Defense Thoughts

 The style of PB that I enjoy the most is one where there is the struggle of servers getting to the kitchen and engaging in a dink battle.  

This style requires drop shots.  They is not a lot of room for error with a drop shot, so things can go wrong on occasion.  What should/can we do in that case?

Let's look at a typical scenario of the drop that is a bit deep.  As servers we want to be cautious in moving towards the kitchen line in all cases, but especially with a bad drop shot.   So we are hanging back as we are expecting a deep return from the defenders.  (If the drop shot was great, we move together into the court.)

I would suggest being further back based on the quality of the drop shot.   If it's really bad, we probably would like to be behind the baseline as we are going to defend against a smash.

A step or two into the court would be reasonable if the drop is mediocre.  We are expecting a deep shot, but a normal ground stroke or half volley or volley would be a reasonable way to defend.  

And to continue that, as the fourth shot is shorter, it allows us more time to move into the court.  

My preference is to volley the fourth shot if possible.  I don't want to do that off a smash, but anything that is marginally short will allow me to get in and volley.

If they are smashing the ball, then there is a court coverage problem.  If they angle it off, we probably can't return it.  But shots that are inside the sidelines are probably returnable.  

We are happy to hit another bad drop shot as a reply.  Think of it as a bad lob.  Another smash by the opponents is usually not a big problem.

Returning smashes is a lot of fun and one should embrace this kind of point.

The idea, of course, is to still get to the net.  We'd like to hit better and better returns until the other side cannot put a lot of pressure on us.  Their shots might be short, or they might have to hit from below the net.  We will work our way up, still trying to get into a dink battle and turn the tables on the opponents.

I've never practiced the defensive shots, but there is room for error as the return height doesn't matter much and you usually have a lot of time to return the ball as it won't bounce into the stands like a tennis ball.  I would think those of us who like to lob would be good at this.

Another thought is that to lose these points is not a disaster.  As the serving side we are playing at a disadvantage due to the two bounce rule, so our expectations should not too high.  If you get a couple of shots back, that is probably a good result.  If you can blunt the attack and get to the kitchen, you've done very well, indeed.  These points should be recognized as a normally frequent part of the game at the amateur level.  Obviously, a very good drop shot is the best way to get to the kitchen, but even the pros miss about 10% of those.

Drop shots are a touch shot.  What you want to do is avoid all of the drop shots into the net.  Easier said than done, of course.  But if you are not great at them make sure you hit them too hard.  Better to play some defense than give the opps an easy point.  Doing that gives you more opportunity to practice some defense and not fear a drop shot that is too deep or too high.