women pros volleys

[tennispal]

why is it that most female pros absolutely have no volley skills (with the exception of a select few)? when you watch a women's game, the net play involves only finishing volleys, swinging volleys, and overheads. rarely does it have touch shots or amazing volleys.

at least most of the male pros can volley or try.

 

[maverick66]

they dont work on it. its that simple.

 

[qwerty2009]

Why work on something you don't need?

Women's tennis today is all baseline play pretty much. Who would want to come in when your opponent hits 90 MPH forehands and backhands?

Venus and Serena come in a lot because they have that big serve to help them.

Henin comes to net but shes sooo short she is suspect to the lob.

Mauresmo is the best net player in the womans game I think when she is playing decent at least.

If you want to see horrible volleyers, look at Vaidisova yesterday against Serena. She had the easiest volley but just pushed it in and payed for it.

Serena hit a huge backhand pass.

 

[nalb/daven]

I think that alot can volley well,But take in consideration that most of the Top ten are all young. The older you get the better volleys.

 

[tennissavy]

Through espn360 I have watched every wta match covered on six courts and I can say that you are wrong about the women's volleys. ESPN tv has shown little wta action and not the best wta action. I have seen so many women volleying like Henin now that it is unfair of espn to only show the matches they have been showing you people. The variety of the wta is there but it is not televised very well. Many wta players possess crisp volleys, delicate and precise dropshots, underspin, sidespin but it is not evident by the matchups shown on tv. For example, ESPN showed a couple of minutes of Radwanska playing Kuznetsova and all the viewers got to see in terms of variety was the Pole hitting a drop shot from the baseline. I saw the match on espn360 and she did far more than that during the match. She hit topspin, underspin, mixed up pace and depth, constructed brilliant points, came to the net extremely effectively under her terms and when pulled in by the Russian. She was like Henin or Federer but without much of a serve. She is not the only one- many of the players have all court games but not much is said about that.

 

[jazar]

they just arent taught to volley or slice for that matter

 

[superman1]

They don't need to get to net to finish points. They are almost all baseline bashers who will go for the winner as soon as they can, which means there are a lot of errors and the points are short.

Baseline rallies are much tougher in the men's game and last longer because the guys are so much faster now, so getting to net is the only way to not have to play marathons every match, unless you are a player with some serious baseline weapons. That's why you hear almost every male player talking about trying to learn how to finish points at net.

 

[MEAC_ALLAMERICAN]

Along with the volleys, a shot that I often see the women struggle with is the overhead.

 

[Nellie]

Because women play mostly with two-handed backhands, and most players with 2-handed backhands typically have weaker volleys (due to being raised to play from the baseline)

 

[maverick66]

Because women play mostly with two-handed backhands, and most players with 2-handed backhands typically have weaker volleys (due to being raised to play from the baseline)

im gonna disagree with this. i dont think the two hander is the reason its simply the coaches are not working on it. why because slapping from the baseline is whats working right know. until a top woman comes around and starts going forward the rest of the field wont.

 

[Legend of Borg]

why is it that most female pros absolutely have no volley skills (with the exception of a select few)? when you watch a women's game, the net play involves only finishing volleys, swinging volleys, and overheads. rarely does it have touch shots or amazing volleys.

at least most of the male pros can volley or try.

Volleying is a lost art among today's players, not only women. Look back 15 years and you will notice many skilled and adept volleyers on tour. Coaches just don't emphasize enough on net skill these days. There are a few exceptions in today's tour, Roger Federer being one. By the way, nice job of noticing this. It had been on my mind for a while.

 

[David L]

why is it that most female pros absolutely have no volley skills (with the exception of a select few)? when you watch a women's game, the net play involves only finishing volleys, swinging volleys, and overheads. rarely does it have touch shots or amazing volleys.

at least most of the male pros can volley or try.

Why? Simple, lack of upper body strength and good lateral movement to properly punch, control and get to balls in the air.

I was surprised to hear Ivanovic say in one of her Australian Open interviews she cannot even jump over the net. A lot of women on the tour simply don't have the strength or athleticism to be effective at net. Better for them to trade from the back.