Don't Hate The Player....Hate The Game (Serve and Volley)

James Blake Serving and Volleying

I am a serve and volleyer so this should be fun. A serve and volley player is someone who hits a good serve and runs to the net to play a finishing volley (or three). They do this almost everytime fearlessly and consistently. There are two types of serve and volleyers, the classic serve and volley and the power serve and volley. Since your weapon is your serve, you don't get to use it when the opponent is serving. This makes serve and volley style a double edged sword. On one hand, you will ALWAYS get to use your strongest weapon when you serve. On the other you will NEVER use it when they are serving. What makes or breaks a serve and volley guy is how they win games when they aren't serving.

Pete Sampras: Power Serve and Volley

Serve and volley players tend to be very fit and muscular with good reaction time and not a lot of patience during the points. Classic serve and volleyers play a little different than power ones but the main point is to attack and take time away from the opponent. Keep them off balanceand the chances increase to be offensive. They do this in a few ways:

• They have a great serve. It might not be very fast but it keeps you off balance. It's hard to read and harder to control. Certainly if the player is content to come to the net behind it, then it is very hard to deal with. The fact that someone running to the net will almost allways be leaning into his serve give the serve a little extra pop.
  

• They have a short memory. Most players get passed twice and they come up with a different plan. With a serve and volleyer, he has forgotten you passed him before it ball hit inside the court.

• There is no time to think. Serve and volley players don't have to think too hard on their serve. The most that they think about is where they are going to serve. The rest is reaction. The pattern is pretty simple and even if the opponent knows where the volleys are going, it doesn't matter.

• They are always running at you. Psychologically, when a person is always running at you it is harder to concentrate on the ball.

• The points are very short. The stronger players don't have the long energy for marathons. But short bursts of energy suits them better.

Patrick Rafter: Classic Serve and Volley Player

The difference between the classic and power serve and volley are not too far apart. Power serve and volleyers serve for aces. Their fast serves usually go down the middle and out wide. IF you get a ball over the net they can put away the easy volley. Classic serve and volleyers serve in order to volley. Their serves usually set up a good first volley. They serve a variety of serves so guessing isn't easy. Then when they volley they tend to have outstanding hands.

Some of the things that make serve and volleyers lose:

• There is no plan B. If the serve and volleyer gets injured, it usually affects his serve. A weaker serve means you have to volley much better. It goes downhill fast after that.

• Volleying is not easy. Volleying gives you less time to judge the ball. And even less time to make a choice. Anyone can handle a slow ball if they are standing right at the net. It is the balls you have to hit on your way to the net right after the serve that become problematic.

• Volleying is hard to practice. If your serve is good you might not see a volley for a long time. But then when the volleys start coming at you, you will be out of practice. So you have to practice volleys and overheads specially. Even if all your friends are baseliners.

• It is hard to break opponents. Because they practice volleying so much, they will naturally get worse at groundstrokes. So serve and volleyers always need a secondary style when they aren't serving. Most end up either exceptionally great at holding serve or good at holding serve and breaking serve.

Mentally speaking, serve and volley players are athletes with ADD. If you are the type of person that deals with consequences in order to control your world and wishes that people would get to the point then you would probably like being a serve and volley player.