TennisOne Lessons

Taking Control of the Ball

Jordan Coons

More often then not, in doubles and group lessons, I run into the situation where the players are hitting the ball in more of a reaction format rather then a controlling format. They do pretty well and have some good exchanges, yet nothing is really getting accomplished. It is as if they react to the situation and play the ball back instead of having intent and taking control of the ball.

If this sounds like something that you can relate to or if you have been playing at the same level for sometime now, maybe there is an answer for you to raise your game to the next level. Doubles is a fast acting game, especially while at the net. With that said, you must play the ball, not let the ball play you. In this article, I will give two steps you can apply to your net game to get into a better situation to control the ball more often and ultimately move your game to the next level.

The first step to control is to make sure you are attacking the ball. This is different then attacking the net. During doubles play, tennis professionals tell their players to run up and close the net to win the point. But I am talking more about taking control of the ball not necessarily winning the point.

Next time you hit the practice court take the net and while the ball is being hit to you, I want you to practice the attack. When you attack the ball, your mind is telling your body it is time to take action. This forces your body’s movement into a more aggressive position.

As the ball comes toward you and you have made up your mind you are going to attack, your lower body should slightly transfer to behind your center of gravity and your upper body should be slightly in front of your center of gravity. This causes your body to fall slightly forward creating more weight behind each shot. When your body is leaning slightly forward, it will result in a more forcing volley rather then just hitting the ball back over the net. The result is that your volley should move through the court in more of a straight line rather then a rainbow, and each volley will penetrate the court deeper rather then landing short.

Creating Forward Motion

So, how do you create this forward motion? Each time the ball is being hit by your practice partner or local Pro, you need to take a small hop backwards to your toes. I call this a “Kick Back.” As soon as you make this move, you should have to take a step forward to keep your balance which will keep you from falling face forward. It is a counter reaction.

By taking your feet from under your center of gravity and putting them behind you, your upper body will fall forward. Now a step will have to be taken to resume your balance. Using kick backs will force you to move into the volley creating weight behind your shot. With practice, this can be done in very little time.

This simple move will get you to attack and taking control of the ball, not just react to the ball. Groundstrokes that were hard for you to handle will now seem slower and easier to successfully volley. To make kick backs part of your footwork, try placing a jump rope or something similar on the court and just practice setting up in your ready position in front of the rope and kicking your feet back over the jump rope. This will force you to take that forward step.

Remember, while kicking back you are shifting your weight up to the front of your feet. Once you perfect this move, the proper timing will need to be added. Have your local Pro feed you balls and time your kick back to the feed. Your step forward should happen at ball contact. Once confidence is built up in those two practice step,s you are ready to apply it with your hitting partner.

The Racquet Face

In the second step we will focus on creating direction through racquet position in order to better control the ball. In quick exchanges at the net there is not always time to use a kick back let alone turn your shoulders and step forward into the volley. So, you need to control the ball through the racquet face. By controlling the ball through the racquet face you can make very quick decisions as to how hard to hit the ball and where to place it in the court.

There are in a net exchange you may find yourself needing to pass your opponents to get to the open court. The rally may be happening fast and you may feel like you are out of position and just trying to defend yourself against the ball. So, how do you find the open court in those tough exchanges?

First, let me start by saying this method I am teaching is designed to get you out of a jam. It does not, however, take the place of a correct volley technique.

In this example, let’s say you need to get the ball to the open court which is to the left side of your opponents. The ball is coming quickly, so there is no time to use a kick back or even to step into the ball. Instead, you will stand square to the net. That means both feet will be pointing towards the net and that is how they will likely remain throughout the quick exchange. There is simply no time for a split step, step forward, or kickback.

You must control the ball with the hand and racquet itself. This is how: Take a ball and imagine it being a face. On this face there will be three main things you will want to focus on. First, locate the mouth, then both the right and left ears. Once you can see the face we will use it to hit the ball where we want with just a quick movement of the hand. (I say hand because while volleying no matter what type it is you are hitting it is done through leading the hand into the shot not leading with the racquet (a common mistake).

Remember, our open court will be to the left side of our opponents. As the ball approaches, strike the right ear of the ball or face by moving your hand towards that right side. Your volley needs to be compact (a small movement that can be executed very quickly). By striking the right ear of the ball, the ball has no choice but to move to the left. This works because the ball ricochets off the strings in the opposite direction.

Now, if you strike the mouth of the ball it will go straight and the left ear will go to the right. Seems easy enough, right? Well, setting up the racquet may take a bit of practice.

Using the forehand volley for our example, start with the racquet in the ready position. As your racquet sits in this neutral position, you simply need to lay your wrist to the right side (This is assuming you have a continental grip). Your elbow will be the reference point. While you go from neutral position to laying or bending your wrist to the right, your elbow will look like it is on a pivoting point. But, the elbow will not be making large movements. Once you are set into this position, you are set up for this type of quick volley.

Notice when you set up, the racquet is just shy of your ideal contact point. You would not want to take it back any further because that would take too much time – time you do not have. Your finish on this volley will end just after the contact point. The stroke is short and there won’t be as much finish as with routine volley.

Practice until your volley is compact and your contact point is just between the start and finish. Use these steps and you will find you now have a bit of breathing room in quick exchanges. As a result, you no longer have to feel like you are fighting off the ball, because now you will be controlling the ball.

Use these two steps in a practice situation until you feel confident in applying them to your playing game. I always recommend practicing away from the stress of a match play situation, so you won’t become discouraged while you are learning a new tactic or stroke.

By applying these steps to your game, it will ultimately make you a more aggressive player and you will start creating shots and strategies instead of just reacting to your opponent’s strategies. In conclusion, while taking these two steps will improve your game, make sure you stay creative and push your game out of your comfort zone to get the most improvement from yourself.

Your comments are welcome. Let us know what you think about Jordan Coons' article by emailing us here at TennisOne.