Thoughts on Volleys

 In order to make this game as easy as possible, it seems to me that you want to volley every ball you can.  They used to say that about tennis too.  I'm not sure of the state of that game.  But it was serve and volley when I played it.  Let's return to PB and how that might apply.

As usual we need to divide the play into the servers and the returners.  Obviously the returners want to volley the third and hopefully all the rest of the shots.  After the second shot is hit, both of the returners should be on the way to the net.  No excuses!

The servers have that pesky second ball to deal with.  And it's a problem because they have to let it bounce.  We will return to that in a moment.

But after the third is hit, the servers should strive to volley everything too.  Even if they are not at the kitchen, a volley is a better shot to make.  Reasons for that statement are: the ball can usually be hit at a comfortable height, you don't have to worry as much about spin, you'll avoid bad bounces, and a volleyed ball is returned faster to the opponents, robbing them of movement time.

(I've not mentioned dinking at all in this post.  But my current thinking on dinking is to volley all of them if you can.  Same reasons.)

In my view both sides want to volley.  Initially the servers goal is to achieve parity and that means getting to the net.  Hanging back deep in the court is not a good way to move up.  Hit a third, try to volley the fifth and keep moving up.

I've recently been moving forward a lot more and earlier than I used to.  I'm finding it more comfortable to do so.  Maybe my hands are getting faster.  This does require a reasonable shot from partner.  I'm ahead of him and if it is a soft, high ball, that can end the point.  A drop is a better choice.  If one of the opponents is out of position, id est, too far back, then just dumping the ball into the court and capturing the net is a good move.

I've also found that when forward of partner, that most shots are then hit to my partner.  Since I try to crowd the center of the court, this forces the shots to be on the side third of the court.  There are not any angles to hit as I'm blocking the crossing point.  As long as partner is up to the extra attention, it seems to work pretty well.

OK, let's look at the pain and trouble we want to cause our opponents.  If I can force the opponents to hit a bounced ball, I gain a lot of time.  The ball slows dramatically when it bounces.  That's time to be more prepared for defense.  It also keeps the opponents frozen in place as they wait for the bounce.

The rule of thumb is to keep the opponents back.  I'd agree with that, but the ball that keeps them back ought to make them move their feet a bit.  Side to side or up and back are all good.  And if I can get the ball to bounce I'm very happy with it.  Same reasons as before, they might have to half volley it, they can't volley it, more time for us, etc.

One more case that shows up more than it should and that's a service returner who does not sprint to the kitchen line after the second shot.  How to punish this?  You want to hit it to the player in the back.  He has split his team as his partner is at the net.  And if we hit a ball that is semi deep, to a backhand we can probably capture the net.  If the 4th shot is not good, it can be hit through the open lane between the opponents.

What I don't want to do is to hit it hard to the opponent in the back where he could volley and drive it back at me or out, as we are way ahead in the play and it's silly to throw that away trying to win the point outright.  I want them to have to play a shot from a low position that I can then drive downwards.

A lot of this happened on Wednesday.  A couple of time 5th shots could be volleyed and were not - partner didn't follow a good 3rd shot in when he could have.  

Also we had chances to get to the KL by playing a shorter ball to opps who were deep/didn't come up.  Dump the ball, get position and look for a put away, or a long ball -- that happened a lot.

When I was up, I crowded the middle and worked.  I don't think I got punished much for being there.

This new philosophy is kind of a high pressure, get in the face kind of thing.  Does it belong in rec play?  Is it fun for all concerned?  I'd suggest not at all levels or when playing against much weaker opponents.  It's a lot like poaching and I think that poaching has a time and place and probably should not be done in various cases.

(Of course lobbing is a wonderful shot and should be used whenever possible.  There is no situation where a lob is not a good idea.  ;-))