Wednesday, 02 August 2017 / Published in ATP Tour

Hi Roger. Meet Terry. You helped him improve!

Can serve & volley possibly work for YOU?

What would happen if you took your pre-conceived ideas about serving and volleying and just put them to the side for a little while? What would happen if you have never really served and volleyed, but actually gave it a fighting chance?

Well, you would be Terry, from Kansas City. That’s who you would be…

Terry is a 60+ player at the 4.0 level. He plays mainly on clay. Terry could very well be the POSTER CHILD of the person that would NOT give serve and volley a chance…

But he did, just a couple of days ago. You see, Terry read the five-part series last week focused on Roger Federer serving and volleying at Wimbledon. So he gave it chance, and was nice enough to email me afterwards with the results. I got Terry’s permission to share his informative email – so the rest of us can see exactly what happens when you give serve and volley a chance.

Here’s Terry’s story…

I enjoyed your breakdown on S&V at Wimbledon. I had also enjoyed your analysis of “Points Won at Net” (or something like that?) at the French Open. Terry from Kansas City

Hi Terry. Thanks mate!

But, in both cases I had my doubts. For starters – especially at the French – players may play a number of balls from the baseline before they can successfully maneuver the opponent into hitting a weak off balance shot so they can THEN come to net and knock off the easy winner. In cases like that the hard work is done from the back court and the easy winner comes from the front court – so I wasn’t sure the data accurately told the story. It’s not quite the same on grass, but the surface is more “server friendly” and not a reflection of the real world that most of us play in.Terry from Kansas City

Those are very wise words, and completely make sense. In fact, sometimes that’s exactly what happens. The big forehand, or the well-positioned backhand in the middle of the rally was in fact the most important shot hit in the rally. The rest was just finishing off what had already been started. The forehand won the point. The forehand volley got the credit.

Sometimes that is exactly how it happens.

I didn’t know how that would relate to me – a 60+ year-old 4.0 male who plays almost exclusively on clay – but your advice to give it a try and not to get discouraged when I lost points struck a note.Terry from Kansas City

Congratulations Terry on taking a chance – taking a chance on trying something not in your comfort zone. There are A LOT of players out there that would not take that chance.

I think the key was the word “discouraged”. I know you are going to lose a bunch of points when you first try it. But don’t get down on yourself, or doubt the strategy. Keep moving forward. Keep figuring it out.

I played my weekly Sunday morning opponent today. We play every week – he’s younger than me and a 4.5. It’s usually a close match, but I don’t win often. Anyway, today I committed to S&V on almost every service point. When returning I came to the net a lot – probably even when I shouldn’t have. The first set was close, mostly because my S&V game is a joke. (I don’t even S&V in Doubles, so I missed several easy volleys.) But, I WON the 1st set and by then I was much more comfortable with S&V and rolled through the 2nd set fairly easily!Terry from Kansas City

THERE. YOU. GO. TERRY!

Congratulations mate. See what happens when you follow the data, follow possibilities, and follow the leader – also known as Roger Federer 🙂

Just to be clear – it’s fair to say from Terry’s own assessment that serve and volley is a whole new world for him. And yes, it underperformed at first… and then it greatly exceeded expectations!

So, S&V on clay seems pretty doable. I’m going to stay with it for awhile – really commit to it. I’m excited to see what this will lead to. The nice thing is that most of the leagues don’t start for a couple of months so hopefully I can get more comfortable with it on these matches that don’t count for anything. Just wanted to say Thank You Very Much!!Terry from Kansas City

Thank you, Terry! And a big thanks to Roger from both of us!

Here’s the bottom line…

IF a 60+ year old 4.0 player that primarily plays on CLAY tries it and IT WORKS, then what are you waiting for???

Cheers Terry. Keep up the good work, and keep spreading the word.

Serve and volley is legit.

Cheers,

Craig

P.S. For more serve & volley strategy, you may want to consider The 25 Golden Rules of Singles Strategy.

The practice court is clearly broken. Here’s the proof.

Points are "front loaded". By far the majority of the action, and the winning, takes place in THE FIRST 4 SHOTS. The practice court is full of long rallies. Matches are dominated by short rallies. There is a massive disconnect occurring.

We spend too much time grinding, banging balls up and down the middle of the court – that have no real benefit to winning tennis matches.

There are 3 specific rally lengths in tennis. Here is their percentage breakdown of total points.

0-4 Shots = 70%
5-8 Shots = 20%
9+ Shots = 10%

The First 4 Shots is specifically the serve, return, Serve +1 groundstroke and Return +1 groundstroke. Those are normally the shots that get practiced the least, but matter the most to winning tennis matches.

The net is an extremely high percentage place to be!

