So When Are We Going To Start Seeing Some Results?!?

"So we've (i.e. Junior) been playing tennis for a couple of years now. Are we ready to start playing and winning some tournaments?! We know that so-and-so is taking her kids to this tournament or that and getting all these points. We just want to make sure that we're not wasting our time."

Sound familiar? Without a doubt, at one point or another, all parents have had this conversation - or something along the same lines - with their child's coach. It is normal to express these feelings given that tennis is one of the most expensive and time consuming extracurricular activities that a child can engage in. If done right, it is also one of the most worthwhile endeavors to follow. As some of our Q&A segments have shown, good players have the ability to get their schooling paid for, travel the world, meet interesting people from all over and, for the lucky few, earn a very good living from the game. Nevertheless, it is possible that by overemphasizing results at one end of the learning process, the outcomes could be jeopardized at the other end... the important end of the spectrum where results actually matter. This process all starts innocently enough. Initially, Junior is introduced to tennis at the local park, through kids' clinics at the local club or even lessons with the country club pro. This is where things are loose, fun and stress free. Invariably, however, the family unit decides to take things to the next level. This is where things start to get interesting. 

Take a look at the chart above. That, in a nutshell, is TENNIS. Take a good look at it. This is the information that most decent coaches attempt to convey to their students. Are you sure that you (parents and player) are ready for this type of involvement and commitment? We have sought to break the information down into the basic components and make it as understandable to "lay persons" as possible. Unfortunately, tennis is complicated. Unlike other sports where the skills are more limited, tennis encompasses numerous components including athletic ability, intellect and, most importantly, skill (all sides of your body). For every stroke, a student has to learn the proper grip, preparation, movement, stroke, follow-through and recovery. Such components must be practiced thousands of times before they are fully understood and capable of being recalled at will (and under pressing conditions). In addition, these decisions have to be made in the context of a "live" point. There are no time outs, no options to dribble or hold on to the ball and no opportunity to pass the ball (and responsibility) to someone else. It's all you, all the time. No matter what everyone else says, tennis is the most difficult sport there is. All students must master a variety of shots and they must be executed in a limited period of time. There is no caddy reading your greens, no team captain to pass the ball to and there's no coach calling time-outs.

In addition, minor changes in one component end up having consequences in all parts of the game. For example, you can't just switch between grips without switching the stroke that goes along with it. A "western" grip leads to one particular path/swing of the racket. Conversely, a continental or eastern grip leads to a completely different swing. This minor change affects not only what you do with the ball but how you play...the strategies that you are capable of implementing and, consequently, the type of player you can be. One stroke leads to one positioning where another stroke may lead to something completely different. In other words, specific shots are tailored to particular game-styles. Making a minor change in one and it could affect the player's entire game.

Playing too many tournaments before the student has had the opportunity to learn (and ingrain) some of the basic components can be detrimental to the player's game. A coach may work on the player's strokes in proportion to the player's size and body type (e.g., feeding balls low and soft) so that the player grasps the concept more easily and understands what will be expected of him in 10 years' time. Match opponents do not operate under the same restrictions - they hit moon balls, they hit hard or away and sometimes with funky spins. Accordingly, strokes OFTEN change when playing a tournament - sometimes the players, inadvertently, copy each others' outlandish strokes. It happens at the college level and even in the pros but it happens more often before the payer has had the opportunity to master the game and have the shots "gel" into her system. This puts coaches in the awkward position of having to constantly perform "clean up" duty as opposed to focusing on new concepts and incorporating them into the overall game. This is also a good opportunity to revisit the 10,000 hour rule. If things get shifted around too much, the initial investment of hours (and $$$$) may have been for naught. Such skills may in fact have to be forgotten (it's much easier to learn something right than have to unlearn and then relearn).

Unfortunately, a lot of parents feel stressed by the financial, temporal and emotional investment and rush their children into too many tournaments, too soon. Perhaps it's because they want to validate their actions as parents...to make sure that they are doing a "good job." In this regard, they often override the coaches' wishes and advice when it comes to tournaments. Where the coach, normally, advises the family unit to refrain from too many matches and focusing on results, parents often times pay only lip service to such information.

