May
8, 2005
| Borrowing Pace - Return the Skidding Approach or Volley
Jim McLennan I received this question from a reader – “How does one return a low and skidding volley when playing doubles?” A good question, but first - What makes a ball skid and why would a volleyer want that? Backspin can be used to chip the ball, and in most instances the chips float rather high and take more or less a normal bounce. Backspin can also be used to drive the ball (underspin approach or volley) and in this instance the ball will skid ever so slightly and bounce lower than a more normal topspin shot. The lower skidding bounce lowers the opponent's height of contact, and reduces the time they have to play the shot. This generally makes things more difficult for the baseliner.
Now when approaching or volleying with sharp backspin, not a chip or a chop but rather a backspin drive, the ball will skid and bounce low. Taylor Dent takes the net on the return of serve with just such a shot, and were he just slightly more fit, he might take Agassi apart with this strategy (he has come close a couple of times) because this skidding ball rushes Agassi and denies him the rhythm and bounce of the more commonly used topspin groundstroke. Well, whether Agassi, or you and I, what are the tricks of the trade when rushed and bending low for a skidding ball? Borrow, borrow, borrow. As regards one's tempo and racquet speed, players can either add pace or borrow pace. That is, one can add to the pace of an incoming ball and send it back faster than it arrived, or one can borrow the pace of that incoming ball and send it back slower than it arrived, somehow absorbing the collision rather than adding to it. Borrowing is not bunting, mind you. Borrowing is just the technique of reducing racquet movement in both the backswing and follow through, and simply making the best contact with the least effort. You might call it a pick-up, or a short hop, or simply a quick stroke.
Volleyers are always borrowing pace, and as you might imagine servers must always be adding pace. The trick in the game is to decide when to borrow and when to add. Often the biggest hitters have the most trouble borrowing, and unfortunately, but equally true, the best borrowers have the most trouble adding pace. When you look back at the roster of champions, many times the best volleyers – Pat Cash, Stefan Edberg, Patrick Rafter – had stellar returns of serve, because there one must always be borrowing just to get the ball in play. And it may be no coincidence that the big hitting, uncomfortable volleying, Andy Roddick gets poor marks for his ability to return serve. So the trick on the baseline is to keep the ball low and at the volleyer's feet whenever possible. Borrowing pace slows things down. Borrowing pace gives you just a little more chance to keep the ball low. And finally, borrowing pace gives just that slight bit of disguise, for the tempo of a lob is more or less the same as that of a borrowed groundie, and you have ever so much more of a chance to fool the opponent with finesse when you slow things down. As always, we would love to hear from you! Questions, comments, personal experiences all create helpful dialogue for everyone! Please click here to send us your email. (Click link to purchase Jim's McLennan's Secrets of World Class Footwork Video.)
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