Steal This Drill: Overhead Game

Here's a fun way to work on your volleys and overheads - two shots that are not practiced nearly enough by today's juniors. To recap prior articles, if you don't work on your net- or mid-court game you will forever be relegated to the baseline. As a baseliner you better be fit, fast and consistent. Otherwise, someone with a more aggressive gamestyle will chop you up. Develop this dimension of your game and you might just be able to take your opponent by surprise. We're going for the Navy Seals mentality - you gotta have the right tool, the right training and the right tactics for the job. Even if you are a "pure" baseliner, it's always best to have some additional arrows in your quiver. 

So, next time, instead of your basic overhead and volley practice try this game: Player "A" is at the net (red X); player "B" is at the baseline in the deuce side of the court. Although player "B" can hit winners (whole court); player "A" cannot hit volley winners (i.e., it must hit volleys back to player "B" - red line). However, when player "B" lobs (purple line), player "A" can smash an overhead winner (i.e., yellow line) into the open court (i.e., player "A" MUST change direction with the overhead and hit to the ad side of the court) - unless player "B" gets there and the play continues on that half of the court. The baseline player is encouraged to hit 2-3 groundstrokes for the net player to volley before throwing up a lob (or make it a rule that the 3rd or 4th shot must be a lob). Then, s/he has to rush and cover the open court. For player "A", this is great practice because he has to stay steady with the volleys and hit them shots in such a way that the baseline player cannot beat him. Furthermore, the net player only has one chance - the overhead - to put the ball away. As the players get better and better, they become more adept at both lobbing as well as hammering home the the tough overheads. Furthermore, the net player becomes good at reading body language - making him a better player from the net as well as the baseline.  

Please let us know if you have any questions about this drill or if you have any suggestions for practicing specific tactics. 

Steal This Drill: The Deep Volley Game

Here is a great drill for practicing both reflex volleys and first volleys. Often times when juniors work on their volleys, they get right on top of the net - maybe a foot or two away - and start smashing volleys aimlessly away from their practice partners. First of all, this is pointless because if you are a half-way decent junior and feel that you need to actually work on volleys that are on top of the net, well I have bad news for you... Second, unless you're Pat Cash (huh? Look him up), Patrick Rafter (who? Look him up), Stefan Edberg (who? Look him up too), Taylor Dent (you may have actually heard of him) or John Isner (ding-ding-ding) there are very few occasions when you will have the opportunity to hit a volley from 2 feet away from the net. Fewer still are the opportunities to make contact from there on a first volley.

The reality is that most first volleys are struck from the service line (or around there - give or take a foot or two). As a player, you should become familiar with volleys (or half-volley "pick-ups") being hit from there. Familiarity breeds comfort and comfort breeds confidence. If you know that you are pretty good at digging volleys from mid-court you will be a lot more confident at venturing to the net in the first place. Converseley, if you are only comfortable hitting volleys from on top of the net, you will not venture forward regardless of how many volleys you've hit from there in practice.

Here is a good way to become comfortable hitting volleys from mid-court and, at the same time, work on your reflexes, movement, balance as well as "punching through" the volleys (as opposed to hitting down on them). Two players line up behind their respective service lines on one half of the court. Players play points up to 11, 15, 21, etc. The rules are as follows: if the ball bounces in the doubles alley, deep, outside of the particular half (i.e., outside of the imaginary white line) or INSIDE of the service line, it's out (yes, the ball CAN bounce, as long as it bounces behind the service line and inside of the relevant half). In addition, the players cannot themselves step inside of the service line (i.e., they must stay behind) OR, alternatively, can only take one step inside and recover. This way, they are forced to work on their volleys and quick hands and not just bat balls from on top of the net. This drill can be done with 2 sets of players on court and there's also a possibility to do this drill cross-court. Again, work on your deep volleys; become comfortable in the mid-court and all the awkward shots and movements that go along with it. Your confidence in the rest of your game will grow exponentially when you know that you can do everything with a tennis racket. 

