Absolute perfect approach to S&V - don't listen to the guys telling you to swing hard.... just develop that kick serve and use that even on first serves
En tout cas.
As a former full-time S&V guy, I’d say it’s crucial to have a very offensive serve that is good enough that your opponent can’t quite control the return. Fast is only one element. It also needs to be high-percentage, which is why the best S&V guys tended use a lot of topspin combined with good pace. An American Twist serve works especially great because the bounce is less predictable (so the returner cannot attack it reliably even if he has time to set his feet well), while the slower pace gives more time to get close to the net.
You’ll probably see more of it regularly as we booked the court for every Sunday morning for the next 6 months.
I was told that that opens my court up too much for the returner. Thoughts?
The former college player that runs group drills out here will do this sometimes. He'll hit this super high soft floating kicker that isn't moving fast but jumps like a mother when it bounces. More importantly, it's slower and higher giving him MORE time to get to the net.
That does it! We wants video to an epic music score ! ok @ByeByePoly ?
I say this because I employ S&V along with C&C regularly - not 100% but regularly.
Man! this the best thread I've seen in a long while
Question for @ByeByePoly and @Curious : why "former S&V" ? how long ago did you stop ?
Even though I benefit a lot from my aggresive S&V - my struggles are: don't have reliable slice serve wide on deuce and... overheads... so I've been in for a lot of pain...
Especially because the overheads I miss are the ones where I've done all the hard work, my opponent is on the ropes and I have that easy overhead... I dump it on the net 6/10 :-/ oh and sitter volleys.... oh boy... give me a hard return on my ankles any day.... I make those, the slow high volley sitters ? 6/10....
And yet I benefit a lot from agressive Net play.
I have done that. I also cheat in and take it quick on the rise if possible. The main issue is recognizing the changeup on the serve as all of his tosses/motions are basically the same. Sometimes I get him, sometimes I don't.
&V becomes S&O without a rock solid overhead. Find someone to feed you lobs for overhead practice. In 30-60 minutes you can hit a month’s worth of match overheads. Not just stationary ... lobs fed deeper requiring backpedaling. My overhead was solid ... my bh volley was solid ... my fh volley was functional.
Yes it does! but one can still do it provided the opponents are same age... no ? I'm doing it and I'm well over 45+ I just don't it 100% ... more like 50% unless it's the only tactic that works (does happen on occasion) . Also, there are those old-time pro's, masters of reading return then make the half-volley that can still place lots of pressure by their approach alone....
S&O !?
in any case I tried them feeding drills... I can do those without much problem... the hitch comes up in competitive situation only :-/ dammit....
definitely more hamstring strength... which is usually underdeveloped since we're mostly moving forward
takes longer for sure... probalby ran in like 10-12 min pace... when i was doing sub 7 min pace 5k's (back then).You ran 3 M backwards? I really hope that is meters.
I call this the fat guy shot. The fatter the player, the more often he will use this option.
Do you have a tennis wall to access? If you do:
Your tips can help you develop volleying skills in difficult situations but I want to also practice real game-like patterns. What I'm doing in the video, just serving like a real point and approaching, volleying, is that likely to help with movement/footwork and agility in general?
I think you can definitely develop some agility and footwork to make familiar with the sequence - serve, move in, break into splitstep, move in, backpedal sideways for an OH... You could put some cones to do it more strictly.
... but kudos for creativity. Hitting a volley at the net and backpedaling for overheads was a common drill in our drill groups. Had to tap the net with rh after volley before backpedaling to keep us honest (well ... honest is a stretch).I think it could make the forward-moving tendency more natural. But there is no substitute for live reps.
Unfortunately no one would bother to help with my serve and volley practice. Hence I’m looking for ways to practice on my own apart from practicing during matches.
Recently moved house. It’s all over the place. But I thought about that. It’s actually great for volley and overhead practice.
). Recover to spot at net depending on where you hit your volley ... mind muscle memory.
Thanks. I didn’t understand fully as usual with your postsI was thinking about some kind of useful S&V drill with ball machine. Somethings like ros and S&V just needs tons of reps against a variety of players.
But try this:
Set ball machine up to simulate the ros at a service box location the best you can. So let's say wide deuce for example. A good slice to the corner means opponent is hitting ros in alley, or further wide. Set the ball machine on line with ros spot and volley (bh, fh) location you want reps on around your service line. Yes ... sometimes you might close inside of service line, but being able to hit good volleys to targets from the service line is a S&V staple. Actually ... practice some a little deeper than service line also. I think you want the ball to clear low over the net ... because that's what a good player is going to do against S&V players. I would bh slice low to various spots all day to S&V ... good S&V feast off of high balls. You might have to experiment with setting ball machine way deep ... I put mine against back fence, high speed, low to try and replicate ros. Not same as facing a real serve ... but any 2hbh ros reps I could get helped in my case.
S&V is a rhythm thing ... so what you did hitting a serve and than going through the motions/movement/footwork is probably the best you can do by yourself. But you have a natural serve, move in good ... that will come playing matches. Probably half of S&V is reaction muscle memory ... you pick up early you can hustle and really close ... or it's one to take deeper.
So ... try just working on the reaction/movement part without/after the serve. Since you can't really time footwork/split step with all machine, just get ready in no man's land ...center or faded to sideline a bit for deuce wide reps. Have ball machine feed deuce wide line dtl ... maybe start way inside sideline for your early reps. My thinking is be experimenting with ball machine depth and speed, and your start location ... you should be able to replicate that final part of moving to ros and hitting your volley to intended spots (cones
I think I could set this up ... and the test would be do you end up hitting low volleys (say no higher than a little above net level) from the service line ... all in rhythm. Maybe don't pick a very windy day for first experiment.
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