The Net Game – 002

Before getting to grips with the grip, I’ll first reveal something of the stroke we’ll be furnishing. In fact, when playing the net game, the stroke you’ll be using most often – the volley – is so minimal it’s barely a stroke at all.

In my coaching days, I’d introduce youngsters to the volley by finding the liveliest ball in the ball machine, move to within a few feet of the nearest wall and whack the ball as hard as I could against it.

‘Did the ball travel faster going towards the wall, or when it bounced back off the wall?’

The difference in speed was barely noticeable, thus the answers to my question were usually split.

Of course the ball was traveling fastest as it left my strings.

– But the point is this: I was swinging as hard as I could to get the ball up to speed, whereas the wall managed to give most of the pace back without moving an inch.