A few years ago I had a conversation at Wimbledon with Robbie Koenig the South African commentator about the lost “art” of serving and volleying in the “modern” game. I believe it was “lost”
because of the ability of most junior coaches to imitate rather than innovate. It is actually comical to hear the commentators of the “new generations” sitting in the commentary booths going ” wow! Ooh! He served and volleyed and we don’t see this type of thing that often!”
Here comes Zverev and plays this style and has big success already. Out of nowhere. What a novel idea!!
Think about this for a second. Go to YouTube and look which of the “modern coaches” actually have videos of the serve and volley game. How many videos are there of the serve and volley game being discussed etc vs how many technical videos are there of all the top guys on their groundstrokes. It is by far ONLY about the backcourt game and monstrous groundstrokes.
I blame the “death” ( I hope not forever) of the art of serve and volley on “sheeple” coaches who never really knew how to do it and have been swept along into the “mainstream” idea of it is impossible to do. Hogwash!
Sampras and Agassi were completely contrasting styles. Andre had one of the best returns in the game ever! And Sampras served and volleyed nearly every serve on hard courts and it really becomes a battle of “wills” and Sampras ended up with the records in majors as the good serve and volleyer tends to get an advantage over the long haul. Both styles were very exciting to watch in my opinion.
I certainly hope the serve and volley game can be coached by coaches from a young age as a tactic at least and as the kids get stronger they will develop great movements skills and better balance and quicker reactions all around the court!
It will make tennis great again!
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1 2 Next »Bobby · January 25, 2017 at 6:57 pm
Serve and volley certainly can be done successfully, even on clay. I do so myself when I play. However, I believe the physical toll over a long match and predictability to your opponent discourage serving and volleying every point. I think intelligent timing is needed, so that you surprise your opponent. And also are able to speedily get in after the right serve is necessary. I think in general getting to net behind attacking short balls or once your opponent is out of position is a sounder way to get to net. But in cases when it is the right strategy against an opponent, one should employ it more often. Great to see the success this Australian Open of Mischa Zverev!
Andrew Miller · January 26, 2017 at 12:41 am
Appreciate this. What does Mr. Kriek think of some of the wta volleys on display this tournament like Gavrilova and Coco?
catherine bell · January 26, 2017 at 3:19 am
Off topic I know but –
What does this Williams/Williams final say about the rest of the WTA ?
Just asking….
Hartt · January 26, 2017 at 7:27 am
Since this is the latest article will post this here. Fed fans are over the moon! I keep telling myself not to hope for No. 18 but am back doing just that. Jim Courier said that Fed must be an alien – that just about sums it up.
Andrew Miller · January 26, 2017 at 7:35 am
Williams Williams! They are amazing players and the faster court really helped then and Coco and big serving and ran Kerber out of town. I think it’s been a great tournament and I think especially seeing Coco that she may shake up the tour through the first quarter.
For Federer I mean, this is like the 2005 us open with Federer making final. Exception is that Federer is better than Agassi and so too Nadal. Surprised Wawrinka didn’t pull it out. He so often plays doormat to Federer over their career and forgets he is #1 Swiss.
Scoop Malinowski · January 26, 2017 at 8:28 am
Incredible display by Fed no doubt about that but Stan looked afraid to win – possible slight traces of a ‘subconscious tank’? I wouldn’t say no for certain – this is HUGE for Federer – I think Fed wanted this a little bit more than Stan did –
catherine bell · January 26, 2017 at 8:28 am
Andrew –
You’re right about the faster court and Coco but poor Angie wasn’t the only one to lose 🙂
I’ve been a bit surprised this year to see the grudging and derogatory comments about Kerber in various places (not here).
Anyone would think she bought the No 1 ranking last year instead of earning it. And she doesn’t strike me as an unlikeable player, or probably person. She revelled in the top spot but who wouldn’t ?
Not sure about CoCo. Give her a couple of regular tournaments and see how she copes. She’ll be the target now.
Wonder if Serena will have a bit of a letdown after she’s broken Steffi’s record ? She won’t let Venus win.
What’s the record combined age for all 4 Slam finalists I wonder ?
