Friday, April 17, 2009

Serve & Volley - Early Split Step

As much as I don't like to admit it, now in my early 60s, I don't get in as close to the service line behind my serve when I Serve and Volley as I used to a few years ago.

That's right, more returns of serve are getting dwon low to my feet and making that 1st volley a lot more of a challenge.

During the recent National 60 Hardcourts in Palm Springs, I tinkered with making my split step earlier (closer to the baseline) so a low return would actually bounce up and give me an approach shot opportunity as opposed to a 1st volley opportunity.

The key was to early on in the match establish in my opponent's mind that I was going to come in as close as possible to play my 1st volley, get them thinking short low return of serve, and then I could start to split step sooner right after my serve and get a ball that would bounce up into a nice approach shot opportunity.

It works...   Check out this court diagram video clip.

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How to become the nightmare opponent in singles!

Discover the simple strategy secrets for serve and volley
that will not only drive your opponents nutty, 
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2 comments:

  1. Nice vid on a useful tactic. I use this often in dubs as well. One point though, is that you don't always have to accept a shot in no mans land. If you can work for a short ball to come in on, you can transition this area with minimum risk and exposure. I know you know this, but at the end of the vid there was a comment that you always had to face this exposure to get to net.

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  2. Thank you for the tip! I really enjoy watching your videos and have learned a lot from your instruction. I look forward to reading and watching more of your work.

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