For best results, the ideal time for playing tournaments and the level of tournaments should be left to a knowledgeable coach. There are times when the player should play some tournaments to achieve specific objectives (e.g., learning how to keep score, learning how to be competitive or figuring out how to deal with other personalities). However, there are periods of time during a player's development when tournaments should be avoided like the plague. These are times when the player is working on specific components where premature match-implementation can lead to shaken confidence. For example, when the player changes strokes or is working on specific game-styles, it's often best to take a break from tournaments in order to allow that concept to sink in and become entrenched. At such times, as difficult as it may be, parents should remember to not pay attention to peer pressure. Forget what everyone else is doing; forget the national points that everyone else are chasing. Your child is working on something specific so s/he needs to follow a path that is tailor-made for him/her.

At the end of the day, everyone is different. Some players thrive on competition; others may be more reserved and analytical. But one of the long-term detrimental effects of competing "too soon" is that the player is not given the opportunity to properly learn a shot to the exclusion of all the "bad" shots. In other words, it's not enough that the player grasps the concept of a particular stroke. That stroke must be the ONLY one that the player reproduces. In effect, the new shots/concepts must be learned and the old ones must be forgotten. It's not efficient (or effective) if the player hits 50 shots one way; 35 a different way and 10 shots another way altogether. The "proper" shot must be the only one that comes out - whether in regular rallies or under pressure (with adjustments, of course) at all times. That, and NOT THE AMOUNT OF MONEY OR NUMBER OF LESSONS, is usually a good indicator that the player is ready to mix things up with some tournaments.

Q&A: Stroking Felt With Anthony Ross

 

Our most recent contribution to our Stroking Felt With...series comes from Anthony Ross. Anthony is presently a sport psychologist registered with the Psychology Board of Australia (PBA). He is also a member of the Australian Psychological Society (APS) and the College of Sport Psychologists (CoSP). He works primarily with children, parents, and coaches in developing well-being and performance in/through sport. Anthony is a leading researcher regarding parental roles in child development through sport undertaking his Masters and Ph.D. studies in the area. Anthony is also a principal contributor to Skillforkids.com where he writes on topics including sport parenting. Previously Anthony played tennis professionally as a doubles player competing at tournaments including Wimbledon. 

By way of background, I first met Anthony when I transferred to Pepperdine (from Fresno State) in January of 1998. I had taken the fall semester off in 1997 in order to play some tournaments and figure things out (i.e., whether to continue on at Fresno, transfer to Pepperdine or go somewhere else altogether) and I recall that he was coming in for the spring semester as well. Although we weren't roommates, we became instant friends. Initially, we shared a suite and the thing that stood out the most is how Rossie could sleep through anything. And by "anything" I mean his roommates 24/7 sessions of playing Doom at full volume. THAT would not have worked for me. Another thing that I remember about Rossie is his full-on sprint towards the net when playing a doubles match against Tennessee at the NCAA D-1 National Team Indoor Championships in Seattle. Someone on our team had popped up an easy sitter right on top of the net that was just waiting for the other team to put away. Rather than backing up, Anthony sprinted towards the net at full steam, dodged under and held the racket up with two hands. The opponent (Peter Handoyo) hit an absolutely killer overhead RIGHT INTO ANTHONY'S RACKET!!! The ball rebounded over the net for a winner. STUNNING! It all happened so fast and my partner, Oliver Schweizer, and I were awestruck (as were the opponents). I think that Rossie's hands are still shacking from the impact. This incident epitomized Anthony's attitude on-court. He was a true warrior with a solid return and net game coupled with a "never say die" attitude so typical of Australian players. In addition, he worked very hard on his game as well as developing his speed, stamina and strength off-court. Lastly, he was an all-around guy who was well-liked and respected by teammates and opponents alike. 

Quick Bio: ATP high ranking - 134 doubles; 1087 doubles. Member of Pepperdine men's tennis squad from 1996-2000. All-American honors in 2000 (reached quarterfinal of NCAA D-1 Championships along with Sebastien Graeff). Contributor to Tennis Australia magazine. Worked with Queensland Academy of Sport to provide assistance with decision making under pressure for some of Australia's finest young sports people, including the former World Number 1 Under 12 tennis player, Bernard Tomic. 

