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When to Hit the Ball

Lately I've been wondering when to hit the ball.

By this I mean, right after the 1st bounce or stand way behind the base line and hit it after it slows down or a bit forward but not right up forward or back but not right back.

Please tell me if you've had this problem before and tell me how to solve it.
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Comment by Tomaz:

It depends on many factors. The purpose of hitting the ball early is to take the time away from your opponent, save some movement (no need to run back) and get more energy from the rising ball (so that you don't have to hit with a lot of effort).

Of course hitting the ball early is more difficult than giving yourself more time.

So there isn't a straight answer. Try and hit and the ball early when you can and find the right "early" moment by experimenting.

I suggest you watch good players play and see when they decide to play the ball early or move back.

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When to Hit the Ball

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Mar 12, 2008
Rating
starstarstarstar 		Hitting the oncoming ball early, or not.
by: TennisTom

Hitting the oncoming ball early, or not. As Tomaz said, a definite answer is not possible. The difficulty in answering the question, which is a good one, is because of the variation in a player's playing level. It sounds as though the question comes from an approaching intermediate player (USTA 2.5 to 3.0 rating), which includes many recreational players. My answer is to back up and wait for the ball to fall to near your waist (your "hitting zone"). This greatly reduces the timing requirements for hitting groundstrokes. The better your playing level, the better your timing skills, so you can experiment with hitting the ball early (shortly after it bounces) as you become a better player. Have great patience with yourself. TennisTom.
Mar 12, 2008
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starstarstarstarstar 		Footspeed and Stamina
by: Michael

Hi,

to add to the answer of Tomaz. Additional points to consider. Do you have the stamina and foot speed stamina to play a gamestyle where you take the ball early. Speed and stamina demand plus coordination is at it's highest demand.

Playing back. Are you able to evaluate short balls quickly and have the ability to get to them.

Thirdly. whom are you playing. I for myself, who enjoys a good volley game, enjoy deep standing players. My margin of error is much wider in that case, I just drop the volley with a little off angle into the half court and stretch you forward and sideways.

Or run the volley against your hassle direction. In addition I have a lot more time to position myself and a lot more time to get my racquet into the appropriate volley position.

Overall I will be waiting to see whether you can get to a half court volley, where I don't have to focus on pin point accuracy.

Hope that helps with your thought process. Good luck with your game.

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