I discussed a style of service return in the previous post. There are two wonderful things that come from hitting a deep soft service return. One of them is allowing you to get to the kitchen line in time to... stop.
As I hit that soft return more often, I am amazed at the ease of returning all shots from the kitchen line when I'm nicely stopped, balanced and ready for the moment of truth.
If we extend this to other shots and you look around, you will see a lot of shots when hit on the run that are really ugly. The usual problem is long or in the net. The running adds paddle speed and it makes any shot more complex.
If you watch the pros, they are very good at stopping before hitting. Move your feet early, not late. It's true for ground strokes and dinks.
Next time you are going to hit the ball, pay some attention to your setup. Are you stopped? Will you contact the ball at the side and the height you want? The mantra is: Move, stop, hit, recover for the next shot.
In seasoned partnerships you might hear your partner say, "Look out!" This usually follows a pop up. If you were moving in anticipation of a good shot from partner, that would be a real good time stop and get ready to defend. A lot of smashes can be returned as long as you have some room and are ready to take it on.
If you are trying to get to the net and it will take a fifth or seventh shot to do so, make sure you've stopped and gotten ready for each step as you move in on your opponent.
Stopping is involved in all shots and probably needs to be studied a bit more.
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