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TennisOne Lessons
For the moment, let’s not talk about game plans and strategy, and let’s just look at playing tennis one stroke at a time. I believe the best way to play tennis is to execute the most effective stroke given the circumstances of each shot (position and distance from opponent, speed, spin and height of the ball, etc.). When volleying, this means making slight grip adjustments to volley effectively under an enormous number of varying circumstances. Sometimes in trying to make tennis simple, we make it too simple. Teaching pros often fall into this habit when teaching beginning players, and the bad advice is reinforced by TV tennis commentators. One example of this tendency is the recommendation or encouragement to use one grip, the Continental grip, for all volleys. I call this the myth of the Universal Grip. John McEnroe is an outstanding TV commentator, but I would submit he has contributed to the spreading of this myth. For years now McEnroe has told television audiences that he used the same grip (Continental) for his serve and his volley, and he never changed grips on his volleys. The implicit lesson for millions of players is: if McEnroe, one of the game’s greatest volleyers, didn’t change grips on his volleys, then neither should I. Yet absolute and unquestioned adherence to this kind of rigid dogma may actually make hitting an effective volley more difficult.
The other support for the myth of the Universal Grip for volleying is the belief by most players that they don’t have time to change grips. This belief is founded in the common experience of all players. In certain circumstances, where your opponent is too close or hits the ball too hard, you simply don’t have the time to make any grip adjustment, and it’s all you can do to block the shot back. True enough. But how often does this happen? I say it’s rather the exception to the rule, and that typically a player does have enough time to make a grip change. Prove it to yourself. Every player is taught to make a slight shoulder turn when executing a volley. Now which can you do faster, rotate your shoulders 30-45 degrees or adjust your grip a quarter-turn from your Continental grip? The grip change is obviously quicker. So if you have time to rotate your shoulders on your volleys, you do have time to make a grip change. So how do we handle the McEnroe portion of the myth: that Johnny Mac only used one grip and he was a great volleyer? After coaching on the professional circuit for many years, I would first say that players have myths about their own game. They think they hit a shot only one way, when in fact they hit it slightly differently in different circumstances.
Let’s face it, if a player is thinking about how he is hitting a shot in the white heat of competition, he or she is going to lose. In fact, whether McEnroe changed grips or not is not the issue. Even if we say, for the sake of argument, that McEnroe never changed grips (I think he did sometimes without realizing it), this does not mean that what worked for Mac should be recommended for everyone else. Why Not the Universal Grip?Simply put, the Continental Grip isn’t the most effective way to execute all volleys. When you’re hitting low volleys, the Continental grip can be used quite frequently, as it naturally opens up the face of the racquet. This is critical if you're executing a low volley close to the net, where you need to hit up to clear it. But not all low volleys are the same.
If I’m volleying a low ball from the mid-court area, my
focus is more on driving my volley deep into my opponent’s court than it
is clearing the net. Therefore, I’ve adjusted my grip a quarter turn,
between a Continental and an Eastern backhand, to close the face of the
racquet more and to provide a stronger grip foundation for driving the
ball. How does this work? If the Continental grip opens the racquet face, then a player can modify his wrist position to close off the face of the racquet to the oncoming ball. If you look closely at our ProStrokes views of McEnroe hitting a low volley and then a high volley, both using his Continental grip, you can see Mac has adjusted his wrist position on the high volley to close off the face of the racquet so he can drive the ball through the court.
Tennis geniuses can do anything, and that’s why they shouldn’t necessarily be a model for the average player. The problem with using an unmodified Continental grip for high volleys is that the racquet face is too open, and it makes it difficult to drive a volley, especially, down the line. Using the Continental grip (below left) for a high volley, if I swung through the ball it would tend to go crosscourt. Additionally, so that the ball did not sail over the baseline, my tendency would be to bring the racquet face down, imparting slice. Although it’s difficult to see (below right) because I’ve only made a slight grip adjustment, perhaps a quarter turn to an Eastern grip, I’ve closed the racquet face, enabling me to more easily drive a high volley, especially on the down the line shot. How does the average player find his way through this thicket of subtle grip changes and racquet face positions? In the martial arts, they have an expression: “bring it to the mat.” Which means, theory is nice, but can you show it on mat and in competition, where it counts.
In tennis, the equivalent expression would be, “bring it to the court.” The point here is not to make you start thinking self-consciously about grips. You have more important things to think about, like controlling all the shots you want to play. If you can drive the ball through the court and down the line using a Continental grip, then that is the answer for you. However, I would recommend experimenting with slight grip changes from the neutral Continental position, and see if that enables you to hit a greater variety of volleys more effectively. Once you’ve experimented and found your solution, practice, practice, practice, until you’ve ingrained these changes into muscle-memory. Remember, there’s no one way to hit every shot, and therefore my mantra is and will be: adapt to win. Your comments are welcome. Let us know what you think about Tom March's article by emailing us here at TennisONE.
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Tom March has been coaching world ranked players on both the ATP and
WTA circuits for over 16 years in Europe. Tom has worked with over 60
world ranked tennis professionals as a personal coach (some of whom were
in the top 100). Tom has coached professional players at all of the Grand
Slams (Wimbledon, French Open, US Open, and Australian Open), ATP and WTA
events, Davis Cup and Federation Cup events. Tom developed and coached
three national junior champions and has worked for the German Tennis
Association as a High Performance Coach.