1. At what age did you start playing tennis and how did you "fall" into it? 

A: I started played around the age of 7. I did so because my family played socially so I started joining in at that age.

2. At what age did you start taking tennis seriously (i.e., when you knew that you wanted to become a tennis player)? 

A: Around the age of 11 or 12 I started playing tournaments and doing quite well. I played a lot of different sports but about this age I realized tennis was my favourite so I began playing more tournaments and less of the other sports. I think by the time I was 15 I thought I would like to try to be a professional player one day.

3. How did your workouts change once you decided that you wanted to be a tennis player?

A: At the age of 14 I moved to Brisbane to join the National program that was set up at the time. This would involve about 6 on court sessions a week either before or after school. The main difference was the increase in intensity and competition among all the players that were there. 

4. If you've had to guess, how many hours on the court do you think you've spent between picking up the racket and enrolling at Pepperdine?

A: Wow. I really have no idea. But generally speaking after high school for a couple of years it was 4 hrs a day 6 days a week. In college our training went 3 hrs each afternoon. And playing on the tour depended on the situation. Obviously many thousands of hours.

5. Who influenced you most as an athlete?

A: I would say my parents. Now since I work with many young athletes in my role as a sport psychologist at SportParentSupport.com I understand the incredible influence parents have on children’s sport development. In my case my parents provided a lot of support but most importantly they were able to communicate their unconditional love no matter how I performed. This I believe is the most critical element of any young players successful development because that base allows players to better cope with the incredible stresses of competition.

6. If you had the chance to go back in time and talk to yourself as a 15year old, what tennis-advice would you give yourself?

A: I would probably say focus more on developing your game vs winning. Obviously learning to compete and win is an important skill but I probably focused on winning at the expense of developing my game when I was young which meant that when it really mattered when I turned 18-19 my skills were limited. I worked hard in college to overcome this but to a degree it was too late at this stage.

7. What was your favorite drill or thing to work on growing up? Did you prefer playing points? Did you like working on specific things? 

A: I loved to compete so I loved playing points the most. When I was young I was a grinder who couldn’t volley but in college there was a big emphasis on doubles and I enjoyed the quick exchanges at the net so I began to work a lot on doubles drills which ended up making this the strength of my game.

8. Why did you choose to attend Pepperdine and what are your thoughts on college tennis overall? What do you think can be done better in order to have a better experience than you may have already had?

A: I chose Pepperdine because I knew some of the Aussie guys on the team, Troy Budgen and also Brad Sceney. I loved everything about college tennis and if I could I would go back and do it all over again right now. I most loved playing for a team and competing with your mates which made it so competitive. I loved how hard everybody competed and how much everyone wanted to win. I think that everyone who has the opportunity should go to college to compete in tennis. I am not sure what could be done better from my experience- for me it was the perfect opportunity to give me 4 years to compete and continue to improve my game to the point where I was able to spend a few years also competing on the tour playing doubles. 

9. You specialized mostly in doubles and achieved an ATP high ranking of 134 relatively quickly. What were some of the best tour memories and what do you take away from your experience on the tour?

A: Playing Wimbledon was probably the highlight. I remember being beaten in qualifying of doubles after serving for the match at 7-5 5-4 and being absolutely devastated that I had blown my chance to play Wimbledon but then I ended up getting in the mixed doubles so that was great just to experience playing Wimbledon. Another vivid memory was playing Chang and Hrbaty at Japan Open where Chang was like a God in Asia so there was a crazy crowd. But I think my best tennis memories come from playing big college matches. Playing against Georgia at Georgia in front of a packed stadium of crazy college kids cheering against you I think would be my best memory- the atmosphere was unbelievable. In terms of what I have taken from tennis I think I have friends all over the world who I share great memories with so I would say the relationships you build trough tennis.

On a personal level I think it is the discipline I have developed from working so hard at something over a long period. As a tennis player I spent countless hours on the court working at something not getting paid just because I loved it and to give myself a better chance of maybe making some money out of it but with no guarantees. I think that has transferred over to the development of my business life now where I have the discipline to apply myself on my own with no guarantees of any financial rewards. 

