cover only 7' each side of center, for a total of 14'.
Serve wide, the returner has much more angles and distances to hit open court, and you'd need to cover easily 18' or more against anyone decent.