Scoop Malinowski · January 26, 2017 at 8:37 am
Agree Bobby with your conclusion that S&V works best as a surprise tactic unless the player has a consistently confident and lethal serve – Still waiting to see Rafa try a serve and volley just once 🙂
Scoop Malinowski · January 26, 2017 at 8:42 am
Catherine: I think the Wills deserve full credit – they were both perceived as fading legends and the blood was in the water yet they both still got the job done despite the widespread belief of their vulnerabilities and advancing age – VERY Well done –
Scoop Malinowski · January 26, 2017 at 8:43 am
Fed looks better than ever he really does – Gonna go out and eat Lindt Chocolate and swiss cheese all day 🙂
Hartt · January 26, 2017 at 8:47 am
Scoop, great idea about the Lindt chocolate. Am going to get some hoping for a Fed celebration!
Hartt · January 26, 2017 at 8:49 am
Scoop, seems to me Rafa did try S&V once in his last match – it came as a surprise but he did not win the point. Am not sure why he did try it when he did.
Hartt · January 26, 2017 at 8:53 am
The big test for CoCo over the next few months will be maintaining consistency. In the past she has had problems with that within a match, much less within a tourney. But she showed great consistency in her wins over Kerber and Muguruza so it looks like she has improved that part of her game.
catherine bell · January 26, 2017 at 9:21 am
Scoop –
I didn’t mean to take anything away from Serena and Venus – they’ve both done brilliantly. Unsurpassed in this era I would say. And I never underrated Serena at the AO – I picked her to win.
Re Kerber I made the mistake (never again) of reading comments on Youtube when I was looking up some clips – honestly you’d think some of these people had won W’don several times the judgements they make. Angie’s still recovering from last year – and some players have one great season and that’s it and some can do it over and over again. Earlier on I said Angie would fail to defend. Didn’t pick Djoko though.
A fairly obvious note on s/v – I like it as a style but in the women’s game very few have a good enough serve. And that was true back in the day when s/v was dominant. So along came Chris and the rush to the backcourt…
Andrew Miller · January 26, 2017 at 9:36 am
Agree with Scoop and Catherine, the Williams just doing the tennis! Hard to overstate this result in light of their being living legends.
Kerber is still good! But she’s been stumbling since winning the US Open for an unbelievable 2016. Coco played quite a tournament, putting the pressure on Kerber, Muguruza – she played her idol in the semis and as we know it is awful hard to play your idol.
I don’t begrudge anyone their due. Not Kriek, mot Johansson, not Kafelnikov, not even Iva Majoli in her 1997 triumph in Roland garros. And certainly not the Williams.
Their dad yes. I beat him in dubs! He’s a real character. He talks a huge game! He was decent.
Andrew Miller · January 26, 2017 at 9:42 am
Kriek, Kardon and Wayne Bryan, maybe Mayotte and Mcaenroe too? Make a lot of interesting observations about SV. There was a line of well the racquets changed everything. No wait it’s the string technology, yeah that’s the death knoll for SV. Then it was well the courts are too slow.
But I like what that triumvirate says: “no one knows how to volley and coaches don’t train anyone to do it”.
It’s quite a contrasting argument these guys make. Basically if SV is dead why do doubles players use it? Or is it the courts being just somewhat faster, suddenly Mischa Zverev is doing well in Oz?
But if anyone’s been following Mischa Zverev, he didn’t just start doing SV these past two weeks. He’s been upsetting favored challenger players, qualifying draw players and seeds for a good seven months.
Krieks argument looks pretty good when you look at Mischa Zverevs rise back from the injuries.
Andrew Miller · January 26, 2017 at 9:45 am
Nadal has a nifty volley! Just not a SV.
catherine bell · January 26, 2017 at 9:55 am
This debate about s/v has been going back and forth for a long time.
My view is that it’s a fashion – down to coaches and then some players, especially girls, find the backcourt bashing easier and you get good results early on. Coach stays around – everyone’s happy.
Technology should make no difference – better raquets, strings, you just s/v better. Faster serve, lightning volleys.
Slow courts ? Think of s/v players who’ve won in Paris. And don’t give me that about different eras – everything’s relative. You just adapt a bit.