10. Tell us something about your current projects, your collaborators and how your background has prepared you for this particular path. For example, did you view tennis as mostly a mental battle and therefore endeavored to learn more about this aspect of the game? 

A: As I said I think tennis had a huge impact on helping me develop the skills for this path. Also I think I am naturally very competitive so I really enjoy to see people develop their mental skills because, yes, I do think that especially as players get to higher levels, the mental aspects are incredibly important. And as I got more involved as a psychologist I started to realize that many players lacked the mental capacity to compete effectively because of the views they had formed of themselves in relation to tennis because of less than ideal interaction with their parents growing up. Or even if players were very successful, they may not enjoy tennis or be comfortable with themselves because they were being driven by fear of how they felt about themselves when they lost through similar developmental relationships.

So as part of my PhD studies I have developed SportParentSupport.com which is an online educational service that seeks to assist parents in fostering well-being through sport. And when parents can achieve this I have found that it also helps players compete effectively as well.

Anthony, thank you for taking the time to speak with us and we wish you the best of luck in all your current and future endeavors. We're looking forward to great things to come tennis-wise from Down Under. 

How Much Should You Practice: The 10,000 Hours Rule

"10,000,000 balls!" That was the answers that my dad gave me when I first asked him how much I needed to hit before I became as good as Ivan Lendl. During the Cold War, we didn't have access to too much tennis on TV (the tennis that we did see was often smuggled into the country on Betamax tapes) but whenever we did get a chance to watch some high-level tennis, Ivan Lendl was one of the favorites (his Slovak counter-part, Miloslav Mecir, was a close second). As much as he was disliked in the West, Lendl was adored in the East. Where Americans seem(ed) to idolize McEnroe-talent and Connors-brashness, the Eastern bloc was all about work-ethic and pure, mechanical determination - characteristics that were embodied by Lendl. From an early age, it was hammered into us, that single-minded determination and hard work are the keys to success...in whatever field you happen to specialize.

It was nice then to see the afore-mentioned rule of thumb being validated in modern press. In books such as Outliers: The Story of Success, Talent is Overrated, Bounce, This is Your Brain on Music and The Talent Code, the writers seem to indepentely arrive at the same conclusion: that if you want to master a particular endeavor - be it sports, music, computer programming or even a profession such as law or medicine - you need to dedicate TEN THOUSAND HOURS (quality hours, that is) to the activity. As stated in This is Your Brain on Music (by Daniel Levitin):

"...ten thousand hours of practice is required to achieve the level of mastery associated with being a world-class expert — in anything. In study after study, of composers, basketball players, fiction writers, ice skaters, concert pianists, chess players, master criminals, and what have you, this number comes up again and again. Ten thousand hours is the equivalent to roughly three hours per day, or twenty hours per week, of practice over ten years."

Where natural ability may be a factor at an earlier age - allowing the player to grasp certain concepts with less effort - it, more or less, becomes insignificant (or wholly irrelevant) down the road. In many ways, superior natural talent may be an obstacle because, if something's too easy, the player will lose focus or end up spending less time on court (thereby failing to improve stamina, muscle memory, strength and concentration). See, for example, page 66 of The Dynamic Path (Citrin, James M.) ("[a]t the extreme it [talent] can become a hindrance"). Of course, there are some talented individuals who are also DRIVEN to succeed and PASSIONATE about the activity. They are the lucky ones. Such players are able to pick up things relatively quickly and also have the ability to pour blood, sweat and tears into their practices and matches. But that doesn't mean that you cannot make it if you're not "talented". As long as you're PASSIONATE about the sport and willing to put in the hours, you have an even chance.

With the foregoing in mind, if you hit 1000 balls per hour and you play tennis for 10,000 hours, you will have hit 10,000,000 balls. Obviously, as an 8, 9 or 10 year old, you might not have the ability to his 1000 balls an hour. However, as you get older - be it 14, 15, or 16 - you should be in a better position to make up the balls (and hours). Sometimes, you can go out there and crank 1500-2000 balls in an hour on the ball machine. Other times, you will be able to hit 4-5000 volleys against the backboard or 1000 serves in an hour. The key is to have intense practices where you are focusing on specific objectives and endeavor to repeat the work until "you get it".

