How to Develop Volley Control from Beginner to Advanced

Imagine a  65 year beginner that can't learn the trick for volleys.   Do you make them do pushups when they fail.  Not likely.  65 year olds couldn't get up off the ground without help after trying to do one pushup. I'd suggest using carrot cake rather than the stick approach.    The cake is success without much pain and lots of encouragement.

I might show them racket drills for volley skills that they can practice at home. This allows them to improve their ability to control a ball in the air. I use this for kids and beginning adults. Dribble the ball on the court with the racket and then do the reverse just bouncing it in the air. They can learn to reverse the racket to each side, catch the ball with the racket l, and then graduate to moving short volley drills with a partner down the net. 

Or, you can send them to a wall and have them keep the ball in the air against a wall. Go to 3:58 on this video and it's something to show your student that they can practice on their own.   This is a good training video.   

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GU7mq8uZgJo

Happy Birthday to Fred Stolle

Happy Birthday to Fred Stolle A great serve and volley player who played and won many international tennis competitions throughout the 1960s. #FredStolle 

 

Tennis Hall of Fame

 

Jack Broudy Tennis Interview with Roscoe Tanner

 Those of you who remember Roscoe from the '70s might enjoy this.

 

Serving Underhand - is it a good strategy

It is legal and it can be effective.  Is it ethical?  Back before the '80s it was often considered disrespectful to use it and I  never saw it on TV in Professional Tennis until the '80s.  The first time I remember seeing it was Chang using it on Lendl in a final.  He so flustered and angered Lendl that he ended up winning a match that he didn't look likely to win.

I used it in High School against those opponents standing back at the fence to bring them back in. I'd only resort to it if they were effectively soaking up my serves by backing up to the fence. I usually only employed it once a match and asked the opponent if they were ready before announcing the score and serving. I made the announcement so they couldn't claim that they weren't ready. 

Now as a senior, it's almost like going nuclear if you use it against another senior.  If you play someone younger and they use it, well they really want to win.  If you use it first, then expect treatment in kind.

The better your slice serve and accuracy, the less you need this trick. It's good to have in your tool box though.

Novak Goes to Serve and Volley

 He does whatever it takes within the rules.   This is commitment. 

Novak Adapts to Win

Novak playing doubles recently now makes sense in hindsight. It was part of a grand strategy to become an all-court-player. I think that he has arrived. Reminder: Fed took the same route along with a racket change as he lost a step to age. This is also the path of Ken Rosewall who was a dominant back court player who used it to stay competitive into his late 30s. He made it to two GS finals at age 39 only to be beaten by a young Jimmy Connors. Then of course there was Laver who relied on his serve and volley more and more as age slowed his step.