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TennisOne Lessons Why there are No Great Net Rushers Tom Allsopp Unlike many tennis enthusiasts I actually think that tennis is now as exciting as it has ever been. Djokovic, Nadal, Federer, and Murray have taken ball striking and athleticism to new levels and the 20 shot rallies and incredible shot making definitely keep me entertained. However, like many others, I still yearn for the serve and volley tennis with the touch and feel that today's game seems to be missing. After Federer beat Sampras at Wimbledon in 2001 by serving and volleying on every first serve, it seems that as every year goes by even Federer, the poster boy for finesse, seems to get less creative and his volley's get worse as he bangs with Djokovic and company. The lack of volleyers at the top of the game may lead us to believe that serving and volleying doesn't work in the modern game and is now a thing of the past.
But let's not just focus on the serve and volley, even the tennis romantics amongst us would settle for a player, or two, who prefers to finish points off at the net, regardless of how they choose to get there. The general consensus is that racquet technology has made it close to impossible to consistently win points at the net. This is partly true. Coming to the net against Nadal's passing shots is a challenge, to say the least. An ex pro interviewed Murray after his 2011 US Open loss to Nadal. He asked Murray if he thought he should have gotten to the net a little more. Murray said, "It's very easy from the side to suggest what I should be doing out there – you should see some of his passing shots.” New Technology allows players to hit with more power and spin, therefore creating angles and getting the ball to dip below the height of the net, forcing players to hit tough volley's. Returners are able to get more power and control on the ball, even when stretched. Although this does make life at the net difficult, I think new technology does not just help one player on the court. Volleyers also have the benefit of extra control and feel when hitting volleys with new technology, and clearly they are able to hit groundstrokes and serves harder and with more spin to develop opportunities to get to the net. I think we can analyze players of this generation and previous ones to come to an obvious conclusion that a great net player would be very successful in today's era: Pete Sampras was the last great net player we have seen. He was able to beat Andy Roddick and Andre Agassi on his way to the 2002 US Open title. It's not that long ago! Michael Llodra beat Djokovic in late November 2010, shortly before Djokovic had possibly the greatest year of all time. Mardy Fish, now a top 10 player, has also had success getting to the net without having a forehand or movement even close to the top four players in the world; Djokovic, Nadal, Federer, and Murray. Imagine if the top four had volley's like Fish, Sampras, Rafter, Edberg, Henman etc. It would clearly separate them from the pack. Tsonga also has made it to the top 10 in the world by coming forwards and putting pressure on his opponent at every chance. Yet Tsonga just doesn't have the defensive play that the top four players have at this moment in time.
Tim Henman was another player that had an unbelievable net game but didn't possess the great serve or groundstrokes we see from today's top players. No one playing at this moment has the combination of a great serve, great forehand, great volleys and great athleticism. Sampras had all of theses attributes and I believe that in today's game there is still room for a net player that possess all of these skills. Quite often the players we send to the net as coaches are the ones that are tall, such as John Isner and Ivo Karlovic. We hope their size, rather than athleticism, will allow them to cover the net successfully but at their size, it is difficult for them to make fast, athletic moves. The next great volleyer will not just be tall but will be an incredible athlete such as Monfils. Getting the ball past Monfils would be a real challenge if he truly understood the art of volleying. Not only must you have solid volleys but your positioning needs to be perfect. This doesn't come easy, Roddick still is very amateurish at positioning himself in the right place because he tried to learn the art so late in his career. The new era of serve and volleyers must be opportunistic about the way they get to the net. They must use their own groundstroke skills to get their opponents stretched and take advantage of their court positioning, using their athleticism to dive across the court to cut off incredible passing shots as seen from Nadal and company. Most importantly, the next great volleyer needs to start young and be encouraged to do so, regardless of how successful they are at first. So if a great volleyer could be successful, where are they? Why are we not producing great volleyers? I think it is very clear why we do not have great net players at this moment in time and it has nothing to do with the tactic not being effective or new technology but rather our microwave mentality. Becoming a great tennis player generally means starting early. By the age of 12 a junior player is expected to be winning tournaments, and by 14 be nationally ranked. Although junior success can be a good guideline to see who will eventually turn pro, it is also common knowledge that junior rankings generally mean nothing. However, lots of acclamation and opportunities come with results. Very few people or organizations are interested in a child developing a style of game that doesn’t work immediately. It is perfectly normal for parents and coaches to want young players to be successful. However, there can be consequences for wanting early success: To win as a junior you need to be able to put every ball back in play. A consistent serve is more important than a big serve. Consistent groundstrokes win more points than aggressive groundstrokes. And most importantly, getting to the net as a junior is a tactic destined for failure. Until a player is fully developed there is no benefit to approaching the net. It is too difficult to cover the court and a lob neutralizes or wins almost every point.
