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With the slowing of the surfaces and mega defense, should modern players volley more?

3K views 55 replies 34 participants last post by  Uncle Latso 
#1 ·
We have seen how these guys can get balls back and back and back all damn day. Many times in both the USO and AO finals of this year, I saw many chances for guys to come into net and close with a winning volley. But they don't, retreat, and play another 10 shots :facepalm:

Either they are afraid of the other fellow's passing shots, or they have no confidence in their own net game or both. I think these guys need to learn to volley better, and it will save their bodies instead of playing 25 shots every single rally :shrug:
 
#45 ·
rallies over 30 shots on a non-clay court should result in the game being instantly abandoned, with both players being fined and forced to attend a volley camp with edberg and sampras

this would certainly force players to volley and learn all court craft
 
#44 ·
Groove, you forgot to mention Federer's brilliant net play in that Wimbledon final. It made all the difference in the world. Murray was not much better (if not worse) at the passing shots yesterday, so Djokovic could have taken advantage if he knew how to volley.
 
#46 ·
I think that volleying is dead because of the racquets. The Murray-Raonic match, especially in the 3rd set where Raonic was coming to the net all the time was a perfect example of the problem. Raonic would hit a good approach with Murray 5+ feet off the back of the court and in the double alley on the full run and stretch and then hit a perfect cross court passing shot that bounced halfway between the net and service line. When players can hit the ball with pace and that short from any position on the court, it makes volleying almost impossible. Combining that with a slow court and a high bounce, these guys can get to almost any drop volley and good deep volleys without difficulty as well.

So, if you want to bring back volleying (which I think would be good), you need to reduce topspin.....
 
#47 ·
Raonic's net positioning and agility at the net were the bigger issues, I thought, he's no Pat Rafter. Murray hits a cross court pass 99% of the time off the forehand and Raonic gave him that pass all night. Gotta close at a more imposing angle and cut off Muzza's best shot. Make him go down the line and then hit the winning volley.
 
#48 ·
This era has the worst volleyers of all time IMO. They dont cover well, they dont approach well, they are indecisive etc. etc. In all..they play net like the WTA. There seems to be this view that volleying is more difficult now....LOL. Pssst...little secret....it was difficult back in the 90s as well. Thats why only the truely great explosive athletes with guts could pull off true serve and volley tennis. The Edbergs, Cash, Rafter type athletes. Of the current crop only Nadal has that type of explosive athleticism and balance. Maybe Gasquet as well.

Todays volleyers seem to concede the point when they have to hit a tough volley. Watch some of the Rafter matches from the latter part of his career. He was serve and volleying against some monster players who passed as well if not better than any of the current players.
 
#53 ·
He never lost a match Because of bad volleying, so it doesn't change anything.

Volleying nowadays is for finishing sharp approaches and mix the tempo. Beside these it's not efficient.
 
#54 ·
The reason people are not coming to the net anymore seems obvious to me. The ball/courts are too slow, the passings are too good and the returns are too good. Last two are impossible to control, that's just a matter of evolution. The first one however you can control.

Maybe it's an idea to introduce different types of balls like in squash. In squash you have balls that bounce less for the pro's especially to prevent the neverending rallies. Maybe we should introduce a pro ball that bounces less. It will make the rallies shorter and coming to the net more interesting.
 
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