[TigerTim]

Originally Posted by Looner

Equally awful.

This. All top 10 players can't hold a candle to the volleyers of the past.

[tripwires]

Obviously Nadal. How is this even a real question?

[Looner]

Originally Posted by TigerTim

This. All top 10 players can't hold a candle to the volleyers of the past.

Come on now. Federer and Tsonga are very good to excellent.

Originally Posted by Taejin

It would be interesting see how volleyers of the past would do with today's technology and quality of the passing shots from whatever position... chances are they suddenly wouldn't look that great

Yup.

[Time Violation]

Originally Posted by TigerTim

This. All top 10 players can't hold a candle to the volleyers of the past.

It would be interesting see how volleyers of the past would do with today's technology and quality of the passing shots from whatever position, specially with the stuff Nadal is launching from the back... chances are they suddenly wouldn't look that great

[G4.]

Originally Posted by Looner

Come on now. Federer and Tsonga are very good to excellent.

Murray is also an excellent volleyer with a great touch at the net.

[EliSter]

Lol, Nadal, my mother better volleys then Nole

[Looner]

Originally Posted by G4.

Murray is also an excellent volleyer with a great touch at the net.

Yeah but you don't see him there often. I don't remember Murray coming to the net in crucial moments.

[TigerTim]

Originally Posted by Looner

Come on now. Federer and Tsonga are very good to excellent.

Tsonga - not consistent enough, Federer - Doesnt volley enough when I watch for me to pass judgement.

Anyone can do a Nadal volley, they are simple put aways at the net.

[Looner]

Originally Posted by TigerTim

Tsonga - not consistent enough, Federer - Doesnt volley enough when I watch for me to pass judgement.

Anyone can do a Nadal volley, they are simple put aways at the net.

Well, we are not judging quantity but quality. Tsonga's good enough. We both know S&V is not viable in today's swamps.

[Time Violation]

Originally Posted by TigerTim

Anyone can do a Nadal volley, they are simple put aways at the net.

Yup, that's the point. Tipsarevic is not too shabby at the net though he's a baseliner, and he likes to come in occasionally, but he was barely keeping Ferrer's shots in the court when he came to the net. Even if he's bad, he's not that bad, no wonder that most of the players come in only for easy ones.

[TigerTim]

Courts are too slow and rackets to powerful for volley to be a viable main tactic anymore.

[latso]

Nice poll...

Djokovic is the slightly less bad volleyer as he has a decent low FH volley

[NameNumber]

Nadal has good volleys. He makes rare, but intelligent approaches, usually when his opponent is well off the court. If the ball floats, he can effectively swat it away, and if it dips, his drop volley is good to just drop it right over the net away from the guy. Djokovic on the other hand, tends to make poorer decisions on the transition to the net, and is far less effective at putting the ball away whether it's above the net or below. Djokovic really doesn't have good volleys at all.

The thing is, neither one is a good net player. They don't know how to position themselves, they can't push the ball deep behind the guy from below the height of the net, and they don't like being up there in the first place. So if they don't end the point with the first volley, they're kind of stranded.

As for volleys in modern tennis as a whole, they're still plenty viable. Serve and Volley itself doesn't provide any advantage any more unless you have a truly monstrous serve, and the only guys that have such a serve at the moment don't use it. But attacking the net a la Federer is still a good play provided you have the skills.

No player really has "great" volleys any more, though. Federer has a good, workable net game but it was never his strong point. Thing is, he does tend to go for more traditional volley plays than the other guys, which I'm sure is why McEnroe felt that Nadal has better volleys. Frankly, Nadal is better at killing the point with volleys than Federer, but Federer is certainly the better net player.

It's just funny to constantly see players these days going for the drop winner. I don't know if it's easier to do with the extra spin you get from polyester or what, but when they do goof it up, they look silly. Even Tsonga, who has a pretty decent net game over-plays the drop volley.

Anyway, in closing: Rafa has good volleys, Novak doesn't. Neither one is good at the net.

[LoveFifteen]

Originally Posted by TigerTim

This. All top 10 players can't hold a candle to the volleyers of the past.

I think Federer is a great volleyer, and I genuinely believe that his volleys would be even more honed if he were playing in an era where players volleyed all the time.

=======

As for Nole vs. Rafa, I love them both, but I think Nadal's volleys are generally better.

[Nole fan]

Originally Posted by NameNumber

Nadal has good volleys. He makes rare, but intelligent approaches, usually when his opponent is well off the court. If the ball floats, he can effectively swat it away, and if it dips, his drop volley is good to just drop it right over the net away from the guy. Djokovic on the other hand, tends to make poorer decisions on the transition to the net, and is far less effective at putting the ball away whether it's above the net or below. Djokovic really doesn't have good volleys at all.

The thing is, neither one is a good net player. They don't know how to position themselves, they can't push the ball deep behind the guy from below the height of the net, and they don't like being up there in the first place. So if they don't end the point with the first volley, they're kind of stranded.

As for volleys in modern tennis as a whole, they're still plenty viable. Serve and Volley itself doesn't provide any advantage any more unless you have a truly monstrous serve, and the only guys that have such a serve at the moment don't use it. But attacking the net a la Federer is still a good play provided you have the skills.

No player really has "great" volleys any more, though. Federer has a good, workable net game but it was never his strong point. Thing is, he does tend to go for more traditional volley plays than the other guys, which I'm sure is why McEnroe felt that Nadal has better volleys. Frankly, Nadal is better at killing the point with volleys than Federer, but Federer is certainly the better net player.

It's just funny to constantly see players these days going for the drop winner. I don't know if it's easier to do with the extra spin you get from polyester or what, but when they do goof it up, they look silly. Even Tsonga, who has a pretty decent net game over-plays the drop volley.

Anyway, in closing: Rafa has good volleys, Novak doesn't. Neither one is good at the net.

Well if you look at Novak's stats, he always has a positive % at the net.
Nadal has better volleys but Nole is not as bad as some people make it believe. He's just a different kind of player, he's so great and solid on the baseline that he doesn't need to get as much to the net. But when he has to he wins more than he misses.