Anyone interested in becoming a successful junior player should stay away from the net and focus on their groundstrokes. Therefore, the baseline meme begins to spreads like a virus from an early age. A meme spreads not because of what is right or wrong but rather what spreads the best. It takes a very strong player, parent, or coach not to contract the virus and take the more difficult path of learning the art of net play. Coaches naturally want their players to be immediately successful. I can't blame them for that. Parent's often demand success for their children and if they are not getting results another coach is quickly appointed and the former coach loses money and recognition. If the coach decides to look to the future and encourage the pupil to try to win more points at the net, he or she could quite easily regret the decision as this tactic is unlikely to work until the player is fully developed. The coach may as well turn his pupil into a baseliner, it works now and it works for the best players in the world. So what is in it for the coach to develop a player into a great volleyer? Success, 10 years later? It's a low percentage gamble that many coaches are not willing to take. Pete Sampras, one of the greatest net players of all time, was not initially successful as a junior. Around the age of 14, when Pete changed from a two-handed to a one-handed backhand to help improve his net play, Jeff Tarango, one of his junior opponents said, “he lost to everyone under the sun, I mean everyone!” But Sampras and his coach made sacrifices and didn't worry about results. Jim Courier when interviewed about Pete Sampras said, “Pete never set out to have a junior record, that was never part of the plan.” He and his coach had a vision of winning Wimbledon and they worked towards that goal without getting distracted by Pete's losses. Sampras said that his coach “had this big picture goal of me serving and volleying at Wimbledon” Sampras went on to win a record 7 Wimbledon titles. John McEnroe has been reported as saying he advocates the return of wooden racquets to the professional game, which is a ridiculous idea for numerous reasons. But what could we do to encourage players to volley and be more creative? I think the USTA and LTA etc need to rethink who they support and how they judge talent. How do you think players would be treated if they are 14 years old and losing because they are trying to get to the net at every chance? Would their results be excused because their chosen game will take longer to develop? Or would they lose sponsorship and other perks that come with winning? Maybe we should take results with a grain of salt and encourage long term development? Parents need to decide what they are looking for. Do they want quick results so their child can be number one at their school or are long term goals such as a college scholarship more important? If a coach feels the pressure to get results, it will take a strong minded individual to develop a pupil into an all-court player and make the technical changes the coach feels they need. The same applies to the child – are they going to work on their new technique and strategies knowing that their parents will not accept failure? I would encourage parents to let the coach and player know that long term development and future goals such as gaining a tennis scholarship are what is important and that junior tournaments in the next few years are merely stepping stones.
The way juniors train is extremely important for developing an all-round tennis game. Go to any tennis facility and you will very rarely see children practicing volleys. If they do hit volleys, the player will normally stand a couple of feet from the net hitting static volleys, which is very unrealistic. I encourage all of my players to warm up their volleys by standing on the service line so they have to hit half-volleys and low volleys, and therefore can't get away with hitting incorrectly because they are so close to the net that just about anything goes over. To be successful at the net you not only need to have a strong net game but you must be comfortable hitting balls from different areas of the court. As part of your warm up, try rallying from inside the baseline and hit volleys from around the service line. Many players only practice groundstrokes from behind the baseline and stand too close to the net when practicing volleys. Standing too close to the net allows you to get away with bad technique and you will rarely get to hit low or half volleys – crucial shots if you want to be a great net player.
As a coach I like to structure games that encourage net play. Changing court dimensions such as playing points in half a court can often work well. Playing conditioned games such as awarding 2 or 3 points for a point won where a player approached the net also encourages players to move forwards. My favorite game is to have one player feed the ball into the service box wherever they like. They must use the continental grip (also great for learning to volley. The other player starts behind the baseline and has to move forward to play a groundstroke and approach the net. Because of the awkward feeds the player has to learn how and where to hit the approach shot to maintain good court positioning, making it difficult for an opponent to pass. Variations are:
I don't believe people look to the future as Pete Sampras and his coach did. Maybe it helped that his parents were never involved and therefore results were never demanded. Maybe it was his coach that had the 'big picture goal.' Or maybe it was Sampras himself who wanted to be great and was able to look past his defeats and see them as stepping stones. Until players, coaches, and parents are able to set long term goals and stick to them, rather than getting caught up in early success, we might not see many great volleyers. If all parties are prepared to sacrifice victories as juniors to help develop solid volleys I am convinced we will see some successful players with athleticism, awesome groundstrokes, and solid volley's who earn their living finishing points at the net. Your comments are welcome. Let us know what you think about Tom Allsopp's article by emailing us here at TennisOne.
Tom Allsopp is the founder of tpatennis.net, a unique website for tennis enthusiasts. Tom has coached professionally on three continents and has worked with some of the greatest coaches from around the world. Through articles and videos he hopes to share his expertise with everyone at TennisOne. |
Tom Allsopp