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Alan Margot – Clever Tennis Middle Brings Middle
There can be confusion or indecision as to whose ball it is, is it yours or mine? And there’s that infamous situation where the volley goes between you and your partner and you end up staring at each other thinking, “I thought you had it!” “I thought you had it!” So hitting to the middle is an effective and powerful concept. Now this is nothing new…It’s the way it’s played. Good doubles players will volley and reflex it back two or three times in the middle until something happens. But , what’s interesting, is there’s this instinct that happens when you’re at the net and you volley down the middle. The instinct is to move to the middle, punch the volley offensively, and then move back to your side of the court. What up with that? Well, it makes sense and feels right. Your side’s a lttle open so you instinctively want to move back over to cover your side. And being close to the middle also feels uncomfortable like you’re hogging the court. It’s like one of those socially awkward things, you naturally want to move back over to your side of the court and feel balanced with your partner. And then what happens? The volley you just smacked into the middle gets reflexed back to the middle. It happens quickly! In the heat of the moment it’s hard to reflex a volley to the side with an angle. It’s fast – it’s a reflex, so… middle brings middle! Sounds simple, and I can here you say, I knew that. But in a match situation, under pressure, do you do it? What’s your instinct? Do you stay or move back? So here’s the challenge. The next time you play doubles and your at the net, smack a volley down the middle, move into the middle and see what happens. Remember it’s quick, there’s no thought, it’s muscle memory. Let me know how you do. So to recap, when you’ve offensively volleyed into the middle, recover quickly, move to the middle and then move forward and close on the next volley. The middle is yours, expect it! Trust the physics and enjoy the journey. Thanks and good luck in your matches!
Alan Margot Alan is the founder of www.clevertennis.com – a fun and enjoyable video based learning website that teaches doubles tactics and strategies to the 3.5 to 4.5 level. Alan is currently the Director of Tennis at the Atherton Tennis Center, Holbrook-Palmer Park in Atherton, California. For 35 years he has taught and coached all levels and ages of players including sectional and nationally ranked juniors and touring professionals in the Bay Area. He has also served as a NorCal Regional Director of the United States Professional Tennis Association. “At CleverTennis we are always thinking of new ways to connect with people to teach tennis, whether it’s through our Tennis Getaways or through our DVDs and videos. Learning is fun - at every level!” For more information on CleverTennis Getaways see www.clevertennis.com. |
In today’s segment, we’re gonna look at a tactic that everyone uses when playing doubles, which is volleying to the middle between your opponents. We’ll also look at a certain instinct that happens when hitting to that middle. Now as you all know, all kinds of things happen when you’re at the net and you hit the ball down the middle in doubles.