Scoop Malinowski · January 26, 2017 at 10:25 am
Hartt: I only saw the first set of Coco barely edging Venus and figured she would roll but Venus has an extraordinary hunger and desire – incredible win by Venus – Coco will be crushed by this and blowing 12 of 13 break points vs Venus – But Coco will be back stronger than ever later this year for sure –
Scoop Malinowski · January 26, 2017 at 10:27 am
Serena has the best serve of all time but she rarely if ever tries the serve and volley play – The players of today are just so solid and accurate from the baseline where they are far more comfortable than having to make tricky tough volleys – Perhaps the modern players just don’t have the courage and fearlessness that the past players did –
Scoop Malinowski · January 26, 2017 at 10:40 am
Gimelstob said last night mike Bryan is the best volleyer in tennis – though he never serve and volleys he does all his volley work at net in dubs though he never or rarely tries serve and volley in dubs – at least last night vs Carrena Busta/GGL he did not – John mcEnroe often says he thinks Rafa is the best volleyer in the ATP –
catherine bell · January 26, 2017 at 11:12 am
I just think the volley, particularly that punched b’hand volley, is the most beautiful shot in tennis and I wish more players used it.
Scoop – yes, you do need courage, and great reflexes and also resilience – there’s such a small margin of error and you have to deal with being passed a lot – particularly when you are young and learning. S/v players take a while to develop. We are all in such a hurry these days 🙂
Andrew Miller · January 26, 2017 at 12:41 pm
Bryans must be out to prove something, pride matches. I thought they were done and should be sidelined for Davis cup, then they say we’re not playing Davis Cup this year and getting back to winning slams is now our priority.
I was wrong! The Bryans were right!
Scoop Malinowski · January 26, 2017 at 1:16 pm
The Bryans surely worked their tails off in Dec after having a very substandard year in 2016 – they have a lot to prove in 2017 and they are proving it right out of the gate –
Scoop Malinowski · January 26, 2017 at 1:19 pm
Baseline hitting is about 98% of what all players do on the court but the actual part of practicing serving and volleying? Very rare do any players at any level work on this – I do every week and it really helps –
Hartt · January 26, 2017 at 1:31 pm
Catherine, totally agree that the BH volley is the most beautiful shot in tennis. It is a shot I can happily watch over and over again and one we don’t see nearly often enough these days.
Misch Zverev made the same points about a young player learning S&V, about how it takes longer to develop that style and how it is tough for a young player to stick with it because he is getting passed frequently and losing a lot while he is learning it.
Andrew Miller · January 26, 2017 at 2:00 pm
Scoop from what I recall you reworked your game to be able to go full Rios on opponents. Did you take notes and then practice or did you play in the spirit of Rios style? This is hard stuff. I went to a one hander then had to go back to two out of comfort. I can still hit a one hander but only to mix it up!
Andrew Miller · January 26, 2017 at 2:03 pm
Hartt that’s a good point on Mischa and what it took to commit to that style of play. It is no fun and frankly demoralizing seeing passing shots left and right. But without facing that there’s zero chance a player will develop those instincts. Actually I believe a bunch of us players have more comfort around net because many of them enter doubles. It hasn’t turned them into slam contenders but they wouldn’t have a prayer without that component and I’d think their rankings would suffer.
catherine bell · January 26, 2017 at 2:28 pm
Hartt –
I’m glad I was around to see Billie Jean in her prime and playing the purest s/v and also her playing doubles with Rosie Casals. They used to be so close to the net they were almost falling over it.
When BJK was quite young she was once beaten 6-0 6-0 by Ann Jones, moderate British player, because, as Ann said ‘Billie Jean didn’t have any ground strokes in those days’. That’s the sort of defeat you have to go through maybe quite often when you are developing a s/v based game and really have to have the perseverance to go on with it.
I believe the s/v skills, with fast reflexes etc,instinctive action, has to come first, it’s a lot harder when you’re older.
Scoop Malinowski · January 26, 2017 at 2:31 pm
Hartt: I never see any players actually working on serving and running forward and volleying – on any level – I think the USTA and all yhoung players need to do this serve and volley drill every week or twice a week so it is natural part of their arsenal as a player – Players are too content and safe on the baseline –
Scoop Malinowski · January 26, 2017 at 3:24 pm
Federer in 2006 on serve and volley: Q. If you were told by the Tennis Gods that you could work on just one aspect of your game to improve, what aspect would you most likely improve?
ROGER FEDERER: I would like to be able to serve and volley first and second serve.
