Winning Matches:
Winning at the Net

By Allen Fox, Ph.D.

The court may appear open, but by volleying crosscourt I set up my opponent for the down the line pass.

From the backcourt, most players make a fundamental tactical mistake-hitting into the open court too soon. At the net, the story is the same-too many players lose points hitting into the open court at the wrong time.

In the backcourt, the fundamental error is to go down the line too early in the point. At the net, the fundamental error is the reverse, hitting the volley crosscourt too soon. Amazingly, even accomplished volleyers make this mistake at the cost of many points and even entire matches.

In a backcourt rally, as we saw in Part 1, the best position for covering the court is on the opposite half diagonally across from your opponent. The safe backcourt play is crosscourt, until you are able to hurt your opponent with a strong down the line approach, or an outright winner. Hitting down the line when you're not in the position to finish the point opens the court to your opponent's crosscourt reply.

At the net, however, geometry dictates that a player should stay on the same half of the court as his opponent. This keeps you in the center of his passing shot angles, and able to guard against the more dangerous down the line pass.

By hitting the first volley down the line even when the court appears open, you control the point and set up the sure winner on the second volley.

At the net, the fundamental error is hitting crosscourt too soon, opening up this down the line pass for your opponent. Volleying crosscourt too soon when you are at the net has the same effect as going down the line too soon from the backcourt. It opens the court for your opponent to take control of the point.

At the net, the safe play is to volley down the line on the first, or sometimes, even the second volley. This allows you to maintain a superior geometric position and stay in control of the point until you have a clear opportunity to finish.

The court may appear open for your crosscourt volley, but if your opponent is able to reach your ball, you will find yourself out of position, and your own court wide open. This is the fundamental mistake in net play at all levels - falling for the temptation to hit into what looks like a wide opening, only to be passed or lose control of the point.

Hitting Down the Line

Why is hitting down the line so geometrically superior at the net? The difference is most apparent if we use the example of a crosscourt approach shot. If I approach crosscourt, I must cover an additional ten feet or more if my opponent hits his pass down the line pass.

Compare this to the court geometry when I hit an approach down the line. My opponent has two options for passing shots, crosscourt or down the line. But now I am bisecting the two widest angles he can hit. My distance to cover either pass is substantially less than when I approach crosscourt.

The danger of hitting crosscourt is most obvious on the approach. Notice how much court I must cover to reach the down the line pass.

There is a second major geometric advantage to the down line approach. To get past the volleyer at the net, the baseliner's passing shot must reach the area near the service line. Once the ball has reached this depth it's clearly past the volleyer for a winner.

The distance the ball has to travel down the line to reach this depth is significantly shorter than the length it must travel to reach the same depth on a crosscourt pass, roughly 55 feet down the line and about 65 feet crosscourt.

The ball actually has to travel 15 to 20% less distance on the down the line pass. This means that the volleyer has 15 to 20% less time to cover the shot. When I approach crosscourt not only do I have to move further, but I have about 20% less time to do it.

Compare this to the geometry of the down the line approach. By approaching down the line I reduce the distance I have to travel to the center of my opponent's passing angle. Notice that I'm now on the same half of the court as my opponent.

With the down the line approach, I'm automatically in position to cover the more dangerous down the line pass.

With this approach I'm automatically positioning myself closer to the more dangerous down the line passing shot. Covering it is my first responsibility as a volleyer. I can cover most crosscourt passing shots with a step or a lunge, since this shot travels a longer distance and I have more time to reach it.

If your opponent hits a perfect crosscourt passing shot you won't have time to cover it. Don't worry about it. Give it to him. You can't cover the whole court. Just make sure you have the down the line pass covered, and dive for the great crosscourt pass.

When you approach down the line, it makes the geometry of hitting passing shots more difficult for your opponent, no matter which way he tries to go.

The Volley

This same geometric principle governs the placement of your volleys. As a general rule, when you volley crosscourt, the shot should be a winner or put so much pressure on your opponent that you force a very weak reply. If you're not able to put the ball away or hurt your opponent, the geometric advantage swings dramatically his way.

The basic rule on the first volley, don't hit crosscourt until you can finish or hurt your opponent badly.

If your opponent can reach your crosscourt volley, you actually create a large opening for him to hit down the line with his passing shot. Because you're on the opposite half of the court and because the down the line pass is a shorter shot that takes less time, you're in the same situation as if you would actually hit your approach shot crosscourt as described above.

In fact, the sharper your crosscourt volley the further you must move to cover the down the line passing shot. Your court's open and you have to cover a lot of ground in a hurry to close it up.

The basic rule on the volley is: don't hit crosscourt unless you're able to finish the point or at least hurt your opponent badly, setting up an easy second volley. If you can't do this, you must now play for position and be prepared to hit another volley, or two.

In these situations you should volley down the line, right back to your opponent, or behind him. This leaves you in proper position to cover his next passing shot.

Note this is exactly analogous to the advantages of hitting crosscourt from the backcourt. In both cases you are defending your geometric position, and/or working to create a greater geometric advantage that leads to taking control of the point and hitting an easy winner.

The down the line volley is especially important on low balls and when you hit the first volley from further back in the court.

This down the line volley strategy is especially necessary on low volleys or when you're hitting your first volley further back from the net. Since you must hit up and can't hit with as much pace, it's even harder to stay in control of the point if you volley crosscourt.

A final important point about attacking the net, that goes beyond basic geometry. Never give your opponent too much credit for his ability to hit passing shots consistently. He has to hit the ball hard and low over the net and close to the lines. This is particularly difficult to do late in a match and on big points. The same player who hit a great pass at 1-1 in the first set may not be able to do it at 5-5 in the third.

The Drill

For more on how to win points at the Net, see my volley movement drill, in this month's drill to win.