My serve and volley

[Roddick_155mph]

Hello, just wanted some opinions on my serve and volley techinque and how I could improve.

When serving, I start the first serve flat and put a lot into it, aiming for either corner of the service box. If it in is I run toward the net into the corner where the ball landed, stopping about 3/4 of a metre before the net.

If I fault and need to second serve, I serve a slice, with just a lot of spin on it, trying to land it as close to the net as possible, I run into no man's land in the middle of the court, stopping about half a metre after the service line.

When I am not serving I usually stand in the far corner of the court, about half a metre inside the court and depending on the incoming serve, I use a flat forehand or a chuck with maybe some slice on it.

If I forehand, I step in a bit closer but wait for the next shot to chuck.

If I chuck I dash to the net in the direction I chucked the ball in.

Any suggestions?

 

[Amone]

Hello, just wanted some opinions on my serve and volley techinque and how I could improve.

When serving, I start the first serve flat and put a lot into it, aiming for either corner of the service box. If it in is I run toward the net into the corner where the ball landed, stopping about 3/4 of a metre before the net.

If I fault and need to second serve, I serve a slice, with just a lot of spin on it, trying to land it as close to the net as possible, I run into no man's land in the middle of the court, stopping about half a metre after the service line.

When I am not serving I usually stand in the far corner of the court, about half a metre inside the court and depending on the incoming serve, I use a flat forehand or a chuck with maybe some slice on it.

If I forehand, I step in a bit closer but wait for the next shot to chuck.

If I chuck I dash to the net in the direction I chucked the ball in.

Any suggestions?

In my experience serving-and-volleying, a flat serve's not the best option. It does pressure your opponent, yes, but it doesn't give you as much time to get in, and your opponents return will probably be harder to get.

 

[xFullCourtTenniSx]

A lot of the things you do is wrong.

1st, like stated before, a flat serve isn't the best choice. Some people can get it to work by almost always drawing a weak reply with it, but it also comes back the fastest if they make clean contact with the ball. It is also the lowest percentage serve.

2nd, whenever you choose to attack the net, you should get as far inside the service box as you can before your opponent makes contact (usually on or just inside the service line). Also, you should position yourself a few feet (or a racket length or so) away from the center line towards the side you hit the ball.

3rd, you should NEVER aim your second serve as close to the net as possible. That's just begging for a double fault. It also takes away the depth you so dearly need with a second serve to keep your opponent from beating that thing to hell.

4th, when you serve and volley, you should run to the net right after you finish your motion. Hell, I combine the motions together and use the forward momentum from my serve to sprint towards the net. You shouldn't wait to see if the ball is in or not, because that puts you in no man's land when you hit the volley, which is VERY bad. It doesn't matter if the serve went in or not. If you wait to see if it went in, you cheated yourself at least 5 feet worth of distance. It's the difference between the best serve and volleyers and the good ones. The best close in so quickly and tight that they will almost always hit a good volley. Of course, the best always have an incredible overhead as well.

 

[Roddick_155mph]

I have noticed I get around a 25-30 % flat serve, most of which garner weak replies.

An alternative I discovered while practicing was a very fast slice, into the outer corner of the service box, spinning outwards away from the center of the court, these serves are tricky, maybe 15% go in but they are extremely effective, maybe I should concentrate on perfecting that.

My second serve slice is around 75-85%, I still need to play around with the toss but I usually get a good delay effect.

Also, maybe I should have explained differently, I do use the momentum of the serve to sprint to the net, even in practice serving, and faulting. I only even pump a fake when I try to throw off an opponent or decide to stay at baseline for that particular point.

 

[fuzz nation]

A player isn't set up for business at the net until he/she is maybe two or three steps in beyond the service line. Standing anywhere in the vicinity of that service line still leaves lots of space in front of you where an opponent can put a ball down low, effectively stealing your offensive options, but also leaves passing angles much too vulnerable. Sure, you may need to hit a ball in that area, either a volley or half-volley, but you still want to close in a couple more steps.

Smart returners will simply block a flat serve back without having to work very hard to put the ball where they want it, including down on the feet of a net-rushing server. My pals have convinced me that my spin serves with their unpredictable bounces are tougher for them to return with much on the ball. As our friends here have also noted, that slower flying spin serve gives you and extra step or so forward before the return is coming back at you. I only use my flat serve here and there in a S&V situation to keep my opponent honest - it has it's place.

Think of your serve as more of a set-up shot to create your opening or at least draw your opponent into a place where you want to attack them. You may often need to use two, three, or even more shots as a serve and volleyer to earn some of your points, so think of your serve as the first shot in your combo that will help keep opponents defensive. Even if you use that style of play a lot of the time, variety is a good thing.

 

[Roddick_155mph]

fuzz, you raise a good point. But I combine hard serves with my serve and volley or at least attempt to. I'm sure the benefits of hard serves translate into serve and volley well.