Before you think that a young tennis player is incapable of this type of work, please read up on Budhia Singh. As a 4 year old boy, Budhia Singh was picked up from poverty by a judo coach who trained him to run marathon races. By 5 years old, Budhia had run 48 complete marathons!!! Think about that feat for a second: 48 marathons at 5 years of age. He has also run a 60 kilometers course (37 miles) in around 6 hours. Did I mention that the temperatures ranged around 93 degrees Fahrenheit during these runs?! Needless to say, this type of behavior borders on child abuse - and his former coach has been accused of exactly that by the Indian state government and child protection services - but it goes to show WHAT the human body can accomplish - even at an early age - as long as there's determination and motivation. All of a sudden, hitting 1-2000 balls an hour seems like a cake walk, doesn't it?! You think that hitting a couple side-to-sides or 200 serves per day is tough?! Well drop the racket and pick up a newspaper 'cause you ain't gonna make it in this sport.

Unfortunately, there are a number of parents and players who believe that, since the family has spent X Dollars (or Euros) so far on development, Junior should be winning Wibledon titles any day now. From a coach's point of view, such mindset is comical at best, frustrating at worst. As a family unit, you're either (a) all in, (b) all out, or (c) pursuing tennis as a diversion only (i.e., playing tennis for pleasure - in which case you need to relax and have more realistic expectations). Time and again, the studies have shown that, unless the player has clocked numerous AND (here's the key) quality hours, she will not be in a position to master the game. And by mastering the game, we mean mastering not just the shots and movement, but also the strategy as well as the physical and mental aspect of the sport.

Notwithstanding the evidence, many continue to believe that they know of a better, quicker way; the "practice, practice, practice" concept seems to be lost on tennis players - particularly those from affluent backgrounds. Certain people seem to think that results will come with money spent rather than time spent on court (i.e. buying success v. earning it). There are even some instances where people believe that spending $800/hour to take ONE lesson from some name-brand coach is a good investment. Well, as the saying goes, "it's immoral to let a sucker keep his money" (and some coaches have certainly adopted this mindest). If lessons are what you're after, the simple fact is that, in the above example, the money could be better spent on taking 16 lessons with a coach who's just as good (or better). It's all about consistent repetition; forget the short-cuts. Your personal savior him/her/itself will not be able to give you the keys to tennis in a one hour lesson.

What's even more peculiar is that some parents (particularly in the United States) seem to think that one can combine tennis with other sports and somehow become phenomenal at everything. Although some exceptions exist, you have to objectively analyze your child and determine whether he's the exception or the rule. If it takes 10,000 hours to master just one thing (e.g. tennis), how is he going to get those 3 hours a day (see quote, above) when mixing it up with perfoming arts (dance, drama), soccer, martial arts, music, videogames, playdates and academics? Does your day (and, by extension, your child's) contain more hours than everyone else's?! And let's assume that you and the athlete are super-organized (you have a colorful day-planner and everything), is the player capable of shifting focus from activity to activity throughout the day?! Remember, it's not just the number of hours but also the quality of hours. Well, if s/he fails to achieve mastery of any one subject, you will have your reason in no time.

So be it tennis, school or martial arts, the key to success and mastery seems to be focused practice for 10,000 hours (10 Million balls). If the goal is to simply be a well-rounded person, than this concept might not be for you. However, if the goal is to stand out at tennis, then this is the road that you should consider following. Another way of looking at it is to "PLAY YOUR AGE PER WEEK". That is, if you're 7 years old, play 7 hours per week; if you're 8 years old, play 8 hours per week; if you're 15 years old, play 15 hours per week; and so on. Following this model, if you start at 7, you will be racking at least 9,828 hours before you reach your 21 birthday. Obviously, if you start late (or tennis becomes a focused objective only later in life) you have some catching up to do. No magic...no snake oil...no gadgets, training software, high-priced academies, lessons with name-brand coaches, or exclusive offers on DVDs. Just hard, lengthy work.

Is Deeper Always Better?