Steal This Drill: Handicap Tennis

Here are some good drills to try when you're either trying to mix things up or are practicing against a player who is not as good as you. Often times, playing against a weaker player might cause a better player to lose his concentration turning the practice into a hit and giggle session. In an ideal world, you should be able to have a focused practice against anyone but we realize that that's not always the case. Furthermore, there are some nutty parents out there who think that their kid is so much better than his peers that playing against them would be a waste of time. While that may very well be the case, competitive practices can still be arranged by playing against someone who is one or two levels below you if you put ego aside and your creative hat on.

In the first drill, set up the court (with athletic tape - yes, I go through quite a few rolls) so that the corners are marked off, more or less, as shown. If the weaker player hits the corner(s), s/he wins the point automatically. The stronger player's objective is to hit the types of shots (pace, depth, spin, placement) that cause the weaker player to have difficulty controlling. In addition, the stronger player would have to scramble to defend the corners - even taking balls out of the air. Play either regular sets or games up to 11, 15 and 21. Against players who are not quite that weak, you can set up only 1 or 2 "target areas". 

In the second drill, the court is set up so that the weaker player automatically wins the point if he hits it deep (blue) and the stronger player automatically loses if he hits the ball short (red). Again, these are great drill for evening the odds, for ensuring that both players practice with a purpose and for ensuring that both players stay focused throughout the practice. As we stated in the past, as long as you are motivated and focused, you can play against anybody and still have a very good and beneficial practice. You don't always have to play with someone who is better than you in order to get better. By handicapping yourself (whether by setting up targets, playing "down 0-30", playing in ankle weights, playing with one serve, playing with a wooden racket, etc.) you can still improve a great deal. You will learn to see the court in a different light and develop the necessary insticts to be a great tennis player. 

Don't Aim For the Lines...But Wait A Second! What?!

One of the first pieces of advice that a coach provides his/her student is to not aim for the lines when playing points. The concept is fairly simple to understand in that the developing players are relatively inaccurate when it comes to their strokes so there's a chance that aiming for the lines will result in the dreaded "unforced error" [GASP!!!]. So with this advice in mind, the players end up trading blows aimlessly from the middle of the court until, usually, the steadier player runs away with the match. Nevertheless, this strategy is risky down the road since, if the player remains stuck with the mentality that she is supposed to hit away from the lines, her shots are going to end up landing in the middle of the court where they are easily accessible by the opponent.

Therefore, as the players get older and better, it is important to attempt to transition away from the "stay away from the lines" mentality to a "stay just inside the line" mentality. Yes, this will require a lot of focused and, sometimes, frustrating practices. However, if you are unable to get the ball away from the middle of the court - be it with pace, height, spin or angle - chances are that a better "ball striker" will chop you up and "T off it" as soon as she gets the chance (which, generally, means the 2nd time your shot lands in/around the same place).

It is amazing to see how, sometimes, juniors never seem to realize when their shots are landing smack in the middle of the court - and, by extension, within the opponent's strike zone - 3, 4, 5 or 6 times in a row. What are they thinking?! They either (a) don't know what's going on; or (b) know what's happening but are afraid to miss. Here's a way to fix it: set up a square that is 3ft x 3ft from the service T (use athletic tape). Initially, play a baseline game (or, better, a game with one serve) and see how many times the player hits the ball inside that square. Thereafter, play a game where the player automatically loses the point if the ball lands inside that square. As the player gets better, expand the size of the square (blue - purple - red) until it's 5ft, 4ft and 3ft from the sidelines. As the player improves, he will become more and more comfortable hitting the shots "just inside" the lines. The goal is for the strokes to be as penetrating as possible and, at the same time, have as much control as possible. As one of my team-mates (Freddy Giers) used to say, "you're only as good as your worst shot on your worst day". The objective here is to become as steady as possible while also being as dominating as possible. 

