Pat Cash on the Volley
Part 4

Interviewed by Paul Fein 2017

What is "the center of possible returns"? And why is positioning yourself there so vital at net?

The center of possible returns is the best place to position yourself laterally, both in the backcourt and in the forecourt. This position puts you in the center so that have an equal distance to cover for lateral shots either to your forehand or backhand side.

During backcourt rallies, if your opponent is hitting the ball from his forehand corner, you re-position one to two feet to the right of the little center strip on the baseline. If he is hitting the ball from outside his forehand alley, you re-position yourself two to three feet to the right of the center strip.

When you're positioned at the net, the theory is the same, but the practice is different. Here you move in the same direction as your opponent behind his backline. For example, if you hit an approach shot or volley into his backhand corner, you shift a foot or two to your right. That puts you in the perfect lateral position—the new center of possible returns—to have an equal distance to move to for forehand and backhand volleys.

What is the optimal distance you should be positioned from the net in singles?

The volley position needs to vary constantly. There are many variables. A position of a little more than 3 feet to a little more to 5 feet from the net is good after a decent volley on a fast court—or, in doubles, if your partner is a good server because you can be sure it will be very difficult for your opponent to execute a lob.

If the volley you hit is deep and high on a slow clay court, there is more chance your opponent is going to lob, so the middle of the service box is the closest you want to position yourself. A good place to base yourself generally is in the middle of the service box. There you can move forward for put-away volleys or backward for potential lobs, depending on the quality of your previous shot. Good net play is all about attacking and finishing points off by a winner or forcing an error.

If your opponent rarely lobs, then you can take the liberty of blanketing the net?

I looked back recently at the 1987 Australian Open final when I played Edberg. Centre court in Melbourne was the fastest grass court in the world, and a strong first volley made the ball skid through viciously. I noticed how close to the net both Edberg and I got after we made the first volley. This was a good tactic because a ball coming quickly off a court is very hard to lob. Of course, if the volley wasn't hit as well, we had to hedge our bets and refrain from taking the extra step closer to the net.

Edberg had an amazing backhand pass and a well-disguised lob, so I had to proceed with some caution when the ball went to his backhand. If I saw an opponent take a big swing, I could be very certain he was going to hit a passing shot. So I would blanket the net until I was within 1 meter (3.3 feet).

I would also move close to the net if an opponent had a poor lob or was less inclined to hit the lob. Success in my career would show that I got this tactic right plenty of times.

When you play net, you need to bluff and second guess your opponent from time to time. Sometimes the bluffs work and sometimes they don't. This game of cat and mouse was something that I really enjoyed, and I'm guessing other net-attacking players did as well.

How do you rate the three men superstars of the 20th century for their net play?

Despite the fact that Djokovic is extremely quick, he tends to find himself too far away from the net too often and is not aggressive enough in closing. One of the reasons he does not close the net enough is that for most of his career his smash has been his worst shot. Though his smash has improved, it's still in his mind that he has to protect that shot. The opposite can be said for Federer, Nadal, and Roddick. None are perfect volleyers, but their smashes are extraordinary.

What is the optimal position at the net in doubles?

In doubles, we see the net player extremely close when his or her partner is serving. Jamie Murray, who was the world No. 1 doubles player in 2016, is extremely close to the net and is susceptible to a lob. The problem for opponents is that his partner Bruno Soares served very well, so it takes great touch to be able to hit a good lob off a powerful first serve and an accurate kicking second serve over Murray's head.

The famous Australian team of Todd Woodbridge and Mark Woodforde—nicknamed "The Woodies"—were famous for keeping their opponents off-balance and unsure which way they would move at net. They sometimes poached and sometimes faked a poach.

When you starred in the 1980s, the average player height on the ATP Tour was about 6'. Now it's close to 6'3". What advantages and disadvantages do tall players have at the net?

Any sport with a net is advantageous for a taller athlete. Tennis has a low net, so height is less advantageous than it is in volleyball, but height still helps with the serve, the return of serve, and reach at the net.

In my day, a tall player, in general, didn't really move very well. Tennis was a little more explosive with shorter sprints and shorter points as much of the play was at the net. So quicker leg speed was more beneficial there.

In the 1990s, we started seeing taller, athletic players taking advantage of the net—Ivanisevic, Krajicek, Rusedski, Philippoussis, and Stich, all 6'4" or more. With greater wingspan and height for their serve, they were a perfect type of serve-volley player. Unfortunately, towards the end of their careers, slower courts and balls made the serve-and-volley style less effective.

