The Net Game – 011

Below we see Patrick Rafter on the attack. He’s followed his serve to Staging Post One and eased into neutral.

‘Difficult shot?’

All shots are difficult if:

• you have limited experience of hitting them
• you let yourself be intimidated or panicked into abandoning solid technique – a common fault at the net.

‘AAAAGH! HELP!’ (*swipe*).

Something like that. And yes, it’s a difficult shot for some. Less so for Saint Patrick, because net play was at the core of his game, thus he faced balls to his forward-shifting feet (every hour of?) every on-court day.