Tag: pickleball

How to Play Versus a Serve and Volleyer (a Rush and Crush Player Looking to Come into the Net Whenever Possible)

  1. Be prepared for a new challenge. You may encounter a player who selectively closes into the net behind 1st serves and less occasionally behind 2nd serves. You may also face players who look to close into the net behind the serve return but rarely will you face a player who comes in on everything. Your first reaction may not be “shock and awe” but it is not unusual to feel rushed and pressured. Be prepared also for short and choppy points making it difficult to find rhythm in the traditional sense.
  2. Anticipating the difficulty of breaking serve versus a serve and volley, rush and crush player, the first priority is to hold your serve. Focus on winning the first two points each game. Work on hitting your targets and consider taking pace off your 1st serve to get a higher percentage of 1st serves in play. Work on getting a heavy kick on your 2nd serve. An effective kick serve is more difficult to close in behind. Minimize the number of times your opponent can attack and close into the net off your serve. The objective of the serve is to pin your opponent back at the baseline.
  3. The second priority is the return of serve. Knowing your opponent is likely to close into the net on 1st serves and many 2nd serves, the objective with your return is to keep the ball down (at the feet of your opponent). That generally requires playing tighter into the court with your serve return position. Split step and move forward with momentum in hitting the return. The backswing should be compact and short, keeping your hands in front of your body. Block the ball sharply with a degree of underspin. Use a continental grip and lead with the bottom edge of the racquet. If you have more time, you can use topspin to get the ball to dip at the feet of your opponent.
  4. An aggressive but effective tactic is to beat your opponent to the net. It may not play to your strengths, but it does place your opponent in a disadvantageous position of having to defend from the baseline (an uncomfortable position for most serve and volley players). The opportunities you have to close are with anything short, your serve and with your serve return. The goal is to keep your opponent back, but should you close in together, look to gain advantage by getting in as tight as possible to the net with each shot. It is the player who finishes closer to the net who wins most volley-to-volley exchanges.
  5. Take time away from your opponent. Limit the time your opponent has to respond at the net. Play tight to the baseline. Take the ball early, hitting on the rise as necessary to maintain or improve your court position. Pounce on short balls.
  6. Keep your opponent back with depth and the weight of your shots. Hit heavy (with topspin) and deep with a high margin of net clearance. The trajectory and height of your ball should be managed to not allow your opponent the opportunity to step in and take the ball out of the air.
  7. Test the net play prowess of your opponent. Give your opponent different looks. Go at the body. Go up high to the backhand (and the forehand). Go low to either side. Check agility, ability to cover balls out wide and recovery after the shot. Hit with pace and take pace off the ball. Test the patience and shot threshold of your opponent at the net. See if your opponent has the means and resolve to be able to hit multiple shots at the net. Learn how you can disrupt rhythm. Identify target patterns and weaknesses you can exploit.
  8. Execute patterns from the baseline to draw errors from your opponent at the net, pass your opponent at the net and dislodge your opponents from the net. Patterns include:
    • Hit a low preferably angled ball at the feet of your opponent and then follow with an offensive lob to the opposite deep corner of the court.
    • Hit a cross court low angled ball to either the forehand or backhand side and then follow with a down-the-line passing shot drive or a second cross court angled ball to the opposite side for a clean passing shot winner.
    • Hit a low, sliced, off pace, down-the-line ball to either the forehand or backhand and respond by hitting to the opposite side or to the same side (hitting behind your opponent).
    • Hit a low ball to the feet of your opponent and then anticipating a reply up, move in to take the next shot in the air with a drive or swinging volley.
    • Hit a ball up to the backhand side of your opponent (barely in reach). Anticipating a cross court angled volley from your opponent in response, move in and then drive the ball down-the-line to the open court.
    • Hit a high defensive lob over the reach of the reach of your opponent requiring your opponent to retrieve the ball on the bounce. Follow your shot into the net and finish the point with an overhead or crisp drive volley to the open court.
    • Go hard at the body (freezing your opponent). Move in and then go big to either side.
    • And, if your opponent doesn’t follow the line of the ball into the net or hits a cross-court approach leaving the line exposed, go directly down-the-line with your next shot.
    Be careful with all examples above not to force your shots and go for too much. Even when required to hit to narrow and difficult targets, there should be no mistakes in the net or out wide. If nothing else, make your opponent hit one more shot.
  9. Slow the tempo and pace of play. Be methodical and deliberate with your serve. Judiciously use towel breaks to manage your recovery time between points. Look to extend the rally when you have your opponent on the baseline. Use the lob to push your opponent back, buy time for recovery and slow the match tempo.
  10. Be resolute. Embrace the challenge and most importantly have fun. Match play versus a rush and crush player can have stretches where points are quick and rhythm is hard to come by. Ride out these tough stretches by being positive and maintaining concentration. The pressure to respond quickly and the requirement to hit narrow targets will also lead to more errors (unforced and forced). Play however, does not have to be clean. In this match up, the goal (and expectation) is not to win every point just most of the points. Stay solid and focus specifically on winning the pivotal points. Look to convert breakpoints to close out games and save breakpoints to stay in games.