Q. Is that something that you’d like to try?
ROGER FEDERER: No, it’s more something I look, you know, to maybe do in the years to come, but not just now. But you never know. I think it’s pretty hard these days, you know, to kind of do that. I mean, conditions have really slowed down over the years, I think. So there’s no secret that I went down in tensions, too, you know, by about four or five kilos over the years, try to get the power back through a looser string.
catherine bell · January 26, 2017 at 4:06 pm
Scoop –
Like I said in my comment the s/v skills have to come first and if the USTA spot players who naturally seem to prefer that style then they should be encouraged work on it.
And girls particularly should work on serves because it’s harder for them and really pays off later.
One reason I’m sceptical about that USTA centre in Flo is that the tendency to coach players in the same style may become more pronounced. You lose that individuality.
Hartt · January 26, 2017 at 4:10 pm
Catherine, I envy you seeing BJK in her prime. I did get to see Navratilova when she came to Toronto, but she was a bit past her prime then. Still, she was fun to watch.
I hope that having a couple tourneys, Shanghai and the AO, playing faster will encourage more players to try serve and volley. The faster conditions certainly helped Mischa Zverev do so well and perhaps his success will inspire a few youngsters to try that style.
If I were dictator of tennis I would have faster conditions at the North American summer swing to go along with the clay season in the spring. I think that would help with more variety in styles of play and greater variety of winners.
As you say, it is hard to develop a serve and volley game when you are older. That is one reason I have so much respect for Raonic. Although he does not utilize a lot of serve and volley he consciously decided to develop his net game – it is more approach and volley. He took this route in 2013 when Casey Curtis, his childhood coach, and some of the players told him he needed to go with a more aggressive game to have any chance against those super-skilled baseliners at the top of the Tour. It meant breaking with Galo Blanco, a tough decision because they were close and Blanco had been responsible for his breakout in 2011.
So when he hired Ljubicic it was largely with the idea of developing a more aggressive all court game with a lot of emphasis on net play. It was a difficult transition to a style that does not come naturally to him but he worked like crazy and is still working hard at improving his net game.
catherine bell · January 27, 2017 at 3:52 am
Hartt –
Yes- BJK was a truly great player. When she was in her twenties she did a book called ‘Tennis to Win’ which is still an interesting read now. Can’t imagine any of today’s players doing that at such a young age.
And she spanned such different decades – the early sixties up to the late 80s.
Re courts – in the old days of course a lot of courts were grass or fast cement except Europoean clay and that helped s/v.
On court now we’re about to enter a Time Machine – I hope 🙂
catherine bell · January 27, 2017 at 4:15 am
PS
Re BJK – I meant early 80s of course. But they were times of true cultural change.
Also, I think her career is all the more remarkable when you consider the stress she played under – constant physical pain and mental and emotion turmoil.
Andrew Miller · January 27, 2017 at 9:04 am
Federer vs Nadal! How?! Thought we’d never get another one, but also felt Wawrinka would fold against his countryman & Dimitrov wouldn’t make it to the big shoe despite playing far better than he’s ever played.
Andrew Miller · January 27, 2017 at 9:05 am
A great Australian open. It’s like ten years ago!
Andrew Miller · January 27, 2017 at 9:06 am
Scoop, how did you make Rios’ game work for you?
catherine bell · January 27, 2017 at 9:11 am
Goes on like this we’ll be watching Rod Laver/John Newcombe soon 🙂
Hartt · January 27, 2017 at 9:16 am
Have to admit I was very impressed with how well Grigor played in this exciting, entertaining match. I was tired of all the Grigor hype before he had his long slump, but if he keeps playing at this level he will deserve the hype.
Fed vs Rafa will be too nerve-wracking to be fun but it certainly continues the back to the future theme of this AO!