Recently I had the opportunity to witness some high level junior tennis played in my area. There really is no better way to come up with great writing topics than by witnessing junior tennis at its best (or not its best). So, with this in mind, I headed out to watch one of my friends play his first match. Before making it to the back row of the main site, I passed by a parent/coach giving his student (PLAYER X) some last minute advice before stepping on the court. This is what I overheard: "no matter what you do, HIT-THE-BALL-DEEP. If you want to win [argh!!!], you must hit the ball deep." I knew the name of the player (and coach/parent) because I had watched the player play against one of my students. I continued on my way and made a mental note to look at the result of that particular match for amusement purposes only. On the way back from my friend's match I stopped by and watched a couple of points - nay, make it a couple of games - of PLAYER X's match.  Here's what was going on: PLAYER X was hitting the ball deep alright (3 ft from the baseline) but the score was lopsided - not in PLAYER X's favor. Later on, I learned that PLAYER X had indeed lost the match (not close). 

So I thought to myself regarding the coach's advice to PLAYER X: is hitting the ball deep always the best strategy? I seem to hear it all the time (maybe it's something that gets passed around from player to coach, from coach to parent, from paren to player and so on - like seasonal flu) and I've been known to give this advice myself (with a twist). With respect to hitting the ball deep, here are the benefits: hitting the ball deep is, usually, a good initial strategy because it pins the opponent deep (forcing him/her to hit shots from further back) and tends to elicit more mistakes from the other side. In addition, a ball that spends more time in the air gives the "striker" more time to recover and get in position for her next shot (since shots slow down and tend to be hit back relatively quickly after the bounce). However, unless you're playing a very limited player, hitting the ball deep - by itself - is only a rudimentary tactic.

Often times, the opponent will back up 10-12-15ft and continue sending the balls back in your direction. If you don't do anything else at this point, you're nothing more than a general who orders an artillery attack (oh brother! here come the war references again) but doesn't send the ground-troops in order to envelop the opposing army. You keep battering the opposition with every missile under the sun but it has shifted its defense backwards. So the initial shock and damage is ameliorated by your opponent;s adjustment in a defensive posture. Furthermore, there's a chance that you will, at some point, "run out of cannonballs" - that is, get tired (since you are generating all the pace and the opponent is only adding a little bit of hers/his to yours). At crunch time, your opponent may have just enough gas in her tank to cruise to a victory. You'll be left wondering "what happened?!" 

In addition, there are some players who, rather than backing up, will "hug the baseline" their entire match. If you hit the ball deep to them, they move in position quickly (take 3-4 steps to the left or 3-4 steps to the right), get in balance and take your shot on the rise (i.e., "off the ping-pong table") - again using most of your energy and little of theirs. Again, more deep shots will probably not have an effect on this type of opponent since they are not forced out of their comfort zone and not forced to generate their own pace (to hit the ball and recover to the middle).

As a result, it is important that you develop some dimensions in order to understand HOW to use a deep ball when playing against a player who either (a) backs up and absorbs your pace; or (b) steps in and uses your pace. If you find yourself playing against a player who backs up, figure out the point in the rally when the player has in fact gone as far back as you can push him (10-12ft) with your normal strokes. At that point (i.e., once her shirt is green from the windscreen rubbing up against her back), you've done your job with respect to the initial prong of the attack. Start yanking the player side to side with angles and make her cover as much ground as possible. In the first diagram above, a player will run more if you hit shorter angles (red lines) than if you continue to aim for the deep corners (blue lines). Again, it helps a great deal to develop this dimension of your game. To summarize: push back; yank side-to-side. 

If, on the other hand, you find yourself playing against a player who holds his ground (i.e., stays on top of the baseline), it is important to have developed a good, heavy, high topspin that lands a couple of feet past the service line (diagram two; blue line). This ball will explode upwards forcing the player to move either (i) to the side and in (diagonally forward) or (ii) to the side and back (diagonally backwards). In other words, in order to take the ball "on the rise" (as is this opponent's gamestyle) he will really have to move (not just take one or two steps to the side). Initially, he might be able to manage it a few times. Eventually, however, he will run out of gas himself (and, perhaps, so will you). If you manage to tire your opponent, he will either step back (waiting for the ball to come to him) - diagram 1 - or he will change his game (be it going for winners, pushing or coming to the net). Either way, you will have a much better chance to win against a tired opponent who has been taken out of his comfort zone. To summarize: move your opponent diagonally (with high, heavy topspin). 

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.