Home › Puzzle › Their sliced ball will barely reach the glass. Wait or attack it?
Their sliced ball will barely reach the glass. Wait or attack it?
Slow ball with slice: it dies on the glass. Take it before the wall.
A soft, sliced ball is heading toward your back glass, slowing down. It will just about reach the wall. What do you do?
Slow ball with slice: it dies on the glass. Take it before the wall.
Why
The exception to "let it hit the glass" is the ball that will not come back. A slow, sliced ball that is losing pace as it approaches the back wall drops at the base of the glass with almost no rebound, and a player waiting for it to come out is stuck. Read the pace and spin early, soft and sliced means dying, and step forward to play it before it reaches the wall, usually with a lift or a lob. Good net players hit exactly this ball on purpose, because it forces the defender to choose between two bad options: rushing to take it early or waiting for a rebound that never comes.
What this means at your level
Beginner
If the ball is slow and looks like it is running out of energy, do not wait for the wall. Go and hit it.
Intermediate
Watch the hitter's racket face: an open, slicing face means a dying ball. Start moving forward as soon as you see it.
Advanced
Against a pair that volleys with heavy slice, stand a half-metre closer to the service line so you are not always chasing the dying ball.
Common questions
A soft, sliced ball is heading toward your back glass, slowing down. It will just about reach the wall. What do you do?
Take it before the wall. Slow ball with slice: it dies on the glass. Take it before the wall. The exception to "let it hit the glass" is the ball that will not come back. A slow, sliced ball that is losing pace as it approaches the back wall drops at the base of the glass with almost no rebound, and a player waiting for it to come out is stuck. Read the pace and spin early, soft and sliced means dying, and step forward to play it before it reaches the wall, usually with a lift or a lob. Good net players hit exactly this ball on purpose, because it forces the defender to choose between two bad options: rushing to take it early or waiting for a rebound that never comes.
Why not let it hit the glass as usual and wait for it?
A ball that just reaches the glass drops straight down at its base. There is no rebound to play.
What should a beginner do here?
If the ball is slow and looks like it is running out of energy, do not wait for the wall. Go and hit it.
How does this change for an advanced player?
Against a pair that volleys with heavy slice, stand a half-metre closer to the service line so you are not always chasing the dying ball.
Puzzles like this one
The ball is at your feet at the net. What now?
A ball below the net cannot be attacked. Block it deep and wait for one above the tape.
beginnerThe ball is coming off the back glass. When do you hit it?
Move back with the ball, let it pass you, hit it in front of your body.
beginnerThe ball bounced then hit your own back glass. Still in play?
One bounce on the floor, then any number of walls. Only a second floor bounce ends the point.