LEARNING TO HALF VOLLEY DEEP BALLS ON THE BASELINE
Deep balls are unavoidable so better to learn how to handle them when they come |
DESCRIPTION:
For some, perhaps one of the
most difficult ground-strokes is the deep ball that lands on or near the
baseline.
Martina Hingis was very good
at taking the ball off the bounce, often choosing to stand her ground on deep
balls and return the ball with excellent timing. I asked her once how she learnt to hit this
type of ball so well. She told me that
as a youngster her mother would sprinkle objects just behind the baseline,
making it almost impossible to step back for deep balls. This had developed her ability to coordinate
this very difficult ball.
THE DRILL
If you are having trouble with
balls that land deep and that give you little time to move back, try a similar
drill to the one that helped Martina Hingis.
I’m sure you spend a lot of
time hitting from the baseline during practice.
Next time you practice, spend some of your baseline practice keeping
your feet on or inside the baseline. If
the ball lands deep, resist the temptation to move back, instead keep your
heels inside the baseline and take the ball where you stand.
You will find that you begin
to automatically shorten your backswing on both the forehand and backhand
sides, and your knowledge of the racquet-face angles needed for each shot
becomes much more instinctive in no time.
This simple drill will give
you many more opportunities to practice the half volley on the baseline and
will increase your confidence when you have to play this shot in a match.
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