weak approach shot: go to net or not?

[YonexDude]

my normal approach shot isn TOO bad, but today when i got a short ball and REALLY had to stretch out in order to get it back, i hit a pretty weak approach shot the other guy had no problem getting to the ball and hitting a decent shot back. i hit it deep enough, but the placement or pace wasn't enough to put him out of position. so, after i made these shots, i was left standing in no man's land wondering what i should do. should i run up to net? my volleys are OK at best, but i'm pretty quick nonetheless. should i get back to the baseline? i'm far more comfortable at the baseline trading shots than trying to hit a volley- if i don't get passed.

today i found myself backpedaling to the baseline and running up to net only to be passed of get a tough volely because my opponent wasn't out of position enough. what should i do in these situations?

 

[103xStateChamp]

stay back if thats where your more comfortable

 

[Jr.]

The best advice would be to work on your approach like hell.
Practice, practice, practice.

I don't think you have okay volleys if you got passed at the net all the time.
So work on your footwork like crazy. You can practice split steping and do basic footwork drills at home.
Remember, great footwork=great volleys.

Traditional advice would be to always go up to the net after attacking a short ball. If you are too uncomfortable at the net, it a deep heavy topspin shot then retreat to the baseline.

This strategy would be worthless if your opponent can hit the ball on the rise well.

 

[grizzly4life]

i wanted to start a somewhat similar thread...

i play with a guy who has good strokes (mid-strong 4.0.. by high standards) but he's also very fast.... and it's really, really hard to put him away with my mid 4.0 game ... and he has somewhat the same problem with me....

it seems like taking an advantage in the point often leads to lost points for both of us.....

and i think this is common at the weaker 4.0 level if not higher. usually people don't hit crisp angled volleys.... and frankly, i even see the pro's with the same generic problems (lbujic sp? for one recently) against their compatriots. or alot of guys vs. andy murray.

so what are we to do??

 

[grizzly4life]

what about heavy deep topspin as approach and then do a somewhat delayed approach???? is that a good strategy??

 

[Jr.]

Grizzly, if you have a good volley, a deep topspin shot is a great approach.
As I mentioned before, it would be easy for you to do a put-away volley if your opponent has to hit a high ball way back from the baseline; unless he can hit on the rise.
If he is a strong 4.0 player, I expect him to have a good rising shot, so make sure to aim well with your approach.

 

[Bagumbawalla]

If your volleys are only "OK, at best", it is not to your advantage to hit an approach shot.

There are two basic styles of getting to the net.

Serve and volley. The player has a strong serve, excellent volley skills, net coverage and is willing to go for broke on every shot.

Then there is the baseliner who works the opponent, setting up every point, is patient and, though he/she volleys well, only comes to the net behing a near-winner placement that sets up the put-away volley.

Basically, you have neither of these skills. My advice is to stay away from the net, don't hit approach shots, and win your points from the baseline through passing shots, placements, or forcing errors.

Meanwhile PRACTICE your volley skills and approach shots. Then, when you feel ready, begin to introduce them into your game.

 

[grizzly4life]

Jr. and bagum,

thanks for each of your advice. those seem like very honest and reasonable pieces of advice...... i do think if you're "good" from baseline (i think i am) that it's worthwhile to set up the point a bit more before coming in. and it can obviously NEVER hurt to improve quickness and volleying (obviously this is more standard advice)

 

[SFtennisGG]

You answered your own question. If you hit a weak approach shot dont rush to the net. Especially, if your baseline game is better than your net game. Whether its deep if your opp. isnt out of position then at the very least they will lob it over you.

 

[dave333]

my normal approach shot isn TOO bad, but today when i got a short ball and REALLY had to stretch out in order to get it back, i hit a pretty weak approach shot the other guy had no problem getting to the ball and hitting a decent shot back. i hit it deep enough, but the placement or pace wasn't enough to put him out of position. so, after i made these shots, i was left standing in no man's land wondering what i should do. should i run up to net? my volleys are OK at best, but i'm pretty quick nonetheless. should i get back to the baseline? i'm far more comfortable at the baseline trading shots than trying to hit a volley- if i don't get passed.

today i found myself backpedaling to the baseline and running up to net only to be passed of get a tough volely because my opponent wasn't out of position enough. what should i do in these situations?

If you have to stretch for it, try to do a low slice. That way, they have to hit up and you can still get a fairly good advantage at net.

