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The ball is fired straight at your body at the net
Body balls are backhands. The racket gets in front of your chest faster on that side than on any other.
You are at the net and they drive the ball hard, straight at your chest. There is no time to move your feet. What do you do?
Body balls are backhands. The racket gets in front of your chest faster on that side than on any other.
Why
When the ball comes straight at you there is no space to make a forehand: the contact point for a forehand is out to the side, and your body is in the way. The backhand block is the only shot whose contact point sits in front of your sternum. Racket head up and out in front, elbow in, face open a touch, and use their pace. It is not a shot you win the point with. It is the shot that stops you losing it.
What this means at your level
Beginner
Practise the shape without a ball: racket up, both hands high, elbow tucked. The instinct is to drop the head and turn away, and that instinct has to be trained out.
Intermediate
Keep the volley in front and aim it deep down the middle. Depth buys the time to reset your feet, which is what you actually needed.
Advanced
A good pair keeps going at your body once it works. The counter is a slightly open stance and a start position half a step to your backhand side, so the body ball becomes a comfortable backhand rather than an emergency.
Common questions
You are at the net and they drive the ball hard, straight at your chest. There is no time to move your feet. What do you do?
Backhand block, racket in front of your chest. Body balls are backhands. The racket gets in front of your chest faster on that side than on any other. When the ball comes straight at you there is no space to make a forehand: the contact point for a forehand is out to the side, and your body is in the way. The backhand block is the only shot whose contact point sits in front of your sternum. Racket head up and out in front, elbow in, face open a touch, and use their pace. It is not a shot you win the point with. It is the shot that stops you losing it.
Why not big forehand swing to match their pace?
There is no room. A forehand needs your body to rotate away from the ball, and at this distance you will be hitting it with your elbow behind you.
What should a beginner do here?
Practise the shape without a ball: racket up, both hands high, elbow tucked. The instinct is to drop the head and turn away, and that instinct has to be trained out.
How does this change for an advanced player?
A good pair keeps going at your body once it works. The counter is a slightly open stance and a start position half a step to your backhand side, so the body ball becomes a comfortable backhand rather than an emergency.
Puzzles like this one
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Move back with the ball, let it pass you, hit it in front of your body.