Net Play

 I'm playing with one of the Loris.  The game is a fun one, not too fast, not too slow.  There is some dinking going on and we're winning.  Can't get much better than that.

Lori gets involved in a hand battle and dumps the third or fourth shot in the net.  We get to talking about that error.

In the discussion and in my mind there are a bunch of things that might be going on with this kind of error.

• You admire your shot and think it's the end of the point and relax
• You admire your shot and drop your paddle and now you can't be ready for the next shot
• You've been taking really long swings and now you can't get the paddle back to ready
• Concentration - not fully engaged in the point
• Your paddle gets to the forehand or backhand position and stays there
• You stop / don't start moving your feet
• If partner is hitting the ball, you don't think about the return shot
• You hit the shot too hard
• You try to win the point

Lori and I were not actually discussing the last two items, but I think they belong on the list.  We decided that concentration and lack of expectation of the next shot were the problems.  

Let me expound a bit more...

Paddle Reset:

I was watching Anna Bright play women's doubles and while she hits most shots with one hand, she always gets the paddle back to the ready position, in a neutral location with her non-dominate hand on the throat of the paddle.  Every time.  Fire fight or not, she reset her paddle.  It was neutral; not favoring a back nor forehand.  The head of the paddle was up in the air a bit.  The paddle was not vertical, but leaning forward some.  Hit, reset, hit, reset...  She had time to do this, but not much extra time, this was a firefight.  

Feet:

I made a real effort to keep my feet moving between hits and it made a huge difference in my reaction time.  The earlier you can move your feet, the earlier you can stop when the ball comes to you.  Hitting from a solid, stable foundation is night and day easier than  from on the run.  Is the definition of balance, that your weight is between your feet at all times?  Don't lean outside of your feet, you can't get back...

Concentration:

It's easy to fall asleep when partner is hitting multiple shots in a row, but it's no time to think the next one might not be yours.  Move as if each shot was coming to you.  

A Generalized Plan:

Let's lay out reasonable play when at the net.  I'll exclude baseline stuff as there is a lot more time to get ready.  At the net, you need to do a lot of this stuff automatically every time.

A better plan:

• Hit a good, but not a great shot -- don't worry about it being out, don't try to win the point, don't over swing
• Reset the paddle 
• If you've hit a low shot, expect a high one back, paddle up
• If your shot was high, paddle should be a bit lower
• Start moving your feet
• You want to face the ball that you just hit
• You might want to step up, back, or sideways
• Where is the next shot going to be?  Left, right, high, or low, you probably have a good idea particularly if your opponent is familiar one.  There are a lot of habits out there, worth looking for them.

And this can be distilled down to: hit a conservative shot, get ready for the return!