 

[Cindysphinx]

I've wondered about this too. I get a short ball, say on the service line. I do my level best to hit a good approach shot, but sometimes I dork it up. There I am, just behind the service line having hit a lame approach. My choices are to backpedal to the baseline, or continue forward to net.

I've been going forward to the net because by the time I realize I have hit a poor approach shot it is too late to get out of no-man's land. I've noticed the pros don't retreat from their own poor approach shots (although you can see their shoulders slump a bit if you watch closely enough).

So I usually just keep moving forward and hope for a lucky break. Perhaps the humiliation of getting lobbed or passed is appropriate punishment for hitting that bad approach in the first place.

 

[samizram]

If your volleys are only "OK, at best", it is not to your advantage to hit an approach shot. ... My advice is to stay away from the net, don't hit approach shots, and win your points from the baseline through passing shots, placements, or forcing errors.

Meanwhile PRACTICE your volley skills and approach shots. Then, when you feel ready, begin to introduce them into your game.

Haven't you heard of the "games-based approach" yet? and that this old-school approach of yours doesn't work and just insures that players NEVER graduate to a net game or all-court game? Where have you been for the last ten years?

The way to learn how to approach the net is to approach the net.

You're discouraging him, saying he can't do it and mustn't try till he can do it perfectly. Baloney. Then his baseline game gets so far ahead of his net game that it's way out of his comfort zone and she he never tries coming to the net. He's afraid to.

Don't do that to people learning the game. Hackers learn faster than people taught like this. That's probably a large part of the reason why nearly half of the adults who take up tennis quit within a year, saying it's just too hard to learn = not worth it.

 

[samizram]

I've wondered about this too. I get a short ball, say on the service line. I do my level best to hit a good approach shot, but sometimes I dork it up. There I am, just behind the service line having hit a lame approach. My choices are to backpedal to the baseline, or continue forward to net.

I've been going forward to the net because by the time I realize I have hit a poor approach shot it is too late to get out of no-man's land. I've noticed the pros don't retreat from their own poor approach shots (although you can see their shoulders slump a bit if you watch closely enough).

So I usually just keep moving forward and hope for a lucky break. Perhaps the humiliation of getting lobbed or passed is appropriate punishment for hitting that bad approach in the first place.

I agree. You can't back out of no man's land. You're committed and have to keep moving forward.

Could it be that you are hitting the wrong kind shot for your approach shot? By that I mean, are you hitting a shot that isn't reliable enough? Maybe you're trying to hit it too hard.

Many people make this mistake, because they think their approach shot must be sooooo good a shot that the opponent has trouble getting the ball back. Not so.

Consequently, they mess up quite a few of their approach shots and then get burned.

Your approach shot is just a setup shot. It must just drive them deep and get them to cough up a floater (off the back foot) down the center of the court.

Try a moderately paced shot with plenty of topspin to make for a long deep bounce. (The long topspin bounce also makes up for it if your approach shot lands a little short - no big deal.) No angle, so you don't get passed. Hit it on the run. Not a difficult shot, just a smart shot.

You will probably see that your opponents back away and play the shot from very deep so they can hit the ball on the descent of its bounce. Good! Mission accomplished. Here comes your floater.

 

[samizram]

my normal approach shot isn TOO bad, but today when i got a short ball and REALLY had to stretch out in order to get it back, i hit a pretty weak approach shot the other guy had no problem getting to the ball and hitting a decent shot back. i hit it deep enough, but the placement or pace wasn't enough to put him out of position. so, after i made these shots, i was left standing in no man's land wondering what i should do. should i run up to net? my volleys are OK at best, but i'm pretty quick nonetheless. should i get back to the baseline? i'm far more comfortable at the baseline trading shots than trying to hit a volley- if i don't get passed.

today i found myself backpedaling to the baseline and running up to net only to be passed of get a tough volely because my opponent wasn't out of position enough. what should i do in these situations?

If I understand this correctly, the short ball you got was actually a drop-shot. There's a big difference! A short ball is lunchtime. A drop-shot is an emergency.

That was not the time to hit an approach shot. At least not a normal one.

Nonetheless, you are stuck and being drawn into the net. So you do have to follow your shot to the net.

In my own play, I've discovered that the best thing for me to do is drop-shot the drop-shot back. (It's about the only time I drop-shot. You'll see pros do the same thing.) Drop-shotting is fairly easy in this situation, because you're so close to the net. In fact, the ideal time to drop-shot is when the incoming shot is a drop-shot. Aim for the tape - to just clear it. Then follow your shot.