Power, depth, and accuracy are the three main assets for serves and groundstrokes. How do these three variables apply to volleying?

Accuracy is No. 1 on this list, depth is No. 2, and power, like learning any shot, develops later. Like any shot, variety is crucial. The volley is a little bit more limited than the groundstrokes. But a player who can drop volley effectively and take the opponent out of their comfort zone will have success, especially these days where face-to-face net play is rare.

The most important volley to perfect is the first volley because it's the lynchpin to all net play. When the first volley is hit accurately and deep to the baseline corner, this shot really sets up a dominant position for net play success.

Angle volleys can be extremely effective. When is the best time to use them?

Now more than ever, the angle volley when hit correctly is effective. With more high-bouncing courts around the world, a deep first volley, if not hit perfectly, is going to be easily picked off and hit for a winner by most players. So the alternative is the angled volley landing fairly near the net. The crosscourt volley is the easiest to start with.

Hit well, it can draw the baseliner forwards laterally or diagonally out of position. I was always taught to hit a deep volley first to push the opponent back and then finish it off with the angle. But I believe that the angled volley can be employed even as a first volley.

It is much easier to do it when contacted from several feet laterally away from the center service line because that automatically creates an angle. The downside of an angle volley is that if it's not hit accurately, it opens the court for the passing shot.

You can get a natural slice on the ball by having the racket head in an upward position in relation to the wrist. And a little tilt with the racket face can deliver the ball crosscourt. The ball needs to be aimed very closely over the net to be effective. If it's hit too high, it naturally bounces up. The angle volley comes with a higher margin for error, but the benefits can outweigh the negatives.

Low volleys and half volleys are the most difficult volleys to hit. What are the best ways to reduce the number of low volleys and half volleys you have to hit?

To be successful, low volleys and half volleys need to be hit very closely to the top of the net. Some errors are inevitable with such risk. But if you aim to improve the accuracy of your volleys and half volleys, I suggest that at practice you weave a racket handle into the net leaving just the head of the racket popping out on top of the net.

Your aim is to hit the face of the racket with your low volley or half volley. To reduce the number of half volleys altogether, you need to get closer to the net to volley the low ball.

Excellent agility is required for playing volleys. You had terrific agility. What are the keys to achieving agility?

It took a lot of hard work on the court and off the court. I was fortunate enough in Australia to have a trainer named Dr. Ann Quinn, who was a specialist in speed and agility. She created most of the agility exercises that you see players doing on the side of the court even to this day—both on the pro tours and at tennis academies. Some of the best exercises are court line sprints, agility ball tosses, run- throughs, and jumps over ladders.

I was fortunate to be ahead of the pack with my training. Genetically, I was born with leg strength and speed, both big advantages. I had a low center of gravity that helped with quick changes of direction.

Tennis agility is different from agility in most other sports because tennis speed is not just chasing the ball down from one place to the next. It is also about getting back into position quickly. Players like Wilander, Hewitt, Federer, Murray, and Djokovic have it, and women like Navratilova, Graf, Henin, Serena, and Halep are near the best there ever were.

One cannot have agility without flexibility. Which exercises do you recommend to increase flexibility?

I have always done a lot of flexibility exercises which include Yoga, Feldenkrais, and Gyrotonics. I was one of the most flexible players on tour. I worked extremely hard on flexibility, starting from an early age.

Quick reflexes are another big asset for volleyers. How can players improve their reflexes?

One of the standard workouts that Australians made famous through Harry Hopman, the legendary Davis Cup captain, focuses on honing reflex volleys with four players at the net. Aussies also love doing two-on-one drills with one player at the net for hundreds of hours each year.

For beginners, a simple wall or backboard is an ideal way to work on technique. The quick rebound off the wall ensures that you don't have time to take the racket back too far. Also, volleying against a wall work strengthens your legs and improves your balance.

If you want to improve your hand-eye coordination and reflexes, you can even try volleying against a brick wall which produces unpredictable caroms. I think every world-class Australian player did some volleying against a wall when growing up. Evonne Goolagong and Rod Laver mentioned it in their autobiographies. When I was sidelined from tournaments with a back injury a couple of years before I won Wimbledon, I took all the furniture out of my living room so I had a bare wall.

I volleyed against it for hours. I couldn't bend or stretch too quickly, so I set myself up in the perfect pain-free position for the volley and held it. That kept my reflexes and eyes sharp, kept my legs and arm strong, and also improved my technique. Keeping my arms in front with a slight turn of the shoulders with each hit was just perfect.