Talkin' Tennis Strategy: Serve-and-Volley

Serve and Volley tennis is a style of play in which the player rushes to the net as often as possible to hit more volleys and fewer ground strokes. Below are a couple videos from the best serve-and-volley player of all time, Pete Sampras.






I chose to use this style because it's less tiring to serve-and-volley. Hitting a serve and coming into net repeatedly it drastically shortens the points. After a player hits the serve and comes up to the net he can either A. a shot out of the air as a volley which gives the player a good shot at putting the point away right there, or B. get passed by the returner.

If a player hits a bad serve or something that the person on the other side of the net is anticipating he/she can hit a good shot off the server and give that player a tough shot from closer to the net or get the ball hit passed them on either side of the court. In either instance, the points will be shorter than grinding out a match from the baseline. If both players hit shots from the baseline the whole time you can get into long rallies and become more susceptible to fatigue.

Which was the problem in my last match with Cory.

I also wanted to implement the serve-and-volley technique because I played doubles for a good portion of my high school tennis career. Through all this doubles playing experience I was stuck at net alot and had to learn how to volley properly to win matches. So, having the experience volleying I think that this technique might work for me considering that volleying is one of the strongest aspects of my game.

While I think this technique could work for me, I also think it has its disadvantages for me. I am not confident enough in my serve right now in this stage of my epic comeback to think that i can set myself up for a good ball to volley consistently. I am hoping that I don't just keep serving winners that Cory can smack by me at any given time.

I am also shorter and have a greater risk of having the ball lobbed over my head. If I am consistently at net Cory will realize to just pop the ball over my head so I cannot reach it and thus lose the point. The lob is also one of Cory's best shots, which hurts me even more when coming into net.

Ultimately, this technique can win me some more points and hopefully games because of the strength of my net game.

By keeping the points shorter as well I hope to be able to keep a higher level of energy throughout the match and not be completely fatigued so early.