Since you're already halfway to the net when you hit, you easily get all the way to the net before the ball is back. Get in front of your opponent there at the net. He will have to run up on the ball scooping it up. Front that shot.

Unless your drop-shot was lousy and he makes a heckuva return, you are going to reach and volley his return for a winner.

In general, don't angle approach shots and you won't get passed. Depending on the situation, hit them down the line or to the center. You don't use your approach to open the court. You use it to draw an easy-to-volley first volley while you're passing through no man's land. Then that first volley is the shot you use to open the court. In other words, you rarely can go for a winner on the first volley, because you're not in close enough yet.

You aren't thinking that you should hit an approach shot crosscourt, are you? If you do, you WILL get passed...unless you blast that approach shot so that he can barely make a play on it. Not high percentage tactics, because then you are as likely to err as he is.

Google "tennis approach shots." There are good online lessons on it on the web.

 

[Mahboob Khan]

In this situation going to the net will be suicidal. It is better to retreat back to the baseline.

Yes, I agree that with the previous combination of shots you ought to pull your opponent to one side, get the short ball, approach deep up the line and search for the volley.

 

[J011yroger]

Haven't you heard of the "games-based approach" yet? and that this old-school approach of yours doesn't work and just insures that players NEVER graduate to a net game or all-court game? Where have you been for the last ten years?

The way to learn how to approach the net is to approach the net.

You're discouraging him, saying he can't do it and mustn't try till he can do it perfectly. Baloney. Then his baseline game gets so far ahead of his net game that it's way out of his comfort zone and she he never tries coming to the net. He's afraid to.

Don't do that to people learning the game. Hackers learn faster than people taught like this. That's probably a large part of the reason why nearly half of the adults who take up tennis quit within a year, saying it's just too hard to learn = not worth it.

Whoa...First of all, nothing he said called for you to jump on his case like that.

Secondly, the kid is talking about playing competitive matches, and trying to win.

When you are in competition you don't hit shots that you don't have. And you don't put yourself in a position that shows the softer sides of your game.

Would you reccomend that a beginner who can't hit a topspin second serve try to do so anyway?

Would you reccomend that someone without the ability to smack winners off of short balls try to do so anyway?

That is just absurd.

Bagumbawalla's post was excellent in that he advised that the OP stick to his strengths and mimimize his weakness. He also advised practicing the skills that would allow him to be a complete player and adding them to his game when he felt comfortable with them.

Note, you said perfect, Bagumbawalla said when you feel comfortable.

I believe that you are the one offering poor advice, encouraging someone to do something that they are not comfortable with in a competition match.

Yea, you learn how to approach the net, by approaching the net ON THE PRACTICE COURTS then when you feel comfortable doing it in practice, you implement it into play. At first only on balls that you have a high chance of success on, and then as you get more comfortable and have more success, you can storm on more and more balls.

I dunno about quitting in a year, because I have stuck with it pretty well. But I imagine that losing matches and watching balls whistle by you when you hit lame approaches, and dumping put away volleys into the net just because your coach says you have to attack, would be a lot more discouraging than hitting balls in a rally and having a competitive match.

J

 

[J011yroger]

I've wondered about this too. I get a short ball, say on the service line. I do my level best to hit a good approach shot, but sometimes I dork it up. There I am, just behind the service line having hit a lame approach. My choices are to backpedal to the baseline, or continue forward to net.

I've been going forward to the net because by the time I realize I have hit a poor approach shot it is too late to get out of no-man's land. I've noticed the pros don't retreat from their own poor approach shots (although you can see their shoulders slump a bit if you watch closely enough).

So I usually just keep moving forward and hope for a lucky break. Perhaps the humiliation of getting lobbed or passed is appropriate punishment for hitting that bad approach in the first place.

You are right cindy, once you hit the approach you are committed to comming forward. Half of playing the net is just being there and trying to get your opponent to hit a better shot than she is capable of, so maybe you will catch a break. Usually you wouldn't have time to make it back to the baseline backpedaling anyway, which leaves you in even worse position.

If it is any consolation this happens at all levels. Thinking back I can recall many an approach shot where as the ball was leaving my strings I thought to myself "Oh...this isn't going to work out well for me at all" But I just kept on comming, and more often than not walked back to the fence to retrieve the ball that when zipping past my lunging stab.

J