Tuesday, 16 February 2021 / Published in Australian Open

Novak Djokovic: The Smart Way To Approach The Net

G’day,

Novak Djokovic is into the semi-finals of the 2021 Australian Open. The train is rolling. Was there any ever doubt? I just started watching Novak’s quarter-final victory over Alexander Zverev and got to 30-30 in the opening game and came across an absolute gem of an approach point from Novak.

I have got to share it with you!

This approach & volley pattern is so good because it’s sooooooo simple. It can be used by any player at any level of your sport. Please copy and paste this info into your own game. This kind of pattern is at the beating heart of The 25 Golden Rules of Singles Strategy.

Here’s how Novak’s foray forward unfolded.

Picture 1 – Wide Slider In The Deuce Court

Let’s start with some simple math. Around 70% of serves in tennis are returned, so you better have a plan for when the return comes back in the court. Novak had one of his best serving days ever in this match and 64% came back in play.

The key here for Novak is to pull Sasha off the court. This 1st serve is not hit at maximum power. Novak’s fastest serve for the tournament is 206 km/h (128 mph). This first serve, at 30-30 in the opening game of the match, is hit at 183 km/h (114 mph). The goal is not to play through Sasha’s forehand return. The goal is not power at all, actually. What Novak is trying to do is hit heavy slice to pull Sasha off the court and open up a big hole in the Ad court to approach to if the return is short or weak.

Like Approach & Volley? We have a course for that.
It’s called Short Ball Hunter.

Picture 2 – Standing Outside The Doubles Alley

Before you attack, you need to maneuver the point so that you have a distinct advantage. By pulling Sasha outside the doubles alley, Novak now has options. He can play to the vacant Ad court, or if he feels Sasha is running fast, he can spin the ball back cross court and play behind him. The slower, slice serve out wide has just given Novak a big advantage in the directional tug-or-war to begin the point.

Picture 3 – Forehand Approach To The Backhand

This is a thing of beauty. The serve has done the heavy lifting in the point by pulling Sasha wide off the court. Novak basically dumps the forehand down the line and follows it in. The quality of the approach shot is average – which is exactly what you want.

All too often, players hit a weaker serve that does not open up a hole anywhere on the court, and then try for the spectacular approach shot because the opponent has not been pulled wide and can cover pretty much the whole baseline.

In the picture above, you can already see Sasha is in big trouble. The space between his feet it big because he has to run really fast. That makes for less accuracy on the shot. He is already committed to a slice backhand as well, which is a huge advantage for Novak. It’s super difficult to hit backhand passing shots with slice.

Picture 4 – Zverev Court Position

Let’s be honest here. How many times does a player get to dig themselves out of the hole that Sasha finds himself in right now? Five out of 100? He is super deep and forced to hit a slice backhand. He options are so limited. He could hit a high lob cross court over Novak’s backhand. That’s probably option No. 1. He could go cross court short-angled dink slice backhand and hope he has the right touch for the shot and then sprint forward trying to pressure Novak’s backhand volley. Everything else is a prayer.

Picture 5 – Easy Volley

All the hard work has been done – mainly by the wide slice serve.

Novak sees that Sasha is not lobbing so now he can fully commit to charging the net. He also senses that Sasha is going to be on a full sprint so Novak needs to close fast to take away Sasha’s time to run this ball down. Novak can go open court because he is close to the net and has angle, or can easily just hit a volley back behind because Sasha has already committed to running hard to the open court.

Picture 6 – Volley Winner To The Open Court

Novak played this point to perfection. He closed well to hit the forehand volley winner, effectively taking away Sasha’s time to run it down.

Consider this:

Novak hit the following shots

A slice first serve.
A forehand approach.
A forehand volley winner.

Which was the most important?

For sure it was the slice first serve. It was not the power of the serve. It was the SLICE of the serve to pull Sasha off the court and to make the rest of the shots easy as the point unfolded.

Novak’s forehand approach shot down the line was just a re-direction. Nothing spectacular about it at all. A very routine shot he can hit again and again. The volley was an absolutely sitter. What a fun way to win a 30-30 point in the opening game.

SUMMARY

Novak did NOTHING spectacular in this point. Too often we think we need to do something amazing to win points at net. We over cook the approach shot. We go for a tough volley. None of that occurred here.

The No. 1 way to successfully come to the net in today’s game is a forehand approach to the backhand. Just remember, the serve was the star of the show.

Cheers,

Craig

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.

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