Thanks, bro...
Skiracer55 wrote a great piece on doubles strategy (
http://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/showthread.php?t=218912&highlight=doubles).
I'd love to hear your thoughts on approach shots in singles. I play against hard hitters and life or death at the net is usually determined by the approach.
...okay, here goes. Consider the following:
- An approach shot is any shot that gets you to the net. Therefore, the "S" in S&V and the "chip" in chip and charge are both approach shots, and if you want to spend time at the net, you should definitely consider both strategies. Remember, part of the idea of going to net is to shorten the points. A typical net point is approach shot, first volley to open up the court, angled volley or overhead to finish the point. If you're still hitting volleys at that point, the advantage just shifted to your opponent.
So part of the idea is, if you're going to go to net, go sooner than later. It'll work, of course, to have a long baseline rally followed by an approach shot and a winning combination at the net...but for most net rushers, such as yours truly, the less time I can spend on the baseline...for a point where I want to come to the net...the better my chances are of avoiding a stupid error.
So, by either S&Ving or chipping and charging, I'm getting to the net while eliminating the middle man, which is all those accursed rallies from the baseline! So, yeah, we'll talk about approach shots from a rally in a minute, but while you're working on that skill, also work on improving your S&V and chip and charge skills...which I can talk about in a separate post if y'all want.
Anyway, I totally agree that a good approach is quite often the key to succeeding at the net. Let's think about that a couple of different ways:
- First, when do you come to net? Meaning, you hit an approach shot off what kind of ball? The standard answer is "a short ball". So what's a short ball? The standard answer is "Any ball that doesn't get past the service line." I kind of like the answer my former coach (Dave Hodge) give out: "it's any ball you think is short enough to approach on!" Yeah, okay...there are a whole lot of balls that are just plain dumb to approach on, because you're most likely going to get reamed. However, consider the following:
- If you get a deep ball, but your opponent is waaaay out of court...it might not be a bad idea to hit to the open court and hustle on in.
- If your opponent hits you nothing, for example, but deep, hard, heavy balls...well, most of the time, these folks move well side to side on the baseline, but
do not like coming forward. Chip or block a ball short and with an angle, and wade in.
- Net play, in general, requires an aggressive mindset and techniques. Most net rushers have a good volley...and they also have a good half-volley and the ability to hit balls on the rise, maybe with a half-volley stroke, kind of like Agassi did. If you're a net rusher, you probably want to try to hug the baseline, and when you get even a semi-short ball, it is often worth hitting it on the rise or half-volleying it to take time away from the other guy, and wading in.
- A lot of players love it if you bang balls from the baseline but hate it when you come to net. In other words, they don't like hitting passing shots. Against this type of player, you can often bluff your way in on anything and get an error or easy volley. I've seen great baseline ralliers basically lose it against somebody who was willing to charge the net at all costs, at all opportunities.
Okay, let's get back to the "standard" opening and approach shot for a minute. I've gotten a short ball, now what do I do with the approach shot? Well, there are several answers:
- First,
get the damned thing in. Yes, it would be great if we could all drop an approach shot on a dime every time, and twist the opponent out of his shorts...but for those of us less than ATP level, that concept can produce more errors than approach shots that land in the court. The old Aussie dictum was "always approach down the line", which is generally good advice, because approaching cross court can open up the angles for the opponent too much. So go ahead, hit down the line...but aim for a foot to two feet in from the side line, same distance short of the baseline. That way, if you miss a little wide or long, it'll still go in, and if you don't, well, it's still a pretty good approach shot. Have somebody hit approach shots to that spot, then close off the lane on that side, and see how many winning passes
you make. On the "get the thing in" thought, an approach right down the center is not necessarily a bad thing, especially if you are hustling to get to the ball and don't think you can stick the approach in a corner. Remember, a ball right down the middle takes away the angle on the passing shot.
- Second, I go down the line...fine. What kind of spin? Well, depends on your opponent. Some people like topspin that jumps off the court, other people hate it. Some people hit well off a slice approach...but a surprising amount of people hate it, because it doesn't come up, and they don't bend their knees. If I have the jump on the guy...say I'm hitting an inside out forehand to the backand corner, and the guy is still over on the forehand side...I'll probably give it a pretty good ride with some topspin and try to make the guy chum up an awkward shot. If the guy is well positioned in the middle of the court, probably slice...which usually hangs a little longer and gives me more time to get in. My backhand slice is one of my strengths, so a lot of my backhand approach, to either side, are slice, and they usually give me what I want, which is a floater for the first volley. On the forehand, you can slice or block it, too, just like a volley stroke.
- Next, I've hit the approach, now what? Well, follow the approach, watch the ball off your opponent's racket, split step, hit your first volley, move in for the kill. Why "follow the approach"? Because unless you know different, this'll give you the best shot at picking off the next shot. If you approach down the line, follow it, keeping yourself about a racket's length from the sideline...you don't have to stand right on the side line, but if you go to the middle, guess what? You just gave your opponent an easy pass down the line. What you want to do is take away the down the line pass and force him to hit a Roger Federer Incredible Cross Court pass...which even Roger doesn't do on a consistent basis. If you approach cross court, follow the ball cross court, and try to pick the direction early...this is the problem with approaching cross court, but if you approach cross court, try to follow the other approach shot dictum, which is "make the other player move 3 steps." If the guy is standing right in the down the line corner, I will go cross court and make him run.
- Okay, approach, split step, first volley...where does that go? Nick Bolletieri says "Never miss your first volley", which isn't bad advice. Meaning that this is the setup, not the coupe de grace, so you need to make a high percentage of first volleys, just like you need to make a high percentage of approaches. If you have a chance to hurt the guy with the first volley, either with pace, angle, or placement, do it...but if you've got to lunge for the ball, or can't come up with a forcing shot for whatever reason, just block it back and anticipate the next shot. An example would be, I approach down the backhand line, cover the down the line pass, the guy actually does rip one cross court...I'd like to hit an inside out volley to the forehand corner, but I'm stretched out and that's risky, so I just block it back down the middle and look for the next ball. The Bryan brothers, by the way, do this all the time...block it back deep, block it back deep, here's the easy ball, angle it away.
- Finally, first volley has the guy running around like his shorts just slipped down around his ankles, you can see where the pass is coming, go to that spot and angle it away for the winner. The key checkpoints on this one are (1) once you know where the ball is going, watch the ball and forget about what your opponent is doing and (2) don't try to slug the ball...just use good volley technique and "stick" the ball into the open court. With one of my coaches, once I got into the coupe de grace part of the show, I'd really try to lean on the winning volley...and I wound up missing a bunch of easy volleys. "Nice showboating," my coach used to say "
But you lost the point..." Words to live by