Scoop Malinowski · January 27, 2017 at 9:38 am
Epic tennis heasvyweight slugfest won by Rafa at the finish line by a whisker – Grigor was Superb and deserved the win and the title and fought like we never saw before but Rafa pushed his emotional adrenaline button down the two break points late in the fifth set and managed to steal that game with two finishes at the net – Rafa closed it out but Super G saved a couple of match points – Rafa’s reaction when G’s last ball sailed inches long was to fall down face first to the court – a reaction more emotional than even some of his major title wins – This one was just as important for Rafa as he now has the belief back that he actually can win a major again and in the final is a guy he knows how to beat – I was very surprised to see Carlos moya so animated in the box late in the fourth set as he was always a mannequin with Raonic suggesting he didn’t really care about Raonic which is what Raonic needs – an emotional box that cares about him and not just their paychecks – Federer also received very animated support from mirka vs Stan which was the most emotional and animated we have ever seen mirka at a Fed match – I think Raonic needs to find more emotionally invested support team people for his team and that could be the missing link –
Scoop Malinowski · January 27, 2017 at 9:43 am
Andrew: Rios inspired me to play – I first got serious about playing tennis in the 90s and young Rios was the player I liked to see the most because I just loved his style and variety and touch and how smooth and easy he made tennis look – I wasn’t very good at first skillwise but I fought very hard and used emotions and yelled come ons and then suddenly young Hewitt burst on the scene and I felt like he was doing what I was doing – those two players were big inspirations and so too were Pete and Andre – One guy used to call me the blonde Pete Sampras because of my one hander but Rios and a little of Hewitt were the bigger inspirations 🙂
Scoop Malinowski · January 27, 2017 at 9:47 am
Dimitrov showed he is possibly the greatest player to not win a major tonight – Yes he was that good vs Rafa but Rafa is Rafa and Rafa wants it more than anyone – Fed vs Rafa will break all TV ratings records despite the 330am start 🙂 I favor Rafa but we all know this match is going to be an epic for the history books and it will come down to which one wants it more and for sure it’s going four or five epic sets –
Scoop Malinowski · January 27, 2017 at 9:49 am
Djokovic has to be kicking himself because he knows he owns both Fed and Rafa and he should be out there – if only Djokovic can pretend that ALL of his opponents are Rafa or Fed – Djokovic just does not get as inspired to play the Querreys and Istomins and that’s his flaw – He would not have lost to Rafa or Fed at this Australian Open –
catherine bell · January 27, 2017 at 10:20 am
Scoop –
You can’t just parachute down to the semis and play the person you want to.
A great champion plays right through the draw – good bad or indifferent. You can’t wait around for inspiration.
Djokovic didn’t have it this year at AO. He’s not fit at present either mentally or physically I would guess.
Andrew Miller · January 27, 2017 at 10:56 am
Raonic 🙁 Thought he was playing best I’ve ever seen. Tough sport.
Scoop Malinowski · January 27, 2017 at 11:07 am
Possibly Catherine, but until I see Djokovic lose to Fed or Rafa in a major I believe complacence and lack of full flight intensity is his chief flaw right now. Djokovic plays Fed and Rafa with a greater fear of losing, a greater desperation and urgency than he does Istomin or Querrey. All it takes is that fractional loss of intensity and desperation…
Hartt · January 27, 2017 at 11:20 am
Scoop, I don’t agree that Moya was just collecting a pay cheque with Raonic. Milos had a lot of very positive things to say about how Moya helped him, including how to relax more between matches which is a big problem for Milos. It is not surprising that Moya is more emotionally invested in Rafa, they have the same roots and have known each other very well since Rafa was a youngster. But that does not mean that Carlos did not care about Milos.
I think Piatti is a strong influence for Milos and they have been together for some time now. And caring may not be enough. Milos and Blanco were very close, apparently they were both gutted by Raonic’s decision to end that coaching relationship. But Milos was not progressing under Blanco.
Scoop Malinowski · January 27, 2017 at 3:41 pm
Hartt: Moya never showed any emotion while supporting Raonic but yesterday he was very vocal and very emotional and very animated in supporting Rafa vs Dimitrov. And that is precisely what I believe Raonic needs. Raonic needs that extra boost of emotional adrenaline from his box. Countless top players have shouted at their boxes to liven up and give them something instead of just sitting there like mannequins. That is what Raonic needs! Moya gave it to Rafa. Perhaps it is Raonic’s flaw and fault that he can’t inspire those emotions from his team members. Maybe Raonic is too business like and too robotic and he needs to work on developing closer relations with his team. Look we are talking about tiny edges and sometimes it’s the tiny edges that make the difference. Look at Mirka who is now suddenly all the sudden behaving like Jelena Ristic and guess what? It helped Fed beat Stan. Raonic needs a livelier box and better emotional support from his team, just like Moya gave Rafa.
Hartt · January 27, 2017 at 4:40 pm
I am not sure that is the problem. Perhaps Moya did not show a lot of emotion but other team members certainly do, standing and yelling. And poor Piatti is a nervous wreck during Milos’ matches – I am surprised he has any fingernails left. I think he cares deeply for Milos and he has been Milos’ regular coach for several years now.