 

[Roddick_155mph]

fuzz, you raise a good points. But I combine hard serves with my serve and volley or at least attempt to. I'm sure the benefits of hard serves translate into serve and volley well.

 

[Amone]

fuzz, you raise a good points. But I combine hard serves with my serve and volley or at least attempt to. I'm sure the benefits of hard serves translate into serve and volley well.

Well, it worked for Pistol Pete. But if you look at the majority of serve-and-volleyers, they did have strong serves, but most of them were spin serves. Rafter and Edberg, to my memory, were known for their slice serves. McEnroe was known both for his placement and his serves. Heck, even Sampras, who had a great, fast serve, was hitting more topspin than most average serves.

So, if you want to serve-and-volley consistently, a flat serve is not "standard."

 

[LeeD]

I'm all confused by your S/V philosophy, but I do employ a fast first flat serve in most of my S/V.
I decide when I move in, not relying on reacting to my opponent's shots.
Since I"m getting old, getting to the service line is not a possibility, but I don't care, as I can pressure from 3' behind the service line also.
My first flats average around low teens, so I don't get anywhere near close to "3/4 meter" from NET. Maybe from service line, that's a possibility..:shock:
As said, I hit my second topspin serves DEEP as possible, close to a foot from the service line.....NEVER NEAR THE NET!
Your return position depends totally on the service placement tendencies of the server and your return strengths!
What's " CHUCK " ?
All second serves should go IN, unless you play at the 3.0 level, and badly there as well.
Wide slices are easy to practice. Just hit 30 of them a day, each practice or hitting session.

 

[forehandshanker]

FuzzNation,
Serve & volley is about putting constant attacking pressure on your opponent throughout the whole match. You really cannot put constant pressure on your opponent if you're gifting them with faults.

In S&V, your serve strategy has to be like a baseball pitcher. As returners get better, you can't get by with just heat. You need to fool 'em with placement and spin.

As you said, it seems your flat serve percentage is 25-30 %, which is frankly not very good. I'd want a 1st serve percentage that's safely over 50% (and the 1st serves do pressure the opponent). You can probably up your 1st serve percentage by using your flat serve toss by alternate between slicing it (wide in deuce or down the T in the ad court for a rightie) or putting topspin on it. Sampras' "flat" serve was really a topspinner with a flat serve toss. For these heater kind of serves, I sometimes approach the net opportunistically, which means I try to anticipate if I get a weak return. A good sign is when I notice the returner has to stab for it (or they're jammed by a body serve).

Don't understimate the value of a slow but heavy kicker even on 1st serves. Edberg was really known for using those because (a) it gave him much time to move forward he was breathing on top of the net; (b) it bounced so high that it was tough for a returner not to hit a sitter. If I've decided to approach on this, I tend to charge in.

 

[fuzz nation]

FuzzNation,
Serve & volley is about putting constant attacking pressure on your opponent throughout the whole match. You really cannot put constant pressure on your opponent if you're gifting them with faults.

In S&V, your serve strategy has to be like a baseball pitcher. As returners get better, you can't get by with just heat. You need to fool 'em with placement and spin.

As you said, it seems your flat serve percentage is 25-30 %, which is frankly not very good. I'd want a 1st serve percentage that's safely over 50% (and the 1st serves do pressure the opponent). You can probably up your 1st serve percentage by using your flat serve toss by alternate between slicing it (wide in deuce or down the T in the ad court for a rightie) or putting topspin on it. Sampras' "flat" serve was really a topspinner with a flat serve toss. For these heater kind of serves, I sometimes approach the net opportunistically, which means I try to anticipate if I get a weak return. A good sign is when I notice the returner has to stab for it (or they're jammed by a body serve).

Don't understimate the value of a slow but heavy kicker even on 1st serves. Edberg was really known for using those because (a) it gave him much time to move forward he was breathing on top of the net; (b) it bounced so high that it was tough for a returner not to hit a sitter. If I've decided to approach on this, I tend to charge in.

Not sure if there's something you think I was wrong about, but I pretty much agree with your thoughts. That slow heavy kicker is a phenomenal asset for a serve and volleyer and I'll sometimes wait for a short ball, too.

The high school boys I've coached would often "gift" their opponents with lots of faults instead of landing a lot of first serves, even if they were playing a baseline game. That was one of the toughest ideas to get across when one of them would be too fixated on that "rock star" first serve. Like you said, no pressure!

 

[forehandshanker]

fuzz_nation,
My bad as I posted too quickly without checking that it was to Roddick_155mph I really intended to direct my comments to. You and I are on the same page.

The user name should have given me a hint right away! LOL!

Funny how a lot of guys want to imitate Roddick's heaters but don't notice how consistent he is with his serves (and he's mixing them up a lot these days).