In the second diagram, the object is more or less the same although the "red zone" is a no-hit zone while the "blue areas" are the automatically-win-the-point areas. As above, the purpose of this game is for the player to develop (1) awareness of his shots, and (2) confidence in his strokes and his ability to move the ball around as much as possible without either forcing or missing. 

Serve and Volley Play

ANTONY: "These many then shall die, their names are prick'd" (Modern Translation: These many men then shall die; their names are checked on the list). Julius Caesar (ACT IV; Scene 1) by William Shakespeare. In this scene, Antony, Octavius and Lepidus have banded together in a counter-conspiracy to destroy the men who killed Caesar. The men pick certain people who must die, including the brother of Lepidus. They are sacrificing even their loved ones in order to achieve their desired goals.  

Great! What does this have to do with tennis and, specifically, the Serve and Volley Play?! When embarking on a serve and volley gamestyle you have to completely change your attitude towards tennis. For example, where winners and "forced" erros are rare in a baseline-to-baseline exchange, they are far more prevalent when one of the players is at the net. In other words, you don't get many second chances to scramble when you're at the net. As a serve-and-volleyer (or attacking player) you are simply going to have to become accustomed to seeing balls go by you, having the opponent force some errors from you and, perhaps, even hitting you. However, you have to believe that simply by being at the net, the percentages will slip in your favor thereby putting you in a better position to win the match. Even if you're 51%-49%, that's still sufficient room for you to win the match. Serve-and-volleying is about taking time away from your opponent and elciting more errors from the opponent than passing shots or shots that force errors on your behalf. Therefore, keep coming in for as long as you are winning more points than you're losing. The missed volleyes and half-volleyes as well as your opponent's passing shots should "slide off" you as water on teflon. Don't let lost points get to you. Unfortunately, a lot of juniors see balls going by them once or twice and, thereafter, refrain from coming in altogether because they're thinking that they are doing something wrong. Initially, that may be the case but with more practice you will be much better at "reading" the opponent's shots. For example, you will notice how certain grips, footwork, balance and preparation results in certain shots. Then, next time you see these movements, you will be in a better position to anticipate. You will also be better at placing your serves, mixing them up as well as navigating the mid-court transition area. These are things that will help you with the rest of your game even if you remain, for the most part, a baseliner. 

The only real way to become good at attacking is by doing it repeatedely. No, one workout a month is simply not good enough. If you want to improve this dimension of your game you (as a 14+ year old player) are going to have to set aside 6-8 weeks of serious serve-and-volley development. Work on volleys, swinging volleys, pick-up shots, stab volleys, reflex volleys, volley-overhead combination, chip-and-charge plays, etc. all with the mindset of being aggressive. If you're "in season", try to use the S-and-V strategy in earlier rounds against weaker opponents. Alternatively, seek to play smaller tournaments so that you get to use this play in more matches. The goal is not to become a serve-and-volley player (although there's nothing wrong with that if it's in your heart) but to simply become an expert at this play. Then, you can still play your "game" but you can use the attacking play once or twice a game (more/less) to mix things up.

In this regard, I recommend playing a lot of practice points where all you do is serve and volley. Divide the receiver's service box into two halves and practice playing points (up to 11, 15 and 21) where you serve only in one of these halves. Then, change it up and serve in the other half. When you become good at picking up on the opponent's returns, leave the court-dividers but serve anywhere. The goal is to start seeing HOW your opponent RESPONDS based on the placement/spin/pace of your serve. Remember, humans are pattern-creatures. We tend to do what's comfortable when faced with a situation that's even slightly out of the ordinary. By repeating these points, you will become more adept at discerning the opponent's return patterns and movement. Again, it's practice so don't get discouraged at seeing returns go by you. Go forward like "the Russians to Berlin" (i.e., forget about the sigh-seeing). Break some eggs and sacrifice some "loved ones" so that you can achieve greatness down the road.