CHOP, HALF VOLLEY, AND COURT POSITION. II
Chop stroke.
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In Tennis, a chop stroke is a shot where the angle towards the player and behind the racquet, made by the line of flight of the ball, and the racquet travelling down across it, is greater than 45 degrees and may be 90 degrees. The racquet face passes slightly outside the ball and down the side, chopping it, as a man chops wood. The spin and curve is from right to left. It is made with a stiff wrist.
The slice shot merely reduced the angle mentioned from 45 degrees down to a extremely small one. The racquet face passes either inside or outside the ball, according to direction desired, while the stroke is mainly a wrist twist or slap. This slap imparts a decided skidding break to the ball, whilst a chop “drags” the ball off the ground without break.
The rules of footwork for both these shots ought to be the exact same as the drive, but due to the fact both are made with a brief swing and a lot more wrist play, with out the want of weight, the rules of footwork may be extra safely discarded and body position not so carefully considered.
Both these shots are essentially defensive, and are labour-saving devices when your opponent is on the baseline. A chop or slice is extremely difficult to drive, and will break up any driving game.
It’s not a shot to use against a volley, as it’s too slow to pass and too high to cause any worry. It needs to be utilized to drop short, soft shots at the feet of the net man as he comes in. Do not strive to pass a net man with a chop or slice, except through a huge opening.
The drop-shot is a extremely soft, sharply-angled chop stroke, played wholly with the wrist. It should drop within 3 to 5 feet of the net to be of any use. The racquet face passes around the outside of the ball and under it with a distinct “wrist turn.” Do not swing the racquet from the shoulder in making a drop shot. The drop shot has no relation to a stop-volley. The drop shot is all wrist. The stop-volley has no wrist at all.
Use all your wrist shots, chop, slice, and drop, merely as an auxilliary to your orthodox game. They’re intended to upset your opponent’s game via the varied spin on the ball.
The half volley.
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This shot requires far more ideal timing, eyesight, and racquet work than any other, since its margin of safety is smallest and its manifold chances of mishaps numberless.
It’s a pick-up. The ball meets the ground and racquet face at nearly the same moment, the ball bouncing off the ground, on the strings. This shot is a stiff-wrist, short swing, like a volley with no follow by way of. The racquet face travels along the ground with a slight tilt over the ball and towards the net, thus holding the ball low; the shot, like all others in tennis, must travel across the racquet face, along the short strings. The racquet face must constantly be slightly outside the ball.
The half volley is basically a defensive stroke, since it ought to only be made as a last resort, when caught out of position by your opponent’s shot. It’s a desperate attempt to extricate your self from a dangerous position without retreating. never deliberately half volley.
Court position.
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A tennis court is 39 feet lengthy from baseline to net. You can find only two places in a tennis court that a tennis player should be to await the ball.
1. About 3 feet behind the baseline near the middle of the court, or
2. About 6 to 8 feet back from the net and nearly opposite the ball.
The very first is the place for all baseline players. The second is the net position.
If you’re drawn out of these positions by a shot which you need to return, don’t remain at the point where you struck the ball, but attain 1 of the two positions mentioned as rapidly as possible.
The distance from the baseline to about 10, feet from the net may well be considered as “no-man’s-land” or “the blank.” Never linger there, since a deep shot will catch you at your feet. After making your shot from the blank, as you need to frequently do, retreat behind the baseline to await the return, so you may possibly again come forward to meet the ball. If you are drawn in brief and can not retreat safely, continue all of the method to the net position.
Never stand and watch your shot, for to do so just means you are out of position for your next stroke. Strive to attain a position so that you constantly arrive at the spot the ball is going to just before it truly arrives. Do your challenging running while the ball is inside the air, so you’ll not be hurried in your stroke after it bounces.
It’s in learning to do this that natural anticipation plays a big role. Some players instinctively know where the next return is going and take position accordingly, whilst others will never sense it. It’s to the latter class that I urge court position, and recommend usually coming in from behind the baseline to meet the ball, since it is significantly easier to run forward than back.
Ought to you be caught at the net, with a short shot to your opponent, don’t stand still and let him pass you at will, as he can quickly do. Pick out the side where you believe he will hit, and jump to, it suddenly as he swings. When you guess right, you win the point. If you’re wrong, you are no worse off, since he would have beaten you anyway with his shot.
Your position need to constantly strive to be such that you are able to cover the greatest feasible area of court without sacrificing safety, since the straight shot is the surest, most dangerous, and need to be covered. It’s merely a question of how much more court than that immediately in front of the ball may perhaps be guarded.
A well-grounded knowledge of court position saves quite a few points, to say nothing of a lot breath expended in lengthy runs after hopeless shots.