If you love playing tennis for fun, spend as much time at the baseline as you like. But if you compete – if the score matters – then you must turn your attention to the net to maximize your potential.

The “herd mentality” in tennis thinks it’s too tough to approach the net in today’s game. The conversation starts with improved string technology, more powerful rackets, and finishes with stronger, faster athletes. The herd think approaching is a relic of the past. The herd is WRONG!

AVERAGE WIN %
Baseline = 46%
Net = 66%

Data from ALL Grand Slams provides the facts about approach and volley, and the data is crystal clear – it’s immensely better than staying back at the baseline, grinding for a living.

The baseline is a tough place to create separation. Here's how to do it.

At the 2012 US Open, only 7 men and 14 women had a winning percentage from the baseline. At Wimbledon 2016, Andy Murray won the title only winning 52% of his baseline points - and he is one of the very best at it in the world!

Num3ers deeply explores the data that rules points, especially from the back of the court. Take a "deep dive" into all three rally lengths (0-4, 5-8, 9+), and winner and errors totals from the elite level of our game. The numbers will shock you!

All 4 Grand Slams

Forcing Errors = 41% Men / 37% Women
Winners = 32% Men / 29% Women
Unforced Errors = 27% Men / 34% Women

Num3ers is very much like putting a jigsaw puzzle together. It's about bringing together different data sets together to create the big picture.

Every recorded match from the 2015 Australian Open - Rd2 to the final.

There is a lot happening on a doubles court. Situations and strategies are constantly being adjusted to create mis-matches with court position. It's hard to keep track of - until now. Dou8les Num3ers is the most comprehensive analysis of doubles data in our sport. The focus is on how a point ends, and it's broken down eight ways to Sunday. Specifically, you find critical information on:

Winners rise to the #1 way a point ends (over forced & unforced errors)

- The last shot of the rally is overwhelmingly struck at the net.
- Center Window: the most important part of a doubles court to control.
- Stephen Huss: an in-depth interview on Wimbledon's Centre Court with the 2005 Wimbledon Doubles Champion.

Dou8les Num3ers leaves no stone unturned. Percentage breakdowns of how often the server or receiver hits the last shot highlight the dramatic influence of the serve. The last shot of the rally is significant, and is broken down into the following categories: volleys, overheads, passing shots, lobs and groundstrokes.

When you play a match, you actually play two matches.

When you walk out onto a tennis court, there are two matches that you are about to play. The first is during the point - a part of the match that you have spent a lot of time preparing for on the practice court. But there is a second match, that takes place in the 20 seconds between the points. This is where the mental and emotional aspects of our sport kick in.

Let's face it, there will be adversity in almost every tennis match that you play. The storm clouds are coming. How bug they are, and how long they last for, are up to you.

Between the points is very tennis specific. It provides a roadmap for the 20 seconds between the points, teaching how to handle the adversity that will surely come, and how to build on the successes that will also be present. Your mind is your biggest asset in a match, and Between the Points takes your hand off the self destruct button and stops you beating yourself.

You don't have to be good at everything, but you have got to be good at something.

You can break tennis down into four key elements - serving, returning, rallying and approaching. Each part has specific patterns of play that consistently deliver higher winning percentages than the others. No more guessing. No more opinions. All facets of our sport are covered in this exceptional product, clearly outlining what patterns to gravitate to, and how to best construct the practice court. Data comes primarily from the 2015 Australian Open.

Building Blocks

MEN = 70% errors / 30% winners
WOMEN = 74% errors / 26% winners

Forcing errors is the best way to construct a point.
You can simply break tennis down into primary and secondary patterns of play - and they are all covered here. Primary patterns include serve and return direction, forehands v backhands, and the best way to approach the net. Secondary patterns include drop shots, serve & volley and 1st volley options. If you play tournaments, this product will greatly help you simplify the singles court.

The conversation starts & ends with the Center Window.

The doubles court is like an hourglass. There are two big ends, but a small neck in the middle where all the action happens. Once you learn the power of the Center Window, where you stand to start the point will take on a lot more significance.

Doubles is a lot more about situations, with four people on the court all "dancing" with one another. Learn all the best doubles patterns, broken down for the server, returner, server's partner and the returner's partner.

Doubles Situations

The "J" - the most ideal movement for the returner's partner to attack the net.

The "V" - a better way of understanding where the server's partner should move to.

Volley Targets - there are four main areas to attack. Know which ones are higher percentage. Beach Volleyball - the idea of a "setter" and "spiker" is ideal for the doubles court.

There are certain parts of the court that the ball travels to a lot, and other low percentage areas that you really don't want to cover at all - like the alley! In general, the serving team wants to keep the ball in the middle of the court as much as possible (to help the server's partner), while the returning team benefits from hitting wider and creating more chaos in the point.